Traveling with food

Those of you who knew me best knows that I'm a food enthusiast. Food channel was my daily dose of relief to ensure myself that I'm home, from a long day of either at school, at work, or just general life in the outside world. I was quoting Rachel Ray, Emeril Lagasse before tabloids start writing about Rachel Ray's private life, even before she appeared in Maxim magazine. But that passion was gone awhile ago. Not because I don't love food anymore, but because it had gone so commercially mainstream, it has lost it's own flavor and spice. I soon realize that to keep the general American public happy, the Food Channel will always stay within this 50 state border, in fear of terrifying their growing mass audiences.

Well, that eventually just doesn't cut it for me anymore.

I was born and raise in Taiwan, although growing up I never took much pride, or even think about what it means to be a native of Taiwan, I finally started to realize the real treasure that lies within that tiny ass piece of land that is surrounded completely with water it's pretty much like Alcatraz. And the closest escape out of those water is right into the hands of our communist brothers, the Chinese (no offense to all my Chinese friends, seriously). Other than our unique way of showing passion in our politics with fists (I must note, this was more notoriously mentioned in the Mike Myer's version of "Cat in the hat"), I slowly begin to see what others see in my tiny piece of home town.

How does my nationality and Food channel have in common? I'm getting there.

The one way I start to become more aware of where I'm from and what it has to offer was through my growing annoyance with the Food Channel. What with Giada de Laurentis' overly excited faux Italian food, or with Mario Batali over stressing about his every motive in every process of making simply a lunch, or with Bobby Flay's artificial Southwest mix (another word for watered-down tex-mex), I had begin to think: How many shows can you repeatedly do with a piece of Sirloin steak or pasta?

Don't get me wrong, I learned a load. Alton Brown taught me every necessary part of the cow and the pig I need to know. Bobby Flay taught me how to deal with those parts over open fire. Mario Batali trained me in how to process pasta and Italian ingrediants to just the right texture and flavor. And Giada along with Rachel, well...I just like looking at them over the dinner I had already made by this time. On the other hand, Alton couldn't teach me me the unnecessary parts of the cow and the pig. Bobby Flay couldn't show me what other ways to deal with those parts. Mario Batali, just shut up and you don't deserve to be an iron chef. Giada and Rachel...I'll still look at you. You get my point.

So my alternative by accident became the Travel Channel. At first, it was me surfing the channels because I had already seen the Emril Live show that evening, and it came to Anthony Bourdain. Another renowned chef in NYC. I figured...a fresh face and style on TV, can't be too bad. Next thing I know, he's taking me across the globe to Ireland.

With my growing interest and a new found attention. I continued watching. Surprisingly, Anthony (or Tony) didn't just show us where the Guinness factory is, and where to eat the best mash and bangs. He showed me where to get the best blood pudding, where they make a dish with one of the cows four stomaches, and all the down and dirty joints they have to offer in Ireland. Don't get me wrong, I'll probably be hesitant to try the dish that was stuffed into one of the cow's four stomaches. But it's just refreshing to see someone willing to go the length to expose what the rest of the world is eating instead of just bread, salad, pasta, and meat every single day and a turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas along with bread, salad, and mash potatoes. It was a refreshing moment.

So, how did the mention of Taiwan come in play, up to this point?

The other day, I was watching Anthony Bourdain on No Reservations. He was in Korea. He went out of his way to experience food and activities normal Americans won't do (by the way, his producer, who's a Korean, who convinced him to do this Korea episode, waaaaay hot). And it ended before I've had enough. The very next guy that came up was this dude:

And guess where he went? Yes, my smart readers. Taiwan. Although it was touching to see someone finally doing a food show of Taiwan, it was also quite dumb. The guy thinks stinky tofu stinks (go figure where the name come from). He couldn't swallow a bite of fermented duck eggs (The official term for you Americans is "Thousand year old egg"). He finds pork blood tasteless, and speaks of the intestine stew with such formality I doubt he trully understand that dish. Nevertheless, I enjoyed what his show had to offer, maybe not so much on him, but the show itself. At least, at the very least, he's brave to try and give a genuine opinion on what he really think of the dish he's trying. Frankly I don't think the show should be called "Bizzare Foods" just because it's foreign and unfamiliar. I don't know why Americans have to glorify all the terms we use to describe different kind of animals.

Cow = Beef
Pig = Pork
Deer = Venison
Baby cow = Veal

In every other part of the world. Beef = Cow meat, pork = pig meat, venison = deer meat, and veal...well, veal is still just cow meat. Can you imagine the day I got into McDonalds or one of those signature American fast food joints, and ask for a "double quarter pound of dead cow wrapped with two pieces of bread"? Watching Andrew Zimmern painfully swallows some of the signature Taiwanese foods made me realize how much I miss that country and culture, especially the food. And how much America is lacking in it's self-imposed thought of openness in food culture. I'm not promoting everyone to eat weird food. I'm just saying, food is the most basic element in a human beings life and history. Mankind just ate things, anything, when they were hungry millions of years ago. So why is eating anything other than a burger and salad weird to mostly everyone in this country? Is it because they're not pretty? Well I bet that dead cow pattie ain't pretty wrapped in your two buns when it was slowly getting grinded.

That's all for tonight, if you get a shot, check out those two shows.