Anthony Bourdain -

by Emily

In Defense of Paula Deen

I’m sure y’all have heard by now that Paula Deen has diabetes. It’s all over the news. People are pissed. I’ve seen media “correspondents” (who are these people who are allowed to throw stones all over the place?) calling her “outrageous” and demanding apologies to the public. WHAT? Why?

Know what? I’m just gonna say it. I like Paula Deen and I DON’T CARE. I don’t care that my girl Paula cooks food that is bad for her/everyone; I don’t care that she kept her diabetes a secret; I don’t care that she is now doing an endorsement deal with a diabetes pharmaceutical company.

Is a lot of her food hilariously bad for you? Sure is. Does she blatantly ignore nutritional guidelines? Yep. If you cook and eat a ton of her recipes on a regular basis, are you doing your health a disservice? You better believe it.

But guess what, Food Network viewers! The onus is on YOU! If you think Paula Deen’s recipes are unhealthy, don’t cook and eat them. If you think her lifestyle is appalling, don’t watch her show. The fact that Paula has diabetes may be linked to her eating habits, great. Frankly, her health is her business. Anthony Bourdain may say she’s “in bad taste,” but honestly, how is her admitting to diabetes and hawking meds really affecting any of us? Nobody was “betrayed” by her cooking shows, as some people have claimed. She’s never represented herself as an athletic, fit person. Paula Deen’s admission of her diagnosis doesn’t give you a free pass to eat poorly, then complain and point fingers.

Even here at Endless Simmer, we delight in writing about alarmingly extreme foods. I highly doubt any of our readers think we constantly pig out on all of our ridiculous culinary discoveries, or that we encourage anyone else to. We’re all smarter than that, right?

This is just like people who try to sue fast food companies for their health issues. Let’s take some personal responsibility, please. If you honestly think it’s okay to eat burger-stuffed doughnuts three meals a day, that is 100% your problem, not Paula Deen’s.

(image: eater.com)

by BS

Plate It or Hate It

Recent food world discoveries the ES crew is loving and hating…

Plate It: Watermelon Sexual

An awesome new tumblr dedicated solely to luscious images of WILFs. Drool.

Hate It: Health Departments Shutting Down Small Food Producers

We’re all for food safety, but sometimes it crosses the line into ridiculous. The latest: the State of Illinois is shutting down local, artisan ice cream makers for such terrible offenses as using fresh fruit instead of fruit syrup and fresh cream instead of pre-packaged soft serve mix. Way to look out for our health, guys. (Via: Kitchen Lore Photo: Chicago Tribune)

in Celebs / Drinks / Rants & Raves / Trends / TV 6 comments

by gansie

Eating A Roll With a Hole and Other Bagel Intelligence

I never really thought about living in another country before. Sure, my summer in Barcelona many years ago was predictably magical. But could I really live there?

No, because it’s a country without bagels. And if I were to base my residency on bagel possibilities, I would strongly consider Canada (and Denmark).

Montreal bagels own some serious street cred (although our writer hated Montreal bagels), with even an appearance on Anthony Bourdain‘s anti-trend travel show No Reservations. But no obsession can really be complete without a dedicated Tumblr. And we’ve found it on Bagel Diaries.

You will find all of your Montreal bagel needs here (and links to ground-breaking bagel articles).

Bagel Porn:

Bagel Jewelry:

Bagel Questions Answered:

in Food Travel / Trends 5 comments

by BS

Thursday Three: Burns Our Bacons

Is it just me, or have we not had a good ES rant in a bit? Don’t worry, we haven’t simmered down. We promise there is plenty more out there in the big, bad food world that burns our bacons. For now, enjoy three of our favorite BoBs from posts gone by:

Britannia: An Open Letter to the Salt and Pepper Shaker Filler Uppers

BS: Stop the Locawashing!

Gansie: There is No Such Thing as a Giant Cupcake

Oh, and a bonus rant: The king of having his bacon burned — Anthony Bourdain — has something to say about this year’s James Beard Award nominations, or as Tony calls it, the James Beard “Goat rodeo/awards ceremony/chef shakedown.”

What burns your bacon? Send us a food rant and if it rubs us the right way, we just might publish it!

(Photo: Stuart Spivack)

in Rants & Raves 0 comments

by ML

My Beef with Bourdain

February 14, 2011. The day my mother and I wasted $100 to hear Anthony Bourdain speak in Philadelphia.

I think I expected too much. Is an engaging, intelligent, interesting talk too much to ask for, especially from the man who lives by the “I don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks” motto?

Yes.

Tony was mundane. The audience was supposed to think it was an extemporaneous speech, but I could tell the punchlines were carefully calculated. Most of Tony’s stories came straight from his texts or shows. Really Tony? You’re going to tell the story about getting molested by Sandra Lee? I read the fucking book, Tony. I didn’t come here to hear you retell the stories. I have the audiobook. I’ve heard it already. Unfortunately it became clear that Tony was catering to his nearly mentally challenged audience. The people that came to see “that tall guy from TV” speak, who wanted to hear a joke or two about vegetarians being dumb.

Everyone sitting there reminded me of a high school class, where nobody read the assignment but everyone pretended they knew what the teacher was talking about. When Tony did stray from his book stories, his lack of explanation sent the audience into confusion. Discussing Adam Richman and Alan Richman was a mistake, Tony. Most of the audience was confused when he first praised Adam and then called Alan a douche. “But I thought he liked that guy from Travel Channel, why would he call him Douche of the Year?”

in Celebs / Rants & Raves / Restaurants 3 comments

by gansie

Top Chef All-Stars Exit Interview: Episode 9

I don’t care if Jimmy Fallon is some douchey talk show host now. I will always love him for always breaking character on Saturday Night Live. Fallon celebrated his birthday Top Chef style by tasting and judging dishes from our beloved crew of All-Stars.

Be ready to wipe your tears. A true character packed their knives this week.

in TV 2 comments

by BS

Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

– To be filed under Endless Simmer changes the world, we hear D.C. restaurant ChurchKey can barely keep up with the increased demand for its version of the Luther, ever since ES crowned it the best new sandwich in America. As We Love DC reports:

The Luther’s new-found fame, however, may be its undoing. By the time we ordered our second one (ed. note: bravo), around 1:30pm, the kitchen had already run out of donuts and was scrambling to make more. The manager assured us that we would get our second sandwich, but hinted that we were lucky, since they might not be able to serve them much further into the afternoon. Although reportedly served during an eight hour window on Sundays, the time frame for sampling this creation might be more like three or four hours. Go early to sample, but be prepared to hit the gym on Monday extra hard to work it off.

ChurchKey owners, just let us know what our percentage is for all these extra sandwiches you’re selling. By the way, I’m happy to report We Love DC backs up our adulation of the New Luther:

in Bacon / Fowl / Restaurants / Sandwich 0 comments