[jimdgoulding]

I DO hope that I've spelled the Maestro's name correctly.  Feel free to correct me if not.  Anyway, I watched "Booze Traveler" tonite for the first time.  The host is funny and muy adventurous.  He was in the Caribbean this episode with a fellow who makes his own liquor from sources you wouldn't believe and a nice chap he was.  Very entertaining and in a pleasant sort of way.  And continues to be, hopefully. 

My wife and I visited Paris a few moons ago.  We stayed in a modest hotel on the Right Bank, the wrong Bank in popular theory.  In front of the Opera House near our hotel, we stumbled onto a restaurant and ventured inside.  A Swiss fellow who recognized that we were first time tourists offered to help us negotiate the menu.  He recommended their "sweetbread" dish.  Turns out these were not cow brains but a gland that disappears as the calf or lamb- don't remember which- grows older sauteed with a little Brandy in a crème sauce.  Bet dish I've ever eaten.  Not organy tasting in the least.  I'm in a sentimental mood tonite. 

You guys who don't have your speakers out three (at least!) or four to five times their cabinet depth slay me.  You must not listen to much music made on location or outside of a studio.  If, per chance, you DO . . get your speakers further into your room and open up the proceedings.  You will be rewarded with three dimensionality you didn't know was or is there .   

[wushuliu]

Booze Traveler is an excellent show. It's opened our eyes to some amazing varieties of liquor and the culture of drinking that surrounds them. Love the host. Yes, he's the anti-Bourdain in that he tries to blend in with the locals in an aw shucks way and there are no political overtones. But he's also really sharp. Some people might be put off by his Boston shtick though although you can tell the channel is catering the same demographic that's taking over all the cable reality shows like Deadliest Alaskan Ax Pawn Duck Truckers vs. Wild or whatever.

Absolutely recommend Booze Traveler. Waaay better than I expected given the name.

The episode in Japan with the dude who made the most perfect ice imaginable for cocktails? That was insane. The Nepal episode drinking the cannabis milk with the rishis was pretty sweet too. He was permagrinning that day 

[Wayner]

I don't like Booze Traveler. He has zero personality. He might engage the locals, but he doesn't engage the TV audience, which is the group that pays the bills.

Wayner

[jimdgoulding]

Dang, Wayner.  Don't pull any punches now . . tell us how you really feel. 

[Goosepond]

I like Tony Bourdain. I realized I didn't care where he was or what he eating, I just wanted to hear him talk. Of course what I don't understand is they obviously made his show for TV, but then they bleep out his interesting language! So where do you get the uncensored version. 

And evidently I'm too old for Reality TV. What a waste!

Gene

[asliarun]

I've also read most of Bourdain's books and the honesty with which he has written Kitchen Confidential is what really stands out. He is as candid about his drug addiction as he is about cooking and the industry. He also carries over this trait in his TV shows. The book really provides the connection.

I appreciate honesty in other hosts more than other traits. Andrew Zimmern in Bizarre Foods has some of that as well. He is genuinely interested in discovering food around the world - he is not just doing it for the sake of it, nor is he trying to spin it.

Oh, and The Mind Of A Chef is also really good. Only the inital narration is Bourdain.. most of it is a showcase of the other chefs.

But to me, the maestro in terms of teaching cooking techniques is Jacques Pepin. Maybe because I grew up with him. Incidentally, his biography is really good reading too: The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen
many of his recipes may be outdated today but the way he explains technique (French omelette, boiling an egg, deboning a whole chicken etc) is superior to anything else I have seen or read.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s10etP1p2bU

[Wayner]

Dang, Wayner.  Don't pull any punches now . . tell us how you really feel.

Sorry Jim.

[jimdgoulding]

Please don't misunderstand, Mr. Wayner.  That's not a criticism.  You my man.  I always read your syuff.  The time will come when we have no opinions.  Won't that be a drag.

[Wayner]

I do watch the Travel Channel more then I care to admit, liking Anthony Bordain, some of Andrew Zimmer, The Ghost Adventures and Mystery at the Museum. I have also watched the Booze Traveler from time to time, but maybe he needs another year or two to bloom.

What I'm not liking is the entire day's programming of the same show. So if you do not like Anthony or the Booze Traveler, you'll probably not watch the Travel Channel all day. This is just plain piss-poor programming in my opinion. Every cable channel is doing this, too.

Pawn Stars all day long. Big Bag Theory all day long, Swamp People or what ever the hell its called all day long. I pay almost $150 a month for this crap. Thank God I still have a TV antenna.

'ner