« Conservatives and Corporatism, via the Fairness Doctrine | Main | Campaign flashbacks »

February 13, 2009

Crack for a foodie like me

I don't know how many of you have seen Spain - On The Road Again but I've been watching the many episodes on PBS's "Create" channel (OPB's 10.3 here in the Portland area - I'm watching an episode as I type this post...). And although I'm not a particularly big fan of Spanish cuisine and some of it I'm not sure that I'd willingly eat - I was raised a vegetarian, after all, and mental blocks remain - but I can't even begin to describe how thoroughly I enjoy watching these hardcore foodies literally eat their way through Spain.

Actors Gwyneth Paltrow and Claudia Bassols team up with Iron Chef Mario Batali and food writer/cookbook author Mark Bittman in endless pairings and occasionally with all four of them together at the same time.

I'm not sure if it's because they are guys like me or because they're both food professionals or what it is, but I absolutely revel in watching Batali and Bittman wallow in the sheer pleasure of the food they are savoring. Chef Batali in particular tries to find the right words to adequately describe what he's experiencing and that's exactly what I struggle with when I'm indulging in some new culinary pleasure. More often than not the spoken word fails to truly convey the experience. But I never tire of trying anyway.

Put simply, good tasting food is one of life's supreme pleasures as far as I'm concerned. It's not a replacement for any other pleasures and indeed couldn't replace any of life's other pleasures. But I have to say that for me an exquisite culinary experience is right up there with anything else you could name. And I do mean anything!

The very next best thing to experiencing it directly, IMHO, is watching someone else take pleasure in an exquisite culinary experience and therein lays the vast appeal of Spain - On The Road Again for me.

Posted by Kevin at February 13, 2009 05:31 PM