The Trencherman

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Simple. Simpler.

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Everyone apparently loves reading about food as much as eating it if the number of recent new food magazines is anything to go by. The inaugural issue of Fool magazine has just hit the stands (online stands) and, although published in Sweden, is written in English. It's got class, that Scandinavian kind of class. I'm still reading my way through it but it's a great addition to the medium for several reasons, not least the exceptional photography and the in-depth articles. If you are in the UK, you can find it here

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Just a quick follow-up on 'Get Jiro!'- Picked up a copy last weekend and really enjoyed it. Highly recommend it to food lovers. A few things (I'll try to keep it loose on details):

- It's violent in a 'Takashi Miike directs Yojimbo' kind of way.

- I thought Langdon Foss' art was really solid and illustrated a lot of cooking techniques and artistry really well. Stylistically reminded me of Steve Dillon's work on Preacher.

- Loved all the culinary details like the use of Ike Jime, the correct way to eat Nigiri and the love of a true Pot-au-Feu. There's plenty more in the book. What comes over in the book is Bourdain's love of authenticity and cooking technique. It's not puritanical, it's respect.

- Is it just me or is the character 'Rose' a sort of fauxhemian hipster version of Alice Waters?

- I ended up thinking it was a shame this wasn't serialised for its demographic in a publication like Lucky Peach. More people should get to read this.

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So Anthony Bourdain (a self-professed comic nerd and full-time food nerd) has written a comic for Vertigo about the culture of food nerdism and chef celebrity but taken to an ultraviolent extreme. I'm in!

It's called 'Get Jiro!' btw.

[you-are-my-gravity]

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Adventure Time may just be the greatest animated TV show ever made. This is reason #1832474389908

[poetrysociety]

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This was the first issue of National Geographic I remember experiencing. One which kickstarted a passion for the magazine throughout my child and teenage years.

This magazine always offered something exotic, exposure to things unknown and a bounty of knowledge. Most importantly, it also fueled a burgeoning imagination immeasurably. Thank you.

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My Dinner With Andre

OK. Yes, we are bored. We're all bored now. But has it ever occurred to you Wally that the process that creates this boredom that we see in the world now may very well be a self-perpetuating, unconscious form of brainwashing, created by a world totalitarian government based on money, and that all of this is much more dangerous than one thinks? and it's not just a question of individual survival Wally, but that somebody who's bored is asleep, and somebody who's asleep will not say no?

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There is a guy called Grant Achatz. He trained at El Bulli and has one of the most famous and respected (and probably the leading modernist) restaurants Stateside, Alinea in Chicago. Unorthodox ideas and techniques pervade his cooking style and the video after the jump shows the kind of groundbreaking approach to presentation his cuisine typifies. Pretty jaw-dropping.

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The Hamburger fetishists are taking over, drawing lines in the grease and shouting the loudest. A typically puritanical rabble if ever there was one.

Bet you wouldnt eat the burger in the video above though. Deep-fried in 91 year-old grease (probably more like a 100 now judging by the age of the doc). Bleuurrgghh!

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Photo belongs to Aimee Monko

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Speaking of Momofuku....David Chang did a video for Vice a little while back showcasing his favourite joints to drop into and have a late night bite at. It's a fun tour and useful for those of you planning a trip to NYC. There's a few similar videos to browse including one featuring Brooks Headley of many hardcore-punk bands including Born Against(!) and who now is a pastry chef at one of Mario Batali's places, Del Posto.

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Food. Knowledge. Humour.

Go and buy this before you regret it. It's edited by the obnoxious and brilliant David Chang of Momofuku and features all your favourite top trump Chefs. Click Pic for Link.

Issue one is long gone (sadface) but you can buy it for £80 on ebay or amazon. Ha.

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No Comment.

The video is annoying btw. But click the pic and watch anyway.

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Jiro Ono is so esteemed they made a documentary about him.

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Perfection in artistry. Watching a good, no,...really good sushi chef at work is a mesmerising mix of precision, meditation and a lifelong search for mastery of a craft. For most of us here on the west side, we'll never get to taste the likes of sushi made by masters such as Jiro Ono. But he's made the bucket list anyhow.

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'Celebrity' and food are rarely, if ever, a comfortable mix. Ranging from casual endorsements to a need for attention in the twilight of their career, an idolised star often approaches cooking with a bewildered and naive enthusiasm, probably born from the fact they have done very little of it. The result: a distinct lack of self-awareness. But not always.

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