annabelle

I swear like a sailor, but I am not a public figure and I know when to clam it up. The point being, the article is entitled (I paraphrase) " Blah Blah Bravo Bullshit" and then lauds Boudain as an expert on NO (news to me) and introduces David Simon with "F**k Twitter". Sorry Dave, saying "F**k" isn't quite the attention grabber it used to be, if indeed it ever was.

Mr. Simon has the vocabulary of a middle-schooler. I quit reading after "F*** Twitter."

Cilantro doesn't taste like mint. Mint is very distinct. Fresh cilantro is a must have around my house and I agree that the problem may be growing it in the same pot as parsley. Frankly, cilantro doesn't grow worth a damn around here since it's too hot and the stuff bolts in hours if you don't cut it practically everyday. There is a species of butterfly that also likes to lay its eggs on it and you can go out one day to see a potful of stumps and caterpillars. Cilantro can taste like soap to some and it is a genetic trait. It may be on the same spectrum of tastes that causes some to dislike asparagus. One of my sons hates them both while the other loves it.

I'm not wild about Angel Cake, either. I use my angel food cake pan for other cakes that are dense and need air circulation: Dutch apple cake, applesauce and raisin cake and the like. I have a new and larger 10-cup Bundt pan, so my angel cake pan now gets little use.

No eggs, so not SobaAddict70.

Weinoo is Mitch. Didn't he just do a blog about a year ago? It's one of the cocktail crew, though, I'm guessing.

No, my little brother and his family live there and have for about 22 years. I don't hate New Orleans, either. In fact, I never think about NO at all unless it's in a book I'm reading.

I need to correct myself from upthread: the B reds are the smaller potatoes as Shel points out. I was thinking of the A reds which are the size of a white potato. It would appear that most red potatoes sold in my part of the country are Red Bliss potatoes, both the As and the Bs. I also always dress the potatoes when they are hot and then let them cool before adding other ingredients. I learned this from reading Julia child's French potato salad recipes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" way back when Hector was a pup.

Yeah, before Katrina and the BP oil spill nobody had even heard of New Orleans or cajun/creole food. My money is on Portland! (although I wouldnt be shocked to see them go back to SF and do some Napa with it either since SF was season 1) Twyst, that isn't what I meant and if you read the rest of my post you'd be honest and acknowledge that instead of trying to crack wise. You can stop being angry because I don't like your town and was explaining that it does have some good things to it. They won't bring me there, so don't leave the light on for me. I wouldn't be surprised if Top Chef filmed in Portland. Portland, ME would be much more interesting, but I can't see that happening any more than I can see Top Chef filming in any other part of the country that isn't a major media market.

Where did I say that? I said "They watch it for the drama and for what they perceive to be "cutting edge" or "top notch" cooking." I'm sorry. I was going by memory.

Rona, I think you are contradicting your own original post about the viewership of the Top Chef franchise not being interested in the food. I happen to agree that post and with your point that many people watch the show for the hijinks, not the cooking (persons reading this blog excluded, of course.) Austin, Atlanta, NOLA, and Los Angeles all tend to skew younger in demographic age. Obviously, NOLA has name recognition through its tragic accidents and natural disasters of the last decade. The fact that it is a party destination for Spring Break and Mardi Gras and that the city itself is in parts quite charming, haunted and very, very old, both in its cultural melting pot and its style of cooking does make it a natural destination city for Top Chef and an obvious one. It could very well be that the cities of Savannah and Charleston have been approached by Bravo and turned them down as not being something they thought their cities needed. It could also be a matter of creative control over final production. Savannah and Charleston have a well-crafted identity as being genteel and Old Southern Charm personified. I'd need a better ear on how Bravo chooses its host cities or if it is just a bidding war to be able to give a better answer. Re: Bourdain: still trying to be a hipster at nearly 60.

That's fine, Twyst. I don't like it there, obviously, but that doesn't mean you can't think it's the bee's knees.

"B reds" are the red potatoes that many/most people will boil for potato salad. They are about the size of a regular white potato. The baby reds are what I like to use since they will cook up quicker, the skins slip off easily and the stay firm enough to be diced or sliced, as well as stirred/tossed with other ingredients and a dressing without crushing or crumbling. Personally, I am not a fan of Yukon Golds and don't understand their appeal, but to each his own. I have never steamed potatoes to be used in potato salad and would be interested to see if anyone does this as a rule.

Prasantrin, Savannah has all that and more. It is one of the only cities in the old South that wasn't torched and burned to the ground by General Sherman during the Civil War. Because of this, there are many, many antebellum mansions. It is a beautiful city with a lively tourist trade. There is voodoo, too, if people want "edge-y" without all the drunks in NOLA. If you've seen the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil", it recounts an infamous murder that took place in Savannah years back and was shot in the city and the actual homes. There is a prosperous shrimping trade and the city is much cleaner than NOLA with lovely river views, wide boulevards, trolleys, landmark restaurants, bed and breakfasts and a large number of minority owned businesses. We can listen to all the chefs belly-ache about how weird everyone talks. This will happen no matter where they film in the South since, as Bravo demonstrates each season: New York is Mecca and the rest of the country is an afterthought.

He's a narcissist and they can be entertaining when they aren't being repetitive and annoying.

Shel_B, try your local Goodwill or other thrift store. They often have loads of cooking and bakeware for next to nothing compared to new. Don't worry if they don't look shiny. An angel cake pan will have three little "ears" on it that are actually feet. Angel cakes must be inverted after they bake to keep them from falling. My mother always turned hers over on a glass soda pop bottle. For some reason, Bundt pans go in and out of fashion and they are often easy to find at thrifts.

I feel safe in saying the blogger is male. My insight ends there.

I think Bourdain always wants to be something that he isn't. He goes to college, a Seven Sisters college, because his family is wealthy. He drops out and goes to culinary school where he cheats until he gets his degree and then goes to work at an old, landmark restaurant where he is tasked with making the buffet for its wealthy patrons, for whom he fairly drips contempt and does mediocre work. He limps his way through heroin addiction and alcoholism (he really shouldn't be drinking, with his history). He cleans up, writes a book. It takes off because it is "shocking". He dumps his wife of 20+ years and marries a girl young enough to be his daughter and has a child with her. ( A girl for whom he purchases $1000 shoes, many a pair. Just sayin'.) Now he's old, gray, "respected" if not respectable and still trying to be a badass. He's always wanted to be James Dean and he's really Arthur Fonzerelli. So, I'm with Jaymes on this one.

I find them embarrassing, as well. Something tells me they don't care how I feel. None of us here in the South West like to be surrounded by Nyers who feel the need to dress up like dime store cowboys and try to say "y'all" ironically every time a national show does a feature here. The TC Texas was cringe-worthy with the brand new bandanas and Tony Lama boots.

Well, Celeste, write to them and express your concerns. We'd be happy to host those shows here in Oklahoma.

True, but the more important point in my mind is that it wasn't their decision to begin with. The LA tourism folks had control of those very same dollars. They CHOSE to give them to Bravo. Good money well spent, I'd say. National exposure for that kind of money is a gift.

It's certainly up to Andy Cohen and Bravo to decide what to do with the $200K. Andy is running a business, not a charity. Perhaps he has privately given monies to a disaster relief fund and it's none of Bourdain's damned business if he has or he hasn't. While Andy is no shrinking violet, not everyone makes a photo opportunity out each good deed they do. And since I feel like bashing Tony, I'm with IndyRob: send those poor people you exploit on your show some money and some cooking vessels.

I'm glad you found one you think will work for you. (I am also secretly pleased that you are eating CoolWhip. *cyber-fistbump*) Please let us know how it turned out.

So, being self-important and smug is better than being financially and economically literate? Some certainly think so.

Ain't that the truth?