<i>A few years ago, I wasn’t surprised to hear rumors of a study of the nation’s prison population which reportedly found that the leading civilian occupation among inmates before they were put behind bars was “cook.” As most of us in the restaurant business know, there is a powerful strain of criminality in the industry, ranging from the dope-dealing busboy with beeper and cell phone to the restaurant owner who has two sets of accounting books.</i><p>I spent quite a few formative years working in food service/kitchen jobs and this is definitely something I noticed. I came up with a theory as to why, which I think is largely still true:<p>Preparing food is a “fast loop” activity. By this I mean that the amount of time it takes to go from putting in work to seeing a reward is fairly short, often only a few minutes. You see the efforts of your labor quickly, without needing to conceptualize the idea of receiving a reward at some unknown point in the future.<p>This makes it ideal for those with short attention spans, the type of people that do eat the marshmallow instead of waiting for a greater reward. [1.]<p>1. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experimen...</a>
Brilliant early work from Bourdain that (I believe) launched his career, which was tragically cut short. Just last month, I feasted on bun cha next to the table in Hanoi where Obama and Bourdain ate in 2015. He was a global ambassador who united the world through our universal love of food, and really had an amazing impact bringing attention to all cultures and traditions.<p>It's also important to learn from Bourdain's life that even if someone's life looks perfect from the outside, you never know what people are going through. Everyone deserves empathy. And please, if you are suffering, remember that you are not alone and there are people who can help.
That's my 2nd time reading this article (I'm sure its been posted to HN a few times) - and I'm just always impressed by Bourdain's writing style. It has a wonderful cadence and rhythm that just lends itself to being read.<p>Reminds you that its always good to be good at two things and bring them together. In this case he was sharp-witted and great at prose as well as being a celebrated chef. So why not host a show on food... Ultimately though, that may have been his undoing.
Bourdain was a gem. His style of writing reminds me of the beats...<p>It should be noted that Bourdain later walked back some of this advice years later -- as the population became more aware of what they eat, the industry adapted.
Always loved Anthony Bourdain. He used to come down to the Cayman Islands at least once a year with other A-list chefs for a culinary festival. He'd hang out at my local beach bar. Always hoped to run into him there, but I missed him every year. Wasn't enough of a stan to go looking for him. Just wish I'd bumped into him and shared a beer.
Bourdain was awesome. His shows "No Reservations" and "Parts Unknown" are full of interesting, thought-provoking explorations of the culinary world, all over the world. I wish he were still around to share that with us.
<p><pre><code> In New York, the main linguistic spice is Spanish. “Hey, maricón! chupa mis huevos” means, roughly, “How are you, valued comrade? I hope all is well.”</code></pre>
A fun fact about this essay. It was published after Anthony’s mother made an unsolicited submission of it to David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker.<p>> Bourdain began his ascent as a writer and public personality when his mother sent a manuscript to me more than twenty years ago. Like any editor, I receive many unsolicited manuscripts, and each one carries a message: ignore this at your peril; brilliance could await. I read Bourdain’s piece and started laughing almost immediately.[0]<p>I was fortunate enough to get to see Anthony retell this story during an interview at The New Yorker Festival, shortly before his passing.<p>[0] <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-remembering-anthony-bourdain" rel="nofollow">https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-r...</a>
Hilarious.. The cook in prison reminded me of an old mad mag parody on Nixon. He gets assigned to kitchen in hell. He goes, 'I'm not a cook'
> Even more despised than the Brunch People are the vegetarians. Serious cooks regard these members of the dining public—and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans—as enemies of everything that’s good and decent in the human spirit. To live life without veal or chicken stock, fish cheeks, sausages, cheese, or organ meats is treasonous.<p><i>Yikes</i>. A comment that was a product of its times, I suppose.<p>It is worth noting that Anthony Bourdain appeared to have changed his mind about vegetarian food after visiting Punjab, India[1], like so many other Western chefs whose only experience of vegetarian food so far was soggy vegetables, coleslaw, cold French fries, and sub-par pasta.<p>It helps to have a history of vegetarianism going back nearly four millennia, I suppose.<p>[1]: <a href="https://youtu.be/_RFTnb4nC-A?t=28" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/_RFTnb4nC-A?t=28</a>