Anthony Bourdain: A Fan Letter

Literature has always been a window into the human subconscious. While non-fiction may be informative or even a tell into human motivation (for more anecdotal writing), fiction holds a mirror to society and the human condition. Characters in novels often go through the same innate struggles as their authors. The worlds created often carry the same dysfunctions as society. That being said, the idea that non-fiction is oppositely cold and dry-cut is not accurate either. In fact, some of the most raw glimpses into the human spirit come from real-life storytelling that blurs the lines—like Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown.

It masquerades as a food show but quickly reveals itself. Bourdain shows you people and places as they are, unfiltered. Unlike most food shows, he doesn't shy away from discomfort—talking about economic disparity and government instability at a time when such things were mostly taboo. And through food, he starts talking about history, identity, and how something so ordinary ends up being what ties us together.

The charm of the show is its reality. He doesn't bring in over-enthusiastic TV personalities—he just brings himself. Dry, sarcastic, curious, sometimes clearly uncomfortable. While most food shows want you to stare at the food, Bourdain wants you to think about it. And about the people making it.

And the thing is—despite having what looks like one of the best jobs in the world, Bourdain was clearly troubled. He didn't hide it. He didn't decorate it. He let it be there. And instead of weakening the show, it made it feel more human.

I can honestly say that watching someone this endlessly curious, going from place to place and asking questions that most people avoid, has taught me more about being human than a thousand neatly packaged philosophies ever could. More than that, it has greatly fostered my interests in the culinary arts: one of my major interests other than swimming, physics, mathematics, reading (a bit iffy nowadays), video games, comics, manga, video game designs (all right I have a lot of interests!).

The interest in culinary arts is a very strange one. It all actually stems from my inherent dissatisfaction with the cooking at home (mostly because I'm a non-vegetarian stuck in a vegetarian household). The eating non-vegetarian outside with my dad turned into dreaming about it—as any self-respecting addict would. This metamorphosed into food review shows that made me really hungry and finally shows like Parts Unknown. Coupled with my insatiable appetite from swimming, I was classified more a hog than a connoisseur. However, the fascination grew into a full grown interest as I learned more about the creative aspects, the precision, the chemistry of the field. Of course, imagining the flavours of the food made is an added bonus!

Looking at my other interests, one would be inclined to think the appeal to food is something akin to chemistry you can eat. However, my connection to food feels almost more natural and more sacred. It is the one thing that everybody needs, not just for substance rather humans have an almost artistic desire when it comes to food. Our bodies themselves incline us to pursue this artform of analyzing flavour combinations, chemistries of cooking, and textures. I myself try to keep true to the Bourdain spirit, risking the bad meals to get to the really good meals. Experimenting with food is almost always like that—you risk food poisoning if you stick your neck out but it will always be an experience. Most importantly, I like to carry out this philosophy into life keeping an eternal curiosity.

As I continue writing this, I realise I have meandered a lot and romanticised food way too much. That is mostly because I am thinking over my journey in this field as I write (I'm quite adept at talking about the parallel in physics however that's because of writing college essays).