Perpetually overdosing on meat, getting grotesquely sloshed and stoned, spouting swear words with casual irreverence — nothing seems overboard for 'Tony' Bourdain to pull off on his massively popular travel and food adventure show, No Reservations. As it enters its ninth and final season, the six-feet-four, silver-haired chef-turned-author's appetite is far from satiated. Instead, the American is licking his lips at the feast spread before him — his bloodspluttering graphic novel titled Get Jiro! (in picture) and the as-yet-untitled show.
Bourdain, somewhat of a Tarantino of travel shows (for blowing up the boring blueprint and sauteing the culinary with the cultural, social and political), says in a telephonic chat from Los Angeles, that he was only being himself. "This was the only way I could do it. I have a curious, restless mind. I wanted to experience the outside world, and it's been a life-changing experience. After being exposed to the bland Western palate, discovering South East Asia's spicy food opened me up. Now I need chillies in my food!"
Tasting instant fame with his first book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly — an explosive expose of the dark underbelly of the restaurant business — and later hosting travel food shows, Bourdain doesn't see the No Reservations finale as the end of glory. "I will soon be back with an even better show along the same lines on another channel. I am, essentially, a storyteller. I love telling interesting stories and I find interesting ways to tell them."
This urge to tell things differently explains his latest experiment with comics. Having grown up collecting Marvel, MAD and Golden Age, Bourdain's fascination for graphic novels found its perfect foil in his obsession with food. "As a huge fan of Japanese samurai films like Yojimbo, and spaghetti westerns like A Fistful Of Dollars, I picked up elements while incorporating some cool action into Get Jiro!, which is a satire on the restaurant industry," says Bourdain, who has co-authored it with Joel Rose and artist Langdon Foss.
Set in a hyper-violent dystopian future where celebrity chefs rule Los Angeles like the mafia, Get Jiro! speaks of a new economy built around food. The protagonist, renegade sushi chef Jiro — known to decapitate customers who dare ask for a California Roll — is Bourdain's tribute character to Jiro Ono, arguably the world's greatest sushi chef. "Jiro is an old school sushi chef caught between two powerful gangs dedicated to opposing philosophies of how and what we should eat. I know of authentic sushi chefs who are very intolerant of those who disrespect the finer aspects of sushi food. Jiro's character reflects that temperament," he says.
Behind all the cheekiness, Bourdain too is fanatic about the authenticity of food. "I believe people communicate through street food. What people eat on the streets of Mexico or Vietnam is the product of many difficult years that have shaped those dishes. Such stories intrigue me. You don't get those at Mc Donald's," he says.
In the pursuit of the world's freakiest ethnic dishes, Bourdain has spread-eagled his palate to wolf down the nastiest challenges known to human gastronomy — beating cobra heart in Vietnam, sheep testicles in Morocco, and a raw seal eyeball in Canada. "But the rotten, fermented shark in Iceland, marinated in lactic acid for six months, and the unwashed warthog anus in Namibia, are probably still the champions...the worst meals of my life," he says.
For a man who claims he could even eat "bloody Elvis Presley if you put enough vinegar on him," surprisingly, there are limitations. He says, "I avoid eating dog and cat because I grew up treating them as pets. It's very difficult for me to break that connection. I understand the hypocrisy involved in my happily killing and eating a pig, but not a dog. But then, I don't go looking to feast on exotic animals. I travel because I am interested in how people live and what they eat. I try to be a good guest and accept what is offered."
This, he points out, is also the basis for his anti-vegetarianism. "I loved eating vegetarian food in India for weeks. But vegetarians make for bad travellers because they offend people by refusing to eat what's being offered," he says. In the west, the rich have bizarre notions of what others should eat, Bourdain adds. "This fixation of telling others what to eat angers me, just like the hoopla over banning foie gras in California."
While his critical outrage hasn't lost an edge, his five-year-old daughter Ariane is the reason why this exheroin addict has sobered and quit puffing two packs a day. "Earlier, I was selfish, too hooked on drugs. At 50, I realised I am old enough to be a good father. Today, I feel some responsibility to try and live longer. She is the centre of my world and that inspires me to do better than indulging in stupid suicidal situations on the show. So I won't be jumping off a cliff anytime soon."
Anand.Holla @timesgroup.com
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