That’s an interesting comparison, because that’s what I like about magic tricks, and is kind of central to my own obsessions. I like things that can only happen, or objects that can only exist, by someone going to unjustifiably absurd lengths to make it that way. Anything is possible if there’s a huge market for it (like an iPhone), or if it’s an exercise in ostentation (like a Fabergé egg), but if something is both difficult to achieve and totally banal, then it breaks the wheel just by existing.
Like, a full-size crochet blanket takes hundreds of hours to make (and good yarn ain’t cheap), and the result is nice, but it’s hardly something you’d wear to your coronation; it can never be a mass-market product. If you own a crochet throw, it’s because either you or someone who loves you wasted a ton of time to make it. But it’s not quite like anything you can buy so, if you’re of a mind to appreciate it, it’s like owning something from Narnia. That’s probably why Hollywood set dressers love crochet throws and no doubt pay thousands of dollars to have them made. And of course Jeff Bezos could do the same, but that would just make him a rube. Stuff like that exists at right angles to the world that can be measured in dollars.
I think what bothers me about the very fancy veggie bites is that it feels like just that kind of transaction; you’re buying your way into an experience that belongs as part of an emotional or spiritual relationship. I suppose there are true gourmands who come to it in the right spirit, but that wouldn’t be me (and I bet it’s not most of their customers).
Not sure why folk get so angry and vocal about vegan and vegetarian food but then again I do understand that there are deep historical and cultural connections to eating animals.
The way that people will stereotype and judge other cultures by their cuisine fuels a layer of racism or, better, provide a cultural understanding of people that are other than ‘us’. Food and music are traditions that would seem to be a universal human practice. To accept and enjoy other peoples food is a good way to accept other people…
To thoughtlessly dismiss a cuisine is to make a judgment on other people.
If it costs $335 to have the best of any food I would gladly save up to have that experience.
or, you know. some of us just don’t like the ethics of industrialized meat production. meat’s not necessary so why be forced - by convention mainly - to participate?
Bordain liked his Foie gras, which is banned in some jurisdictions. Most of his favored techniques for preparing vegetables were decidedly non vegan/vegetarian. Yes, there are a few creative techniques for approximating those flavors using vegan techniques, but it’s not something that Bourdain was interested in.
“Make me something delicious” is different than “Make me something delicious and vegetarian.”
