“The people are telling you a story when they give you food… and the relationship proceeds from that point… they’re telling you something about themselves.” Anthony Bourdain in a conversation with (non-foodie) Anderson Cooper.
I was driving to work on Friday morning listening to NPR as I always do. As soon as I heard Steve Innskeep’s voice at the top of the 8 o’clock hour I knew something was wrong – the news had just broke of Anthony Bourdain’s death and he was announcing it to the NPR Morning Edition audience.
As much as I both love food and to cook, I barely watch any television and surprisingly rarely any cooking shows when I do. But, I knew Bourdain. He was a larger than life personality who not only loved food but loved telling the stories surrounding it – about the people, ingredients and how it was made. I watched a touching tribute by CNN’s Anderson Cooper about his friendship with Bourdain where I heard the quote that opened this post. I found it to be a wonderful way of explaining the importance of sharing food and reminded me of why I love to share the food (or in the case of my blog, recipes) that I make with family and friends.
Ed had decided to make baby back ribs on the Big Green Egg for Sunday dinner, so I went searching for one of Bourdain’s recipes to accompany the ribs. Our small way of paying tribute to him. In 2016, Bourdain released Appetites: A Cookbook and we got it for each other (as in two copies) for Christmas that year. In that book, I found Bourdain’s take on a wedge salad. Homemade blue cheese dressing (using intense Stilton – not for the meek), crumbled pancetta and cooked shallots made up the ingredients. It was a perfect balance of flavors and particularly good blue cheese dressing. Ed liked it so much that he recommended that it become our go to blue cheese dressing (I think we’ll call it ‘Bourdain’s Blue’).
According to the two page dessert section in Appetites: A Cookbook, Bourdain thought one should skip the sweets and opt for cheese, specifically Stilton which he referred to as the “king of cheeses.”
While we can’t bring Bourdain back, we can hope that he’s no longer suffering. And, we can take some comfort from the wisdom and recipes he’s left behind.
Looking for another Bourdain recipe? Try my take on his New Mexico Beef Chili – it’s really good and happens to be the third most popular recipe on Riegl Palate.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Note: Check out The Spruce’s article Blue Cheese Is Gluten-Free: A Research Update. This is good news for those on a gluten-free diet as blue cheese has been found to have no traces of detectable gluten.
| Anthony Bourdain’s Wedge Salad | Print |
- 2 ounces pancetta, cubed
- 1 large shallot, thinly sliced into rings
- 4 ounces Stilton or other intense blue cheese, finely crumbled and divided
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1-1/2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (~ ½ lemon)
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- ½ head of iceberg lettuce
- 1 teaspoon chopped Italian flat leaf parsley
- In a medium skillet, cook pancetta over medium-high heat until crispy, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer pancetta to a plate lined with a paper towel.
- Cook shallot in pancetta fat until soft and slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add ¼ water as needed to prevent sticking. (Alternately you can clean out the skillet with a paper towl and cook the shallots in olive oil.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk 2 ounces of Stilton, mayonnaise, canola oil, red wine vinegar and lemon juice until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. If too thick, add 1 tablespoon of water and whisk.
- Cut ½ head of iceberg lettuce in half and put on two plates. Spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of dressing over lettuce and divide pancetta, shallot, remaining 2 ounces of Stilton and parsley between lettuce. Serve remaining dressing on the side.
* Salad dressing can be made a day in advance.
Source: Adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Appetites: A Cookbook (2016)
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