Anthony Bourdain, host of The Taste on Fox Traveller, shares that the show is not about cooking skills, cuisines or presentation but about flavours and texture
Nigella lawson and Anthony Bourdain are all set to enthrall fans through their new show, The Taste on Fox Traveller. It revolves around four hosts cum mentors. These four form their own teams and then each team has to cook something. These four, who then play judges have no idea of what is being cooked or who is cooking it. The main concept of the show however, is that whatever the contestants cook has to be brought down to just one taste. Meaning one spoon of that. So even if it is a dish like a stake with salads and cream, it has to be crunched down to one spoon. After this is done, the four judges eat it without knowing who has cooked what and judge it. So they might eliminate some one from their own team.
Anthony Bourdain, the host of the show, shares more details. “The Taste is an attempt to level the playing field between home cooks and professionals — by making the criteria for judging solely by flavour and texture. Contestants get one bite to make their best impression. Their food is tasted blind. The judges do not know who is cooking — so all their experience or lack of experience is irrelevant. It is hopefully as true a meritocracy as possible, where anyone with a real flair, talent and heart for cooking stands a chance to win. Professional knifework, presentation, do not matter.”
Anthony was approached a while back with the idea, and was given a role of the executive producer to help develop the content, rules, and most importantly, personnel on the show. “When it began to look like Nigella would agree to take part, I was unhesitatingly on board,” he said.
On what cuisines is the show going to cover. he said, “The show is not about focussing on any specific cuisines but has a theme for every week. The contestants have to cook up dishes according to the themes. Some of the themes were comfort food, the perfect three course, art of the sandwich, perfect food and wine pairing among others.
Anthony adds that the show is not just about food but about everything that surrounds food. “Food is as political a subject as it gets. So even without discussing politics per se, who eats and what they eat — there are important answers,” he said.
He hopes that there will be an Indian version of The Taste soon. “I love India and hope to film there again soon. I love the spicy food from Kerala in particular,” he ended.