Bourdain, the Loveable Stranger

I have been a big fan of Anthony Bourdain, ever since I watched his episode on Amsterdam on a flight to Europe several years ago. Being a foodie, traveller, and culture enthusiast, I was attracted right away to his language, curiosity, and bluntness. He was not the type of person to shy away from expressing his opinion. He was bold, courageous and was very comfortable with it.


I started watching his videos from "The Layover" and "No reservations" and later, "Parts Unknown". I read his book, "Kitchen Confidential", and signed up for the first release of "Appetites", from which I learned that Caesar salad is not Italian but Mexican and it does not include chicken. "God does not want you to put chicken in your Caesar" as he put it. I laughed out loud alone in my apartment, reading a recipe from Appetites. I don't think anyone has captured my hatred of club sandwich as best as Bourdain.

When I travelled, I went to his recommended places to eat and to hang out with the locals I met from couchsurfing or simply met with, around food, from Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, to Venice, Savoca in Sicily, and more. I devoured in street food and haute cuisine alike and often times had something on the house after staying couple hours eating and drinking and talking to the waiters, chefs or the locals. The waiter at a restaurant in Venice told us where Bourdain sat and spent hours eating so much, he could barely move. A chef in Savoca gave us his best olive oil and told us "Anthony Bourdain is a strange man...he was not sympatico but I like!" I knew what he meant by sympatico.


Bourdain was a badass and from a personal experience did not come off as sympatico. On the way back from the trip to Sicily, I bumped into him at Rome's Fiumicino airport. I was so excited I went to say hi. I felt awkward. What was I gonna say, that I'm a fan? That I love your enthusiasm in food and culture? That I love your show? That I love your politics? That I love your badassness? He was checking in on the same flight as me but in business class of course. I went and said, "Mr. Bourdain?" He turned back and saw me like a teenage groupie. Then the airline employee blocked me from going further into the business class line. It pissed me off and I was like, bitch please, I'm just gonna say hi; I don't have a ticket for business class, what the heck are you afraid of by not letting me get in and say hi. I checked in, passed the security check and I saw Bourdain again on the moving walkway. I told him that it was such a coincidence seeing him in Rome, after having been to the restaurant he went to in Savoca, which I really enjoyed. He said: "Oh yeah?" and then walked away. I was really pissed and thought, what a dick. When I thought about it later, I took it that he's a celebrity but needs his space and privacy. It can be really frustrating having to talk to random strangers who are fan wherever you go. Maybe he was tired, had headache, or just sad that he would be missing his Italian girlfriend. It was OK. I'm not a child, I get it.


Bourdain's pungent voice irritated so many but attracted many more. I loved his politics, his social awareness, and going beyond measures and what food tastes like. He once said "there is nothing more political than food", and I wholeheartedly believe that. He wasn't a type of guy to follow mainstream movements without having an opinion on his own. He ate seal with the Inuit and pled with people who signed on to a boycott of Canadian seal hunt. He rightfully understood that the campaign would doom Inuit communities. He reminded me that one can't blindly adhere to an organization like Green Peace. It was a difficult moment to realize that an association whose many actions and campaigns I support and still support, has not only failed with regards to the seal hunt campaign, but has also wreaked havoc to the Inuit population of Canada. I felt betrayed by Green Peace. Though, what I learned was to have critical eyes and accept that failures are possible, even by well-meaning organization.


Bourdain was one of the few American celebrities that was vocal about the Palestinian cause. In his trip to Palestine and Israel of Parts Unknown, he didn't go to Tel Aviv and instead went to the contentious Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza. He sat with the settlers at a table, looked at them in the eyes and asked one of them why they did not paint over the "Death to the Arabs" sprayed over a an Arab's house. In his trip to Haiti, he showed us the complexities and the consequences of good intentions.

He will be missed by many, and I'm glad I'm not alone here.

Don't suck your drink through a straw before reading this

If you are concerned about the environment and recycling, continue reading.

This is not a nag. This is a small list of suggestions to anyone who wants to be able to dare looking into the eyes of the next generation; who wants to eat fish and seafood that does not contain plastic, who wants to enjoy nature, and in short, who wants to live and pass this planet to their kids or others' kids.

Like some of you, I feel distressed, angry, sad and hopeless whenever I see how our living environment is getting dirtier and filled with plastic and garbage. I do not think that we can continue living on this planet if we keep using and wasting and throwing away here and there.

I am tired of nagging, so I am writing a few things that you, me and every one of us can do as our share. It doesn't matter if some people are irresponsible or stupid; it doesn't matter if we live in a capitalist world that doesn't fine those who dump waste or plastic in the ocean; it doesn't matter if Trump is the president; it doesn't matter that we're all gonna die someday, it's always been like that. What matters, is that we as individuals can choose not to take part in what we don't like. We can tell our friends and they can tell theirs and in the end, hopefully we will be many. We can educate ourselves, and then others, including kids.

What we can do:

1- practice correct recycling. I realized a few days ago that I have sometimes been an aspirational recycler, because sometimes I did not recycle correctly. For example, I did not know that items with number 6 as recycling code, are not recyclable. 

Here's an article on NY times that can help you figure out.

2- If you do not know what can be recycled in your city, check the website of your city/municipality for information. If this information does not exist, write them and ask them to update their website.

I live in Montreal and I realized that on the city of Montreal's website, plastic bags are considered recyclable. However, the article above suggests the opposite. The article also mentions that if one side of the pizza box is not greasy, you can tear it off and recycle that. I wrote an email to the city of Montreal and asked for clarification and referred them to the NY times article above. I'm waiting for an answer.

3- Please do not use straws. As humans, we have the physical capability to drink without straws. If your hands are too weak to lift your drink, or you're addicted, it's OK; we all have our weakness. Buy stainless steel straws, carry one in your bag, and put one in your house if withdrawal from plastic straw is as painful as heroin withdrawal.


You might have read many statistics so far, but just to give you an idea, 8 million metric tons of plastic pollute oceans each year. Animals including whales, fish, turtles, seabirds die as a result. Even giant corporates such as IKEA and Royal Caribbean have stopped using plastic straws. Come on! we can do better!

Here in Montreal, already some restaurants and bars stopped offering straws. You can also encourage your favourite place to stop offering them. Trust me, your words will have an impact.

4- Buy reusable tote bags in canvas or more generally reusable bags for your groceries. It will not cause you arthritis.

5- Get yourself a reusable mug/container/thermos to drink coffee/tea at work. Once you go to a cafe next door to take a break from work, take it with you and ask them to pour your drink in it.

"Your disposable coffee cup might seem like it can be recycled, but most single-use cups are lined with a fine film of polyethylene, which makes the cups liquid-proof but also difficult and expensive to reprocess (because the materials have to be separated)"

6- Likewise, use a reusable bottle for water and refill. Did you know that nearly a million plastic beverage bottles are sold every minute?

7- If you go on a hike, trekking, or camping, follow the principles of LNT (leave no trace). No, you shouldn't throw an apple core in nature! It's easy: Pack it in, pack it out.

Unfortunately I have seen so many plastic bottles, cans, or simply garbage that people leave on the trail. It is not cool at all. Sometimes I collect the garbage but sometimes I just get tired of cleaning up someone's shit who thinks it's OK to leave garbage/recyclables behind.

8- Don't feed non-domestic animals. This includes birds, squirrels, racoons, etc. Feeding wildlife damages their health, alters natural behaviousrs, and exposes them to predators and other dangers.

9- If you have kids, teach them about recycling and the environment.

Some resources:
1- National Geographic guide on Planet or Plastic

2- 6 things you're recycling wrong

3- If you wanna get inspired and take baby steps in changing your environment for the better, take a look at here. Take your pledge. Share it on your feed if you think that makes a difference. But remember your pledge.

4- 4 Ocean an initiative by two amazing surfers to clean the ocean. They were shocked at the amount of plastic on the beach and in the ocean on their trip to Bali. You can support them by buying a bracelet made out of recycled plastic, which funds the removal of 1 pound of trash from the ocean and the coastline. If not, just read their story and what they have done so far by gathering people on different places around the world who care for the environment and started their baby steps with them. Maybe next time you go to a beach, adults or with kids, spend a few minutes taking plastics off the beach. I do that most of the times. Trust me, this does not dehumanize you, leaving behind plastic, food remains, beer can or bottle does.

5-SeaWorld, Ikea and Royal Caribbean are getting rid of plastic straws and bags

Also, how do you like this image? I took it from National Geographic "What happens to the plastic we throw out?"


This is real and it's not far from happening next to us.