Congratulations to Nancy Pelosi on becoming the first female Speaker of the United States House of Representatives! Second in line to the presidency is a great step forward for American women in politics. The elections aren’t over for me, however, what with my stakes in the local Jefferson-Carter runoff on December 9th and the Allen-Webb vote recount in Virginia. Go, go, Gadget Macacatinize!
Returning to concerns unrelated to government, the following is D’s five-day-old retort to Alan Richman’s remarks on the Creole culture and Creole-Cajun cuisines in recent GQ articles entitled Yes, We’re Open and 10 Restaurants That Still Matter and a follow-up podcast. If you cannot find many of Richman’s exact words in the above links, check in the articles mentioned after this post. Take it away, D:
“Mr. Richman still has Commander’s Palace listed as the #1 restaurant on his 10 Restaurants That Still Matter. And I quote:
Here’s a list of restaurants that have been serving good, sometimes memorable food for at least ten years. Some are fancy, others plain. Some are unfamiliar, others gaudy with acclaim. They all deserve your everlasting respect, to say nothing of your patronage. If you pass them up, you’re missing a taste of history.
“So what are we to believe, Mr. Richman? You state on your webpage that ‘the Creole cuisine of New Orleans was practically invented here’ followed by ‘it has never served Cajun food, no matter what tourists might think.’ Yet, in your podcast, you think Creole cuisine is fictional. Did you know the difference between the two then, and have now forgotten, or were you misleading readers by pretending to know the difference? The same cuisine you have applauded in the past you now dismiss.
“I heard you say that New Orleanians built where they did because they ‘like living by the river???’ Did you skip history class, Mr. Richman? I find your ignorance as to what exactly the city of New Orleans is and why it is here appalling for someone who labels himself a journalist. I do completely agree that you are a critic. With such glaring lack of even the most cursory research on your part during the writing of this article, how can anyone take you seriously in the future? By the way, a good gumbo is made from a good stock, not cooking in a big pot for 12 hours. You can read the directions here.
“Your writing style makes me think that you are to food critics what Gene Shalit is to film critics.
“I guess this also explains the loss of the James Beard crown.”
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Related:
– NOLA.com: Renowned restaurant writer rips New Orleans but only embarrasses himself
– Lolis Eric Elie: Critic not in his ‘write’ mind
– Ashley Morris: Vitriol; He For Whom The Word Is Coined
Wait, you don’t understand-This is what he wrote and what everyone is commenting on. THIS is one of the most wrongheaded, misguided, poorly informed little gems of “journalism” that has ever been written in the Foodworld
http://men.style.com/gq/features/full?id=content_5165&pageNum=1
It’s sick. Really sick. They should just shoot the guy and get it over with.
Brooks, you’re right. I added the article you mention up there, but be aware that the other GQ articles also warrant attention – they show what an ignoramus of a contradiction this man is.
Let me point out another contradiction. As much as I like Commanders Palace, creole cuisine was not invented there.
Antoine’s was established more than 40 years before Commanders Palace was built. They invented Oysters Rockefeller there among other things.
For someone who is supposed to know food he certainly doesn’t know much history.
a quick search on Google of “Alan Richman” + idiot yields 13,900 hits….