Everyone loves a food feud. In the wake of the recent Alison Roman-Chrissy Teigen dustup, we take a look at some of our favorite culinary squabbles, which range from delightfully entertaining to downright nasty. Also we salute some of our dearest food provocateurs, the late, great Anthony Bourdain among them. Why are food fights so tantalizing to us? What role, if any, do they play in shaping the food’s future? Amidst all the dishing, there is room for thoughtful conversation about how food fights make us think about appropriation, honesty, plagiarism, and race.
Correction: In the podcast, Mei states that a restauranteur filed a lawsuit against a reviewer before she published her article entitled, “The Peacock, the Critic, and the Blind Pussy.” He did not; he wrote a solicitor’s letter.
Also Alison Roman is 34, and not 31.
Mentioned in this episode:
Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
Jeremiah Tower: The Last Magnificent (2017 documentary)
Grimod de La Reyniere (food critic) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandre_Balthazar_Laurent_Grimod_de_La_Reyni%C3%A8re
Martha v. Gwyneth: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/martha-stewart-gwyneth-paltrow_n_5966142
Alison v. Chrissy: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/11/chrissy-teigen-alison-roman-food-fight
The Blind Pussy and other Irish and English dust-ups: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2006/aug/20/foodanddrink.features6
Achatz vs Muñoz (Alinea vs. Diverxo)
https://elcomidista.elpais.com/elcomidista/2014/11/17/articulo/1416204000_141620.html
Adría vs. Santamaría (El Bulli vs. Can Fabes)
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/world/europe/01spain.html
Martinez Moutiño vs Diego Granado (16th-17th century Spanish cookbook authors)
The Oxford Companion to Food (2006). Alan Davidson
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