Anthony Bourdain Explains Why Kobe Sliders Are Everything That’s Wrong With American Food

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Anthony Bourdain is an opinionated man. As many know, there is nary a food that the celebrated chef and television host hasn’t eaten and subsequently formed an opinion about to shout to all the world. In a recent interview with First We Feast, Bourdain went off about a variety of foodstuffs and even touched on the election briefly – in that he would eat deadly Hemlock as a response to this presidential outcome.

While the interview – in which he goes off about truffle oil, the different between artisanal and craftsmanship, and authenticity – is worth reading in full, the harshest criticism Bourdain levels is at Kobe sliders. Why is he against Kobe sliders, you ask? A piece of Kobe beef that is so revered and expensive, settled nicely into a miniature bun and stuck through with a toothpick? Apparently, Bourdain thinks that Kobe sliders are a perfect summation of what is wrong with American food these days – and he may have a point.

In response to FWF‘s query about what would be the best food example of everything that’s wrong with America, Bourdain said,

“Kobe sliders. What makes Kobe good is texture. You lose all of that immediately. It doesn’t matter if you’re just slapping a name on not just a burger, but a tiny, little burger. There’s no way that you could appreciate the things that make Kobe interesting and good and expensive in a little burger or a meatball drowned in sauce. I mean it’s silly. You’re just selling status there and bragging rights and the last thing they care about is, “Is this the best?”

That’s not where the criticism ends either, as Bourdain also had some thoughts about people who try to improvise burgers. He speaks the truth when he asserts that “A good burger is unimprovable by man or God. So no aioli dressing and brioche bun or onion and pumpkin relish, or housemade ketchup. God help us.”

God help us indeed. Maybe Bourdain can give some similarly unfiltered advice to the US government as they try to staff up for the new administration, then he won’t have to eat Hemlock and the rest of us can have a few less “God help us” moments as well.

(via First We Feast)

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