2012‘s South Beach Food and Wine Festival started off well but quickly turned into a roasting session for Travel Channel’s Chef Anthony Bourdain, who made his personal crusade against diabetes and Paula Deen deeper than ever anticipated.
According to EcoRazzi, in the middle of a question and answer period, the “Top Chef” judge was asked if he was a hypocrite for criticizing fellow chef Paula Deen for failing to open up about her Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis while he smoked cigarettes for years on his own show.
Bourdain responded saying:
“You are right. I did smoke cigarettes for a lot of years on my show. But I wasn’t selling you motherf-in’ cigarettes. I wasn’t selling Smoking Tony dolls for your kids. You couldn’t go to five or six casinos around the world and find the Tony Bourdain f-ing smoking section. And when I found a spot on my motherf-ing lung, I didn’t wait three years so I could get a deal so I could sell you the Patch, OK.”
Word? Why is Chef Bourdain so mad? We get that Mrs. Deen’s actions in the wake of her diabetes announcement were insidious and cunning, but she has to deal with the consequences to her decisions, personally.
Earlier this year, Deen, 65, finally admitted in a press release that she does in fact have the disease but will continue her lifestyle and way of cooking.
In concert with that, Deen partnered with the drug company Novo Nordisk to create a website that focuses on managing diabetes and highlights the insulin injection Victoza, which Deen takes every day. Opportunistically capitalist … yes. Devil in a lard dress … no.
But true to form and never one to shy away from hyberbole, Bourdain continued on his rant, citing that Deen created and marketed one of the worst foods he had ever heard of — Deen’s burger that’s topped with a fried egg and bacon, sandwiched between two Krispy Kreme donuts.
EcoRazzi reports that after revealing her diagnosis, her son Bobby has even launched his own Cooking Channel series, “Not My Mama’s Meals,” which shows viewers how to create healthier, lower-fat versions of his mother’s southern classics.
Responding to questions about her cooking at the festival, the 65-year-old Food Network star told the Associated Press:
“I am who I am. But what I will be doing is offering up lighter versions of my recipes. But you know, I’m Southern by roots. I was taught to cook by my grandmother and nothing I can do would change that.”
Hopefully Bourdain irons out his differences with the Queen of the Food Network, but on second-thought, who doesn’t love a good chef’s duel? Why else do we have a gazillion reality-chef shows?
Paula Deen’s cooking is pure novelty by far. I’m from “up North” but my ex is from the South… we were together a long time and I’ve been to different places all over the South. She is the first person I know who thinks Krispy Kreme and sausage belong on the same plate and constitute a meal.