"Where good food really comes from.. When it's done right!." There's been a buzz in the social world about a pilot that one of my favorite Chefs, Chris Cosentino, is trying to get picked up called "Chef Unleashed." A show dedicated to the roots of food and the honest ways of making it.
In the preview video below, Chris takes us on a dear hunt and then prepares an Italian hunt breakfast called Migliacci, made from the animal's fresh blood. While there is little censorship and watching the animal die and bleed may seem disturbingly visceral, The hunters and Chris make the very good point that prior to being hunted for consumption, these animals are not caged, farmed or transported in trucks, in fact they roam free and eat naturally.
Here are my favorite excerpts from his pilot summary: Real stuff. Challenging and yet totally entertaining. No oohing and aahing studio audience. No eating of 40-pound omelettes or 9-foot hoagies. No races or contests.
Yes, we were pretty aware that we were, to repeat the phrase, pushing the envelope with this. And I admit, it was pretty gory stuff. If you watch, you’ll see my very real reaction to it.
But this was not – at all – about shock value. This was all about getting down to the very source of the very best food and showing where it comes from. People who know me know I’ve been waging war against our Styrofoam-wrapped, hormone-pumped supermarket culture my entire career.
I barely spend anytime watching TV at all, when I do turn on the glowing machine you can bet on the fact that I'm probably watching Food Network or something of the like.
I've been called a food snob on many occasions, but I truly think that my outlook on food is not one of a discerning critic, but that of an inspired eater who just appreciates good honest food.
While some may find my food choices at times repulsive, I live my life and eat accordingly to two mantras 1) what's life without adventure and guts and 2) i'd rather experience then sit cozy.
I truly hope that "Chef Unleashed" gets picked up because I think there's this disconnect between people and the food they consume, and this show may help to minimize that gap.
There's an Italian butcher by my house, that was telling me a story about a time where people knew who owned the cows they were eating and what they were being fed. I think in many ways "Chef Unleashed" will celebrate a different view on food and take people out of the "supermarket foam wrapped culture" if only for an hour.
P.S I'm headed back to Canada in a couple days and more than anything I cannot wait to noms at Corso32 and see what Chef Daniel Costa (another favorite of mine) has cooking.