My long-time friend Chris Fehnel has launched a new video blog called Eat Weird. The premise is simple; Live well, Eat Weird. You see, many times us Americans (and perhaps many of you reading this that are not Americans) tend to think certain foods taboo. That is, you think they’re weird.
Maybe you grew up in a "normal" household eating meat and potatoes. Perhaps you grew up in a "modern" household where you either ate at a restaurant or you warmed something up in the microwave. Or, worse yet – all you’ve ever done is snack in front of the television. Regardless, I believe we can all agree that the culinary and food-loving pedigree present in most households of this 21st-Century are poor.
Eat Weird: Episode 2 – Pickled Pigs Feet
I’m as guilty as any. Or at least I was. Since striking out on my own and getting married my diet has consisted of, well, whatever I can get my hands on. Growing up with a father, born in Indonesia and raised by well-traveled Dutch parents, who loved to cook – I was often treated to what some would consider extremely exotic meals. Rattle snake, shark, cow’s tongue, and countless Indonesian dishes were on the table every night. And I mean every single night.
My wife wasn’t so fortunate. She and her single-mother would rarely cook anything of consequence. Make no mistake about it, Eliza is an excellent cook now in her adult life. When she hits the kitchen and I hear pots and pans smashing around – I get all together excited at the prospect. But for the first few years of our marriage – we were married young – we ate like Americans in every sense of the phrase.
That is why Chris’ show Eat Weird strikes so close to home for me. It is because his show is a direct reflection of where I am right now in my food-eating journey. As I travel around the world to locations exotic and otherwise, I try everything I’ve never had before. This spirit of willingness has always been inside of me, lurking. But it has only shown itself through motivation to actually work towards its end – rather than passively allow life and opportunity to pass by – within the past 4 or 5 years. That is, I’ve always been willing to eat anything but I have only recently begun to seek these delicacies.
I had the privilege of helping Chris shoot his first two episodes using only Eliza’s Flip video camera. The quality, content, mood, and overall feel of the show will mature overtime – that much Chris knows for sure. But sometimes you just have to start. Sometimes that is the most challenge part. Now that he’s got his feet wet – ideas, circumstances, and opportunities are flying in from all directions. The road ahead looks promising both for his own food-eating diversity but also for his fledgling show which, I think, could end up being a huge hit in six months.
Congrats to Chris for launching this new show and I look forward to following his journey in the world of good food while I continue my own. No matter how weird some may think it.
Photo credit: Eliza Devroe.
