‘Iron Chef’ judge, famed food critic will visit Bainbridge

Published 12:25 pm Friday, June 19, 2015

Regardless of the mealtime traditions in your house — whether it’s a full-on family sit down or a hastily scarfed drive-thru dinner — you are participating in the great American culinary culture every time you take a bite.

We are living in exciting times for American cuisine today, said regular Food Network personality and author Simon Majumdar.

“Cooking has become sexy again,” said the culinary critic. “I do think we’re on the edge of a kind of golden age of American food.”

Known as Food Network’s “toughest critic” for his sometimes brutally candid reoccurring appearances as a judge on “Cutthroat Kitchen,” “Iron Chef America” and “The Next Iron Chef,” Majumdar has written two books, “Eat My Globe” and “Eating for Britain,” extolling his love of travel and food.

Now, in his latest book, the author has again combined his two great loves and tackled the salivating subject of his new homeland’s own culinary condition in “Fed, White, and Blue: Finding America With My Fork.”

British-born, Majumdar recently became a full-fledged American citizen and thus set off on a part celebratory and part exploratory trek across the United States to find out what it really means to become an American, using the medium he knows best: food.

His culinary crusade included stops in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to learn about what the pilgrims ate (and that playing Wampanoag football with large men is to be avoided); a Shabbat dinner in Kansas; Wisconsin, where he learned to make cheese; and then back home to Los Angeles to cook at a Filipino restaurant in the hope of making his new in-laws proud.

Throughout the trip, Majumdar sought to experience many of the unique food cultures that make up America, including brewing beer, farming and working at a food bank.

He even found himself at a tailgate party.

America’s exciting new golden age of food is happening now because of a very specific triad of events, Majumdar said.

First, many chefs are moving out of the large metropolitan areas — for personal as well as economic reasons — and relocating to smaller cities and towns and bringing their knowledge and experience to new regions, he explained.

Second, there is a huge upswing in the use of local and craft ingredients around the nation now, he said. People are taking the time to look and learn where their products come from.

Additionally, Majumdar explained, the maturing of a previously untapped cultural resource has given rise to innumerable variations and twists on classic American fare.

“The third part that’s really exciting to me is this second and third wave of immigrant families bringing their traditions into American cuisine,” he said.

Many of the adventures in his latest book are the result of connections made through his previous travels as well as invitations through social media, Majumdar said, from which he sought out those which he felt “would really inform me about the American experience.”

Still, some really great stories just didn’t quite fit in the book.

So, Majumdar, along with his wife, are now using the book tour to visit with people all over the country, including the farmers market in downtown Winslow from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, June 20  — to share food adventure stories and swap traditions.

“That’s what this new book is all about,” he said. “We’re having a lot of fun.”

Having sojourned around the states in search of real American food, Majumdar said there is one menu item that remains for him the perfect symbol of the nation.

“To me, barbecue is the quintessentially American cuisine,” Majumdar said.

From it’s humble beginnings, to the various subcultures that the different methods of preparation reflect, including strong regional variations and identities as well as foreign-influenced modifications, the story of barbecue is in many ways the story of America, he said.

And, of course, it’s delicious, which is what it’s really all about.

With the rise of the new pantheon of celebrity chefs and America’s increased culinary savvy, sometimes the newer generation of chefs seem to forget that critical aspect of the craft, Majumdar said.

“I don’t want to applaud my food,” the author said.

“I want to eat it.”

“Chefs become so focused on cleverness and impressing their peers that they forget it’s dinner,” he added.

It’s an insistence on honesty and simplicity which Majumdar carries over to his own work as well.

“The best thing that someone can say to me is that your book is very readable,” he laughed. “That’s what I try to do in my writing.”

“I still consider myself very much a storyteller.”

Even as he enjoys the privilege of working with and befriending so many world-class chefs, Majumdar is quick to point out that, just like in music (“Food is the new rock-n-roll,” he said), some of the most exciting culinary work is being done away from the spotlight.

“Some of the best meals I’m eating right now are in places you wouldn’t necessarily think,” he said. “The people who really inspire me are the hard-working chefs who are doing it because they love their craft.

“It’s all about feeding people their dinner.”

Sounds good

What: Food Network regular, author Simon Majumdar to visit the Bainbridge farmers market.

When: From 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, June 20.

Where: Bainbridge Island Farmers Market (Town Square, downtown Winslow).

Admission: Free.