Those of you who know me and know me well enough, know that I’m a big fan of Anthony Bourdain, his books (Nasty Bits and Kitchen Confidential) and his show, No Reservations. In fact, his show is probably one of my favorite shows as it combines two of my loves – traveling and food. Anyway, Anthony Bourdain and his No Reservations crew are currently in the Philippines shooting an episode for next season. This is the first time – EVER – Bourdain’s been to my grandparents’ and parents’ motherland, even though he’s been all over Asia (probably twice).

Personal note to Mr. Bourdain: What’s kept you away, Bourdain? Is it all the Fear Factor food that Andrew Zimmern’s partaken of on Bizarre Foods? There’s more to Filipino food than what the general public knows about. Not every Filipino eats balut (aka “egg with legs”) – I sure don’t, but that’s a personal preference. There are tasty Chinese-influenced noodle dishes and fresh and fried spring rolls and amazing Spanish-influenced stews. A Filipino version of ratatouille (pinakbet) is also a very common dish in most Filipino households. Then there’s the braised meats and seafood dishes. Oh, and let’s not forget the glorious lechon – who can resist the sight of a perfectly roasted pig, with all its crispy, crunchy golden brown skin… I sure can’t. And the desserts like bibingka (baked butter mochi cake), cascaron (fried mochi balls glazed with carmelized brown sugar), bico (sweetened rice cake), halo halo (a mixture of shaved ice and milk, topped with various fruits and other toppings)….what a perfect way to end (or start) a meal…

Anyway, I, again, digress…. Let’s all hope that Bourdain’s amateur guide/co- host for this episode steers him in the right direction – or that Bourdain’s production crew was smart enough to do most of the legwork instead of relying on an amateur that lucked out on a free trip. This kid’s the first loser from last season’s contest on where Bourdain should visit next. He’s only been to the Philippines once and stayed for a week or so, so I’m doubtful as to what he really knows about the culinary scene in the Philippines…. It’s like Bourdain asking ME to be his tour guide/co-host and I’ve only been to the Philippines ONCE – when I was 3 years old. Maybe I’m hating a bit right now, but there are a lot of bloggers and experienced culinarians that are based out of the Philippines who live and breathe the culinary scene with a passion, on a daily basis. I hope that Bourdain will meet with some of them and be introduced and enlightened to a cuisine that I grew up with and happen to enjoy, and will in turn introduce the world to an amazing new cuisine.

As soon as I find out when it will be airing, I’ll definitely let you all know. Then we’ll see if Bourdain has exceeded my expectations or if this episode will be a flop, like the Romania episode. Let’s not go there…again…

One thing I know for sure, we’ll probably see a lot more subtitles in this episode, once it comes out…

Stay tuned…