Anthony Bourdain is Your Guide to Sicily

[alfieb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcEXJo5h5_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AEMV419Czc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g52Fw-U_-N4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikvDiP_1iJY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku1wgYLNpzU

Anthony Bourdain is a world-famous French chef from New York. When he was given his own TV show in 2005, one of the first places he decided he had to go was Sicily, and from the beginning of the show, he makes it clear that it is not like going to Italy.

You see a lot of what Sicily is about, especially in terms of anthropology in the hour long (in terms of american tv anyway), episode.

Notice that just about nobody speaks English. That's been more or less my experience as well.

He goes to Palermo, Trapani, Pantelleria, Lampedusa, Taormina, and finishes at Mount Etna.

[Sikeliot]

Guy in the first video looks just like Leon Panetta.
People in the second video were either very dark and Near Eastern looking, or very Central European and "neutral" looking.
Music playing at the beginning of the third video makes me think of Greece.
People in the fifth video tended to look more Italic.

And now I am hungry and want to try the food :lol: :D

[alfieb]

I watched it on DVD so I can only guess which is which.

I'd imagine the second is where he's in Trapani, so yeah, they should look more Middle Eastern.

[Sikeliot]

#2 looked like Palermo to me.

[alfieb]

He says where he is if you're watching the whole thing. I bet you skipped ahead a lot! :lol:

[Sikeliot]

I'll be able to watch in better detail tomorrow :)

[alfieb]

He's coming back.

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2013/05/01/season-two-of-cnn-original-series-anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown-launches-sept-15/

"The CNN Original Series Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, will begin its second season of eight episodes on Sunday, September 15, it was announced by Jeff Zucker, President, CNN Worldwide.

The new season of the weekend lifestyle series will explore the food, culture and history and parts unknown within Spain, New Mexico, Israel, Copenhagen, Sicily, Detroit, Tokyo and India. The program will again air on CNN International, reaching more than 271 million households around the world."

Due to the CNN affiliation, the Parts Unknown show pays more attention to the culture and social climate of the locales than the original No Reservations show did, while retaining a strong interest in the local cuisine, obviously, as Bourdain is a chef. I can't wait to see what his second expedition to Sicily looks like.

[alfieb]

Hi there! Not here to make a real return, just to tell everyone that the new Sicily episode of Parts Unknown aired last night, and corroborates many points that I have made about Sicilian culture over the years - both good and bad. Mafia, corruption, cuisine, the difference between Italians and Sicilians, the perception of Sicilians, many topics are covered in the span of an hour.

CNN usually reairs the shit out of new episodes, so you'll have plenty of chances to see it. Or, you could just DVR it. Whatevs.

[amerinese]

I watched the new episode on CNN last night. It was a pretty decent show.

That grilled horse meat looked delicious.

[Maleficent]

Hi there! Not here to make a real return, just to tell everyone that the new Sicily episode of Parts Unknown aired last night, and corroborates many points that I have made about Sicilian culture over the years - both good and bad. Mafia, corruption, cuisine, the difference between Italians and Sicilians, the perception of Sicilians, many topics are covered in the span of an hour.

CNN usually reairs the shit out of new episodes, so you'll have plenty of chances to see it. Or, you could just DVR it. Whatevs.

I watched the new episode last night. I really enjoyed the anthropological and culinary aspects of Sicily that it covered.

[riverman]

I watched the new episode last night. I really enjoyed the anthropological and culinary aspects of Sicily that it covered.

Hmm I like to get more than one perspective tbh, though his shows are pretty entertaining.

[alfieb]

Some things will never change. You make a nice little thread and some mouth-breather decides to 'contribute' by talking about what shoes a guy was wearing.

What? He said shows? Never mind.

[Dombra]

:lol: The muppet is visiting us!!!

[Maleficent]

Hmm I like to get more than one perspective tbh, though his shows are pretty entertaining.

I don't know what you mean more than one perspective, I don't think the show was biased, lol.

[Sikeliot]

I don't know what you mean more than one perspective, I don't think the show was biased, lol.

I didn't see it. What did it emphasize? If it was focused in western Sicily you probably heard about North Africa a lot.

[riverman]

I don't know what you mean more than one perspective, I don't think the show was biased, lol.


Haven't seen the show, regardless, if some bias issue arises, would rather get more opinions. Lol.

[Maleficent]

I didn't see it. What did it emphasize? If it was focused in western Sicily you probably heard about North Africa a lot.

Well, to sum it up in short, the villagers he visited with emphasized all the Norman, British, Roman, Greek, Phoenician, North African, and Arab influence on the island. How they were conquered by so many people throughout history, and how it affect their traditions, culture, dialect, and food.

[Sikeliot]

Well, to sum it up in short, the villagers he visited with emphasized all the Norman, British, Roman, Greek, Phoenician, North African, and Arab influence on the island. How they were conquered by so many people throughout history, and how it affect their traditions, culture, dialect, and food.

British? That one surprises me.
I know in one of the episodes he goes through Palermo and you can see that their street markets look like a bazaar from the Levant.

[Maleficent]

British? That one surprises me.
I know in one of the episodes he goes through Palermo and you can see that their street markets look like a bazaar from the Levant.

Yeah, I distinctly remember one guy mentioning British, and I was confused by that too.

A lot of the villages looked really pan-Mediterranean to me, like you could find that scenery anywhere in that whole area of the Old World.

Also, one guy said an Arab or North African could understand the Sicilian dialect of Italian better than a North Italian. How much validity to that?!

[amerinese]

Yes, they mentioned British.

Another interesting segment involved an American expat who had lived there since the 1960's, and discussed with Anthony, a local organization of business owners which refuses to pay protection to the mafia.

They also slaughtered a pig. That's like an obligatory activity on every Anthony Bourdain episode, not filming in a Jewish or Muslim location.

Yeah, they also had some dirty looking bazaar scene.

I was still intrigued by those thin slices of horse meat on the grill. Looked tasty.

[Sikeliot]

Also, one guy said an Arab or North African could understand the Sicilian dialect of Italian better than a North Italian. How much validity to that?!

I don't think it's true. I think he might have been talking about the Maltese language ("Sicilian Arabic") which originated in Sicily. Sicilian is basically just a southern Italian dialect with a lot of Greek mixed in.

I am surprised about the British thing still. I can't think of a single British influence.. I do know there is British influence in Malta, again, though. :lol:

What did the people look like that you saw in the videos? I'd be curious if it changed in each village.




Yeah, they also had some dirty looking bazaar scene.


That must have been in Palermo or Trapani.

[amerinese]

They looked like wogs.

[alfieb]

1. The bazaar was in Catania.
2. While their genes aren't to be found, their influences are, as the British navy protected Sicily from Napoleon when all of Italy was Napoleonic except for Sicily and Sardinia, and some wealthy Brits stayed behind. The British were largely responsible for preservation of some of our historical sites, Brits made Marsala wine a big deal, and seamen from northern England introduced the iconic "fisherman' cap" that we Sicilians like to pretend came here from Greece.

[Sikeliot]

seamen from northern England introduced the iconic "fisherman' cap" that we Sicilians like to pretend came here from Greece.

Greeks (especially Aegean islanders) wear it too, so they must have also gotten it from the Brits. :lol:

[alfieb]

That, or the Brits got it from Greece and we got it from the Brits. Either way, it's not ancient, but only a few centuries old, and Sicily and Greece had no interaction in that time.

[Sikeliot]

That, or the Brits got it from Greece and we got it from the Brits. Either way, it's not ancient, but only a few centuries old, and Sicily and Greece had no interaction in that time.

Greeks do wear it too though. Additionally these photos could have been taken in Sicily and you'd never know.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o4KvSZ0MFZE/UaiSwzPfWYI/AAAAAAAAArQ/WKt7SuXGgxE/s400/old-greek-men.jpg
http://www.theeveryman.com/images/2004/em04p/GreekMen.jpg