How many of you always suspected that Anthony Bourdain was a little foo foo?

This week, No Reservations takes us to the western central coast of Africa, and the country of Liberia.

 

Hopefully my knowledge of the geography of Africa is better than Sarah Palin, since I do know where Liberia is located, versus a couple of kind-of-sound-a likes, one being the country of Libya, which is on the north coast of Africa, and the other, Libia, which is a city in the country of Mozambique, on the opposite coast of the continent of Africa from Liberia.

 

See I do know more than Sarah Palin.

 

         

 

I was doing some other stuff while the show was on, and I heard Tony talk about “foo foo” in reference to some food or drink item, and I immediately recoiled as I often comment that I don’t do foo foo drinks (or froo froo, as known in certain parts of Los Angeles and Miami Beach).

 

Not only are foo foo drinks sickly sweet, but they are often characterized as being low in alcohol. That is like the age-old question, why drink light beer, unless you happen to enjoy urinating on a frequent basis.

 

But, no, Bourdain was talking about a food staple in that part of the world known as fu fu, which looks and is described as something only slightly more appealing than Hawaiian poi, which in fact does taste like wallpaper paste.

 

Now that I am such good personal friends with Tony, I have become more critical of some of the No Reservations episodes.

 

On “occasion,” his voice-over dialogue seems somewhat contrived, especially now that I know he is quite the accomplished writer. I am well into his latest book, Medium Raw, and am thoroughly enjoying his writing style. 

 

But, this story on Liberia is probably the best example of Third World travel adventure that I had in mind when I “signed up” to watch and write about the weekly show. Truth be told, he has a lot more balls than I do to visit a place like that, the security detail just behind the camera notwithstanding. Given the extremely violent history of that country, I don’t think anyone can guarantee personal safety, especially if you venture deep into the jungle.

 

At the very least, your intestinal security is a great risk, which you will learn about, if you watch the entire show.

 

All the episode details that you can certainly live without (but, still may enjoy taking a peak at) are here.

 

The show also mentions that the board game of Scrabble® is highly popular there—which pleased my wife, as a multi-language Scrabble player—and I got to hear some of the awesome sounds of African drumming—which you might catch me attempting at various drum circles closer to home.

 

For those of you who think that Anthony Bourdain is all wet, well, this YouTube video will only confirm your suspicions.

 

 

Spoiler alert: Tony does NOT drown (however that might make you feel).