Ugly Delicious - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

Discuss Ugly Delicious Here!

[biakbiak]

I finished the show for the most part. I liked the episodes that split the time with Peter and David because sometimes David can be overwhelming so its good to have someone who has no problem calling him out. I also enjoyed David Choe because he has such a huge personality it give David a taste of his own medicine.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

My main feeling for the first half of the pizza episode was man, some of these people have really close minded ideas about what pizza is - especially considering that their definition of "real" pizza is actually an Americanized version of something that already existed in Italy. If they are allowed to say that Brooklyn pizza is more real than Neapolitan pizza, then by that logic someone else could say that pineapple pizza is the only real pizza.

I get that people are loyal to what's familiar to them, but to me pizza is a method of bringing toppings into my mouth. I don't think it's anyone's business to say that certain toppings are wrong or that if you do X, Y, or Z then it's not REAL. Food is constantly evolving. If you only want tomatoes, cheese, and basil on your pizza, that's fine but don't be a pizza nazi and say that ALL other pizza is not real pizza. That's like saying only my guacamole recipe is the REAL one. Some people love cilantro. Some people hate cilantro. One isn't right or wrong. It's just what you like. I think of pizza the same way I think about sandwiches - there are a million different possibilities from the bread to the meat to the sauce. As long as you like what you're eating, why do you give a fuck about what is on someone else's sandwich?

I did find it interesting that David is not concerned with something being considered authentic. I have a lot of different feelings about that subject so I'll just leave it at that. I did love that he was so stubborn about his right to like fast food pizza.

Anyway, I'm glad that everyone loosened up a little bit (well, maybe not the guy in charge of the pizza consortium but just about everyone else) and could at least admit that other pizzas outside of their narrow viewpoint is still tasty and valid pizza.

[cmfran]

On 3/1/2018 at 9:24 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

My main feeling for the first half of the pizza episode was man, some of these people have really close minded ideas about what pizza is - especially considering that their definition of "real" pizza is actually an Americanized version of something that already existed in Italy. If they are allowed to say that Brooklyn pizza is more real than Neapolitan pizza, then by that logic someone else could say that pineapple pizza is the only real pizza.

I get that people are loyal to what's familiar to them, but to me pizza is a method of bringing toppings into my mouth. I don't think it's anyone's business to say that certain toppings are wrong or that if you do X, Y, or Z then it's not REAL. Food is constantly evolving. If you only want tomatoes, cheese, and basil on your pizza, that's fine but don't be a pizza nazi and say that ALL other pizza is not real pizza. That's like saying only my guacamole recipe is the REAL one. Some people love cilantro. Some people hate cilantro. One isn't right or wrong. It's just what you like. I think of pizza the same way I think about sandwiches - there are a million different possibilities from the bread to the meat to the sauce. As long as you like what you're eating, why do you give a fuck about what is on someone else's sandwich?

I did find it interesting that David is not concerned with something being considered authentic. I have a lot of different feelings about that subject so I'll just leave it at that. I did love that he was so stubborn about his right to like fast food pizza.

Anyway, I'm glad that everyone loosened up a little bit (well, maybe not the guy in charge of the pizza consortium but just about everyone else) and could at least admit that other pizzas outside of their narrow viewpoint is still tasty and valid pizza.

The scene where he ordered Domino's cracked me up. I wondered if the driver thought it was weird that he was delivering pizza to a pizza restaurant. But I do love David's enthusiasm for certain fast food items. I've heard him praise Chicken McNuggets, and I couldn't agree more. They're delicious. And I say that as someone who is relatively snobby about food and dining.

Haven't watched the other eps yet, but I'm planning on diving back in tonight.

[RedHackle]

I am LOVING this show. Been a fan of David Chang's since he was on Treme playing himself - and he totally stole the episodes he was on, BTW. As a rule, I'm not wild about 'celebrity Chefs, because they tend to be...well...dicks. Anthony Bourdain is the exception, IMO. But I saw Chang talking about this show on the Daily Show and decided to watch. Glad I did. Only a couple eps in but this show is about so much more than food. I also love that he's not a food snob at all. I think it goes without saying that for most of us, sometimes we're in the mood for something really fancy and complex with super fresh ingredients, and sometimes we're in the mood for McDonalds (or Taco Bell or Dominoes, to use some of the examples from this show.) I don't need some wealthy Chef telling me which ingredients I should favor and which I should eschew.  There are many foods I don't care for, but I'd never tell you what you should and should not eat.

Edited March 7, 2018 by RedHackle

[Unraveled]

As a whole, I enjoyed the series. There were some lame parts (the east/west "debate" on the Stuffed episode), but it was overall enjoyable to watch.

I appreciated that they showed the different ends of a dish (like fast food, American-sized, authentic), but it was definitely mixed. Like how David Chang loved Domino's for the nostalgic factor, but scoffed at Taco Bell. I generally enjoy authentic food, but I can understand how that kind of food can get people interested.

I will have to stay that why I can enjoy other foods whether it's authentic or Americanized, I really can't stand non-authentic Korean (as a fellow Korean-American who grew up with eating homemade Korean food). I find a lot of current American-ized food to be more sweet, salty, or both.

[gingerella]

Stumbled upon this last night and watched the first two episodes, and loving it! The first thing that caught my eye was how beautifully it was shot, very cinematic quality to the camerawork. David Chang is funny, smart, interesting and humble all at the same time - What Dave Grohl is to music-oriented documentaries, David Chang is to food documentaries, IMO. His posse are by and large very interesting and dedicated food lovers that happen to also be chefs, food critics, etc. It is such a refreshing approach to the played out, always-angry, always trying to be cool bullshit that has become the hipster doofus, Anthony Bourdain. I loathe him now, always acting the fool, using the same tired catch phrases, thinking he has to get black out drunk to be cool. This show is the anti-Bourdain show, and I love that. It's real, it's funny, it's humble as hell at times, and the people in the show are people I want to hear more from, and learn more from. I love the way that in the first two episodes, they pull in the American fast food versions of their main topics, and talk about how something 'authentic' became so much a part of the American food landscape. Loved the Mexio segment when they were setting up the pop up there, that was some fantastic footage. Just all in all a well crafted, thoughtful and fun series. I cant wait to dive in for more!

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I enjoyed the taco episode, partly because I grew up in San Diego and then lived in LA for two years so I looooooooooove tacos. I used to read Gustavo Arellano's OC Weekly column so his presence in this episode was a great addition.

I did find it kind of weird that David was so defensive of Domino's but so dismissive of Taco Bell. I ate my fair share of Taco Bell in my youth because it was cheap and it was there. I still remember the first season of Road Rules when they had to do tasks to earn money, they would eat at Taco Bell all the time because you could get a bean burrito for less than a dollar. I'm not saying it's great food, but I get why people eat there.

Of course, my attitude since those days has changed slightly, and that's due in no small part to the fact that the closest Taco Bell to my house is two doors down from an amazing taco truck. I don't understand why people would go to Taco Bell when they could pay the same amount of money to get ridiculously delicious pastor. Despite this, I don't walk over to Taco Bell and harangue people or tell them that they're idiots with no taste for choosing Taco Bell instead of the taco truck.  For me, that's one of the issues I have with travel food host people like Bourdain. It's one thing to have personal preferences. It's another to be condescending about people who don't share your personal preferences.

One of the things I agree with that David mentioned in the first episode is that Americans by and large don't see immigrant food as something that they will pay a lot of money for. There are a few exceptions to the rule (most notably Italian food) but people tend to balk at paying a lot for tacos or fried rice. Everyone says it's delicious but they still expect it to be cheap because it's not valued or viewed as fancy. Meanwhile you can go to any crappy Italian restaurant and get charged $15 for spaghetti with tomato sauce (which costs the restaurant about $1 in ingredients). Don't get me wrong - I LOVE Italian food, but there are a lot of places that get away with charging a lot because they can even when they're using canned premade sauces and cheap pasta. Meanwhile, places that charge more than $2 for a taco are considered to be overcharging.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I saw this article the other day and thought about all the arguments about "real" pizza in the first episode!

The wild pizzas of southern Italy have to be seen to be believed

[ClovesandCoffee]

Guys, I love this show. I usually am a bit of a tv binger, but I found that every episode was so rich that I needed to really process each episode. I think I most appreciated the way that the show used food as a lens through which to look at systems of power. For example, the whole episode on race, slavery and fried chicken was just stunning and so informative. I really admired Chang for asking the chef of Hattie's honestly hard questions about how creating a "safe" space for people who want to eat fried chicken but don't want to enter "low income" (i.e. black) spaces. These questions about appropriation are super complex, but I think the conversation needs to be had and I appreciated it. 

 

Also, some of the food looked seriously amazing! 

[AttackTurtle]

I love this show.  The fried chicken episode was more insightful and deep than anything I’ve seen on t.v. in a long time.

I like David Chang....he’s a little bratty, says the “f-word” too much, but I really like his approach to food.  

I was able to go to Momofuku Noodle Bar for the fried chicken dinner a couple years ago and it was really delicious.  My best friend is Korean and my sister-in-law loves Korean food.  Half of the fun for me at Momofuku was watching the two of them (there were 16 of us there total) literally grin  throughout the whole meal.  My sister in law flew out from the west coast a few months later with my brother just so that he could have that experience.

We went to Milk Bar and I was elated to find out that my “crack pie” measured up to the bakers at Milk Bar.

[ae2]

For the most part I've been enjoying the show, and David Chang is likable enough. Sometimes he takes his opinions too far and becomes exactly what he's trying to undermine. His basic premise is that food should be whatever you enjoy, and that it doesn't have to adhere to strict rules and traditions. So he blends cultures and looks for food that might have once been snubbed because it doesn't follow those rules.

This attitude is fine. Just because you think Dominos is terrible doesn't mean I do, and if I want to eat it what does it matter to you?

But then he goes off on the people who make the traditional food and tries to persuade them they should change. He did this twice during the Cajun episode. David would not stop pestering the first guy (in New Orleans) about why he refused to change his recipe. Then he did it again with the Vietnamese people running the Cajun restaurant that refused to blend the two cultures.

There's nothing wrong with breaking food boundaries and blending cultures. But there's also nothing wrong with serving traditional styles. And there is plenty of room for both to exist in the world, and even in the same city. He's doing to the traditional restaurants what was once done to fusion restaurants (and perhaps certain foreign culture restaurants before that), and treating them in the same manner which he is preaching against.

[biakbiak]

On his podcast David mentioned filming the next season of Ugly Declicious. He mentioned filming in Charleston.

[biakbiak]

Season 2 is dropping March 6th.

Nick Kroll and Dave eat snacks:

 

[biakbiak]

Trailer! 

 

[buttersister]

Two eps in to second season. Lovin’ it.

[biakbiak]

I am sad that it’s only four episodes. David Choi pretending to be Chang at the bath/steak house was delightful. 

[Tess23]

The third episode. Steak. So you send some east coast liberal know-it-all/knows absolutely nothing to…Marin County to represent American beef production and then to NYC to showcase those who know all about the intricacies of beef??? C’mon David. I love Ugly Delicious but as a resident of Nebraska (the second biggest cattle producing state) whose husband is involved with the agriculture that feeds our country, I’m crying a big, fat foul on this episode. I’m truly embarrassed for you and your lack of clarity and knowledge regarding beef production in the United States of America. For every “Little Meg” and your trying-way-too-hard New York panel of ‘experts,’ there are a dozen people who intimately know and respect where their beef comes from. How about a redo where you uncover the real truth on beef production instead of the liberal glaciers-are-melting/beef production is disappearing version? Shaking my head - come out to the heartland - we don’t bite and family farmers deserve better than this 'manure.' #thoughtyouwerebetterthanthis

[Maya]

I’m not interested in pregnancy so the first episode was a miss for me. David actually told someone that he has opened restaurants, so raising a child should be easy for him. 🙄

 

[biakbiak]

3 hours ago, Maya said:

so raising a child should be easy for him. 🙄

That was his sister and he was joking.

As someone who knew at a very young age i never wanted children, I enjoyed the pregnancy episode. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by biakbiak

[blixie]

Ah I didn't know there are only four episodes. Watched the first two, but also had listened to his podcast about Indian food so it covered some of the same ground. Wish he'd talked to Priya more about Indian food. I make her Pav Bahji all the time and it's super easy and so good and major comfort food. 

I really loved when Change was trying to insist his niece make her imaginary muffins 'the right way' and she first ignored him and when he kept on with it flipped the table over like a Real Housewife. Right on girly, also David they are IMAGINARY MUFFINS. I also liked his sister saying she at the seafood soup once and then faked it for the rest of the time. Heh.

[Ciarrai]

Seeing Floyd Cardoz broke my heart.

[Ranger Bob]

Watched both seasons of this the other night.  If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic and forced to stay home I doubt seriously I would have finished this.

Much of the discussion of food was fun and entertaining.  It's the need to inject social commentary and politics that makes me insane.