Mark Bittman, a New York Times food columnist and author of award-winning cookbooks, talks food as presenter of this series. Here, he challenges well-known chefs to a ‘duel’, where they cook something complex, while countering with his own pared-down version. Bittman’s minimalist philosophy is best demonstrated when he faces top NY chef Daniel Boulud in one episode. Boulud takes apart a lamb to cook it in four different ways. He uses exotic ingredients, has several assistants, undergoes hours of preparation using the best equipment money can buy and in a professional kitchen, at that. Bittman, on the other hand, assembles his stuffed lamb shoulder in ten minutes, throws it in the oven and goes out for a quick coffee. The result? Bittman’s lamb rated an eight for flavour and a two for complexity; Boulud, with 35 years of kitchen experience, scored a nine for flavour and a two for accessibility. Which begs the question: would you go through all that trouble to get one extra point for flavour?

Asian Food Channel, Channel 69