Review: mariobatalivoice

Like critics of Steve Albini's songwriting, readers of his food writing will most likely have one of two reactions: love it or hate it. While the theme of his blog, mariobatalivoice is pretty simple -

This is what I made Heather [Albini's wife] for dinner. The name comes from the way I bring her food in bed and present it to her using an imitation of Mario Batali's voice from TV.

- the writing is not for the novice cook -

If you cook, you should be able to figure out how to make any of these meals... I don't give quantities or exact recipes because I eyeball and taste everything like anybody who cooks a lot. I don't own measuring implements, not because I don't like them but because I would never think to use them.

(I mean, is he writing to share a recipe, or is he just showing off his writing skills?).

I get the feeling Albini is posting these entries just to inform us that he is well versed in yet another form of art. As if being the producer of The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, P.J. Harvey's Rid of Me & Nirvana's In Utero, as well as fronting the supergroup Shellac weren't enough, now he has to enlighten us that he is also a highly skilled culinarian.

Or at least he is good at leading us to believe this is the case. Sure, the photo that accompanies each post presents a mouth-watering image of the cuisine du jour, and he writes about each dish with as much imagery & honesty as he writes songs, but I really have to wonder how the dishes actually taste.

In Pierre Bourdieu's "Taste of Luxury, Taste of Necessity," he wrote:

Substance - or matter - is what is substantial, not only 'filling' but also real, as opposed to all appearances, all the fine words and empty gestures that 'butter no parsnips' and are, as the phrase goes, purely symbolic..."

In this passage, Bourdieu raises the point that talking about something does not get it done.

Is mariobatalivoice pretense or passion? Or both?

I guess the only way to find out if Albini's blog has as much substance as it has style is to pick a blog post, and attempt to recreate the dish with only what is written on the screen.