We all know about the notion of food porn. It has attracted a variety of definitions (not in the OED yet), but Anthony Bourdain says it’s simply “watching others do something that you’re not likely to actually do yourself.” Food porn was the focus of one of his “No Reservations” episodes earlier this year, and I watched it late last night. BIG mistake. I couldn’t get to sleep what with the tempting desire to take the subway down to Momofuku and order everything on the menu.

Michael Pollan muses about why we don’t cook any more and why we watch so much cooking on television. In my opinion, the two are really unrelated. The answer (at least for me) as to why  watching food on TV is so appealing is clearly spelled out – wordlessly – in the “No Reservations” episode. If you’re a Netflix member, you can get immediate gratification with the whole 43-minute drool-isode on Instant Play (Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations: Vol. 6). Here’s a teaser:

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