NETFLIX
This Netflix original series made its debut on Feb 23. It’s easy to wipe Ugly Delicious off as unapologetically American, which it is. However, it’s worth your time, as it’s refreshing to see a series that serves up the world’s comfort foods with a side serving of cultural cross-pollination and food history. Hosts David Chang and Peter Meehan, and director Morgan Neville, have thoughtfully framed some challenging conversations around the future of cuisine and our understanding and perhaps tolerance of our cultural differences, all mixed with global destinations, celebrity weigh-ins and ugly, delicious food. The eight episodes take in dishes that are, on the surface, quite conventional including pizza, fried chicken, barbecue and dumplings, but it is the continuing conversation about food, culture, innovation and the traditional versus the mash-up that will pull you in. Don’t be fooled by the casual appearance of Ugly Delicious into thinking this is not a high-budget series. Clever animations, fake commercials and clips from TV parodies about famous food shows break up the mostly argumentative, not always correct and hardly ever polite banter between hosts and special guests.
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