THE BEST NETFLIX COOKING SERIES

My day now is simple:  I eat three meals with no snacks in between, take a nap, do some exercising, watch TV and go to sleep.  I do go out once/week to shop for essential cuisine enhancement items and now and then try to walk 18 holes on a golf course.

Sports programs have returned with the MBL playoffs, the NBA has their final and college sports have returned,  meaning my Netflix time will be reduced.  As it is, I"m watching so many series that I can't remember where I left off.  So today, to guide me in the future when I return to any program, I will identify what episode in which season is next for me.  Today I focus on cooking programs with Rotten Tomatoes ratings at 100%, or close.

I consider the first one to be the most enjoyable, and sixth the least, in that order:

• Midnight Diner:  first season rated at 100% by reviewers.  Way back in June I reviewed this series.  I'm now at #9 of 10 episodes.  The simplicity of the cuisine, the emotionality of the Tokyo stories.
• Samurai Gourmet:  first season at 98% by the audience.  Also reviewed on June 1.  I'm now at #7 of 10 episodes.

• 
  Ugly Delicious:  two seasons, both 100%.  Chef David Chang travels the USA to enjoy foods like tacos, pizza, etc.  Lot of swearing.  Chang is a James Beard awardee and director Morgan Neville has won an Oscar.  At episode 3 of season 1.
• The Chef Show:  three seasons, with S1 at 100%/96%.   Involving filmmaker and actor Jon Favreau and chef Roy Choi, with interesting guests like Gwyneth Paltrow, Seth Rogen (if you clicked on this series, you will see the full 30 minute episode featuring him) and...David Chang.  A spinoff of the movie The Chef.

• 
  The Great British Baking Show:  eleven seasons, with S1, S2 and S11 gaining 100% scores.    You've seen this program on PBS since 2010, for 95 episodes have been filmed.  Must have worked because it's lasted that long, and significantly increased sales of baking ingredients and accessories in the UK.  I never bothered to watch even one show until my first on Netflix. There have been some scandals.  For me, next, season 1, episode 2.  If I have absolutely nothing else to do, I might someday return..
• Kantaro:  The Sweet Tooth Salary Man:  first season rated at 100%.  Good show if you like desserts.  I now avoid them, so might not return until the pandemic is over.  Next, S1, 3rd episode.

I'm now down to #90, and these songs occurred at a time of transition when I graduated from Stanford and found myself in Naalehu, Hawaii, the southernmost city in the USA.  The Florida Keys only go down to around 24.5 north latitude.  Naalehu is at 19NL.  If Puerto Rico becomes a state, it is at 18NL.

• I Left My Heart in San Francisco:  Tony Bennett, first released in 1962, as a B-side, and originally composed in 1953  
• Sukiyaki:   Kyu Sakamoto:   Japan release in 1961, popular in U.S. in 1963   
• Johnny Get Angry:   Joanie Sommers 

Having just left the Bay Area, San Francisco is today my second favorite spot on this planet, after also working at the NASA Ames Research Center, and spending two summers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.  I probably have landed at the SFO Airport at least a hundred times if not 250.

Kyu Sakamoto I particularly remember because I have a close friend in Japan who told an incredible story that saved his life.  He (my friend) was just late for a flight from Haneda to Osaka, but the door was still open when he was denied boarding.  He was so upset that he sat down and wrote a note complaining of his treatment.  He placed it in his pocket and stormed away.  This was Japan Airlines 123, which crashed, killing all crew members and 505 of the 509 passengers.  It still is the deadliest single-aircraft accident in airline history.  Sakamoto was one of the casualties.  My friend showed me his crumpled note.

The first two actually did not become popular until after 1962, so Johnny Get Angry is #90.  Why I remember this song is that I had just met Pearl, and lived in a cottage with a trainee from Sudan.  His name was Johnny.  One night I cooked, the next him and third to a restaurant.  The problem is that he tended to prepare brains, kidneys and other organs.  Ever been in a kitchen with kidney being boiled?  The whole place smells of urine.  But my memory of Johnny is otherwise all good.  I expected him to become president of his country when he returned.  I recall driving from Naalehu to Kona with Pearl and Johnny, Johnny Get Angry came on as we were reaching our destination (during the daytime, Naalehu was too far from Hilo and Honolulu signals were blocked off by Mauna Loa, so radio reception only came on near Kona).  He was the happiest person on Planet Earth when that song played.

This was Joanie Sommers only hit.  Other one-hit songs during this period included:

• What's Your Name:  Don and Juan
• Do You Love Me:  The Contours
• Monster Mash:  Bobby Pickett
• Rhythm of the Rain:  The Cascades
• Tell Him:  The Exciters

That was 58 years ago.

As this is a foodie posting, two of my meals, the celebratory one being Dungeness Crab because I weighed myself and saw 155.8 pounds, the lowest I've been in a quarter century, and probably more, for during my professional career I wavered between 160 and 165, with an occasional foray up to 167 after trips.  As some of you know, I am allergic to crustaceans, except when prepared alive.  Something to do with histamines forming in them after death, and my body overreacting to them.  Of course, I feel terrible hearing the discomfort as the heat is applied.  But I also consume veal and beef and carrots, and all of them were once living.

That wine deserves mention because of all those years I have subscribed to Stanford wines, this is the best Chardonnay ever offered:

I also had one of my favorites:  artichoke, foie gras pate', prosciutto and croissant, with a large salad, beer and that Goldschmidt:

As I complete this posting, here is what I see right in front of me:

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