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Chef Anthony Bourdain: The Amount of Butter Used in Professional Kitchens Will Shock You

Aired on 05/31/2001 | CC tv-pg
Do you know how much butter a chef is prone to pack into a gourmet meal? Anthony Bourdain's answer left Oprah and her studio audience aghast when the illustrious chef visited The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2001 to dish about all the inner workings of a five-star restaurant.

Anthony Bourdain's culinary mastery had already been known for decades in New York, but his breakthrough came in 2001, when he released the wildly popular book Kitchen Confidential. During his conversation with Oprah, Anthony made a few shocking revelations and exposed some trade secrets of the restaurant industry. Oprah had one question that she was especially eager to have answered: Exactly how much butter do professional chefs really use?

"It is usually the first thing and the last thing in just about every pan," Anthony said. "Assuming you go to a classic French restaurant and you have a little bread and butter, you know, waiting for your appetizer to come out, by the time you leave the restaurant, you've probably eaten about a stick-plus."

Oprah was dumbfounded by Anthony's butter bombshell as he explained why the kitchen staple is every chef's secret weapon. Anthony went on to reveal why you should never order steaks well-done and how to identify excellent restaurants to make your next fine-dining experience a truly memorable one.

Original airdate: May 31, 2001