The Enigmatic Ruth Bourdain

Image Source: Ruth Bourdain on Twitter

When names once famed only in food circles are merged to create a mainstream internet sensation, you know food has reached peak pop-cultural status. Enter Ruth Bourdain. An imagined composite of culinary writer and editor Ruth Reichl and chef/author/TV personality Anthony Bourdain, the anonymous figure behind the Twitter handle @ruthbourdain spits out biting commentary on culinary topics from fast-food news (“It’s about time McDonald’s started putting apples in its Happy Meals. After all, everyone knows fresh fruit goes great with E. Coli.”) to celebrity-chef happenings (in reference to Mario Batali’s daytime talk show premiere: “Julia Child would have turned 99 today. God, she would have hated #thechew”) with the occasional poetic snark (“Soft misty morning. Tofu-whipped; fierce red lashing of chiles, scallions, ginger. Tongue burned by black coffee. Breakfast of masochists.”). The character has been around since 2010, but Ruth Bourdain’s moment came this year, when (s)he was nominated for—and ultimately won—a James Beard Award in the newly instated Humor category. Overserious food journalists were in an uproar about the category itself, declaring that it “cheapened” the art of food journalism, and the win going to a writer whose medium is a Twitter page infuriated naysayers all the more so. No one has yet been able to oust the figure behind RB, though speculations/accusations have included Robert Sietsema and writer duo Josh Friedland and Adam Robb. Whoever the genius behind the pseudonym, nearly 50,000 followers can’t be wrong: RB is going strong. —Eva Meszaros

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