celeb road trip

spain on the road again, the food and travel series featuring chef mario batali, actress gwyneth paltrow, new york times writer mark bittman and spanish actress claudia bassols was an enlightening vignette on the beauty and substance of one of europe's most exquisite of destinations. i'm not a gwyneth paltrow fan but i was an avid viewer of mario batali's molto mario on the food channel and i'm always beguiled by the scenic and gastronomic appeal of a spanish road trip. the mercedes convertible was a useful product placement. the views, as the cast were driving, were majestic. the show also included a tour of great spanish structures like frank gehry's guggenheim in bilbao and gaudi's creations in barcelona. although as the 13 episodes were wrapping up, the eating and dining replaced the previous activities of cooking demos by famous spanish chefs and mad me long for the impromptu paltrow quips, " i cook like this at home, she's not teaching me anything."

the cast drifted in and out of the show for breaks to see their children and cater to their commitments. thus there were a few episodes without mrs. chris martin and about two or more sans the rotund silhouette of mr batali. the lovely ms bassols meanwhile was present during most of the proceedings and enliven the tedious program with her linguistic skills, perkiness and all-around appetite. whereas miss paltrow shudders from the smell and sight of meat, bassols chews her jamon with relish. the men provided the informative voiceovers and shouldered most of the driving at the outset but relinquished the reins of the wheel on the way to madrid. the visit of michael stipe was inspired. how did they know i listen to REM? as a friend of both batali and paltrow, the rock star was there to give the show even more luminary panache. i couldn't shake off gwyneth paltrow's exuberance after her first bite of mallorca's ensaimada (i reckon it perceives the same nibble as the ensaymada of my people) and the thrill in munching her favorite paella. though as a child of one's of spain's colonies, i would chose valenciana over paella any day.