Now, you may have never sat down and read a cookbook before. That's understandable. But you've also (presumably) never gotten your grubby little paws on Annick Giroux, aka the Morbid Chef's, totally metal, totally tasty cookbook Hellbent for Cooking.
Hellbent for Cooking collects 101 recipes submitted by bands from 32 countries (all test-driven by the Morbid Chef herself) into an virtual mosh pit of international cuisine. Ever wondered what black metal pioneers Mayhem, Brazilian thrash-metal kings Sepultura or those crazy motherfuckers in GWAR like to eat when they're not banging their heads? Not only will Hellbent for Cooking answer those questions, it'll show you how to cook it, too.
Now that the cookbook is complete, Annick is traveling the world and writing about it on her blog Into the Void. If you ever wanted to know how to find the best metal bar in Mexico City or one of two underground metal record stores in Osaka, then Into the Void can help you out.
Since she's in the middle of her "world tour", we caught up with Annick by email. We were told it might "take a while" for her to get back to us, since internet access can be spotty on the road, but only a few days later we received this missive from Kathmandu...
SKIN CENTRAL: Hi Annick. So where are you right now?
ANNICK GIROUX: I’m currently in Kathmandu, Nepal. This place is actually really beautiful, although quite polluted. Did you know shoulders were considered erotic here? It’s ok to show your belly, but not your shoulders. There are also some very sexy scenes on temples around here (left). Some kind of “how-to” guides I guess.
SC: Where are you going next?
AG: I’m going to Pokhara, which is 8 hours on a bus from Kathmandu. I’m not looking forward to that. Kathmandu is surrounded by the Himalayas. Driving around that is going to suck.
SC: How'd HELLBENT FOR COOKING come to be? Your bio says you don't have any formal cooking training.
AG: HELLBENT is a twisted idea I got a few years ago. I thought it would be awesome to ask my favorite metal bands about their best recipes back then, I was into cooking from recipe books every day, and I wanted to compile a 100% metal cookbook. I tested and tried the recipes and adjusted them, if needed! I don’t have any formal cooking training only classes from my grand-mother. But since, I have taken some classes in Thailand, and followed the teachings of some Indian lady-cooks. I would still love to take formal courses, one of these days.?
SC: Have you seen any of the online heavy metal cooking shows likeVegan Black Metal Chef? What do you think of them?
AG: I did see it, yes! To be honest, I couldn’t finish the video I thought the guy looked like a joke. For me, metal is serious. But the recipe looked pretty good!
SC: What's the most metal food group?
AG: Alcohol and beer, more specifically. Beer is the essence of metal. And it’s good with food. We have a beer pizza dough recipe in the book!
SC: Is there anything you can eat that isn't metal? Like, for example, fat-free cheese- metal or not metal?
AG: No, metal heads are allowed to eat anything they want. Like POSSESSED, one of the first black metal bands, gave a recipe for Strawberry Jell-o Pudding cake. And metalheads are allowed to be on diets too! But they’re missing out on flavorful fat!
SC: And, because this is Mr. Skin, I gotta askwhat's the first TV/Movie nude scene you remember seeing?
AG: My parents used to record re-runs of Care Bears for me on their VCR when I was about 4 years old. What they didn't notice was that a soft-core porn movie was playing right after the Care Bears. I remember being fascinated, and [thinking] that it looked like the “posters in my uncle’s bedroom”. Hahaha!!
SC: And who do you think are the sexiest actresses of all time? Like, who would you change teams for?
AG:Megan Fox! She’s incredibly hot.
Thanks for the interview Annick! All hail the Morbid Chef! For more, check out Hellbent for Cooking on Facebook and buy it on Amazon now!
