Claudia Greco
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Posts posted by Claudia Greco
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I love that FN is advertising Cook's Tour as part of "Boys Night" Its like Tony never left!
Yeah, with a light time change to 10:30p, instead of 11:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_tb
And you think Bourdain's got big brass ones! (It would be nice if FN updated the picture and bio, though).
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You know, I'd really have to check about that. I thought he was already done with FN, shot the Ferran "docu-sode", released it on DVD/VHS because he had no other medium for it, but then later aired it as an NR episode - why not? He had it in the can already. The FN issue had been ongoing way before the Ferran documentary - Tony wasn't going to be given an hour time slot, and he wasn't going to be given the budget (or the creative control) to go shoot in exotic locales - FN definitely wanted him to do a variant of Food Nation, all domestic, etc. - so I doubt Tony even had it in his mind to try and get FN to air the Ferran show. If I recall, Tony and his partners felt it important enough to put up their own money, etc. and shoot Ferran, and then try to package it however they could. Which is why it never aired on FN, the DVD came out well before it aired on the Travel Channel as an NR episode, etc.I thought he had already shot the Ferran Adria ep as a kickoff for season 3 of ACT, then negotiations with FTV fell apart and he kept the episode independent of them . . . ? -
Not sure what you're asking - the A Cook's Tour issue was ongoing in 2002-2003, while AB was shooting the series. He shot the Ferran Adria documentary/episode in 2005/2006, I think (although it didn't air until much later, as an episode of NR).And, as Bourdain has stated, there were other issues, too - the show's format was too short, his producers were constantly pushing him to do "performing seal" kinds of things, and FN wanted him to do more "barbecues across the backyards of America:" kind of thing, which he refused. So, basically, he took his marbles and left. His antipathy towards FN has only grown, because of their foisting of RR, Sandra, etc., down our throats - compounded with the addition of shows like The Next Food Network TV Star (being rerun as a marathon today, as a matter of fact), and the discontinuance of primo chefs programs (Mario Batali's, being one prime example.)
Is this right before "Decoding Ferran Adria"?
Bourdain has balls.
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. . . his producers were constantly pushing him to do "performing seal" kinds of things. . .
Kind of like the "entertainment" segments on his new show? Or his Christmas special?
No, worse. Like trying to get him to praise food that sucked, and be all perky and vanilla. There was one episode (either Oaxaca? Pueblo?) where he went to the restaurant of a new, young chef, and the food was appalling. But, as Tony was in the guy's restaurant, with family, friends and colleagues of the guy watching in Mexico and NYC, Tony could not bluntly diss the food, so he clammed up. His producers at the time were trying to get him to be all upbeat and cheery and praise the food, and he couldn't - and wouldn't - do it. So he just got very tight-lipped and "non-performing". Being pushed into those of situations made AB very unhappy, as he stated unequivocably. He might do doofy segments now, but at least there by his own choice, and he isn't being made to lie. If the food sucks, if his fixer screws him and messes up the shoot (i.e., Sicily), or if anything else horrendous happens, then that's what we see.
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He did it twice. One battle was in Webster Hall in NYC (with, God help us, Gordon Elliott hosting!), and Bobby nearly got electrocuted - there were exposed cables on the floor, in pools of spilled water. I think he also had a stove (burner?) problem. He got flack for complaining about it, like he was a bad loser, then got more flack (first, from a visibly pissed Morimoto) for standing on his cutting board at the end of the battle and pumping his fists.I remember that. Wasn't that in Japan, after some horrible problem on the show? ...vs Morimoto?
He has calmed since. :-)
Yeah.. that was a special Iron Chef "America" that was on UPN or some such. Hosted by William Shatner. I recall Chef Flay caught a lot of heat for that act. I guess it disrepcted the cutting board or something like that.
And yes, he is much more calm now .
He also stood on his board in Japan (although he had no kitchen mishaps there), ticking off Morimoto yet again. But, even if they aren't close buds now, Flay and Morimoto are friendly, at least. There is no raging hatred or rivalry going on.
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And, as Bourdain has stated, there were other issues, too - the show's format was too short, his producers were constantly pushing him to do "performing seal" kinds of things, and FN wanted him to do more "barbecues across the backyards of America:" kind of thing, which he refused. So, basically, he took his marbles and left. His antipathy towards FN has only grown, because of their foisting of RR, Sandra, etc., down our throats - compounded with the addition of shows like The Next Food Network TV Star (being rerun as a marathon today, as a matter of fact), and the discontinuance of primo chefs programs (Mario Batali's, being one prime example.)Because FN has no interest in providing material only the high-end crowd enjoys. We account only for such a small percentage of FN viewership that they systematically removed anyone with any culinary fervor and replaced those chefs/educators with the Rachael Rays, the Sandra Lees, and the Michael Chiarellos. FN initially thought home-viewers would enjoy watching and learning from true professionals. FN was wrong. The common viewer can't relate to artisanship and would rather watch Sandra Lee pour taco seasoning on dog food. That is why Anthony Bourdain is no longer on FN.
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So they aren't going to continue with the reruns?
FN is re-running them Tuesday nights at 11p, beginning 1/1/08.
I logged onto Food Network's A Cook's Tour page, under feedback, and, while congratulating FN for re-running ACT, also suggested they release it on DVD for those not fortunate enough to remembered to tape the eps when they first aired.
Anyone else who thinks it might be a cool idea can fill out the comments on the attached form:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/about_us/t...7_62448,00.html
Hey, it would be a nice chunk of change for FN. Maybe even a chunk for Tony. More importantly, we get ACT.
I know Bourdain feels NR is vastly superior to ACT - bigger budget, longer running time, more creative control, etc. - but seeing them again on Tuesday night, I can't help but think how good these shows were in their own right, and how Bourdain himself evolved throughout them - not just as a person experiencing the greater world for the first time, but as a writer, culinary ethnologist, and general human being. OK, my 2 cents.
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Oh, dear Lord, I'd LIKE to be able to blame the Great Frozen North for Rachael Ray, but I can't. Unfortunately, she's a New Yorker - an UPSTATE New Yorker, okay? Not a Noo Yawhhk City Noo Yawhhker! - and we just have to live with the collectove state shame. The only thing that makes that heinous fact bearable for me is Sandra Lee, who can always take one's mind off the horror of RR with one of her Paxil and Pomegranate Martini-fueled diatribes ended only by a staggering splat into an overwrought tablescape. A little Absinthe and Oxy, anyone?I caught a bit of Diane Rehm's interview with Paula Dean on NPR. OMG! It was embarrassing to listen to! I kept thinking, "CRAP! Do folks thinks she represents Southern women (especially those of us who COOK)???"Yet, many of the women I work with think Paula is WONDERFUL! They also love Rachel Ray! However, the ones I know who love those shows were ALL raised in the great frozen North!
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the thought of combining processed cheese food with chocolate had me gagging.
Yeah, there's just something rather unnatural about pairing Velveta and chocolate. I'm not sure if the problem was compounded by the addition of caramel, white chocolate and nuts or not. Call me a candy snob, I don't care how many bows you tie on it, or how much red sugar you stick it in, it was an unappealing mess I just didn't want to try. And, if you watched the judges they weren't to eager to try it either. I was, however, interested in trying Tyler's Gingerbread cakes and Robert's Cranberry Clafloutie.
I have to agree with you both. As messy as it was, I'd eat Tyler's Buche de Noel over one of those fudge-cheese-white chocolate-nuts on-a-stick thingies ANY DAY. PROCESSED cheese? And Paula was PROUD of it!
I find Paula annoying. She trash talks every chef she's up against, and occasionally resorts to sabotage and generally being annoying. I don't find her cute or engaging at all. Basically, I want to smack her every time she opens her nasal mouth.
BTW, she and Cat were going on about how those two Southern gals were going mop the floor with Irvine and Tyler. Isn't Tyler a good ol' boy, too? Carolinas?
I think it would have been more equitable if they had an Iron Chef on each team. Say, Cat and Paula (The Southern Girls) against Flay and a NY pastry chef challenger. ("Hey, Paula Motah-Mouth! We gotcha stick of buttah right HEAH, b****!")
I thought the girls won on plating and originality. But I would've black magic-markered that freaking choco-cheese ball. Are they allowed to give NEGATIVE points for a dish? Minus 5 here!
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Yep, I watched ALL the episodes aired in the States, way back to the Ishinabe days, before there was the secret ingredient list. And, yes, when they had to fly Morimoto in for a special battle much later on in the series, of course Fuji TV could be expected to utilize him to the fullest. But the three original IC America chefs are all NY-based (except Morimoto, who schleps between NY and Philly), and the original episodes of ICA made no bones about pre-selecting the IC for the given challenger. It was a lot more interesting when the Japanese challengers had to think their way through selecting an IC, and then hope the secret ingredient wasn't a special favorite of the IC, who might have some expertise with it.) Those original scenarios were a lot more challenging and provided a lot more dramatic tension. Hey, I loved it every time the dread Kandagawa/Ohta faction tried to take out Morimoto or Sakai, only to find that their old-school Japanese guy had to work with, say, foie gras. ""Ooooooo! Nan desk'! Say it isn't so!")I'm sorry, but I'm not sure where you are getting all of your information. According to the Iron Chef book, the IC Japanese chefs were given a secret ingredient list as in the American show. This was not true at the very beginning of the run (when Ishinabe was IC French, and that information is courtesy of him, from that same book), and that may be what you're thinking of. There are multiple references in that book as well as on the show itself to the planning meetings that would take place on both the ICs and challengers' part once they had their secret ingredient clues. -
While the IC Japanese chefs had NO inkling whatsoever about the secret ingredient, I've known for a while that the IC Americzan chefs are given a short list ahead of time of what the secret ingredient might be - which always annoyed me thoroughly. Then, too, in the beginning, the challengers always had the ICA chef they'd be going up against (I guess so the IC could fit all the tapings into his busy schedule), which REALLY ticked me off so much, I've refused to watch it until the TNIC competition. (In Japan, all the chefs were brought in on a Sunday morning, and they taped several episodes back to back. Even if only, say, two IC Japan chefs were selected for battle, all four came in and were prepared to tape. All day.)Claudia Greco, planning and cooking on the fly is what I thought the Iron Chefs were doing, too. But after a little web research, I discovered this isn't the case. This is what Amatuer Gourmet said about ICA and the advance notice of the potential secret ingredient: Amatuer GourmetAnd MSNBC story at slashfooddotcom.
mcohen, I feel your angst.
Edited because I can't spell, my punctuation is bad, my grammer is even worse, and it takes more than one pass for my thoughts to gel.
The IC Japan set was completely broken down after the taping and rebuilt every week, with the gas lines, etc., being re-laid weekly (!!!) It was damn near stadium size, which is why they had the electricity of a live audience, and ICA is so flat - a small studio atop the Chelsea Market, home to FN. That, too, really kills the energy of ICA for me.
Plus, unlike the energetic and inquisite floor reporter Ohta and color commentator "Fukui-san", Kevin Bruach never seems to do his homework and find out anyrthing about the more exotic ingredients. Hey, if you know in advance that they're going to use, say, natto, then find OUT about the freaking natto! What are it's properties? How is used? What's it made of? What makes it hard to handle? Brauch is large useless and clueless. Either get a real food floor reporter, or send Alton down on the floor.
And, as much as I respect Alton, he really does have to learn to pronounce ricotta. It really is NOT "ree-COAT-ah", anymore than "AL-ton" is "AWL-ton." (That, and Gordon Ramsay's "riz-ZOTT-o" and "PIE-lah" for paella drive me wild.)
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I know the ICs have to plan their dishes and cook totally on the fly, but I truly wish FN would post some of their recipes, if they manage to retain/codify one. If something looks outstanding, I try to take notes while the chef is preparing the dish, but you know how hit-or-miss that can be. I would love to have been able to replicate some of the dishes on TNIC.
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Ruhlman discussed both the judging process as well as his own ethics at great length on the Ruhlman blog (in the October archives, The Next Iron Chef). Actually, knowing Symon might have hurt Symon, in the beginning, since it was Ruhlman, the judge most familiar with Symon's food, who called him out on borrowing a recipe from his pastry chef's repetoire. And, BTW, ALL of the judges know Symon. And a lot of the chefs are buds with each other - Symon with Besh, Symon with Cosentino, Aaron with - Besh, I think? At this level, everybody knows everybody, a good hand full are buddies, and, you know, no one went home with his or her career ending because they didn't win a reality TV show. So no need to feel duped or dissed or anything but - HEY! WE GOT OURSELVES A WICKED COOL NEW IC! FUNNY! SOULFUL! CREATIVE! And can he cook, or what? (He resembles Morimoto a lot, personality-wise, to me - not only does he think outside the box, foodwise, but the boxes Symons thinks out of aren't rectangular to begin with. Funny, mischievious man with a good sense of humor, like Morimoto. He just SOOOO camera-ready! (Although I loved Besh, too, and think he was just as deserving.)PDC mentioned the Ruhlman/Symon connection, and that bothered me too. What bothers me even more about that connection is that FN allowed it. From that standpoint, I'm not going so far as to say they knew who they wanted to be the next IC, and this little mini-series was just a vehicle for promoting Iron Chef America. No, I'm not going so far as to say that, but the thought has planted itself rather firmly in the back of my mind and now I'm feeling a bit like the rube at the side show carnival who just got duped.Not that Symon's not a great chef and all, because he is. Speaking of side shows, Michael Knowlton redeemed himself with his vote for Besh, in my modest opinion, and I liked his little silver tie with the fat knot, too.
And while I'm in this bitchy little mood, I'd like to add that Alton Brown has thoroughly gotten on my nerves, ever since his near-miss with the "rabbit" in first season of Feasting on Asphalt, and the second season chock full of condescending remarks at every single eatery he visited. But that's beside the point.
<<-- I'm not angry or bitter, really I'm not. I'm happy for Symon. -
While I haven't yet been to an Elements gig (I'm heading for Degustibus on 11/29), my friends and fellow bloggers have told me, in words and pictures, that you can expect Ruhlman to talk AND take questions (of a culinary/technique nature) throughout the cooking demos, and then to take further questions and sign books afterwards. Ruhlman is also doing stop-bys at nearby Borders, etc., for additional book signings and to meet his fans and blog readers after his demos.
At just the book signings, he is, of course, either reading bits from his book or discussing topics from it, signing books and answering all questions - and, apparently, occasionally getting surprised by celeb drop-ins, such as his friend Chef Cosentino (!)
He is reportedly also trying to get his publisher to add more dates, based on the tons of pleas from his blogging fans.
This, from a fellow blogger and friend on the West Coast:
http://profumoprofondo.com/2007/11/11/meet...ichael-ruhlman/
and her hubby:
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What's with the snub of Batali from the "Iron Chef Sky Box?" For a network that continues to claim he's not leaving the show, that seems a bit rude.
I don't think he was snubbed. I think he is really leaving, and, just to underscore that, he is really busy. Elsewhere. But I do think he was invited.
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Just as a side note, the one thing about Iron Chef America that I'm really not into is the chairman character. I find it too hokey, it worked there, but doesn't here. Maybe if they had found someone more flambouyant like Ruhlman and not tried to create a direct link to the Japanese version.
There were a series of shows filmed France in which each of the 3 Japanese ICs competed at least once. I don't believe these shows were ever shown on FTV. The Japanese IC was Nakamura who preceeded Morimoto. These shows were IC events and very similar to what we saw Sunday. In the Japanese version each IC talked about their relationship with food, we saw them shopping in various locations around France (not necessarily Paris) and then they cooked in the Chariman's Chauteau, which was not unlike the American Ambassador's residence.
If you've seen some of the old Japanese IC segments the NIC episode from Sunday really kind of did harken back to them.
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How do you feel about the Professional Chef and McGee?I am looking forward to picking up my copy of our Michael's book. I too prefer this type of culinary book to rote recipes.Folks, let's not forget there are other references that might be old but I hold as essential. They're a must for any cook, amateur or pro.
1. The Chef's Compendium of Professional Recipes by Renhold, Foskett and Fuller
2. La Repitoire de la Cuisine by Lewis Saulnier.
The former got me out of a lot of hot water as an apprentice.
The latter is invaluable, should you have tongue julienne and cock's combs that need using up.
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Well, you never know - Tony might add more stops to his book tour.
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For anyone interested in book signings, lectures, readings or other events associated with this book, please see the Calendar.
Two more Bourdain gigs have just been added to the Calendar.
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The (temporary) return of "A Cook's Tour"
in Food Media & Arts
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