Tv food culture from a conservative pundit view

[Darin Smith]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...13/979byvyb.asp

[feedmec00kies]

Some see Rachael Ray as the greatest TV cook since Julia Child.

...arguably the most influential chef of all time, Emeril Lagasse.

What?! That isn't really true, is it? Is he really that influential? More than Julia Child??? JULIA FREAKIN' CHILD????

::dies::

Last February, the always outspoken Anthony Bourdain had had enough of the "ascent of the Ready-Made bobblehead personalities" and posted a diatribe to that effect on food writer Michael Ruhlman's blog. Bourdain...lamented the lack of quality programming on the Food Network and the failure of some hosts to inspire and challenge viewers to cook better food. The item generated more than 700 comments, largely sympathetic.

[RANT]I'm sorry, but it really drives me nuts when someone rightly criticizes mediocrity (I share Bourdain's view when it comes to teaching) and everyone feels bad for the person/group they are criticizing; they completely ignore it's validity. It reminds me of the time that my dad and I, on our way out of a Yo-Yo Ma performance at Tanglewood, discussed how his performance was lackluster and weak (particularly in view of his ability), and we got dirty looks from people. Yeah, I didn't read his schpiel, so maybe it was harsh, but it frustrates me that the message goes COMPLETELY unheard because people are upset that it's "too mean", even if there are valid points to it. It's like wanting teachers to grade in green pen so it's not as daunting or something. BAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! [/RANT]

Now that I've gotten that out... I don't know, this article didn't really seem to quite "get it," IMO. Am I missing something?

[srhcb]

Now that I've gotten that out... I don't know, this article didn't really seem to quite "get it," IMO. Am I missing something?

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I think this article pretty much encapsulated the opinions often expressed by eGullet posters of every political ilk on virtually each topic discussed, differing only in degree of vitripution?

And while I tend to agree myself, I was happy to be reminded of our dear Julia Child having once given in to the demands of the marketing folks:

While Child was largely level-headed about the business, even she fell prey to excess on at least one occasion--her 1983 short-lived series Dinner at Julia's. According to biographer Laura Shapiro, "Julia looked grotesque, her hair frizzed and her makeup garish, dressed up in caftans and evening pajamas, or rigged out for a barbecue in jeans, a vest, and a purple ten-gallon hat. . . . The sumptuous mansion, the Rolls-Royce pulling up to the door." Letters written at the time expressed sentiments like "How could you?" and "We want you to be human."

SB (to err is human, but in cooking you have to eat your errs )

[flamenco]

I read and enjoyed the article - thanks for providing the link to it! I think it summarizes the current TV food phenomenon quite well, from the common man's point of view - if scrambled eggs are one of the few things he can actually make, he's obviously not coming from a cooking background. btw, I got no particular conservative vibe from it. Some will disagree, I'm sure.

I've read somewhat exhaustively about the debates concerning the dumbing-down of the Food Network, so I wasn't especially agitated to read about it. I do find Rachael Ray to be quite annoying with her dopey patter, but I can understand her appeal to your average Joe/Jane, who finds her cute, barely cooks at all, and is so stressed out by modern life that they just want shortcuts, no intellectual stuff thank-you-very-much. Fortunately, I've discovered that I can just turn it off!

Bourdain has certainly mellowed with age, he almost sounds like an elder statesman these days! He remains forthright with his opinions, many of which I agree with.

On the other side of the coin, I remember years ago watching Mario Batale's early show where he just very soberly cooked some stuff and described what he's doing. I wasn't hoping that he would yell BAM, start running around the set, have an amusing sidekick, and start pimping some cookware, but I remember thinking, "Wow, this guy is serious. I wonder if he could tell a joke once in awhile". Then later I found out that he's a legendary hellion, prone to stupendous bacchanalian excess! I guess the network must have told him to keep it serious!

So we are in a new world. Maybe the Food Network would have folded without all this Ray-ism. Who knows?

Cheers, Dave

[Ted Fairhead]

Some see Rachael Ray as the greatest TV cook since Julia Child.

...arguably the most influential chef of all time, Emeril Lagasse.

What?! That isn't really true, is it? Is he really that influential? More than Julia Child??? JULIA FREAKIN' CHILD????

::dies::

Last February, the always outspoken Anthony Bourdain had had enough of the "ascent of the Ready-Made bobblehead personalities" and posted a diatribe to that effect on food writer Michael Ruhlman's blog. Bourdain...lamented the lack of quality programming on the Food Network and the failure of some hosts to inspire and challenge viewers to cook better food. The item generated more than 700 comments, largely sympathetic.

Now that I've gotten that out... I don't know, this article didn't really seem to quite "get it," IMO. Am I missing something?

←

Yes, I'm sorry but I think you are missing something. The Food Network serves the vast majority of viewers in that it entertains as well as generating some ambition to get in the kitchen and cook something rather than ordering pizza or going out to a fast food joint.

Yes, its elementary to you and all of us who like to think of ourselves as "foodies" and I think its a little like a 10th grader sitting in a third grader's class and being contemptuous of the teacher.

As for Emeril being more influential than Julia, the writer is probably accurate when you think of numbers alone of the viewing public. I doubt if very many of her fans ever really tried to cook the dishes she showed, even though we were all in love with her and thoroughly enjoyed her personality. Remember too, when she first started there were no sources of upscale products like Jacques Pepin said in his interview.

Even today, if you live in a food cultural backwater away from the delis and markets found in the larger cities it is easier to turn to meatloaf, stews, fried chicken and other so-called comfort foods than to be original and cook haute cuisine. My humble efforts are decried by my neighbour as being too fancy and "frenchified"!

I love to read Anthony Bourdain and I agree with him re the obnoxious Ray but I do believe that we are in the minority of viewers.

[feedmec00kies]

Ted Fairhead, you do have a point. I kind of got distracted by my frustration with certain personalities on the Food Network, but it's true that the Food Network has had its place in culinary tradition, whatever levels of cuisine it might dwell in. I guess because I come from a family where cooking is considered important, I never needed to be introduced to how easy/simple/exciting cooking could be, and therefore I haven't been affected by the Food Network in that way.

However, although I admittedly compared them earlier, I don't think it's really possible or fair to compare the influence of Julia Child and Emeril Lagasse. They operate(d) (well, Julia Child still has televised programs running, but she isn't actively able to influence anything anymore) within different generations and what I see to be different situations, even if they both are/were some of the most-viewed television chefs of their time. My impression is that Julia Child most directly affected the earlier (but not first) generations who were learning less and less how to cook from their parents, because the American family was living in different situations (mothers working outside the home and different household arrangements, for example; this already had started happening, which is when/why cookbooks first started emerging). My impression (though admittedly as someone born a long while after she made her first appearance) is that her show appealed to people who wanted to cook but needed to learn more about it from watching, because they didn't really have someone to show them all these things in the flesh. For Emeril Lagasse, I feel like his place is more to attract non-cooks who might see cooking more as a chore, possibly in light of shows like Julia's which focused more on haute cuisine. He is there to make it exciting, which is why the late-night-show setup works; I don't think that too many television cooks can pull that off without losing respect or credibility, especially at Julia Child's time (I can't tell if Martin Yan's show "Yan Can Cook" is seen as ridiculous or hokey by most people, since I was a child when it was on regularly).

So yes, maybe his viewership is huge, but I still don't know if I could consider him to be "arguably the most influential chef of all time." I just find that kind of statement to be really loaded; it ignores all sorts of factors in the culture that the person is/was operating in.

And Flamenco.. I didn't get any particular "conservative" vibe either.

[LineDog]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Publ...13/979byvyb.asp

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In the article Julia C. says "the line is difficult to see, but i know where i mean to be." Knowing where and who they are is the biggest challenge for todays celebrichefs. Here is a New Orleans' post that partially explains the poopooing that Emeril (and others) get.

(The reason Emeril did not open his N.O. restaurants after Katrina was not political) red tape, his people crunched the #'s and found that business interuption insurance was much more profitable than opening (and helping his community and employees). That, to me, is the difference between a chef and a restauranteur... the chefs do it for the food. the other guys do it for the bottom line. It doesnt matter what you think about Emeril personally - it has nothing to do with him. He doesn't make his own decisions. I believe that he wanted to come back and give a hand but his "people" told him what was financially beneficial rather than what was the right thing to do. P.S. The fundraising he did just after the hurricane went into what he called an "employee relief fund". Every restaurant employee was given a weeks pay, then laid off. But all of his office people where kept on. Again, the hostility aint against the man - its against the machine that surrounds him.

[Darin Smith]

The title says conservative because it is a conservative political website, the article itself does not seem politically bent one way or the other.

I did think it funny that Alton Brown was lumped in as a professional chef. While trained as a chef at NECI I don't think he'd classify himself that way......

[nibor]

OK, I'll admit it: I got interested in cooking from watching Emeril and Mario on TV. It didn't take long to get sick of the Food Network - can't say I have tuned in in years. But I am still cooking.

[SundaySous]

Oh great while reading this I forgot how long the eggs we're in. DAMN!