FoodTV Canada

[Pam R]

Is it just me, or is there more to watch on FTVC these days?

As Kerry pointed out in this topic, Heston Blumenthal's In Search of Perfection has been a nice addition. Add to that Top Chef, Ace of Cakes and a few others, and I actually find myself tuning into FTVC more than I have in the past.

Sure, a lot of the shows are British (Ramsey, Blumenthal, Nigella, Oliver), but I'll take them over a lot of the US shows. If only we could get some good Canadian content on there . . or is it there already and I'm missing it?

OK, the truth is I still don't watch it the way I did when FTVC first hit the air. But I like to have it on in the kitchen when I'm working and I think there's more there than there has been in the last few years.

Anybody else feel that way? Are there some shows that we should be checking out?

[Kerry Beal]

The other night I flipped on 'In Search of Perfection' and found several other shows that I enjoyed that followed it. There was a show called 'At the table... with Martin Picard', owner of Au Pied de Cochon that was excellent. French Food at Home is interesting, and Jamie at Home I enjoy more than his other shows. All in all a rather good line up, but I don't automatically turn to the food channel like I used to when I turn on the box.

[-sheila mooney]

i really enjoy watching French Food at Home. And Michael whatzizname (o no, is it Smith??) in Chef at Home. I suppose the latter show is lots of re-runs, but they're new to me... btw: anybody ever try his fennel smashed potatoes? i have evangelized them thruout France and the US (ok, Burgundy and Philadelphia)...

[Peter the eater]

I finally saw a show from Heston Blumenthal on FTVC and it was fascinating. Now I have a talking face to go with all those words I've read. This is a man worthy of a show.

I don't get a chance to see much of the channel but for each good bit I do catch, I see a stupid bit that cancels it out.

I recently saw the second half of a show called "Fink" and was surprised to see an old acquaintance from my undergrad days as the leading man - Paul, if you are out there send me a PM! You look like you are having a lot of fun out there in southern Ontario.

[Tri2Cook]

In Search of Perfection is good.

Good Eats is usually good.

Made To Order... I always watched it if I was home when it was on, Guy Rubino's plates were worth sitting through the less interesting parts, but that one's gone now.

That's about it for me on FoodTV.

[Sherry B]

I'm really enjoying the Heston Blumenthal shows, although the missing bits for the commercial breaks are screwing with my brain somewhat. On the Black Forest Gateau show (Gateau?? It's a fucking German cake, why call it a "Gateau"? Sheesh.) Anyway, on that show, he was assembling the layers...I was actually toying with the idea of trying the aerated chocolate, (or buying a few Aero bars...who'd know? shhhh.) went to commercial, then he was spraying chocolate with an air-powered paint sprayer. I felt disconnected...hung out to dry. Am I supposed to just boogie on down to Revy and get a paint sprayer? I think not. I wish we got the pure BBC feed with no commercials!

Good Eats pretty much rocks, I like Alton Brown a lot.

Paula Deen...*shudder, y'all*. Her tugboat captain hubby's sort of cute, though.

Michael Smith...I'm ambivalent about him. He's got the experience, and I like the shows where he travels to different venues. The "At Home" shows, ehhh. not so much. And I miss his ponytail, which I thought was hot.

I'd like to see a Karen Barnaby show, a Martin Picard show, a show about "real" Canadian eateries, not just the fashionable high-end places. I'd like to see a show about food in the Maritimes, and Newfoundland. Mennonite food from the prairies. Real french-Canadian home cooking, (sorry, Martin!), in fact any Canadian home cooking. Small diners. Real people eating real food, maybe even some people who are on a *gasp* budget!

In other words, more food, less flash. I'm not holding my breath.

[Tri2Cook]

I'm really enjoying the Heston Blumenthal shows, although the missing bits for the commercial breaks are screwing with my brain somewhat. I wish we got the pure BBC feed with no commercials!

Yeah, I downloaded the BBC uncut. no-commercials versions of the entire first season and burned them to DVD. There's a surprisingly large amount missing in the FoodTV version. Gotta get them commercials in, wouldn't want to miss the chance to buy a spatutong (or is that a tongula?) without which I don't know how we ever managed to cook bacon.

Michael Smith...

I liked "The Inn Chef". I agree with you on the new shows, "...At Large" is interesting sometimes, "...At Home" is pretty unexciting. Don't particularly care about the hair or "hot factor". If I worried about that I'd have to watch Giada.

In other words, more food, less flash.

That's why I liked Made To Order. It was definitely high-end but the show still managed to be almost completely about the food and drinks. No major drama or dumbing it down. Plan the menu, source/research/discuss the ingredients, breakdown of what he's trying to achieve in a kitchen setting (no precise recipes given but that doesn't bother me) and let us hang out for the plating.

[Pookie]

I'd like to see a show about food in the Maritimes, and Newfoundland. Mennonite food from the prairies.  Real french-Canadian home cooking, (sorry, Martin!), in fact any Canadian home cooking. Small diners. Real people eating real food, maybe even some people who are on a *gasp* budget!

In other words, more food, less flash.  I'm not holding my breath.

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There was that old one "The Great Canadian Food Show" they still show it sometimes on CBC, with Carlos Rota? He went around the country and went to small towms and mennonite places and showed the food there.

I remember him making mennonite sausages and something with seal flippers.

[Peter the eater]

There was that old one "The Great Canadian Food Show" they still show it sometimes on CBC, with Carlos Rota? He went around the country and went to small towms and mennonite places and showed the food there.

I remember him making mennonite sausages and something with seal flippers.

Oh yeah, that guy.

I admit, a man going around the country with an appetite and a camera crew . . . not such a bad idea. But the title suggests so much more. I guess it was a food show, in Canada, but it was never remotely close to great.

He may be a good comedic actor who belongs in and contributes to a unique sitcom (Little Mosque on the Prairie) but man alive he was unbearable in that food show. It was soooo clear he was not a qualified chef or critic or anything . . .

[Pam R]

What Canadian shows are on these days?

Checking the FTVC website we've got:

The Heat (I enjoy it when I see it. I grew up in a catering company, so I can relate.)

Food Jammers

Chef at Home

Chef at Large (he's done some interesting episodes)

Eat Shrink and Be Merry

Ricardo and Friends

French Food at Home

The Main

Restaurant Makeover

Thirsty Traveller

Surreal Gourmet & Glutton for Punishment - do we could these as Canadian?

Sugar

Opening Soon

Kitchen Equipped

Just One Bite

I do, Let's Eat!

Fixing Dinner

Fink

I haven't watched a lot of these. There are a few that I can't bring myself to watch - and a couple that I enjoy. Am I missing any?

What happened to Christine Cushing?

[demiglace]

What Canadian shows are on these days?

Checking the FTVC website we've got:

The Heat (I enjoy it when I see it. I grew up in a catering company, so I can relate.)

Food Jammers

Chef at Home

Chef at Large (he's done some interesting episodes)

Eat Shrink and Be Merry

Ricardo and Friends

French Food at Home

The Main

Restaurant Makeover

Thirsty Traveller

Surreal Gourmet & Glutton for Punishment - do we could these as Canadian?

Sugar

Opening Soon

Kitchen Equipped

Just One Bite

I do, Let's Eat!

Fixing Dinner

Fink

I haven't watched a lot of these. There are a few that I can't bring myself to watch - and a couple that I enjoy.  Am I missing any?

What happened to Christine Cushing?

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She's still on...around 3am..repeats.

[Pookie]

There was that old one "The Great Canadian Food Show" they still show it sometimes on CBC, with Carlos Rota? He went around the country and went to small towms and mennonite places and showed the food there.

I remember him making mennonite sausages and something with seal flippers.

Oh yeah, that guy.

I admit, a man going around the country with an appetite and a camera crew . . . not such a bad idea. But the title suggests so much more. I guess it was a food show, in Canada, but it was never remotely close to great.

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Hey I never claimed it was good. That was just the title of the show. I find him pretty smarmy myself.

[Anna N]

One thing about FoodTV.ca that is annoying me no end is that so many of the recipes are not available! Used to be that if you saw it on the TV you could look the recipe up on the website but no more. Jamie at Home; Food Safari, Heston Blumenthal, etc. Check the website and the recipes are not available!

[Kerry Beal]

One thing about FoodTV.ca that is annoying me no end is that so many of the recipes are not available!  Used to be that if you saw it on the TV you could look the recipe up on the website but no more.  Jamie at Home; Food Safari, Heston Blumenthal, etc.  Check the website and the recipes are not available! 

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Yeah, apparently to keep their costs down they aren't subscribing to the recipes. Guess we have to buy the accompanying cookbooks.

[Anna N]

One thing about FoodTV.ca that is annoying me no end is that so many of the recipes are not available!  Used to be that if you saw it on the TV you could look the recipe up on the website but no more.  Jamie at Home; Food Safari, Heston Blumenthal, etc.  Check the website and the recipes are not available!  

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Yeah, apparently to keep their costs down they aren't subscribing to the recipes. Guess we have to buy the accompanying cookbooks.

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BUT did you notice that they don't even refer you to the books! GRRRRRRRRRR!

[Fugu]

And who is that big boobed, Giada wannabe with an identity crisis? Am I French or am I French Canadian? Another Giada clone wannabe is that latina with the Jewish last name. And a few other cheap time fillers.... Terrible programing.

[CaliPoutine]

One thing about FoodTV.ca that is annoying me no end is that so many of the recipes are not available!  Used to be that if you saw it on the TV you could look the recipe up on the website but no more.  Jamie at Home; Food Safari, Heston Blumenthal, etc.  Check the website and the recipes are not available!  

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Yeah, apparently to keep their costs down they aren't subscribing to the recipes. Guess we have to buy the accompanying cookbooks.

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BUT did you notice that they don't even refer you to the books! GRRRRRRRRRR!

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Are they on the foodtv.com website?

[Tri2Cook]

One thing about FoodTV.ca that is annoying me no end is that so many of the recipes are not available!  Used to be that if you saw it on the TV you could look the recipe up on the website but no more.  Jamie at Home; Food Safari, Heston Blumenthal, etc.  Check the website and the recipes are not available!  

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Yeah, apparently to keep their costs down they aren't subscribing to the recipes. Guess we have to buy the accompanying cookbooks.

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I bought the In Search of Perfection book. The information/research behind most of the recipes goes into more detail than the BBC broadcasts and much more detail than the foodtv broadcasts which cut out quite a bit of the original content to make room for commercials. Most of the recipes can probably be tracked down online with a little effort but I enjoy the book more for the reading than the recipes. That said, it's the only foodtv show book I've ever bought (or even been tempted to buy) so I can understand the annoyance if someone is just looking for a specific recipe they saw.

[dougw]

They show Chef at Home on Fine Living in the US. I see there's a lot more episodes than what I've seen. I hope they show them over here, too.

My wife loves this show, and I like it too. We respectfully refer to him as Dork Chef, mostly because he's like us. But it's nice to watch a trained cook make simple stuff for the family.

Not that I'd mind watching a show about Alinea every day either...

[Peter the eater]

They show Chef at Home on Fine Living in the US. I see there's a lot more episodes than what I've seen. I hope they show them over here, too.

My wife loves this show, and I like it too. We respectfully refer to him as Dork Chef, mostly because he's like us. But it's nice to watch a trained cook make simple stuff for the family.

I like Michael Smith, he's been an inspiration for me over the years. The "Chef at Large" series had some interesting venues - like cooking for the NBA's Toronto Raptors, among others. I'm glad he lost the checkered chef pants and questionable ponytail when he started cooking "At Home". There are too many stand-and-stir shows shot in a studio kitchen, something I don't have. I liked seeing that he really was in his own home on PEI with his own wife and son. Cooking without a recipe is pretty much my modus operandi. And I like his bright jar-riddled pantry.

[dougw]

I totally agree. In fact, when we moved recently, I went to jars because of him. The ponytail is not missed at all.

But we have a son and it's cool to see how Smith feeds his kid. It doesn't have to be chicken nuggets and kraft mac and cheese and hot dogs every day.

[demiglace]

I like Michael Smith, he's been an inspiration for me over the years. The "Chef at Large" series had some interesting venues - like cooking for the NBA's Toronto Raptors, among others. I'm glad he lost the checkered chef pants and questionable ponytail when he started cooking "At Home". There are too many stand-and-stir shows shot in a studio kitchen, something I don't have. I liked seeing that he really was in his own home on PEI with his own wife and son. Cooking without a recipe is pretty much my modus operandi. And I like his bright jar-riddled pantry.

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I guess you didn't see this thread.

"Chef at Home" is on a Set, Does this Bother You?

Khadija May 25 2006, 07:22 PM Post #1

Viewers of Canadian Food Network will be familiar with Michael Smith's "Chef at Home." The theme of the show is, obviously, the chef cooking whatever he cooks at home. Unlike a lot of other shows with this format (Christine Cushing: Cook With Me!), the set does not look like a studio; it looks like a real kitchen in a real house. Other parts of the house, the backyard, and the outside of the house are also caught on camera. Throughout the show, the chef's cooking projects are contextualised a lot, in terms of his family life (e.g., the chef makes stew in between cleaning the garage with family; new neighbours move in and are invited for dinner). I always had the sense while watching the show that this was really this guy's house and life, even if he was hamming it up (a lot) for the camera.

Then, my partner let me know that I am wrong. He has talked to the producer of the show, and although it is indeed shot in a house, the house does not belong to Michael Smith. The house belongs to some other people, who rent it to the producers of the show. My partner tells me that it would just be too chaotic to have film crews running around in someone's actual house, while they are living there.

I know that the kind of deception I am talking about is not a serious moral issue or anything of that nature, but nonetheless I am kind of bothered that the show is not really about the chef at his real home. I'm wondering if the same thing is happening with shows like Giada's and Ina Garten's? Does it matter to anyone else if a tv cook is presented as being at his or her home, but really isn't

[Peter the eater]

I like Michael Smith, he's been an inspiration for me over the years. The "Chef at Large" series had some interesting venues - like cooking for the NBA's Toronto Raptors, among others. I'm glad he lost the checkered chef pants and questionable ponytail when he started cooking "At Home". There are too many stand-and-stir shows shot in a studio kitchen, something I don't have. I liked seeing that he really was in his own home on PEI with his own wife and son. Cooking without a recipe is pretty much my modus operandi. And I like his bright jar-riddled pantry.

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I guess you didn't see this thread.

"Chef at Home" is on a Set, Does this Bother You?

Khadija May 25 2006, 07:22 PM Post #1

Viewers of Canadian Food Network will be familiar with Michael Smith's "Chef at Home." The theme of the show is, obviously, the chef cooking whatever he cooks at home. Unlike a lot of other shows with this format (Christine Cushing: Cook With Me!), the set does not look like a studio; it looks like a real kitchen in a real house. Other parts of the house, the backyard, and the outside of the house are also caught on camera. Throughout the show, the chef's cooking projects are contextualised a lot, in terms of his family life (e.g., the chef makes stew in between cleaning the garage with family; new neighbours move in and are invited for dinner). I always had the sense while watching the show that this was really this guy's house and life, even if he was hamming it up (a lot) for the camera.

Then, my partner let me know that I am wrong. He has talked to the producer of the show, and although it is indeed shot in a house, the house does not belong to Michael Smith. The house belongs to some other people, who rent it to the producers of the show. My partner tells me that it would just be too chaotic to have film crews running around in someone's actual house, while they are living there.

I know that the kind of deception I am talking about is not a serious moral issue or anything of that nature, but nonetheless I am kind of bothered that the show is not really about the chef at his real home. I'm wondering if the same thing is happening with shows like Giada's and Ina Garten's? Does it matter to anyone else if a tv cook is presented as being at his or her home, but really isn't

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Oh no! Bad Michael Smith!

Well . . . a show called "Chef at Home" that starts and ends and is peppered in between with exterior shots of a nice home, one is lead to believe, actually takes place in said home. I don't actually care that much, but I do feel like someone has tried to deceive me.

I actually kept my eyes open for the Smith Home whilst in PEI this past summer. Somebody at the Cooking School in Charlottetown said it was out in the east end of the island where we were cruising around.

Now I wonder if he even lives there, or if little Gabe is really his son!

[dougw]

Gabe is actually a 47 year old veteren of the Canadian stage.

You should have seen his Richard III back in 1987 opposite Anne Murray.

[Peter the eater]

Gabe is actually a 47 year old veteren of the Canadian stage.

You should have seen his Richard III back in 1987 opposite Anne Murray.

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Now I really feel deceived.

That must have been Richard III - the Musical. I hear he beat out Christopher Plummer, and stole his Tony . . . poor bastard.