Avec Eric

[TAPrice]

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting (that's what they do, don't you know) that in the fall Eric Ripert will have a series on PBS called Avec Eric.

Great news. From his brief appearances on Top Chef, he seems like he'll be a good teacher.

[Kevin72]

Yeah. I'm officially on the hunt for his On the Line book now as well.

He's really a class act. Doesn't berate anyone's dishes or humiliate them but he's got enough clout and respect that you can tell it's devastating to alot of the chefs on TC if they don't impress him.

[LBNoble]

I purchased 'On the Line' right after Xmas-it's a great book! It gives you an upclose look at the inner workings of a top restaurant like Le Bernardin. I'm looking forward to the 'Top Chef' rerun tonight, just to see Chef Ripert in action-I think most people in the culinary world have a great respect for him & that says something, that your peers (& the viewing public) think you're doing a good job...

[Qwerty]

I have to wait a while for On The Line, (need to save money), but I have A Return to Cooking and it's fantastic.

Good news on the series can't wait

[pax]

I recently d/l an iTunes interview..(cost 99p)

"Eric Ripert, Tony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton On 'How I Learned to Cook' recorded at the 92nd Street Y" which was very interesting to listen to. I'd never heard much from Chef Ripert before and some of his stories in this clip about his apprenticeship were eye openers. I'd never even heard of Chef Hamilton before which shames me a bit. Can't wait to go try her place, Prune.

Some of you might enjoy. Hope you don't mind me passing it along..

[Doodad]

I recently d/l an iTunes interview..(cost 99p)

"Eric Ripert, Tony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton On 'How I Learned to Cook' recorded at the 92nd Street Y" which was very interesting to listen to. I'd never heard much from Chef Ripert before and some of his stories in this clip about his apprenticeship were eye openers.  I'd never even heard of Chef Hamilton before which shames me a bit. Can't wait to go try her place, Prune.

Some of you might enjoy. Hope you don't mind me passing it along.. 

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You need to see the No Reservations New York then, where Tony goes to Prune with Eric.

[pax]

Thanks, Doodad! I have a whole slew of No Reservations in my iTunes I'm working my way through, I haven't gotten to NY yet. I'll look forward to it!

[jsmeeker]

This will be great. I'm a huge fan of Chef Ripert. Hopefully, the Dallas PBS station will pick it up (they probably will, they have always had a good lineup of cooking shows)

[TarteTatin]

The show is not an interest of mine, as Ripert has some offensive points of view.

A lot of us will not watch his show.

[violetfox]

The show is not an interest of mine, as Ripert has some offensive points of view.

A lot of us will not watch his show.

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I'm fascinated by your comment. Ripert has always seemed like a nice, personable fellow and a wonderful cook. I love "A Return to Cooking" and "On the Line."

I've never seen or heard nim make any comments that exhibit "offensive points of view."

Care to elaborate?

[Tri2Cook]

Apparently he made a comment in an interview that he'd been taught in his early training that women can't make mayo while they are menstruating because it will always break or something like that and, as usual, people have insisted on being highly offended over it to the point of disliking a person they don't even know. I think way too many people these days are on a constant vigil to find things to be offended over. Of course it's a ridiculous thing to teach someone but if that's what he was taught and nobody has had the backbone to tell him different then why wouldn't he say it? If I'd been told at an early age that yellow is purple and nobody ever bothered to tell me otherwise then I would probably at some point mention publicly that yellow is in fact purple. Nothing to get the knickers in a twist over.

[ulterior epicure]

Apparently he made a comment in an interview that he'd been taught in his early training that women can't make mayo while they are menstruating because it will always break or something like that and, as usual, people have insisted on being highly offended over it to the point of disliking a person they don't even know. I think way too many people these days are on a constant vigil to find things to be offended over. Of course it's a ridiculous thing to teach someone but if that's what he was taught and nobody has had the backbone to tell him different then why wouldn't he say it? If I'd been told at an early age that yellow is purple and nobody ever bothered to tell me otherwise then I would probably at some point mention publicly that yellow is in fact purple. Nothing to get the knickers in a twist over.

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Babies are delivered by storks? What?

Couldn't agree with you more, Tri2Cook.

[Lisa Shock]

The fact is, the man is putting himself out there as an educator to the world. Not a fairy-tale writer, not a memoir-writer, but a university-level instructor in a physical science.

He doesn't check the 'facts' that he teaches to the public.

Some of his untrue 'facts' carry a sexist message that I find to be offensive, but others here seem to find appealing.

We all hear things as children, but most university instructors, at least those at good quality universities, in the sciences, teach up-to-date information that has scientific research to back it up.

Ripert's comments were stated as facts, in an educational setting intended to be a master-level class while he was instructing other instructors. Not told to children as a joke, or parable -like the comments about the stork or yellow/purple. The real analogy is: what if you took a PhD level physics course at a major university and were told that yellow was purple, or started your residency at a teaching hospital and were taught on OB/GYN rounds to ignore the women in labor and just wait for storks to bring babies? Would you still trust that anything the instructor told you?

Since he hasn't bothered to check his so-called 'facts' in the past, I cannot trust him as instructor. I therefore believe that he is unsuitable to host an instructional television show, and that production of said show is unwise, at best.

[Tri2Cook]

I don't find it appealing, I just don't understand the intense anger over it. A lot of people believe a lot of things that are absurd or just plain wrong but I don't assume they are bad people deserving of my hate because of it. It's just what they believe. It doesn't automatically mean he has a chip on his shoulder regarding women as cooks/chefs. Maybe he does, I don't know, but to assume he does based on his repeating something he was taught during his early cooking years is a bit heavy-handed. If he says something like that in a teaching context, someone should have the 'nads to speak up and say "ummm, ya know, that's just ridiculous and completely untrue".

Edited March 1, 2009 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Can anyone actually substantiate these claims about Ripert's alleged statement? Not conjecture based on third-hand information found on blogs with no rules about the public record or ethics, mind you.

[Shinboners]

Apparently he made a comment in an interview that he'd been taught in his early training that women can't make mayo while they are menstruating because it will always break or something like that and, as usual, people have insisted on being highly offended over it to the point of disliking a person they don't even know. I think way too many people these days are on a constant vigil to find things to be offended over. Of course it's a ridiculous thing to teach someone but if that's what he was taught and nobody has had the backbone to tell him different then why wouldn't he say it?

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The other thing that needs to be considered is what was the context in which he made that comment? He may have been serious, but then again, he may have said it in a way to ridicule some of the things he had been taught during his early training.

[Shinboners]

Since he hasn't bothered to check his so-called 'facts' in the past, I cannot trust him as instructor. I therefore believe that he is unsuitable to host an instructional television show, and that production of said show is unwise, at best.

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Even if he did present the alleged comments as facts, the thing is, Ripert has run the kitchen of one of the world's best restaurants. I would have thought that would make him a pretty good candidate to present a TV cooking show.

And anyway, when it comes to "facts", how many TV chefs go on about "browning your meat to seal in the juices" when Harold Mcgee has shown this not to be true?

[ulterior epicure]

Since he hasn't bothered to check his so-called 'facts' in the past, I cannot trust him as instructor. I therefore believe that he is unsuitable to host an instructional television show, and that production of said show is unwise, at best.

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Even if he did present the alleged comments as facts, the thing is, Ripert has run the kitchen of one of the world's best restaurants. I would have thought that would make him a pretty good candidate to present a TV cooking show.

And anyway, when it comes to "facts", how many TV chefs go on about "browning your meat to seal in the juices" when Harold Mcgee has shown this not to be true?

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Right. I'll give you another example:

How many of you have read a recipe or spoken with an Italian chef who insists that wine corks are essential in making tender octopus? For those of you who aren't familiar with this "technique," I invite you to look inside Mario Batali's and Dave Pasternak's cookbooks, among many.

I've had tender octopus the world around, and I'm sure the Chinese and South American's don't chuck cork into their pot of octopus.

[violetfox]

Can anyone actually substantiate these claims about Ripert's alleged statement? Not conjecture based on third-hand information found on blogs with no rules about the public record or ethics, mind you.

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"happyhoarfrost, good for you for disciplining your sauce. i know for a fact it is all but impossible to cook thoughtfully when there's a four year old in the room. and you need to pay attention when you're making a mayonnaise; this is part of the pleasure.

"also, and i should have put this in the post, it is common knowledge in France, according both to Eric Ripert and Becks & Posh, that women who are menstruating cannot make mayonnnaise. It always breaks. Always.

Posted by: ruhlman | May 21, 2008 at 02:08 PM"

on Ruhlman's blog

[Stone]

I think this can be put to rest fairly quickly.

Has anyone here observed a woman making mayonnaise whilst menstruating?

[CoffeeAddict]

I've had tender octopus the world around, and I'm sure the Chinese and South American's don't chuck cork into their pot of octopus.

Just wanted to point out that tender octopus in japan anyway is made by beating it with daikon radishes. It's their version of the cork in the pot. I don't know if there's any science behind it but it's tradition for them to do so as well.

My point of reference on this is Iron Chef Japan but Harold McGee mentions both octopus tenderizing techniques here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/dining/0...ing&oref=slogin

[Darren72]

Can anyone actually substantiate these claims about Ripert's alleged statement? Not conjecture based on third-hand information found on blogs with no rules about the public record or ethics, mind you.

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"happyhoarfrost, good for you for disciplining your sauce. i know for a fact it is all but impossible to cook thoughtfully when there's a four year old in the room. and you need to pay attention when you're making a mayonnaise; this is part of the pleasure.

"also, and i should have put this in the post, it is common knowledge in France, according both to Eric Ripert and Becks & Posh, that women who are menstruating cannot make mayonnnaise. It always breaks. Always.

Posted by: ruhlman | May 21, 2008 at 02:08 PM"

on Ruhlman's blog

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So the source of all of this speculation is a post by Ruhlman on his blog that gives no citation or context? Does the fact that he also references Becks and Posh perhaps indicate that this isn't entirely serious? Are we also prepared to stop reading Ruhlman because he says you cannot make mayo with a 4-year old in the room?

[Elizabeth Clauser]

I just want to see the show. I don't particularly care if he thinks I can make mayo or not one week a month as long as he gives some really good recipes and techniques for fish cookery. If he does that, I'll promise not to serve him homemade mayo ever, just to be safe.

[Reignking]

I think this can be put to rest fairly quickly.

Has anyone here observed a woman making mayonnaise whilst menstruating?

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No, I think we need to see if Becks or Posh can do it.

[Lisa Shock]

I stopped trusting Ruhlman when he posted the quote in an instructional, how-to post on how to make mayo -some of his blog is designed as a basics cookbook, some is just a blog, he posted this in the cookbook. Ruhlman edited the quote out after several women proved it to be incorrect. The quote shown above is abridged and does not contain the part where Ruhlman says that Ripert told him in person.

I am still offended that Ruhlman posted it as 'information' in the first place. I am offended that he refused to retract it for several days, until more than one woman 'proved' it to be incorrect.

And, yes, I don't trust anyone on TV who talks about searing meat as acting to seal in juices. I avoid Rachel Ray because she said that on the very first episode of her show that I watched, I haven't watched since. Alton Brown regularly presents personal opinion as absolute fact, and this is why I rarely watch his show -and I double-check his 'facts' before believing him about anything.

I would also like to note that none of the examples of silliness given in this thread involve sexist or racist attributions of ability, they are all about objects or animals, not the ability of one class or group of people to perform tasks or not.

My father was born in the early 1920s. He grew up in the northern US, but even so, he heard a lot of negative things about people of various races, skin colors, religions, countries of origin and gender/sexual orientation. He likes to point out that even back in the 20s, people knew better than to be prejudiced; but some people chose that path and perpetuated hate speech. He told me about some of the things he heard people say, and print, when I was a child, primarily to point out how wrong it was and how it hurt society in general. I would never, ever, repeat any of those comments in an article I wrote about how to prepare a food. -Not even if a good buddy of mine who happened to be celebrity told me his version.

Edited March 6, 2009 by Lisa Shock (log)