Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Worst cooking show ever

lancastermike

By lancastermike
in Food Media & Arts

 Share

Recommended Posts

Karri

Karri

Posted
Posted

Sorry but this show called "Bitchin kitchen" does it involve which one of these next three:

a) bitch in a kitchen

b) is it a type of cribs for kitchens?

or c) is it about complaining?

The perfect vichyssoise is served hot and made with equal parts of butter to potato.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
annachan

annachan

Posted
Posted

I am somewhat a cooking/food show junkie. I watch just about any of them. The only one that makes me turn the channel is when Sandra Lee comes on. :wacko:

I do like Nick Stellino. Yeah, the show can be cheesy at times, but some of his stuff is quite good. I've been using one of his mushroom recipes for years when I entertain and have never had leftovers. That is saying a lot as I always end up cooking way too much food, enough to feed double the amount of people there. :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
chezcherie

chezcherie

Posted
Posted

For me, "Caprial & John's Kitchen" was the worst show ever back when it aired on PBS. It's not so much that the food or format was bad - they went out to the markets, toured farms, met producers, etc. in addition to cooking, which I happen to like in a cooking show.

What I hated about it was the fact that Caprial was always so mean to John! Half the time she spoke to him in a tone like he was a dim-witted idiot and knew nothing about food. And whenever he tried to touch her or anything (being a husband and wife cooking team) she would shrink and visibly cringe like he had the plague.

Horrible to watch! I read somewhere on the internet that they closed all their restaurants and divorced a few years ago, and if that info is correct, I am not at all surprised.

ummmm, apparently still cooking and still together.

caprial and john's kitchen portland or

just sayin'.

"Laughter is brightest where food is best."

www.chezcherie.com

Author of The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook ,The I Love Trader Joe's Party Cookbook and The I Love Trader Joe's Around the World Cookbook

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kitchensqueen

kitchensqueen

Posted
Posted

ummmm, apparently still cooking and still together.

caprial and john's kitchen portland or

just sayin'.

I guess it was just their restaurants that closed then - http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/08/the_rise_and_fall_of_caprials.html and http://www.oregonlive.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/08/caprials_bistro_abrupty_closes.html.

I'm shocked they're still together, but... good for them?

http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pierogi

Pierogi

Posted
Posted (edited)

You can still consider it one of your worst shows!

I can't remember what the other Italian show was, with Maryanne Esposito, but she used to drive me nuts. She seems like a perfectly fine woman and good old-fashioned Italian home cook but she would drive me crazy and he food wasn't exactly wrong but it wasn't like the food I was eating in Italy.

Unfortunately, Mary Ann Esposito, or shall I say mary ANN esPOSito, is still on in the LA basin, and apparently still producing new shows.....forever, I'm afraid. She's already been on since dirt was young, and shows no signs of going gently into that good night.....

The show is "Ciao Italia" and it is dreadful, miserable, painful to watch. Did I mention it makes me twitch when I hear her voice....which is like the voice of your least favorite elementary school teacher. The one who treated you like a blithering idiot, even though you could understand the periodic tables in 3rd grade? THAT teacher.

She comes on in the middle, the dead, smack middle of the block of cooking shows one of the local PBS stations in SoCal programs on Saturday afternoons. After the Martha show and before Lidia. Although I program my TV for the whole block, I walk the dogs while mary ANN esPOSito is....on....the....tele.....vis....ion.

She is like fingernails dragging on a chalkboard to me, and her recipes suck. Plus, she's got helmet hair. She may not be the worst, I've not seen a lot of the ones who have been mentioned (and I rule Sandra Lee out as NOT being a cooking show, so she doesn't qualify....), but mary ANN esPOSito is right up there in the most annoying.

Edited by Pierogi (log)
  • Like 1

--Roberta--

"Let's slip out of these wet clothes, and into a dry Martini" - Robert Benchley

Pierogi's eG Foodblog

My *outside* blog, "A Pound Of Yeast"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anna N

Anna N

Posted
Posted

The show is "Ciao Italia" and it is dreadful, miserable, painful to watch. Did I mention it makes me twitch when I hear her voice....which is like the voice of your least favorite elementary school teacher. The one who treated you like a blithering idiot, even though you could understand the periodic tables in 3rd grade? THAT teacher.

...

She is like fingernails dragging on a chalkboard to me....

Oh you have so hit the nail on the head. That voice and its resemblance to the world's worst elementary school teacher could not have been better expressed. Drives me nuts.

Anna Nielsen aka "Anna N"

...I just let people know about something I made for supper that they might enjoy, too. That's all it is. (Nigel Slater)

"Cooking is about doing the best with what you have . . . and succeeding." John Thorne

Our 2012 (Kerry Beal and me) Blog

My 2004 eG Blog

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

You can still consider it one of your worst shows!

I can't remember what the other Italian show was, with Maryanne Esposito, but she used to drive me nuts. She seems like a perfectly fine woman and good old-fashioned Italian home cook but she would drive me crazy and he food wasn't exactly wrong but it wasn't like the food I was eating in Italy.

Unfortunately, Mary Ann Esposito, or shall I say mary ANN esPOSito, is still on in the LA basin, and apparently still producing new shows.....forever, I'm afraid. She's already been on since dirt was young, and shows no signs of going gently into that good night.....

The show is "Ciao Italia" and it is dreadful, miserable, painful to watch. Did I mention it makes me twitch when I hear her voice....which is like the voice of your least favorite elementary school teacher. The one who treated you like a blithering idiot, even though you could understand the periodic tables in 3rd grade? THAT teacher.

She comes on in the middle, the dead, smack middle of the block of cooking shows one of the local PBS stations in SoCal programs on Saturday afternoons. After the Martha show and before Lidia. Although I program my TV for the whole block, I walk the dogs while mary ANN esPOSito is....on....the....tele.....vis....ion.

She is like fingernails dragging on a chalkboard to me, and her recipes suck. Plus, she's got helmet hair. She may not be the worst, I've not seen a lot of the ones who have been mentioned (and I rule Sandra Lee out as NOT being a cooking show, so she doesn't qualify....), but mary ANN esPOSito is right up there in the most annoying.

YES!

And Tyler Florence because he's a tool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nassaumary

nassaumary

Posted
Posted

If I can't get past the host, it really doesn't matter how good the recipes or prep are, I'm afraid. And the top of that list is Giada Di Laurentis. How does a person smile and manage to show ALL their teeth? Her voice (complete with overdone italian pronunciations)is like nails on a chalkboard for me...

A close second is Tyler Florence, already mentioned. Does anyone else get the impression that he got beaten up alot in school?

As for a favourite? I'm a fan of Jamie At Home...simple meals and thoroughly enjoyable to watch! The camera work is wonderful to my eye...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lindacakes

Lindacakes

Posted
Posted

I, too, cut the cable because the Food Network irritated the hell out of me. Of course, not just the Food Network, but it was the last thing I was watching outside of PBS. I don't miss it, either.

My favorite castigating quote: "Besides, she has helmet hair."

I'm sure I'm way behind the times, but Paula Dean would cause me to freeze like a reindeer in highlights, stricken by shock and horror. A woman who has made a name for herself in cooking because she uses a lot of butter, what would France say?

Two Fat Ladies is my all time favorite television show, ever. It was the perfect template: travel sketch, focus on artisanal food purveyor (long before it was chic), odd conviviality (cloisters and rowing teams), sex appeal (check out the hunting in kilts episode), and funny characters with dry wit. I've watched each episode ten times and have to put it away for a while so that I forget some bit of it before I can watch it again.

Why this isn't repeatable, I'll never know. Oh, yeah, I know. Because cooking shows are Big Business and have to appeal to the great mass of people who don't actually cook.

  • Like 1

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BadRabbit

BadRabbit

Posted
Posted

Two fat ladies now replays on the Cooking Channel.

The worst cooking show ever is "Dutch Oven Cooking". It's so bad that it's a repeat performer on "The Soup" with Joel McHale.

Correction: The full name of the show is "Dutch Oven Cooking with Cee Dub." There are multiple scenes where Cee Dub just walks out of a tent and lifts the top off a charcoal covered cast iron dutch oven and stirs the contents. He does all of this silently and then returns to his tent without a word. The first time I saw it I thought it was a skit from a comedy show it is so bizarre.

http://ceedubs.com/books_and_videos.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lindacakes

Lindacakes

Posted
Posted

Oh, my God, Cee Dub. I think I could learn to love laughing at that. He actually has a show? On the Food Network? When?

I like to bake nice things. And then I eat them. Then I can bake some more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Special K

Special K

Posted
Posted

What I hated about it was the fact that Caprial was always so mean to John! Half the time she spoke to him in a tone like he was a dim-witted idiot and knew nothing about food. And whenever he tried to touch her or anything (being a husband and wife cooking team) she would shrink and visibly cringe like he had the plague.

That's funny. I always thought he tried to undercut her every chance he got. Seemed to me he kept butting in and correcting her, or trying to hog the spotlight. Maybe I was responding to the same body language you noticed, only I identified with her?

I don't enjoy any of the competition cooking shows. I want someone (like Alton Brown, say) to teach me something. Just my preference. I wouldn't say Iron Chef, et al are bad, they're just not my cup of tea.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
BadRabbit

BadRabbit

Posted
Posted

Oh, my God, Cee Dub. I think I could learn to love laughing at that. He actually has a show? On the Food Network? When?

He was originally on PBS in the late 90s but now has worked with an NBC affiliate in Washington State to film his new show. It's not widely distributed so I've just seen shows that people have sent me and clips on "The Soup."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
kitchensqueen

kitchensqueen

Posted
Posted

That's funny. I always thought he tried to undercut her every chance he got. Seemed to me he kept butting in and correcting her, or trying to hog the spotlight. Maybe I was responding to the same body language you noticed, only I identified with her?

Either way, their on-camera chemistry (or lack thereof) was just so awkward it was unbearable to watch.

http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Trev

Trev

Posted
Posted

The one show that I honestly just cannot watch is Mexican Made Easy with Marcela Valladolid! I think someone may have mentioned how annoying her voice is! Like nails on a chalkboard. Makes me change the channel every time.

There are 3 kinds of people in this world, those who are good at math and those who aren't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

everybody seems to have forgotten the Queen of Bad!

Martha Stewart

Madeleine Kamman came close to punching her on a show about eggs.

Its my understanding that Julia Child insisting on never appearing with her.. but youd have to check the two part show about the wedding cake. maybe it was after that.

after all, she is one of the rare cookbook "authors" to get sued for plagerism (twice) at least buy the same author Richard Olney and lost. she seemed to just lift recipes from other books and place them in 'hers'

and after all, she might be the only tv 'cook' who is a convicted felon!

:blink:

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
annabelle

annabelle

Posted
Posted

and after all, she might be the only tv 'cook' who is a convicted felon!

That's not entirely accurate. Juan Carlos Cruz of the late, unlamented "Calorie Commando" tried to hire a contract killer to whack his then wife. He is now cooling his heels in the cooler.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted

....

And Tyler Florence because he's a tool.

TOTALLY !! You just know he's preening into an off-camera mirror, admiring how studly he is.

I think I remember a comment on top chef from one of the Voltagios who was judged harshly by TF. He dismissed him with a smirk as a TV chef.!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
karlos

karlos

Posted
Posted

Sandra Lee's table scapes are brutal but somewhat entertaining nonetheless. I remember a show with Dweezil Zappa and Lisa Loeb that was just unwatchable. Lisa Loeb is cute as a bug but even that couldn't salvage the show. I think she was/is a vegetarian/vegan and he was very unadventurous as an eat and in addition to neither of them having any cooking chops whatsoever, everything they made was bleh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...