Cook like a chef

[cook-em-all]

Somebody has to tell me if it is just me or is there something wrong about this TV show.

I'm not usually one to criticize cooking shows, but it is called cook like a CHEF.

[spqr]

Need more info please: what channel is it on? Who hosts? What problem do you have with the show? And, etc.

[cook-em-all]

The show is on the Food Network featuring Canadian Chefs teaching cooking techniques of various themes.

Example: Veal, a chef will prepare and cook a veal chop, a scallopinni, a roast etc.

Before I go into my problems with the show, I would like you to judge for yourself.

A hint of my disdain- Don't try things for the first time on TV.

[riboflavinjoe]

the few times i watched it, it seemed to be okay. there are many chef-hosts so there are lots of different approaches happening. but in general, i found that they were decent guys and gals doing decent things, showing tricks of the trade, and so on. they could use some new music, though. and what's the deal with showing all the helpers drinking beer after they are done their plates?...

[pixelchef]

It isn't a show for beginners. If you want someone to baby you and hold your hand through the methods they exhibit, you're watching the wrong show - watch Canadian Living Cooks.

They're talented chefs, some of Canada's best. They're pretty thorough, and they touch on lots of different aspects of the theme throughout any given episode. Some of the chefs are rather annoying, but that has nothing to do with the show.

The camera angles/music/etc. are kind of "artsy" which makes it difficult to watch at times as well. But as far as the content of the show goes, it's better than a lot of Food Network Canada programming.

[Jinmyo]

I agree. I think that the various chefs they feature all try to get across, with varying degrees of success, techniques and approaches instead of just recipes. I think it's pound for pound better than any other show on. Which doesn't say much, really.

[cook-em-all]

The Beer is the only thing that makes sense Joe-Sleeman's too

[Lesley C]

I've never been able to sit through this show. The camera angles are strange and they all keep saying their stuff is "great" and "perfect" or "just right." Uurgh...

And they did a few pastry shows last week that were just awful! Couldn't they have gotten a few REAL pastry chefs in to do it right? Grrrr...

[Jinmyo]

they all keep saying their stuff is "great" and "perfect" or "just right." Uurgh...

That is annoying.

[munchcake]

I think that the content of the show is primarily quite good, although I agree that their pastry episodes lack the same enthusiasm and creativity that these chefs lend to say, foie gras. One thing in the show's favor is the lack of dumbing-down. However, I don't see a place for artsy camera angles, mood lighting, and the rest. These techniques are pretty blatant, yet fail at making the chefs or their cuisine appear sexy. That said, my least favorite part of the show is the blond male chef, who is about as melodramatic as the lighting director. I think it's the way he says "the possibilities are ENDless." Those who watch too much Food Network know what I mean.

Lauren

[Jinmyo]

munchcake, how about his phrase, "I'll let you in on a secret for making PERfect..."

(One for Lesley as well.)

[Coop]

I find that the show is a little overdone. I enjoy watching Ned Bell who seems to have something of interest in each one of his shows. I worry about what seems like mock enthusiasm. Are these people really in love with the food like they seem? Maybe it is a bit much. Also where are the Vancouver chefs? I geuss guys like David Hawksworth and Pino Postero don't carry the kind of cache as a chef who works at a cooking school in the Maritimes.

[Lesley C]

And where are the Quebec chefs???

[chopper]

Well, Québec is represented by Georges Laurier from Hull and more notably by Caroline Mccann-Biszak.

I, for one, think that she is the only one that truly cooks like a chef...

[Degustation]

Below are the bios of the participating chefs. They seem to have representation from various parts of Canada, though they may not all be that well-known. I wonder if some chefs from the best restaurants would have the time or inclination to paticipate in the show.

Chef bios

[cook-em-all]

Caroline is a super cook-great hands.

Now I can say exactly what I feel.

The show should be called Cook like a stagiere. It (the show) is just wrong and is embarrassing.

It mocks intentionally or not all proffesionalism in the industry. This is not the way to cook, certainly not like a chef. Call it cook like the Urban Peasant. Why do they eat with their hands and fingers.

I could go on and on.

[Lesley C]

Oh sorry, I keep thinking of Caroline Mccann-Biszak as an Ontario chef. I actually met her in New York when she was chef at the Quebec consulate. Great girl!

My mistake.

[riboflavinjoe]

hey whoa, i gotta stick up for james barber: he is the one who made me get into food.

i started watching him about 7 or 8 years ago, and was not intrigued by the food at first, he was just so cool and calm about everything in general. he said, "you don't have to go to a fancy cooking school and wear a silly hat to know how to cook." true, but it didn't hurt me to go to school.

later, i started actually making some of his dishes, and discovered i quite enjoyed food. and then i went off to school to learn all the good stuff. sure his food might seem a little... well... low-de-gamme, but i have a great respect for him and i thank him often for him turning me on to food. he's great...

they all keep saying their stuff is "great" and "perfect" or "just right." Uurgh... 

That is annoying.

my wife pointed out that every cook on the food network keeps saying "beautiful," but with the "beau" part drawn out... "Byooooo-tiful." When we would sit down and watch it, she would keep saying beautiful with the chefs. funny

Edited February 10, 2003 by riboflavinjoe (log)

[chopper]

It's not a question of bad mouthing James Barber.

The point is more that the people involved in the show(most of them) seem to parody what it's like to be a chef, from the "faux-brigade" set up and the constent useless references to actual restaurant kitchen situations .

Not to mention their approximate use of technique and their lake of regard for the actual skills that make or brake an actual professionnal chef, be it low or haut de gamme...

James Barber is quite the standard guy, wouldn't you say Joe?

[riboflavinjoe]

hmmm... i wonder who chopper is?... hmmm... standard... hmmm... yes, james is ... hmmm... standard... who is this chopper person?...

[Jinmyo]

hey whoa, i gotta stick up for james barber: he is the one who made me get into food.

Ooooooh. Glad of that, riboflavinjoe.

But his "So it's some stinky stuff from the back of the fridge, just throw it in. No one will know" schtick gives me the horrors. The way that he just drops knives, mixes product with scrap on the board, and seems to have decided to always ignore what he is doing just scares me.

[riboflavinjoe]

So it's some stinky stuff from the back of the fridge, just throw it in. No one will know" schtick gives me the horrors. The way that he just drops knives, mixes product with scrap on the board, and seems to have decided to always ignore what he is doing just scares me.

sure, sure. i havent watched him since i've been to school, and really really got into food, so i can just look back with nostalgia, not with academic doubt... but i vaguely remember his extreme non-chalance about everything. and i certainly don't consider my pursuits in cuisine in any way similar to his.

[Lesley C]

I'd call that "extreme nonchalance" sloppiness and total lack of technique. I can't watch that show without screaming.

I don't want the Food Network packed with tight-assed chefs, but must we stoop this low?

[Anna N]

The Urban Peasant breaks a barrier that says only "tight-assed" chefs can really cook. He helped me get over my feeling that one was either born a cook or not! He got my girlfriend trying things that were new and different. He got The Dane listening to his radio shows and coming home with ideas and, heaven forbid, the ingredients!

That's what he should be admired for not his technique, that's for sure!

Now, I am afraid, I can't watch him nor would I want to eat anything he cooked! He doesn't seem to wash anything and it doesn't seem to have been previously washed either. I see eggshell, peelings, and lord only knows what going into his dishes.

[Coop]

I will stifle my opinion on the quality of the chefs on this show (i don't want a nasty e mail from the moderator) Ned Bell excluded.

As a former food industry type, I notice the chef's skill with a knife first. All the creativity and smart talk cannot hide a lack of basic skill. Who is the guru of technique? Not the posers on Cook Like a Chef, certainly not James Barber or Betty Crocker, or the three fun gals on Canadian Living Cooks. All trained cooks and chefs know it's Pepin. Even age and raising a family have not diminished his skills. All shows with names like Cook Like a Chef have to compare themselves to the standards set by Chef Pepin.

I will happily watch his shows with Julia Child or his goofy daugther for just one look at him boning a chicken or slicing an onion. I can't say that about any of the chefs mentioned here.