Jeff Smith -- The Frug -- Dies

[smgarsh]

I loved his show very much. It's unfortunate he will also be remembered for something else.

[beans]

My feelings on the Frug, Jeff Smith: with all due respect to Julia Child, The Frugal Gourmet, if evaluated solely on its own merit, was still greatest cooking show in television history, with apologies to the current spate of FN shows ... Mr. Smith, wherever you are, I bid you peace..... and the music still sounds in my ears .. the theme music used for his show is Water Music Suite, No. 1 in F major, Bourree - by George Frideric Handel ... will miss his smile and laughter ...

You and me both my friend.

This is very personal.

I credited him for a large part of my father's interest in cooking (sharing with St. Jacques and St. Julia). Now he is an owner and operator of a restaurant from being a Northwest Airlines mechanic!

I remember how a passion for food and an enjoyment of Jeff Smith's show on PBS was one of those extra things that brought one very important person in my life together. He is good at impressions and could do the "I bid you peace." perfectly and was equally interested in the recipes in his show. One day we did this "outlandish" sandwich that was weighted with a brick, or some other heavy instrument, for lunch. Our lunches were always fantastic. That really was years ago.... Some of the best times I've had with someone I love dearly -- it was the pursuit of good food and sharing it.

Jeff Smith taught me that food is passion and love. (Didn't he say something mischevous about never have the bedroom far from the kitchen...?) How wonderful it is to share with another....

[petite tête de chou]

My feelings on the Frug, Jeff Smith:  with all due respect to Julia Child, The Frugal Gourmet, if evaluated solely on its own merit, was still greatest cooking show in television history, with apologies to the current spate of FN shows ... Mr. Smith, wherever you are, I bid you peace..... and the music still sounds in my ears .. the theme music used for his show is Water Music Suite,  No. 1 in F major, Bourree - by George Frideric Handel ... will miss his smile and laughter ...

Indeed. I could never say it better. Too young, he was, dammit!!!

Beans, I forgot the "I bid you peace." I...just cant say..how dear, dear that is to remember...thank you...-sob-sniffle-

edited to give thanks...

Edited July 10, 2004 by petite tête de chou (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

To those of you who enjoyed my loving epitaph for Jeff Smith (and even quoted it!) , please know that, as a food writer, I might easily be cajoled into writing gourmet obits as supplemental income ... and it seems I have not won the lottery in Massachusetts ...

I guess it was, after all is said and done, and as suggested by another eGulleteer here, his passion and love of the food he shared with us all on his PBS Frugal Gourmet shows which best exemplified him as someone worthy of our affection ... it is for that love, his ebullience, his generous sharing, that I will always cherish his memory.

Once, when distracted and watching his show out of the corner of my eye, I actually thought his sign-off was "I bid you peas" ... not bad for a cooking show ...

[andiesenji]

Guess how I get it out.............

You use your hot ice pick thingie?

I buy 1/2 inch cotton twill "tape", which is like a ribbon, at the yardage store, because it comes in handy for a lot of things in the kitchen. I tie it in a figure-8 around the chicken then run the free end through the hole in the center of the weight and have enough to lead out of the pot and tie around a handle. Since it is flat, the lid will still fit tightly.

When the chicken is done I untie the tape, use a hook to snag the chicken then lift it out of the pot and the cloth tape slides free.

I use this same method when brining a turkey or pork roast. You can put stuff on top to weight them down but this is easier, it just requires some thinking ahead.

[adoxograph]

More than any of the cooking shows the family watched when I was younger, Jeff Smith taught me that it was OK to ignore a recipe.

It was the moment when the recipe he was using called for six drops of Tabasco.

"Six Drops?!" he exclaimed, while shaking an indeterminate amount into the pot.

Never forgot that.

[johnnyd]

Mr. Smith had a history of heart trouble...

[Pickles]

Another Obit Here

[Gifted Gourmet]

Wearing his signature striped apron, he prefaced the show with history lessons about the culture of each dish, from Armenian meat pie to Welsh cakes with  currants.

"People liked the down-home approach. They liked the history part," Paddleford

said. "It was wonderful - we would get these letters from people saying that he

allowed them to travel to places they would never see and try foods they would

never have tried. He really got them cooking together."

I had, until now, forgotten all about the "history" part... he was, and remains, an original ...

[Really Nice!]

I saw him maybe five times over the years on his 'little rascal' scooter, usually in front of Frank's Produce. It was always a pleasure talking with him.

Edited July 10, 2004 by Jason Perlow (log)

[malarkey]

during the late 80's he was a Sunday afternoon regular at Sea Garden in the ID. I was a Sunday regular then too I can remember him in there ordering stuff that wasn't on the menu and it arriving at the table looking splendid. There were a few times I did ask "umm, can I get what he's getting?!" while trying NOT to point and drool. LOL

[Gifted Gourmet]

Perhaps this thread might best be entitled "Personal reminiscences of Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet"?

[Hest88]

I, too, credit him with my interest in ethnic foods (outside of Cantonese), and even with some techniques in Chinese cooking that my parents didn't teach me. There's a part of me that would like to believe that he was innocent, since he was never convicted, but I know how stupid that is. Still, I raise a glass to the Frugal Gourmet that I knew and loved, the smiling man on the TV.

[Gifted Gourmet]

There's a part of me that would like to believe that he was innocent, since he was never convicted, but I know how stupid that is.

Innocent until proven guilty ... it is the American way after all .. as it well should be.

More significantly, he certainly inspired a lot of would-be chefs and viewers over the years .. and it is that which ought to remain his "legacy", in my opinion ...

[Pickles]

I am having myself a little Frugal-Film-Festival later on. I just went to the library and picked up 4 of his videos. I have some more on order from other branches. Since I (we?) haven't seen him in years, it will be like walking down memory lane circa 1985. Yay! Saved myself a bundle of dough, too by using the library and not buying the tapes.

[stovetop]

More significantly, he certainly inspired a lot of would-be chefs and viewers over the years .. and it is that which ought to remain his "legacy", in my opinion ...

I agree!!

stovetop

[klc14]

For one of the other Frug threads I was trying to remember what I learned from him. Like others have said , what it was, was to just get into the kitchen and be venturesome in cooking. Excellent, nourishing food need not be expensive or pretensious. And I remember the saying "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!"

I will remember his enthusiasm and his respect for other traditions and other cooks, like when he went to the Chinese market, and the ribs restaurant.

[Pickles]

He liked the phrase "WONDERFUL stuff!!" and used it a lot. And...I just finished his Italian Food video, and he used his...turkish coffee grinder for his pepper. Remember that? He also enjoyed a few "sips" much like our pals Graham Kerr (the old, fun one...not the new, healthy and improved one... ) and Keith Floyd. He told one interviewer he drank a bottle of wine per day. I can't be sure, but I think it was on Leno or Letterman many years ago when he did a little hot plate type cooking demo.

[Susan in FL]

And I remember the saying "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!"

Yes! How could I have forgotten that came from The Frug... I say that to myself almost every time I cook stove top.

[maggiethecat]

Jeff Smith did something amazing: He told people that you could be Frugal. In the last days of Haute Cuisine --and disco!-- he said to me that legumes could be a Good Thing. In his way, he paved the path for Mama cooking and regional cuisine.

Bless him.

[McDuff]

Just saw his obit on the NYTimes website. Said he died Wednesday, but I haven't heard of it. Sad story, you see?

[auntdot]

Spent a number of hours going over the evidence, the guy was a pedophile.

He was also a showman and a cook, and knew how to use those qualities.

And I used to enjoy his show.

I am grateful he was never able to abuse my son, and I will assume the sons of those who wax so elegantly about him.

Any child who is sexually molested carries baggage he can never erase.

This guy who abused little boys is dead.

Good.

He will never abuse another child again.

[enrevanche]

Spent a number of hours going over the evidence, the guy was a pedophile.

He was also a showman and a cook, and knew how to use those qualities.

And I used to enjoy his show.

I am grateful he was never able to abuse my son, and I will assume the sons of those who wax so elegantly about him.

Any child who is sexually molested carries baggage he can never erase.

This guy who abused little boys is dead.

Good.

He will never abuse another child again.

Auntdot,

I certainly understand your perspective.

One mild but significant correction: since you've spent "hours going over the evidence," you surely realize that Jeff Smith was never accused by anyone of "abusing little boys," unless you consider teenagers (15 year-olds, 16 year-olds) "little boys." Under the legal age of consent? Certainly. Little boys? No, he wasn't accused of diddling five year-olds.

(Technically, assuming that Mr. Smith did what he was accused of, he would not be considered a "pedophile," either, but an "ephebophile"; pedophiles target children age 13 or younger, which Mr. Smith was never accused of doing. For more information, see the encyclopedia article here.)

I don't think anyone who has posted here would care to defend Jeff Smith's alleged behavior with adolescent males; nor are they trying to excuse it by praising his work as a TV chef or remembering some aspect of his *public* career fondly. Rather, like many/most people, they are capable of separating a public figure's professional work from his private life.

An example of sorts. I find the politics and history of the Nazi party to be utterly abhorrent; I have nothing but contempt for that ideology.

Nonetheless, I continue to read and enjoy the novels of Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Celine, a 20th-century French novelist who has influenced countless modern writers, was a collaborator with the Nazi government-of-occupation in France, was apparently in fact an honest-to-God Nazi sympathizer and something of an anti-Semite (though there is no trace of this to be found in his writing, interestingly) and was actually sentenced in absentia to jail time for his collaborationist activities.

In short, I find Celine's personal politics absolutely repugnant. This is no way impedes my enjoyment of his novels.

People who are sharing positive memories of Jeff Smith are doing so sincerely, in recognition of his *public* life. None of us knew the man in his private life; all we know is what we read in the newspapers.

[DRColby]

As with "Really nice" the last time I saw Jeff was in the Pike Place Market, on his cart, and worrying about having enough budget to put on an Episcopal charity feed for an group. He loved being ask to cater to a charity event.

Even after his reputation was badly damaged Jeff had time for the he encountered. He was always busy, he was always, interested and always interesting.

He also built and destroyed some strong relationships. One day, at a lunch, I watch as he and one of his assistants parted career ways. It was very sad. I think those of us who are older realize that strong relationships don't always end in the best of fashion for all involved.

Hopefully he is lording over the food prep for a charity event somewhere.

dave

[auntdot]

Enrevanche,

Thank you for teaching me a new word, ephebophile.

I guess my reading list must be limited, I had never encountered that word before.

I stand corrected.

Yep, OK, so the guy was only an ephebophile and not a pedophile.

If people want to say he was a superb showman, I will agree.

And he introduced a number of folk to cooking.

Good for him.

But anyone who seduces boys, and I include anyone under eighteen years of age in that category, I am glad to see is no longer available.

And, by the way, how did you find the word ephebophile?