Food TV Phraseology

[Mabelline]

I haven't ever tried, but that 'mute' button makes me wonder if the closed captioning works on those shows. Har! I'd like to see the mangled version of Oliver's Twist!

[FaustianBargain]

I love this guy's open letter to foodtv rant ...he has something to say...maybe all the phraseology is coming from the foodtv folks themselves...obviously, they have figured out how to captivate the audience..

Edited July 17, 2004 by Lalitha (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Emeril saying, "I recommend you call up your cable company and complain that you don't have SMELL-O-VISION!".

Or "I don't know where you come from, but where I come from (insert name of ingredient here) don't come seasoned."

Or there's "I hate one-sided tasting food." I find just about everything he says to be very annoying.

However, there was one time I briefly watched his "Essence" show, and he had an assortment of pecans, filberts, walnuts and such he was talking about. At one point, he moved back been the rear counter, motioned at the cameraman and said, "Hey! Come ovah here an' take a look at some o' moy NUTS!"

I literally fell of the couch laughing.

[Mabelline]

re Lalitha's link : Rachel "Gatemouth" Ray!!!

[=Mark]

Alton Brown:

"But that's another show."

"Now I'm not a culinary Anthropologist."

"Multitask"

[ZenJones]

I can't believe no one has mentioned Emeril saying, "I recommend you call up your cable company and complain that you don't have SMELL-O-VISION!".

That one reminds me of soemthing Bobby Flay does on Boy Meets Grill that snaps me (although I otherwise really like the show).

He'll pick up something (a bowl of marinade, a grilled piece of meat) hold it close to the camera and say - "Smell this. Doesn't that smell great?"

No - it smells like my TV screen.

One of my favorite Bobby Flay articles...

http://flakmag.com/tv/flay.html

pretty much sums it up for me.

[laurenmilan]

4.  Emeril- None that I can think of really 

"You can get the recipe on that food - tv-network-dot-com thing."

I can understand him not getting it right when he started "essence" back in '94, but NOW? Hey, I'm a professional webmaster, I get very miffed when people don't get a URL right.

On the other hand, one of my favorite TVFN quotes was from Emeril's first year. He was grilling a chicken greast, did the usual 45 degree turn deal, and turned it over to reveal the traditional crisscrossed grill marks. Emeril yelled "Lookit that! That is perfect! See, that's why I got a cookin' show, and you DON'T!"

Edited July 19, 2004 by laurenmilan (log)

[laurenmilan]

sandra lee and her fantastic makes me crazy! everything is fantastic. paula deen stuffing her face with what she just made and trying to talk at the same time. and ina's annoying laugh

Sandra's just overcompensating for the craptacular nature of her cooking

And yes, although Ina Garten is my cooking idol these days, I gotta admit the laugh is kinda forced. Although, compared to Martha's "clenched-law politesse" she has a very engaging and comfortable nature to her.

Edited July 19, 2004 by laurenmilan (log)

[klc14]

Can't stand Rachel's "veggies," either -- but that term makes my skin crawl when anyone uses it.

Interesting. Why? Do you have an alternative short-form or do you always speak the entire word?

YES ! YES!

Speaking for myself, I REALLY DO prefer to pronounce the entire word, rather than truncate in what sounds to me like nursery-speak: Eat your veggies. Play nice with the doggy. Don't pull the kitty's tail. What does the ducky say? etc.

To me it's about talking like a grown-up adult person who doesn't need to amuse everybody by being childlike. "That awfully-long word, so hard for my wittle mowf to say!"

For me, it's just SILLY when anyone over the age of, say, five, says this. In fact my parents used the full form of the word because they wanted us, when five, to talk like the adults we would become. They didn't use any baby-talk which is what this used to be.

I noticed it coming out of the mouths of grownups starting back in the late 70's, early 80's when people were starting to be a tad more health-conscious than before. It seemed to be a yuppie thing then, among the newly Out of the Nest (having left home, graduated college, all on their own now, no one to monitor what they ate or did and correct them if they erred).

I supposed at the time it reminded them of their childhood (you know, when Mother or Nanny provided all sustenance, nutritional and otherwise, and you didn't have to shop and remember the 4 food groups as they were then and iron your own clothes and all that. In those days, usually said in kind of a cutesy way (by women generally.). Probably something about acknowledging MOTHER WAS RIGHT about that vegetable stuff back when they were five and rebellious.

I, personally, count it as part of the dumbing down of culture generally, but if people find "veggies" more interesting to eat than "vegetables" and they do eat a better diet, let them say on! (In MY home, spinach remains a vegetable).

Okay, too much time on seven little letters. Back to work!

[Kevin72]

I love this guy's open letter to foodtv rant ...he has something to say...maybe all the phraseology is coming from the foodtv folks themselves...obviously, they have figured out how to captivate the audience..

Spot-on article. I can't imagine that all of FTV's "____ on the Road!" and Unwrapped-style shows are actually paying off, ratings-wise.

Some of the guy's wishes for show topics actually used to be on when FoodTV first started airing.

[Laksa]

Can't stand Rachel's "veggies," either -- but that term makes my skin crawl when anyone uses it.

Interesting. Why? Do you have an alternative short-form or do you always speak the entire word?

YES ! YES!

Speaking for myself, I REALLY DO prefer to pronounce the entire word, rather than truncate in what sounds to me like nursery-speak: Eat your veggies. Play nice with the doggy. Don't pull the kitty's tail. What does the ducky say? etc.

:

:

I, personally, count it as part of the dumbing down of culture generally, but if people find "veggies" more interesting to eat than "vegetables" and they do eat a better diet, let them say on! (In MY home, spinach remains a vegetable).

Interesting, but I personally don't see it that way. I see "veggie" or "veg" as just a convenient short form, like cauli for cauliflower, cuke for cucumber, or spuds for potatoes.

[reesek]

these are all brilliant - esp. the rachael ray ones. she also says whenever cutting something - "i'm just going to run my knife through these" i think it's an attempt to be breezy - cooking is easy and fun and simple - you don't even cut - just run your knife. <giggle> {reesek cocks remote like weapon and aims...}

ina - i like ina, but have you ever noticed that almost all of her recipes are VERY decadent? and she knows it.

typical ingredient list

2 sticks butter

12 egg yolks

2 cups sour cream

4 cups sugar

then she'll dip in a spoon for a taste and say, "butter, sour cream and vanilla, how bad can that be?" (giggle) or "it's not for every day, but it's soo good" i guess i don't really believe her that it's not for her everyday when every show has her gilding the lily.

[laurenmilan]

ina - i like ina, but have you ever noticed that almost all of her recipes are VERY decadent? and she knows it.

typical ingredient list

2 sticks butter

12 egg yolks

2 cups sour cream

4 cups sugar

then she'll dip in a spoon for a taste and say, "butter, sour cream and vanilla, how bad can that be?" (giggle) or "it's not for every day, but it's soo good" i guess i don't really believe her that it's not for her everyday when every show has her gilding the lily.

Reminds me of her Outrageous Brownie recipe, my most popular party food. 1 lb butter, 2 1/2 lbs dark chocolate, 1 c. sugar, 6 eggs, among the other ingredients (oh and 1/4 c. of flour to bind things together somehow.) They're a terrific indulgence, but like sausage, you don't wanna see Outrageous Brownies being made, or you would never eat them

Ina's been a caterer for 20 years, she knows how to make overboard-type cuisine with a decadent, almost addictive effect. "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful" kind of mentality. God knows when I cook Ina food for my guests, they feel very pampered, and very full.

Problem is, you can't live in constant party mode - you can't dine on Penne w/Five Cheeses or Corn Cheddar Chowder on a daily basis, any more than you can top off each workday with a nice pitcher of her (admittedly terrific) margaritas, without having some seriously negative effects.

[razzar]

The term that grates on me is "Perfect." Especially on the Giada DeLaurentiis ("Everyday Italian") show. Everything is always perfect, not simply good, or delicious.

And what, pray tell, is with all of the extreme closeups on these shows? Why do we need a closeup of something being poured into a bowl?

[Basilgirl]

Rachael Ray: "(Whatever) overboard!"

[laurenmilan]

The term that grates on me is "Perfect."  Especially on the Giada DeLaurentiis ("Everyday Italian") show.  Everything is always perfect, not simply good, or delicious.

And what, pray tell, is with all of the extreme closeups on these shows?  Why do we need a closeup of something being poured into a bowl?

It's her overpronounciation that gets to me. Even "spaaa-gay-teeee" has to be pronounced in precsiely that way. It just feels a little forced.

Occasionally, Mario gets into the "lookit me, I can pronounce things in a sophisticated Italian way!" mode. Mario, you're from Jersey. You went to Rutgers. You and Martha Stewart sure seem to forget you're New Jerseyans.

Edited July 20, 2004 by laurenmilan (log)

[Krista G]

Isn't Mario from Seattle? Not that it makes his phraseology any less annoying or pretentious...

[beans]

He is from Seattle.

Gee in his very recent Q&A session here on eG he never came across as pretentious and I tend to believe Mario is into the most authentic -- food, recipe and language pronounciation.

[Laksa]

It's her overpronounciation that gets to me. Even "spaaa-gay-teeee" has to be pronounced in precsiely that way. It just feels a little forced.

Occasionally, Mario gets into the "lookit me, I can pronounce things in a sophisticated Italian way!" mode. Mario, you're from Jersey. You went to Rutgers. You and Martha Stewart sure seem to forget you're New Jerseyans.

I genuinely like to hear foreign words pronounced in the way a native speaker would say them.

Now, I'm no Italian nor do I speak Italian but when Mario says those Italian terms, I tend to believe he's saying them the way he would if he were speaking with other Italian speakers, with the true intonations or pitch of a native speaker. I don't think it's pretentious to do that. I would find it more disconcerting if I knew he were deliberately "dumbing down" the pronunciation to suit the ear of English speakers.

[jgarner53]

I would find it more disconcerting if I knew he were deliberately "dumbing down" the pronunciation to suit the ear of English speakers.

Exactly. Now, if someone were trying to use those words to impress you, or got uppity and corrected you if you mispronounced it, then that's different.

Otherwise we'd have "KWISH-ee" instead of quiche (if not just "egg pie") and all sorts of other mispronunciations.

[bilrus]

I would find it more disconcerting if I knew he were deliberately "dumbing down" the pronunciation to suit the ear of English speakers.

When I read this I pictured Emeril.

[laurenmilan]

He is from Seattle.

Gee in his very recent Q&A session here on eG he never came across as pretentious and I tend to believe Mario is into the most authentic -- food, recipe and language pronounciation.

I stand corrected. He's a "Rutgaaahs" boy but he is indeed from Seattle.

I still hold my position firm, however, on Martha, though. What kinda New Jersey girl pronounces her "T"s so deliberately, I ask you?

[Pickles]

[

What kinda New Jersey girl pronounces her "T"s so deliberately, I ask you?

She was actually coached not to do that. Didn't work.

[Basilgirl]

If this has been mentioned before, I apologize BUT I was watching Rachael Ray last night and she pulled up an old phrase that I thought she had retired:

"Yummo!"

[Varmint]

Kathleen Purvis of the Charlotte Observer wrote about this thread in yesterday's edition: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/liv...ood/9254566.htm. Kathi's my hero!!!!