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No more French Chefs?

bleachboy

By bleachboy
in Food Media & Arts

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ellencho

ellencho

Posted
Posted

I was sad to see Chef Frederic leave HTBW and then see him replaced by Tyler. No thank you. Also, I love how that little article says "Midwesterners like Rachael Ray". Funny, IIRC on her show she's always blabbing about being from Upstate NY.

Believe me, I tied my shoes once, and it was an overrated experience - King Jaffe Joffer, ruler of Zamunda

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Gifted Gourmet

Gifted Gourmet

Posted
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Three statements from the article which make my blood run cold ...

“Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page :rolleyes: (even I can comprehend Jacques Pepin when he has a headcold ...)

“Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine.” :huh: vive la chefette ....vive le Energizer Bunny ...

In any case, French gastronomy might not be sorely missed—the network’s ratings sweet spot is Unwrapped, about candy and snacks. :wacko: now I am fully nauseous ...

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
Posted

While Rachael Ray isn't from the Midwest, there is no denying that she exudes the girl-next-door, corn fed dame image that FoodTV is looking to market to mainstream suburban America.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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=Mark

=Mark

Posted
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I was shopping a local bookstore before Christmas and came across and end of aisle display featuring like six different cookbooks by Racheal Ray. Was sort of frightening as they all featured the same cheesy smile.

=Mark

Give a man a fish, he eats for a Day.

Teach a man to fish, he eats for Life.

Teach a man to sell fish, he eats Steak

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
Posted
Three statements from the article which make my blood run cold ...

“Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page  :rolleyes: (even I can comprehend Jacques Pepin when he has a headcold ...)

...

Heavy accents... you mean like Emeril's?

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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johnnyd

johnnyd

Posted
Posted

Rachael occasionally mentions her Adirondak home in upstate NY and there is sometimes a pile of snow outside her kitchen window.

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

Portland Food Map.com

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FoodMan

FoodMan

Posted
Posted
Three statements from the article which make my blood run cold ...

“Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page  :rolleyes: (even I can comprehend Jacques Pepin when he has a headcold ...)

“Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine.”  :huh:  vive la chefette ....vive le Energizer Bunny ...

In any case, French gastronomy might not be sorely missed—the network’s ratings sweet spot is Unwrapped, about candy and snacks.  :wacko:  now I am fully nauseous ...

What she said...

and if Ray's "boeuf bourguignonne" is what is considered French Cuisine, then it really is a sad sad day.

that's why my new favorite food shows are on Discovery Home channel.

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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bloviatrix

bloviatrix

Posted
Posted

I think it's amusing that at the same time that the people at the Food network claim that Americans have a hard time understanding accents CBS hired a Scot to host one its late night TV shows.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

Posted
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I think it's amusing that at the same time that the people at the Food network claim that Americans have a hard time understanding accents  CBS hired a Scot to host one its late night TV shows.

Never mind that an American version of "Hell's Kitchen" is soon to be hitting our shores as well, with British bad-boy chef Gordon Ramsay in the starring role.

http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen/

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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alacarte

alacarte

Posted
Posted
Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine

:shock::shock::shock:

What the Food Network needs most is...

....competition.

I'm disappointed to see FTV so blanded and whitewashed. I hope the pendulum swings the other way, and soon.

No accents? Julia Child is rolling over in her grave, I'm sure. Though to be fair, Ms. Child was an American cooking French cuisine.

Spice & Ice and more
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Bux

Bux

Posted
Posted
I was sad to see Chef Frederic leave HTBW and then see him replaced by Tyler.  No thank you.  Also, I love how that little article says "Midwesterners like Rachael Ray".  Funny, IIRC on her show she's always blabbing about being from Upstate NY.

All of NY west of the Hudson River is part of the midwest as are parts of Connecticut. :raz:

You can hate me for my pseudoprovincialism, but you might have to agree that when a field or medium become popular, the standards are lilkely to be lowered. Food on TV continues to suffer that fate. Mass taste is driving FoodTV's programming. If it were aiming to be cutting edge, it might be Spanish chefs who would be replacing the French. It's really not so much that Americans are replacing the French, it's the Americans who are being chosen. Look at Bourdain who was moving in one direction while FoodTV was moving in the other.

Robert Buxbaum

WorldTable

Recent WorldTable posts include: comments about reporting on Michelin stars in The NY Times, the NJ proposal to ban foie gras, Michael Ruhlman's comments in blogs about the NJ proposal and Bill Buford's New Yorker article on the Food Network.

My mailbox is full. You may contact me via worldtable.com.

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bloviatrix

bloviatrix

Posted
Posted
I think it's amusing that at the same time that the people at the Food network claim that Americans have a hard time understanding accents  CBS hired a Scot to host one its late night TV shows.

Never mind that an American version of "Hell's Kitchen" is soon to be hitting our shores as well, with British bad-boy chef Gordon Ramsay in the starring role.

http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen/

They're going to need a Gordon Ramsey translator on the web site. Or something like the Ramsey slang quiz.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Music

Music

Posted
Posted
Three statements from the article which make my blood run cold ...

“Sometimes we know that viewers have trouble with heavy accents,” says Page  :rolleyes: (even I can comprehend Jacques Pepin when he has a headcold ...)

...

Heavy accents... you mean like Emeril's?

Tony Bourdain said at a book signing re his discussion with Food Network about a possible third season of A Cook's Tour (which he opted not to do) that FN had said "we don't want to hear any foreign accents." The audience gasped.

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bloviatrix

bloviatrix

Posted
Posted
Tony Bourdain said at a book signing re his discussion with Food Network about a possible third season of A Cook's Tour (which he opted not to do) that FN had said "we don't want to hear any foreign accents."  The audience gasped.

So the NY accent is considered to be foreign now?

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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carp

carp

Posted
Posted

Hey, it’s not just the French they are getting rid of… they already got rid of the Mexicans (Sanchez), the black people(Aikens), and the Chinese (Tsai)…

They are basically targeting the “mid-west” demographic by making the network as culturally diverse as a KKK meeting.

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Kit

Kit

Posted
Posted

When did Rachel Ray become the AntiChrist? She's just someone trying to make the American public cook. Anything. Isn't it better that someone is showing audiences how to cook simple things quick? Isn't that better than getting take-out or frozen meals all the time? I mean, if she gets people started then when they graduate, other chefs can take over to teach people more complicated things.

And on that note, do those other chefs *have* to be French? Are Americans not allowed to cook French food with any degree of skill?

I know, I know... They're not replacing these people with skilled professionals. They're dumbing down the food. I just wanted some pet peeves cleared up.

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JPW

JPW

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Posted

“Rachael Ray inspiring you to make boeuf bourguignonne is just as effective in promoting French cuisine.” 

Boeuf bourgignon in 30 minutes? :unsure:

That I would like to see.

PS - beef is a masculine noun! EDIT!

If someone writes a book about restaurants and nobody reads it, will it produce a 10 page thread?

Joe W

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zeitoun

zeitoun

Posted
Posted
that's why my new favorite food shows are on Discovery Home channel.

Agreed!

My favorite show being “Great chefs of the world” where French chefs such as Gerald Passedat or Alain Passard are not regarded as “passé”

"A chicken is just an egg's way of making another egg." Samuel Butler
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FoodMan

FoodMan

Posted
Posted
When did Rachel Ray become the AntiChrist? She's just someone trying to make the American public cook. Anything. Isn't it better that someone is showing audiences how to cook simple things quick? Isn't that better than getting take-out or frozen meals all the time? I mean, if she gets people started then when they graduate, other chefs can take over to teach people more complicated things.

And on that note, do those other chefs *have* to be French? Are Americans not allowed to cook French food with any degree of skill?

I know, I know... They're not replacing these people with skilled professionals. They're dumbing down the food. I just wanted some pet peeves cleared up.

hmm...no one said she is the anti christ or that Americans cannot cook French food as far as I can tell. Like someone else mentioned...oh wait it was you :smile:..."They're dumbing down the food" and targetting the mass market with no regard for programming diversity or real food. They are doing what any other corporation does, making money any way they can.

Elie

E. Nassar
Houston, TX

My Blog
contact: enassar(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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robyn

robyn

Posted
Posted
When did Rachel Ray become the AntiChrist? She's just someone trying to make the American public cook. Anything. Isn't it better that someone is showing audiences how to cook simple things quick? Isn't that better than getting take-out or frozen meals all the time? I mean, if she gets people started then when they graduate, other chefs can take over to teach people more complicated things.

And on that note, do those other chefs *have* to be French? Are Americans not allowed to cook French food with any degree of skill?

I know, I know... They're not replacing these people with skilled professionals. They're dumbing down the food. I just wanted some pet peeves cleared up.

I agree. And people from places like New York City don't have any right to complain. Most of them don't have anything that resembles a real kitchen - and their idea of cooking at home is reheating takeout Chinese food. An overblown cliche? Perhaps. But no more overblown than a New Yorker's cliched view of the rest of the US. Robyn

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winesonoma

winesonoma

Posted
Posted

It is after all the Emeril network. Bam! :raz::raz::raz:

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

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rjwong

rjwong

Posted
Posted

Boeuf bourgignon in 30 minutes?  :unsure:

That I would like to see.

PS - beef is a masculine noun! EDIT!

Sorry, but you mean bourguignon ? :wink::smile:

According to Mastering the art of French cooking , Volume one, p. 315 (Hey, it's the librarian in me :angry::smile: ), it can be spelled one of two ways:

Boeuf bourguignon

Boeuf à la bourguignonne

Reheat boeuf à la bourguignonne in 30 minutes? Yes.

Make boeuf bourguignon in 30 minutes? No way!

Russell J. Wong aka "rjwong"

Food and I, we go way back ...

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