This is a bona fide phenomenon. I remember back in the very early nineties, watching a very young Emeril Lagasse, another fellow, Pasquale Carpino, who would belt out operatic arias and steam saute his way through the show, Martin Yan, also very young, and of course Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. Who would have thought that almost 20 years later we would have such an array of TV entertainment dedicated to food and the people who cook it! Giada, can you say for me: "brooschkettaaa"? Mario, can you say: "the undisputed king of cheese, parmegianno reggggggiaannooooo"? Emeril - how about: Bam, bam, bam-bam? Guy Fieri - is it money or is it just off the hook? Paula - can you make anything without a "1/2 pound of buuutteeerrr"? Tyler - how about the "ultimate" farte? Bobby - just how many chili peppers does it take to grill a shrimp? Oh, speaking of peppers, Rick Bayless is purported to be the best ambassador of authentic Mexican cuisine in the US, and I am inclined to agree - he does not really have any signature tag lines - but he could speak at little less deliberately. Andrew Zimmerman - what the hell are you going to choke down next - stinky tofu smeared on a bagel, topped with wild boar snot? How about the Iron Chef, with that stringy acrobatic host - cause we need him to coordinate everything - a panel of no less than 3 "experts", two of which typically don't know a damn thing about cooking, a mystery ingredient that each battle contestant has known about for several weeks, and Alton Brown, chirping his way through the show with a blizzard of gastronomic food facts, like I care. The worst is that other commentator - Kevin Brauch - he adds such richness and dimension to the program when he recaps the scoring formula and helps me count to 5; I was left in tatters when he told Alton about the fish poop and kelp ice cream Iron Chef Morimoto had just made. Then you have Gordon Ramsay: yeah, bollux the bloody whatever, throw the dish down the bloody toilet and get the f%$&** out of here, you ingrate!" (Wow that does feel refreshing) This is only the beginning - it will never end, and it will provide ongoing fodder for food bloggers all over the world. Out of this chaotic melange of celebrity chefs, comes at least one with the integrity, the selflessness and creativity to dominate the food scene: What would we do to fill our pantries without Sandra Lee?
This was such fun that I think I'll do another blog on Celebrity Chefs.
While I agree with the premise I believe a rebuttal may be in order…
ReplyDeleteI could not imagine a world without the food network! I have an insatiable appetite for food. I want to see it, imagining its flavors, hear about its origins and learn about different cuisines. The food network allows me to scratch my food itch any time I need to. I agree that Giada’s over annunciation of semi-Italian ingredients is annoying, Guys hair is ridiculous and watching a “B” movie star eat an Iron Chef meal is sometimes less than entertaining, but on the whole, I learn and enjoy myself with almost every episode of every show. My appreciation for these shows and chefs has grown tremendously over the last month. Food network recently ran a number of episodes from their “Chefography” series. Each episode provides a more detailed look at the roots of a celebrity chef; each and every one of them started out as a person in a kitchen wanting to eat delicious food! Further peaking my interest in these characters is the relatively new Food Network series “The Best Thing I Ever Ate”. In this series each episode features one type of food (pizza, desert, etc) and a number of Celebrity Chefs weigh in on their favorite versions of the dish. Not only does this show give you an excellent insight into regional variations on timeless foods, it also shows you a different side of the Celebrity Chef. As each Celebrity Chef describes their favorite foods you get a chance to see and hear them without the shticks that have made them so much money. They are not marketing creations anymore; instead they are shown for what they truly are…relatively normal people, addicted to FOOD! As they describe their favorite dishes I can see, hear and feel their passion for food, I can almost taste what they are describing. This is the mark of a true FOODIE! While I remain terribly jealous of their ability to make millions of dollars cooking and talking about food, I appreciate their passion and thoroughly enjoy the education and entertainment I experience while watching the Food Network.
First off - who the hell is Isabella? I basically agree with you in that the celebrity chef thing has really catapulted folks' interest in food. I too, think "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" is a great new addition to the FoodTV family. My blog was just kinda of a fun lark - not to be taken too seriously. I noteced that a few of Bourdain's buddies are making bootleg vodka from both duck and goose fois gras. Imagine what you could do with that? Lipitor floating in a martini glass in stead of an olive.
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