Food Network and Cooking Channel: One is about food

[xaxat]

I don't watch the channel as much as I used to. But when the occasion arises, I do appreciate the fact that FN makes it easy to watch on Time Warner's On Demand service. They have more options (start over, replay episodes from the last couple of days, replay from library) than most channels.

[annzeepark914]

About the only program I watch on FN is Barefoot Contessa and I've seen all her shows over & over (except the latest in Paris--gotta catch it this weekend or bust!!) I'm so glad to learn I'm not the only one who finds Bobby Flay's last two shows offensive (Throwdown & Beat Bobby Flay).  The guy is so smug I want to reach into the TV and smack him.  Can't watch Pioneer Woman because of that little smile that never, ever goes away. The nighttime stuff is all competition which is boring to me.  

[toolazy]

I liked Ree Drummond's blog but you're right, her show is unwatchable because of her constant weird smile.  

[bad things are bad]

The only Bobby show I enjoy is Brunch@Bobby's. No competition, no guests. Just cooking delicious looking food. 

[Julia]

Bobby Flay was, JMO, their first attempt at creating a 'Star' chef out of a moderately talented cook with connections. Now that they've driven ICA into the ground with a pack of prepackaged wins, Flay needs somewhere to rough chop onions while his sous cook his food.

[annzeepark914]

Bobby Flay was, JMO, their first attempt at creating a 'Star' chef out of a moderately talented cook with connections. Now that they've driven ICA into the ground with a pack of prepackaged wins, Flay needs somewhere to rough chop onions while his sous cook his food.

Really?  That's interesting.  It's amazing how he's changed over the years (if you watch his first show, he's quite likeable--no smugness, no strutting around).

[Julia]

I guess. I didn't see it. I only knew of him as a very young guy who opened a restaurant in my unfashionable neighborhood which became trendy because he served de-mexicanized mexican food and got logrolled by his family connections. All of which is fine, except in their inimitable Food Network way, they decided to turn Iron Chef into a WWF event and there he was, on the cutting board.

The funny thing is, his production house now makes shows for TFN - including one for surprise-Bobby-insisted Iron Chef winner Alex Guarnaschelli - but according to his interviews, he keeps having to massage his persona because the audience thinks he's a jackass. He's mentioned it on NFNS too. So, now we have"Hit Bobby Flay With a Rock" and "Bobby's Friends Want to See Him Lose" and various other shows where he gets ritually humiliated by the man/woman on the street and takes it like a good guy, or tries to teach the man on the street to be a line cook.

I wonder sometimes how he reacts to that. He clearly has some serious insecurities about his (deep) lack of education. But then I saw a bunch of NewYork chefs interviewed on a round table and he started talking about how all his friends privately wanted him to replace Bloomberg as mayor of NY, and I think maybe his thug side wasn't completely invented by Kermit.

Edited February 20, 2016 by Julia

[xaxat]

I guess. I didn't see it. I only knew of him as a very young guy who opened a restaurant in my unfashionable neighborhood which became trendy because he served de-mexicanized mexican food and got logrolled by his family connections. All of which is fine, except in their inimitable Food Network way, they decided to turn Iron Chef into a WWF event and there he was, on the cutting board.

 

Union Square represent!

 

I haven't been there since he became a national figure, but I liked Mesa back in the nineties.

[Julia]

Union Square represent!

 

I haven't been there since he became a national figure, but I liked Mesa back in the nineties.

It was a perfectly respectable restaurant, and the food was almost as good as the real thing.

Sorry, the loss of cool first-generation owned-restaurants in favor of mainstreammed and more expensive hommages kind of peeves me.

[junemeatcleaver]

It always bothers me that most of the women on the various cooking and cooking competition shows hardly ever pull their hair back.  It's kind of repulsive watching people cook with their hair hanging over the food or their ponytails stylishly hanging over their shoulders.

[rcc]

I can't stand women's hair hanging over the food either. Also men with long beards bothers me too.

[annzeepark914]

And, let me add, men bent way over the foodmaking.  I can understand tall men bending over food but why not make their cooking islands higher?  Emeril was the first, IIRC.  He was/is always bent over whatever foods he was/is preparing.  It drove me nuts and I stopped watching his shows.  It just looked unhygienic for some reason (along with the women and their long hair!) plus it just made my back ache.  I also recall Julia Child bent over but I think that was in her later years when maybe her health caused that (plus, she had her cooking island and countertops built to accommmodate her height in her personal kitchen, even way back in the day, bless her heart!)

[rcc]

One reason I no longer watch Chopped is because the chefs are so stressed that they sweat and on more than one occasion I've seen the sweat pour down into the food. Yuck!

 

It might sound archaic but I believe that chefs should wear covering like they do in food processing plants.

[Automne]

On the subject of Bobby Flay: I generally like Alex Guarnaschelli, but at some point last year, she posted a picture of him on her Facebook and got a legion of comments that were less than complimentary about Flay's character and she got upset about it, saying that he was her close friend and it's hurtful that people would post so many mean comments. This was when his highly publicized divorce from Stephanie March was happening and right after that airplane with the "CHEATER" sign flew over his Walk of Fame star ceremony. Like, you're going to be surprised people have some shit to say about Flay? You keep some questionable company, G.

[Julia]

On the subject of Bobby Flay: I generally like Alex Guarnaschelli, but at some point last year, she posted a picture of him on her Facebook and got a legion of comments that were less than complimentary about Flay's character and she got upset about it, saying that he was her close friend and it's hurtful that people would post so many mean comments. This was when his highly publicized divorce from Stephanie March was happening and right after that airplane with the "CHEATER" sign flew over his Walk of Fame star ceremony. Like, you're going to be surprised people have some shit to say about Flay? You keep some questionable company, G.

He produced her show and more or less wrestled Iron Chef away from Amanda to hand to her, so it's kind of the least she can do. It's nice that she appreciates the amount of work that's gone into making her happen, insofar as she has happened.

Coming from a place of less obligation, I saw a round table he did with some other chefs where he discussed how just everyone he knows is begging him to take his ninth grade education and become the Mayor of New York (which, in fairness, is a job only more complicated than running most countries). After that, there really isn't a whole lot about the boulders dotting Bobby Flay's mental landscape that I wouldn't be inclined to believe. He's esentially Trump with tongs. But then, TFN is not short on the unimpressive children of well-connected people.

[ariel]

I just don't get Flay's appeal.  I didn't 20 years ago & I still don't get it now. He comes across as such an a-hole.

[Automne]

I miss the FN back in my college days that had Food Finds with Sandra Pinckney, Cooking Live, Ready Set Cook!, East Meets West with Ming Tsai (and Ming's Quest), Food 911, Door Knock Dinners, Good Deal with Dave Lieberman, How To Boil Water, Melting Pot (the only time we got African and Caribbean cooking), Molto Mario, and that block of classic cooking shows like The Galloping Gourmet and Julia Child's original series.

 

The channel had more heart back then and was actually about food and showing people how to cook, instead of just being mindless entertainment.

[xaxat]

This has nothing to do with FN, but Twitch (an online streaming service typically used by gamers) will run  a marathon session of Julia Child's The French Chef. 

Edited March 15, 2016 by xaxat

[bad things are bad]

I just don't get Flay's appeal.

 

I can tolerate Bobby. I just can't with Irvine. 

[chessiegal]

Awww, I like Bobby. I watch him every day.

[jcbrown]

Did anyone else subject themselves to Geoffrey Zakarian's new show Cooks vs Cons last night? Judges watch people cook, Zakarian provides inane color commentary, and the object is for the judges to figure out who are the professionals and who the home cooks and for the home cooks to fool the judges. I found it both tremendously dull and--as an accomplished home cook myself--someone offensive. "Oh, he's turning the protein 90 degrees to get grill marks, Only a professional would know to do that." Bite me.

[Julia]

Did anyone else subject themselves to Geoffrey Zakarian's new show Cooks vs Cons last night? Judges watch people cook, Zakarian provides inane color commentary, and the object is for the judges to figure out who are the professionals and who the home cooks and for the home cooks to fool the judges. I found it both tremendously dull and--as an accomplished home cook myself--someone offensive. "Oh, he's turning the protein 90 degrees to get grill marks, Only a professional would know to do that." Bite me.

 

Yeah, Zakarian's another one they're trying to make happen. He by all accounts is an impressive chef, but after he fake-bankrupted his extremely affluent self so the minimum-wage workers he was screwing out of overtime wouldn't be able to touch his many millions, he was pretty much stuck with Food Network.

[toolazy]

 "Oh, he's turning the protein 90 degrees to get grill marks, Only a professional would know to do that." Bite me.

 

i would have thrown something at my television if I'd seen that.  How on earth do they think that insulting their audience is a good long-term strategy?  

[Julia]

Well, who's their audience? Game show bros. Cooking not required.

I do wonder if Zakarianis going to keep judging Chopped now that he's branded for not being able to recognize a cook.

[annzeepark914]

What was the name of that cooking show featuring Michael Symon and another guy?  That was the first time I'd seen Symon and I just couldn't get over his crazy laughter.  It was a fun show but featured really interesting cooking.  And Ming Tsai ("East Meets West").  The first show I watched he made an Asian version of spicy fried chicken and some wild cole slaw to go with it.  I immediately ran out to buy the ingredients and made it. Yum!  I also loved his theme music and ordered a CD of Hiroshima ("Legacy") which I enjoy listening to as I drive around in this area's crazy traffic.  It's very soothing.  These days I hardly ever put FN on other than to catch a rerun of Ina. FN has become so uninteresting.

[rcc]

What was the name of that cooking show featuring Michael Symon and another guy?  That was the first time I'd seen Symon and I just couldn't get over his crazy laughter.  It was a fun show but featured really interesting cooking.  And Ming Tsai ("East Meets West").  The first show I watched he made an Asian version of spicy fried chicken and some wild cole slaw to go with it.  I immediately ran out to buy the ingredients and made it. Yum!  I also loved his theme music and ordered a CD of Hiroshima ("Legacy") which I enjoy listening to as I drive around in this area's crazy traffic.  It's very soothing.  These days I hardly ever put FN on other than to catch a rerun of Ina. FN has become so uninteresting.

I love Ming. Last week on his Create TV show he was in Australia cooking with Aussie chefs. He is so enthusiastic and an enjoyable chef to watch.

Edited March 20, 2016 by rcc

[Julia]

Also, not hard on the eyes.

[ariel]

Ming is talented, classy & easy on the eyes.

[bad things are bad]

More signs of the impending apocalypse 

 

'And Food Network will have more kids’ competitions like a junior version of “Next Food Network Star.”'

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/comedians-food-network-scripps-kathleen-finch-1201722959/

 

Blecch. If you think FN sucks now, just wait

[NewDigs]

More signs of the impending apocalypse 

 

'And Food Network will have more kids’ competitions like a junior version of “Next Food Network Star.”'

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/comedians-food-network-scripps-kathleen-finch-1201722959/

 

Blecch. If you think FN sucks now, just wait

Well, my 92 year old mom will like that.

I doubt that's the audience they're shooting for.

[toolazy]

More signs of the impending apocalypse 

 

'And Food Network will have more kids’ competitions like a junior version of “Next Food Network Star.”'

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/comedians-food-network-scripps-kathleen-finch-1201722959/

 

Blecch. If you think FN sucks now, just wait

 

Why did they get rid of Kermit if they were only going to continue this nonsense?

[Julia]

Hopefully for the most poetically-satisfying reason of all: because keeping someone who has experience and an existing relationship with the audience is way more expensive than making someone cheap happen, and the audience he built doesn't know or care enough about food to be bothered.

Edited March 23, 2016 by Julia

[Drogo]

Cooks Vs. Cons has its own forum now.

[annzeepark914]

More signs of the impending apocalypse 

 

'And Food Network will have more kids’ competitions like a junior version of “Next Food Network Star.”'

 

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/comedians-food-network-scripps-kathleen-finch-1201722959/

 

 

There's nothing wrong with televising kids cooking on TV.  With the obesity of children rampant today, FN could do something positive with this--maybe showing kids cooking healthy (but delicious) food. Nothing wrong with that.  But hey...what about the rest of America?  There are a lot of people who don't know how to cook & are buying supermarket prepared foods (not healthy, usually) or fast food (deadly).  Sheesh...we could all probably come up with an Easy To Cook Dinner Tonight show, catered to the millions of folks out there who never were encouraged by a mom (or foster mom or whoever) to experiment and try their hands with cooking.  I am sure there is a need--& shame on Food Network for offering inane food competitions instead of some get-down-to basics cooking shows.  Guy's diner/dives shows, Giada's creative yet weird cooking, all the cooking competitions...what a waste of TV time and attention.

[chessiegal]

Since everything is ratings driven, apparently people have little interest in learning to cook. I make dinner almost every night, and it doesn't have to be complicated. Tonight is grilled salmon, baked potato, and steamed broccoli - simple and healthy- because I was making Spicy Moroccan Red Lentil Soup for a potluck luncheon tomorrow today.

[Bastet]

There are a lot of people who don't know how to cook & are buying supermarket prepared foods (not healthy, usually) or fast food (deadly).  Sheesh...we could all probably come up with an Easy To Cook Dinner Tonight show, catered to the millions of folks out there who never were encouraged by a mom (or foster mom or whoever)

 

Such as a dad or other male family member?

 

There's nothing wrong with televising kids cooking on TV.

 

Except that they're kids and thus inherently annoying?  No, I understand not everyone feels that way.  And that, despite the lack of experience, a particularly talented kid may be more qualified to appear on a show than some of the adults who get their proverbial 15 minutes on FN.  But I think the trend of coming up with "Junior" versions of so many shows does speak to ridiculousness.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Bastet

[tenativelyyours]

Ick to Kid-a-fying shows.  What's next? Just cut to the popular meme chase and have cute animals tumble around a kitchen with various containers of food?  Oh the fun as kittens tumble around potatoes and other rolly polly fruits and veges!  Puppies spend an adorbs segment digging into a bag of flour!  Causing the baby panda in the corner to sneeze and scare the shit out of its mother! 

 

Okay I might actually watch that.

[Automne]

What was the name of that cooking show featuring Michael Symon and another guy?  That was the first time I'd seen Symon and I just couldn't get over his crazy laughter.  It was a fun show but featured really interesting cooking.

Melting Pot! Symon and the other guy did the episodes dedicated to Poland and other Eastern European countries. The show had five sets of chefs and each chef duo specialized in a certain region of cooking. Aside from Eastern Europe, there was African/Caribbean/soul food, Latin America, the Mediterranean, and India.

 

"Oh, he's turning the protein 90 degrees to get grill marks, Only a professional would know to do that." Bite me.

Here's the funny thing: I knew how to do that long before I went to culinary school because I benefitted from actual cooking shows that sought to educate first and entertain second. And I went to culinary school for pastry, so I wouldn't have learned that trick in school (the requisite savory cooking class didn't have us work on the grill).

[Totale]

I keep forgetting this forum is here and so only look in once in a while.  I never heard of Bobby Flay before he stood on the cutting boards on the original IC and yes, I thought he was a douchenozzle then, but in the years since I've come around.  I fully enjoyed Throwdown and currently enjoy Beat Bobby Flay, because both shows feature actual cooking (unlike hardly any other shows on the current FN), and Flay isn't an ass when he (infrequently) loses.  Zacharian is another story, he just has a smackable face and all I ever want to see of him on TV is someone beating him to a pulp.  And maybe it's different if you had/have kids but I never did, and I think children should be somewhere reading books and playing outside.  The idea of kid competition TV is absolutely loathsome to me and not something I'd ever consider watching on any network.

[Julia]

Bobby had a conversation with one of the contestants on NFNS about how TPTB keep fine tuning his image because people think he's an asshole and they dislike him. I'm pretty sure the whole point of Beat Bobby Flay and Bobby Flays's Friends Want to See Him Fail Too and Bobby Flay Shows Incompetents How To Cook And Gets Schooled By Mario Batali's Sous Chef is to make him relatable by showing him as a good loser. I'm also pretty sure those losses are as scripted as, say, the last few wins on Next Iron Chef were, and that Bobby's just kind of an asshole.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Julia

[bad things are bad]

Bobby may well be an asshole (which his marital history confirms IMO) but the boy can cook. 

[ariel]

Bobby may well be an asshole (which his marital history confirms IMO) but the boy can cook. 

Sadly compared to the many untalented hacks they now have on FN that do cooking the shows.  The bar has been set very low.

Edited April 11, 2016 by ariel

[chessiegal]

I enjoy Bobby, especially his brunch show, enough to buy the cookbook. But I was a bit suspicious of a recent "Beat Bobby Flay" result. He ended up cooikng against Cindy Wolf, an award winning exec chef of Charleston's in Baltimore. She challenged him to a risotto dish, and he won. I call baloney. I heard Cindy speak, and she is an extremely accomplished chef.

 

One show on Cooking Channel I've given up on is "Simply Laura", the vlogger from New Jersey. She's a bit too cutesy for me, but I was okay until I was watching a recent episode while on the treadmill. She made a comment about never tell anyone to add nutmeg to your béchamel, so it will never be as good as yours. That's petty. Buh bye, Laura.

Edited April 11, 2016 by chessiegal

[Jaded]

I know some people in this thread have found 'The Kitchen' boring but I like watching it on Saturday mornings.

[Skyfall]

Anyone remember Jeff's short lived $24 In 24? Well CC's watered down ripoff just premiered and is horrible.

[bad things are bad]

I figured it was Rachael Ray $40 a day all over again, but even cheaper and with even lousier tips. 

[The Hound Lives]

Bobby had a conversation with one of the contestants on NFNS about how TPTB keep fine tuning his image because people think he's an asshole and they dislike him. I'm pretty sure the whole point of Beat Bobby Flay and Bobby Flays's Friends Want to See Him Fail Too and Bobby Flay Shows Incompetents How To Cook And Gets Schooled By Mario Batali's Sous Chef is to make him relatable by showing him as a good loser. I'm also pretty sure those losses are as scripted as, say, the last few wins on Next Iron Chef were, and that Bobby's just kind of an asshole.

 

I always found "Throwdown" mean-spirited. Bobby would go to these locations, "surprise" the Chef who had a specialty they're known for and then try to do it better than them. It seemed like 8 times out of 10, he would beat them. At first, it comes across as a fun way to highlight unknown chefs and bakers, sort of a pre-Triple D. Then it becomes, "See, even though you have been making your Grandmothers biscuits for 60 years, this trained Chef mopped the floor with you". I felt bad for those cooks who thought they were being featured for something they love making, and are known for in the area, only to have Bobby show up and sort of steal their thunder and 15 minutes of FN fame.

And the blind tasting on BBF, at times is laughable. I remember a chef, an Asian gentleman, whose specialty was egg rolls or something else distinctively asian. Bobby threw some chili's in his version. So, the "blind" judges wouldn't know that is Bobby's dish? Ha. Yeah, nothing blind about that tasting.  

[annzeepark914]

One show on Cooking Channel I've given up on is "Simply Laura", the vlogger from New Jersey. She's a bit too cutesy for me, but I was okay until I was watching a recent episode while on the treadmill. She made a comment about never tell anyone to add nutmeg to your béchamel, so it will never be as good as yours. That's petty. Buh bye, Laura.

That is such an evil trick that some people pull when giving out their recipes. It's really pathetic. Share the whole da*n recipe or don't share it at all.  I guess people like that must be insecure.

[Julia]

Nora Ephron's self-insert in Heartburn had this recipe for vinaigrette which she was convinced would bind a man to her forever, because it was the bestest vinaigrette ever in the whole history of vinaigrettes and no-one would voluntarily live their life without access to that vinaigrette. In the end, she Very Symbolically signals that she's accepted the end of her marriage (her husband cheated) by giving him her vinaigrette recipe to pass along to his new squeeze. It was the basic vinaigrette recipe from the Joy of Cooking.

 

I wouldn't worry about Laura's friends. They can learn about adding nutmeg to bechamel the same way she probably did, from Mario Batali. Not that anyone who's ever had steakhouse creamed spinach really needed to be told about it to begin with...

Edited April 23, 2016 by Julia

[rcc]

I figured it was Rachael Ray $40 a day all over again, but even cheaper and with even lousier tips. 

I liked that show. That's when I first heard of Rachael. Don't like her syndicated show but miss her $40 a day show.