Celebrity Chef Roundup: Books, TV/Film, Restaurants, Websites, News

[mccormack44]

I didn't think you meant disrespect.

I just thought I'd add my experience with the mezzaluna. While I prefer the use of knives for most chopping, I've always had both muscle coordination problems and depth of vision problems; fast cutting with a chef's knife or paring knife could add chopped or minced Sue to the ingredients and I like to avoid that.

BTW, thank you for the private message which supplied the name of this tool. I don't know why I went to French instead of Italian, but I DO know why I forgot the name. I only learned the name 8 to 10 years ago. When I was growing up my mother and aunt didn't name it. I just called it the "rocking horse" chopper (which is a fairly good description for a child).

Anyway, I was just adding my experiences to the discussion, not touting a tool.

Sue

[Darb]

With some lime juice, I bet you'd make a tasty ceviche, Sue.

My impression is that Mezzalunas are very old world rustic Italian. I think Lydia (of "Lydia's Italian-American Kitchen" TV show) uses one, and likes it. They're very pretty tools, and I think the name loosly translate as crescent moon ... but I'm not sure.

[mccormack44]

With some lime juice, I bet you'd make a tasty ceviche, Sue.

I had to google ceviche so I was sure I knew what ceviche was. Are you saying that chopped or minced Sue is fishy?

Sue

[Darb]

If you're trying to bait me with fish references ... it worked.

/me lands on deck with a thump, and begins flopping about.

[violetblue]

I am not impressed with the last two finalists on Hell's Kitchen. They are both 25 years old, and seem very high strung and emotional. I think at 25 they are too young and inexperienced to become an executive chef of a high revenue restaurant... especially if you're prone to crying when stressed! When you read about Bourdain's antics and what a dog-eat-dog world exists in restaurant kitchens, it's hard to imagine these two marshmallows standing up to the heat.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares wrapped up its season in the last few weeks. The premise of this show, for those who don't know, is that Ramsay goes in and tries to help a failing restaurant get off the ground again. The problem is, the restaurants have situations which go beyond a quick fix, such as not having a competent chef. Most of the restaurants, when he goes in, are using canned sauces, powders, whatever, instead of making fresh, and they're botching that up. While Ramsay tries to teach them to simple dishes to cook fresh, they usually just can't handle the stress of learning new tricks. Also, they usually have incompetent wait staff. As we all know, bad service can ruin the best food.

I think Gordon needs to go back to his own restaurants and give up the shows. But he is amusing, I'll give him that. I would miss the shows if they were gone, but ultimately, they just don't work. With some tweaking, perhaps, they could have a good go of it.


Here's the links, in case you'd like a look see: http://bbcamerica.com/genre/home_living ... tmares.jsp
http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen/

[mccormack44]

A new use for the mezzaluna (doesn't this all really belong over in "Culinary Tools?":

Today I prepared a BIG batch of Sweet Sour Red Cabbage. The cabbage that looked best to me in the grocery case turned out to be 3 lbs. It produced 14 cups of chopped cabbage, which called for 7 cups of chopped onion and 7 cups of chopped apple. That, folks, is a LOT of chopping! I don't think I could have done it in one day if it weren't for the mezzaluna. Again, as in the cases I mentioned above, these chopped vegetables don't have to present good eye appeal; as I tend to get overtired, using a knife for this might well lead to chopped Sue, which I still dislike as an ingredient.

Sue

[mama-sama]

Hello people! I already introduced myself on another thread. Anyway, I was watching Lydia today on PBS and as much as I love watching her show, I love it best when her mama is on. The lady is sooo sweet and cute. And their interactions are so affectionate. Wish my mom was like her. But that's another thread altogether.

[Darb]

*BOBBY FLAY RANT*

Ok, my opinion of Bobby Flay (which was never high to begin with) recently went down another notch.

I recently saw an episode of his new show "Throwdown with B.F.".

Digression: The basic premise of the show is that the food channel locates a likely culinary target for Bobby, entices them into letting them do a TV feature on them ... and then B.F. basically spends several days learning everything he can about the person, and their recipes, so he can launch what is essentiually a surprise culinary assassination strike - while giving himself every possible benefit that money can buy (best and most expensive ingredients, best equipment, and best advice, and several days of recipe testing).

In this episode, Bobby picks this army cook who's known (in his military company) for good grilled steak. He's a fresh faced smiling nobody who was clearly selected by the food channel for a chummy patriotic-tinged episode with some good old boys in uniform. So far so good.

Now, here's the part that really sets my teeth on edge, and makes B.F. look like a cowardly, unscupulous & opportunistic creep. The young army guy's equipment and ingredients are essentially army-issued weber charcoal grills, a marinating tub, and some army-issued chuck steaks ... the most basic of basic ingredients. For those who are unfamilar with chuck steak, it has good flavor, but it tends to be tough and chewy, and it benefits from long marinating time to tenderize it and enhance the juciness and flavor. This is pretty humble back yard cooking, albeit with a modicrum of skill involved.

In rolls Bobby Flay, with his culinary entourage, sporting big coolers stuffed full of the best 21-day dry aged prime meat that money can buy ... and not just any prime grade meat, but the best possible cuts of prime: porterhouses, rib-eyes, and fillet mignon. Big 2" thick slab cuts, with perfectly trimmed amounts of fat. It was basically a butcher's equivalent of a culinary "shock and awe" bombing mission.

Gee, you'd think for the contest to be fair, they'd work with the same quality and cut of meat. Oh no ... not Bobby.

The army guy smiled amicably through it all, just enjoying the spectacle of it ... he was sitting there with his army-issued everyday quality chuck steaks in his tubs of marinade, and Bobby's got the best cow flesh to be had for the love of money anywhere within a 500 mile radius. And of course it's the food channel that supplies the judges and camera crews. The army cook was a great sport about it, but he probably felt he was being thown to the TV lions, like a sacrificial lamb.

Well guess what ... the army guy WON. I laughed my a** off. Good for him !!

Any occasion to see B.F. get taken down a notch, especially after he does everything possible to stack the odds in his own favor, is a good occasion in my book.

[violetblue]

Did he get that frozen-face, pouty look--like he's trying not to throw a tantrum but you can tell he wants to? I've seen that face more than once on various shows (thinking mainly of the American Iron Chef show).

[Hunter B]

Did anyone by any chance catch the Iron Chef Cranberry battle? It was a 1.5 hour long special. Giada de Laurentiis/Bobby Flay against Rachel Ray/Mario Batali.

[Darb]

I saw part of it. Ratch was lame - Giada did better than she did. Ratch's team only won because she was teamed with Batali. Batali could have kicked her to the curb and won that battle solo, with or without an assistant.

[Hunter B]

I agree. I was pretty disappointed when they didn't put Batali and Giada on the same team.

[Darb]

Someone recently posted a nice rant over at the SWMNBN Sux website. He nicely covered the current crop of celebrity chefs of the food network:

I'm a professional chef at a resort. As part of my job, I am forced to 'perform' in front of guests, often in a 'cooking demo' setting. If I have one more lemming ask me if I am using 'EVOO' I swear I'm going to throw a pan of hot EVOO in their face. Yes, I can make some of the most complicated saute dishes in much less than 30 minutes in front of guests, but there's probably 2-3 hours of prep behind it - no going to the grocery store and buying pre-cut produce for me. My 'garbage bowl' is either my stock pot, where onion skins and ends, carrot peelings and celery leaves go, or the trash bin, which is handily placed beneath my workstation. I have servers asking "Where's that 'sammy' I ordered?", a term I have never heard before Raytard started using it. I have seen her show on occasion, and the guys I work with who do watch it probably do it because they don't have access to internet porn, and they need to whip up a batch of their 'special sauce' once in a while.

OK - Sara Moulton isn't a hottie, but she had the chops to produce respectable food and could answer questions intelligently and without giggling. Mario is a big, fat slob who is very full of himself (I've met him several times, with his shorts and orange sneakers - what a tool!), but, damn, the guy knows his food. Why do we have to suffer the outrage of Raytard, Sandra Lee (I saw her ruin a perfectly good pound of marscapone cheese by mixing it with Cool-Whip - even Redi-Whip would have been better!), and Paula Dean (who thinks nothing couldn't be improved by adding a pound or two of butter).

If they took Alton Brown (my personal God!!!) or Emeril (don't get me started on HIM!!!) off the air, there would be riots, with the villagers storming Food TV headquarters with torches and farm implements. I wish they'd get rid of Bobby Flay - one of the most arrogant cooks I've ever met!!!!!!!!!!! His food sucks, his techniques suck, and his personality sucks. At least he used to have a cute girlfriend, who probably sucked pretty well, too.

Thanks for letting me get this out - I used to watch Food TV all the time - now, I have to be sitting at a bar with a cocktail in front of me to even glance at it.

Nicely said, Frank.

[violetblue]

I have been home today, and like someone had taken control of the remote, I found myself switching to Rachael Ray's talk show (SHMNBN). Guess who was the guest? Bobby Flay! I quickly ducked under the bed, expecting an apocalypse at any moment.

Anyway, Flay was on there talking about his new show, Throwdown with BF. I think someone was talking about his show on this or another thread, but I'm going to throw in my .02. Mind you, I've never actually seen the show, because no one has yet kidnapped me and taped my eyelids open forcing me to watch it.

His description of his show is that they seek out people who are the "best" at something in their region. They then approach them like they are going to do a documentary on their food and techniques to air on Food Network. Secretly (his term), he studies what they are doing and then challenges them to a food contest.

This program is so problematic for so many reasons. First of all, people are very sentimental and attached to their favorite restaurants. I would not be very happy if some hotshot came in and tried to "show up" my favorite restauranteur, which without sugarcoating it is what he's doing.

I can also put myself in the shoes of the restaurant owner and say that I would not feel very happy to think Food Network was coming in because I'm really good at what I do, just to find out I'd been tricked into a food challenge. I'm not so sure I would be flattered as much as ticked off.

I'm not sure a favorite restaurant, especially in a regional cuisine, can be quantified by a food contest. Tastes are individual, and sometimes simple yet homey techniques can win over flashy chef techniques. To me, the idea of adding X (Flay) + Y (the challenged) to equal = a winner, is a flawed concept. And what is the restaurant owner supposed to do if Flay wins? Hang a banner over their door saying "Beaten on My Own Turf By a Hot-Shot Food Network Chef!" (well, that's pretty long, but you catch the drift).

The whole concept just seems conceited and self-serving to me.

[Darb]

I agree 100%

I posted about "Throwdown" last month over here.

[Darb]

The series finale to Top Chef (season 2) is on tonite.

I'm betting Ilan (born here on Long Island) will top out over Marcel.

[mod note: 2 related threads merged]

[Darb]

Yep, Ilan won.

I must say liked Marcel's menu more - it was more ambitious and challenging, but he forgot his fish (c'mon, don't you use a packing list to double check such things ?), the methyl-cellulose balls we was messing around with failed due to high humidity (theoretically, he could have done them in a dry heavily air-conditioned side-room), and there were a few other glitches.

I liked Marcel's creativity and his food-geekishness (which I share) ... but his people skills are poor, and his managerial skills are underdeveloped and very rough. He's a work in progress.

Ilan did a solid job, but I think Marcel may well do as well, or better, if/when he eventually solves his varied flaws and shortcomings.

[violetblue]

Sure, Marcel was a jerk at times, but I think he was also a victim of editing and the need to sensationalize the show. I don't think it was a coincidence that Marcel and Ilan were the last two. Sam probably deserved to win more than the rest, but his "hey, can't we all get along" personality wouldn't have had quite the ratings pull. I actually didn't watch the last episode, because I accidentally saw who won online and because I am put off, honestly, by the ratings stunt they pulled. I felt the same way at the end of Hell's Kitchen... no way were either of the last two contestants ready to have their own restaurant, and they were weak in a lot of ways. That's how I felt about Ilan and Marcel too. Of the two, I would say Ilan was a lot more obnoxious than Marcel. Marcel at least was honest about things, and he seemed really good about just letting things roll off, unlike psycho boy who acted like he was going to stick a knife in Marcel's back at any time. BUT, if Marcel had gotten along with his teammates better, he might have had more of an edge at the end.

I agree, though, it was interesting that Marcel was trying to introduce some different ideas, although the head chef/judge guy said it was old hat in the last episode.

I thought you hated shows like this, Brad.

[Darb]

You're right ... I don't normally watch these shows, especially in the early parts of the series. However, the latter half of the shows sometimes arent as bad, when the field gets pared down to fewer people who actually have some decent talent. I think I watched a total of 5 or 6 episodes of the current series, most of them down the final stretch.

In the few episodes I saw, I think Sam was my favorite in the latest cast ... he seemed like a nice, laid back, well rounded guy, and it sounded like he had some executive chef experience, which usually means someone can cover most of the stations in a kitchen, and is decent at running/directing a team. Some of the other people on the show were just narrow-skilled line-cooks or private caterers selected for their personality, rather than genuine qualifications and chances for success.

The one thing I disliked above all else in the Top Chef show had nothing to do with the cast themselves ... it's the producers.

Did you catch the quick scroll-by disclaimer in the credits of each episode, where they say something to the effect that "culinary decisions regarding winners are made by the judges, in conjunction with the producers."

They tipped their hand there in revealing that the winners are not just selected based on food alone ... drama and good TV apparently play a role, and that just pisses the hell out of me. Everytime the judges said on air that the decisions were all about the food, and that it was not a popularity contest are thusly revealed to be a crock of hooey.



Then again, even though it claims to be "Reality TV", it's till a ratings-driven show, and ratings sometimes run counter to the dictates of reality for those involved. You have to lower your expectations accordingly.

[violetblue]

Agreed. It's all about the numbers with shows like this. I can't help but feel, though, that a show based more on cooking might do well also. Of course someone has to have a presence on camera, but I've often thought while watching these shows that I would like to see more of the process of what they're cooking, also how they make their choices, etc. I think a more intensive, "foodie" (for lack of a better word, although I am more of a "foodie observer") type show would do well. I think the creators, as happens with about 95% of TV shows, are underestimating their audience.

[Darb]

Nicely put.

You should write in. It's been my experience (as an occasional letter writing activist in the past, for shows like Babylon 5, Star Trek, and Iron Chef), that people who write well, and offer terse but very cogent comments, sometimes actually get listened to, rather than automatically circular filed. That happens because there's a 2 stage screening process for viewer mail. They have underpaid college kids doing pass one, sifting stuff worth forwarding from chaff to be chucked, and then a mid-level person winnows it further down to stuff meriting re-forwarding on high, possibly for reply/action.

If you know the system, you can sometimes work it.

[violetblue]

Epicurious is doing short video segments on their website about students at the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). Worth mentioning, I believe, because so many famous chefs have taught there. It's not going to win any awards, but it's short and easy to watch.

http://www.epicurious.com/features/cia/

[Emperor]

Although late in the reply (first time on this thread) i will say you can not rightfully pit Rachel versus Giada. One is a cook and the other is a trained chef. After watching the battle I was able to easily pick the winner and it was mostly because of one sides lack of working equipment. I would say another test needs to be done to see if the same results occur.

As for which shows are good, Good Eats is fastly becoming a fav of mine, again a person with a passion for cooking, and an A type personality. 30 minute meals is another fav of mine, cause the food that comes out of that show is impressive to say the least when compared to other half hour shows with 4 hour cooking times on some dishes.

I'm unsure what shows play in both Canada and the US but I'm finding a real enjoyment from Richardo and Friends and French Food at home (spelling), I've always been a fan of french food and cooking and enjoy the taste alot. I do feel there is a tendancy for too much Italian cooking on TV and not enough of the other styles in the world apart from a show here or a show there.

but thats just the way i look at things and do tend to watch the food network alot

[daetara]

I do feel there is a tendancy for too much Italian cooking on TV and not enough of the other styles in the world apart from a show here or a show there.

i couldn't agree more...i love italian food, but i love other kinds of food as well. bring on a japanese show, or vietnamese, or thai...mmmm.... or indian, or morroccan, or chilean...just give it to me!

edit: oooh, and portuguese (thanks for the reminder, emperor!)...my best friend in elementary was portuguese, and they had the best food....

[tollbaby]

I like Ken Kostick The chick he was paired with for What's for Dinner? was a bit annoying, but okay (she wasn't a cook or a chef... I think she was some sort of Canadian TV personality or a singer or something... Mary Jo Eustace?). The Urban Peasant is a favorite of mine as well *sigh*