[nancya]

Okay, since we have been talking about Emeril and celeb chefs in general - and specifically - who is your favorite celeb chef and why?

I like Alton Brown because he focuses on technique and explains why he uses certain techniques. I don't always agree with him, but he usually has some interesting points. Besides, he is pretty entertaining.

p.s. I like Emeril's recipes, I'm just tired of watching him.

[coolJ]

Well, I'm another Aalton Brown fan myself, his show, Good Eats, is terrific. I especially like his 'housespouse'(shamless attempt at PC) method of showing people how to cook, and the research that goes into each episode.

[monpetitchoux]

Yep, Alton Brown gets my vote, too. The more a cook explains, the more I like. And boy does he try to explain. I like his corny jokes, too, and the funny chicken inhis kitchen. I don't agree with everything he does. But I do like how he has food scientists on his show.

I learned how to cook from television (Madeleine Kamman, Jacques Pepin and Julia Child all on PBS). In the 7th grade, I used to cut school just to watch cooking shows. This continued in college, too, when the TVFN made it's debut.

[Devotay]

Julia is God. Also I learned great things when I was a kid from Chef Tell and The Galloping Gourmet (he was much better when he still drank).

Todays winners are Mario ("MULTO MARIO!") and Ming Tsai. Also, while some of his stuff is condescending **** , I really enjoyed Bobby Flay's tour of Ballpark food.

When will we get an American version of Iron Chef?

Peace,
kmf

[coolJ]

Kurt, check out the posting by thelogg, it's just a little further down the latenight cafe page.

[Kimmie]

Definitely Julia, forever!

[nancya]

Truthfully, when I started this thread I wasn't even thinking of Julia Child. Julia is an icon and doesn't belong in the same category as Emeril and Alton, et al. As I have been thinking about it, I haven't come up with another chef to put in with Julia. Maybe Jacques Pepin?

[ May 21, 2001: Message edited by: nancya ]

[Svadhisthana]

Alton Brown, I love the show Good Eats. He's down to earth and I enjoy the science behind the cooking.
Svadhisthana

Aalton Brown and Mig Tsai.

Whatever happened to the Frugal Gourmet???

HP

Wait... does a celeb chef need a TV show to qualify? If not, I'd have to say Jean-Georges Vongerichten on skill alone totally amazes me!

[Pastachef]

In actuality I love to watch all of the chefs and cooking shows on tv. Having had no formal cooking education, I am always grateful for the opportunity to learn something new.

[thebighat]

I used to watch Chef Tell and got a kick out of the way he would waft the steam rising off a pot towards his face, and his signoff, which I still use on the way out the door to the kitchen crew, "Ok, We see you." If anyone feels like doing their own show, a lot of local cable companies might be willing to talk. I had my own show for a while called The Grouchy Gourmet. The whole point of it was to cook dinner in half an hour and we shot it unscripted, unrehearsed and unedited. This does imply a rather thorough mise en place, but it was fun.

[Mezzaluna]

Pierre Franey and Jacques Pepin belong up there with Julia in my mind. But Julia does stand alone in her monumental achievement of getting a wider portion of the American public to pay attention to what they are eating out and preparing at home. Think back (those of you whose experience goes back this far) to the supermarkets of the 1950s and 1960s. No salsa, no mangoes, no fresh pasta, a very limited variety of fresh fish, no artisan breads.... instead, plenty of Velveeta, baked beans, Wonder bread and Swanson TV dinners (oy, vey!!). We were all excited when we managed to find Tabasco sauce, for heaven's sake! Someone who knows a lot more than I do about Julia's contributions could say it better, but without her unique style and appeal, this site might not even exist, for lack of enough people to care about things like fresh flavors, interesting textures and high quality ingredients.

[logose]

This is similar to another thread about favorite on FTV Network. My favorite is Jaque Pepin (my Hero!). As I stated before, he is the consummate professional chef with the most understanding and knowledge about what he presents to you. He has vast natural talent too.
Then Julia is the best of what I call professional home cook. The presentation of her knowledge is done in such a non assuming way. It made cooking a doable thing with cookable recipes.
They both opened the way for all the other TV celebs, but with style and class to exhibit the passion and love for the culinary arts.

[Pooh]

Mez,

You're so right.

Julia, Jacques and Pierre are a wonderful trilogy in the cooking world. I grew up watching Julia. Later came Jacques along with his wonderful technique. And then, Pierre, I taped all his shows. Got all the books.

But Julia was the first and got me going!