[ED BUCHANAN]

Sunday morning I was up early and happened to put on TV. Only thing on were informercials and the food channel. I left food channel on and I could not believe things I saw . They had this couple on cooking and cutting things with a french knife. Not only were they cutting wrong, it amazed me that they did not chop their fingers off. They were holding the items to be cut with fingers straight out not tucked under like every student is taught in school..Then they taste with hands, I said to myself here we are trying to teach young people the correct way and then these jokers do this.
I believe that they should have to post a warning prior to the broadcast , much like Cramer does that what they are doing is not the opinions of the station nor do they recommend everything they do for everyone, or are they to be construed as accepted ways to do things.

[chrose]

Food Channel......You're expecting too much ChefEd sad to say...

[ChrisLehrer]

Usual disclaimer: I'm not a professional chef, I don't belong in this forum....

Frankly, I think Ed does not in any way expect too much. Very basic technique should be a bare minimum. If you're going to show people how to do anything, you ought to have some idea how to do it yourself. Julia Child, who more or less invented cooking TV as a significant thing in the USA, trained at the Cordon Bleu, and while she was never a professional chef, she had quite good technique. And PBS has been very good about retaining this: the people who do their shows continue to be people who have a reasonable claim to know what they're doing. But Food Network has reached the point, it seems, that for their low-budget filler programs they just grab any vaguely attractive person who can put out food that their families like and say, "hey, let's do a cooking show." These people have no business teaching a large audience how to cook. I mean, frightening though it is, I could do a lot of this stuff better, and I have never in my life attended a regular cooking class: I just read good people, absorb and think about technique, and practice trying to do things right. The notion that people who do basic cooking significantly less well than I are on TV showing a nation how to cook is terrifying to me.

[iconoclast]

Originally Posted by ED BUCHANAN

I believe that they should have to post a warning prior to the broadcast , much like Cramer does that what they are doing is not the opinions of the station nor do they recommend everything they do for everyone, or are they to be construed as accepted ways to do things.

ahahahhahah...LMAO~!

[shroomgirl]

makes for good heckling......Nothing like having a beer at a bar with the food network on and someone comes on that has amatuer at best skills, being passed off as a pro.....

exclamations such as, " did they really just say that?" "what the heck is EVOO?" "Who eats that shtuff anyway?" "did you just see her cross contaminate?" There's a disbelief that surely this didn't pass the professional staff.....sorta surreal. Highly recommend having an alcoholic beverage in hand when watching.

[iconoclast]

they were doing the casting call for 'next food network star' or whatever it is called by us here in nyc, and my gf said 'hey youd be perfect for that, you should go for it...' i told her id rather be successful and be a nobody than be on a star on foodnetwork. most of the ppl who go through these reality shows on food network are just horrible. granted the food network did/does have great chefs, but now the signal to noise ratio is just completely off... there is so much crap and nonsense it makes it just a joke.

[chrose]

Originally Posted by ChrisLehrer

But Food Network has reached the point, it seems, that for their low-budget filler programs they just grab any vaguely attractive person who can put out food that their families like and say, "hey, let's do a cooking show." These people have no business teaching a large audience how to cook.

See exactly my point!

[ED BUCHANAN]

Originally Posted by iconoclast

they were doing the casting call for 'next food network star' or whatever it is called by us here in nyc, and my gf said 'hey youd be perfect for that, you should go for it...' i told her id rather be successful and be a nobody than be on a star on foodnetwork. most of the ppl who go through these reality shows on food network are just horrible. granted the food network did/does have great chefs, but now the signal to noise ratio is just completely off... there is so much crap and nonsense it makes it just a joke.

I am trying to train my pet monkey to audition for the food network to try and become the next food star. I think I have a good shot!.

[left4bread]

Originally Posted by shroomgirl

...Nothing like having a beer at a bar with the food network on and someone comes on that has amatuer at best skills, being passed off as a pro.....

How about a drinking game? For Rachel Ray, like the one's they have for "24" and other TV shows:

I started to make a drinking game list but a quick google search showed me someone had already done it...
Rachael Ray Drinking Game


here are a few examples:

Sayings:
1 sip "EVOO"
1 sip "Guys"
1 sip "Sammie"
whole drink creates an all-new and completely unnecessary abbreviation

Presentation:
1 sip repeats herself
2 sips talks for so long without taking a breath that she nearly runs out of air
2 sips makes an awkward, spastic gesture with her arm
2 sips voice cracks
2 sips forces a laugh at something not funny

Cooking:
2 sips comes back from refrigerator carrying too many ingredients
3 sips drops something on her way back
4 sips drops something, laughs, and says something like "potato overboard!"
whole drink the thing she drops is a knife!
2 sips provides an obviously wrong measurement, e.g. "about a tablespoon" while she dumps in a half-cup of something
2 sips suggests a crappy substitution (e.g. parsley for cilantro)

Anyway, you get the idea.

[iconoclast]

you could also do a shot everytime sandra lee says 'my' or giada says some italian word with a forced accent. MARZ-KAH-PO-NAY!