The Food Network

Food TV is still not available on cable here!

...because "Bam-b-b-bam-bam" is best left to the Flinstones...
;)

Good Eats, The Best of, East meets West, Malto Mario. These are a few of my favorite shows on Food TV.

Yeah I enjoy alot of their original specials like "Legendary Hangouts", and "Road to Bocuse De Or" and some of the shows mentioned above! Yesterday they had a special on Grahm Kerr's Galloping Gourmet Show, but I missed it and forgot to record it. Maybe they will have a rerun of it soon.

Afra, a bit of an explanation regarding the contempt of Emeril (from my point of view, anyways). First, Emeril was not all that popular as a TV chef starting out. Then he met with some marketing strategists. The result is the Emeril you see today high-fiving his audience and yelling "bam!". I've seen him on TV in a setting where he didn't have to be that "TV Emeril"; he's really quite a different person, rather shy from what I've heard. To me, cooking is not about glamour or being phony to make a buck; other than my own continuous striving for perfection, it's not about me at all. For me, any night is worthwhile if just one customer walks out the door having had one of the best culinary experiences of their lives ( I still remember a night five years ago, served a simple sauteed tilapia with an orange/basil compound butter; a couple that ordered it said it was the best fish they'd ever had). If someone wants entertainment , they're not going to get it from me and they shouldn't be getting it from a show that is allegedly about cooking; they should see a movie or go to a concert. Emeril is trying to entertain and have a show that is supposed to teach about cooking, but, as the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it, too. For an excellent learning experience via the TV, I turn to Julia Childs and Jaques Pepin; these two are clearly about teaching and sharing the knowledge they have; they're not up there trying to entertain and push their expensive spice mixes on the unwitting masses. Just my rambling, Belgian ale infused opinion, though. ;)

Emeril is a sham. The shows on FoodTV have nothing to do with the food in his restaurants which are expensive and the food is prepared by non-celebrity chefs. BAm! is a catch phrase that has played out long ago like "Where's the Beef?" I find little to no value in his show. The essence of Emeril (a half hour more serious show) is only slightly better than his regular show. And do they have to show it repeatedly? I much prefer Bobby Flay, Mario Batagli and Ming Tsai. Serious cooks who can entertain without the Bam!

I second Anneke, Greg and MarkdChef!

Any of you watch Charlie Trotter on PBS?
It's series II of Kitchen Sessions.

I bought the book when it came out and cooked practically everything in it. Everything turns out great and I do like to watch him on TV. I think he's pretty :cool: !!!

I know that Emeril can wear people out. I also know that if I watch his show I am not going to learn a great deal. Here's where I think Emeril is great. He is making food exciting and intersting to a large universe of people that previously thought food was Kraft Mac & Cheese. More people interested in really good food means more people in your restaurants. More people interestedin cooking good food at home means higher demand (and hopefully greater supply) for a wide variety of quality ingredients. I look at him as sort of a pied piper.
Kyle

Afra, sometimes if an account stays inactive (you did say you had been to busy to visit the site) they will clear the files.


Svadhisthana

I think I saw that Emeril will be having his own show on NBC next season. I'm not gonna watch it, I'm just a little tired of "BAM!" and "kick it up a notch!". Best show on Food Network, IMHO, is Good Eats.

Being new in the states I was intoduced to Emeril only a few months away. The recipeds are nice, but personely I can't stand whatching a show that shouts at me. I don't despise Emeriil, but he's not a real chef to me. When was the last time he actually cooked something?! It is good to make people excited about food. But that doesn't mean i'll enjoy watching it.
"Naked Chef" for me every night!!! Great food, great brit atmosphere, And I love the way he talks about food - Pucker!

Emeril saga continues...
Success in business doesn't always equate to being the best in that field. People like energetic personalities and showmanship. In that case Emeril truely delivers. But for others more concerned about talent, passion, and ability behind the dishes may look for a more subtle approach,
Julia Child and Jacque Pepin (my hero!) are who I grew up with. Julia has the home cooking perspective whereas Jacque Pepin is the consummate professional chef. Both obviously knows their subjects extremely well. On top of this they are very entertaining to watch. Not all entertainer chefs today can boast the same.They are my favorite on the Food Network.
Also the series The Best Chefs of ... on Discovery channel (I think) takes very accomplished chefs and follows them through the whole dish from prep to presentation. Perhaps more geared towards the professional.
CoolJ, your favs are my more current ones.
Especially Good Eats.

I remember Emeril featuring in Julia Child's "Cooking with Masterchefs" series back in 1993 or 1994. He was very different then.

Wish that Emeril came back!...leaving the bamming and high fiving behind and doing a bit more cooking!

:rolleyes:

It's not the bamming I object to so much as the 47 other catch phrases. "This isn't rocket science folks..." "That's what the numbers [on the knob] are for..." "So I asked myself, self?..." "Pork fat rules!" "We're really cooking here!" and so forth. Still, I think that he interacts better with an audience and he did inspire me to try some new things. I don't like the new show without the audience, either. I'd like him to do Emeril Live, without so much bamming and with more technique.

How about "I don't know where you get your

__________ (insert ingredient here) from, but where I'm from it dont come seasoned."?

"Put in forty cloves of garlic!" (audience applause)

You see one of his shows and you have seen them all.

Pooh, I'm with you. I did see Emeril with Julia in an show where he cooked artichokes, potatoes and shellfish outdoors in a huge pot. He was charming and low key. I like his recipes, but his current TV persona is tiresome and seems fake to me. I can't imagine (!!) what they'll base his new sitcom on: his real personality or the consultant-brewed one. Waste of a good chef.

If you're talking about the show with Alton Brown, then yes. It's a great show.

I think they are talking about the sit-com. Its alright.
Hey! bottom line folks MONEY. if you don't think the rest are out for the same thing, especially in writing books you all are sadly mistaken.

Emeril's 'bam' came from his very early days of FoodTV, when he was doing that horrid 'Essence of Emeril', his training ground for Emeril Live. He said that whenever the camera people looked like they were getting bored, he would yell 'bam' just to wake them up!

FoodTV has done an almost total turnaround in its focus; it used to be informative, learning programming, and has now switched to mostly entertainment; due in most part to a new CEO, who thinks the big $$$$ are in entertainment. Wrong.

I love Sara Moulton's show, and was dismayed to find out that even her show is being cut - there's a mighty uproar on the FoodTV forums from her fans! I think she is to be applauded for taking the mystery out of cooking for so many people; and she addresses health issues and if she doesn't know something, she admits it, instead of blundering through.

And I will ever be grateful to the 'hot Tamales' who fostered my hunger for Mexican cooking; their show, and the specials they shot in Mexico were wonderful! Gale Gand and Jacques Torres are most awesome also!

Just my 2-cents worth, but I think ole Wolfgang is turning into another Emeril - hubbie says he's like a little bavarian elf! And talk about bad jokes - at least Emeril can pull one off! Timing, wolfgang, it's all in the timing!

I wonder what people outside the culinary arena think of the food network?

It's funny...I think about a million years ago, before music TV.
I would think how cool it would be to be able to watch my favorite bands on tv. Well, along came MTV. Not bad, some good tunes...then things started to change (for the worse in my opinon)

I can't even watch 2 seconds of MTV with out turning it off.

The same thing has happened to the food network. I always loved to watch PBS on saturdays and Sundays to enjoy cooking shows. Some where good and some , well you know.

But they where fun. The food network has turned into a big buisness. Ok that fine. You have to turn a profit right? But it is not a channel for chefs to learn. It is the WWF of cooking, nothing more.
cc

Bravo well said CC. I used to enjoy the lame shows they had on PBS. They were all that was available. I like and did like a lot of what was on FTV but as CC said, it's WWF now. Personally I don't like where it's heading. I suppose though it's not really a network for us. I wouldn't mind seeing a professional version of the network for us.
And lastly in defense of Emeril because I feel I must. If you ever saw the biography piece on Emeril you would realize that other than the FTV stardom he is really one of us. He put in his hours behind the stove. 2 Marriages because he was never home, always in the restaurants. I'm not condoning that, but haven't we all done that in this profession. You want the big bucks and success? You gotta put in the time and he did. I congratulate him for his successes! He earned them long before Bam!

Well I think CC hit it right on the head. This type of television is not produced with the professional chef in mind. That would be such a limite4d viewing audience. You will see the chefs with limited personalities go away, and you will see more amd more people with personalities and less cooking skills exposed. Thjat's just this type of medium. My aunts,uncles,neighbors,friends, all really like the food channel. My godmother loves Mario, and has gone to see Emeril in Las Vegas live. What a hoot.
C'mon guys, we are talking television here, it's entertainment.
The old PBS day were entertaining to chefs because we were pleased to see someone doing the same thing. But go back and watch some Graham Kerr, what were we thinking?
Chrose,
My first advice to newbies is to find a soulmate who will support this nature of work.
:chef:

CC asked what non-industry types think about FoodTV. I am a non--industry type and I look at it this way :) I may not like a lot of what's on the network. I can live without Gordon Elliot smirking into the camera. But beyond the individual programs it has a big benefit to us non-industry types. I can go into a supermarket and buy creme fraiche! FoodTV is bringing good food to the masses. Preople who ate Mac & Cheese for dinner are finding out there is a whole different world out there. They are now asking their supermarkets for "exotic" ingredients and demanding quality produce. This makes my life easier :)

I like Sara Moulton 'cause she's a leftie like me! :)

Here here, Kyle! I can get double cream in the supermarket, too. And Scharffen Berger chocolate. I live in Wisconsin, but I can find fresh tomatillos, white asparagus and mesclun; real Dijon mustard from Dijon, Louisiana andouille sausage, turbinado sugar and panko (just try to whip all that up in one dish!). 20 years ago, restaurant-quality cookware and tools were impossible for the home chef to find short of mail ordering or wangling your way into a restaurant supply house.

I give a huge amount of credit to Julia Child and PBS for getting people interested, and FTV for popularizing great home cooking. At a time when the French as a society are bemoaning their children's descent into culinary mediocrity, Americans are moving in the other direction.

Dear Kyle and Mezz,

This is great news.
I'm really happy that you guys are able to sort through the hipe to find something redeming from the food channel.

I take the Food network like a lot of people in the cooking field. I can watch about ten minutes of a show like Emril live or The naked chef, and I'm looking for a book to read. I grew up on the stuff on PBS, so when I see a cooking show, I hope to gain insight or learn something. The food network, tends to throw things together that are aimed a selling products and most of the programing on the food network to me is pure marketing. If I want to watch something, I usually record programing from the dicovery channel, Like chefs of the world. It does have a couple of good programs though, Jacque Torres, and my all-time favorite, good-eats, but I prefer substance to fluff...
But in it's defense, I think it is helping normal people become culinary literate, and "that's a good thing." (A little marketing joke). I find it fascinating, that alot of people who could "burn water" can now cook a good meal for themselves. To me the how's and why's of cooking are important, but to most people who watch it, its a good way to improve their home cooking skills.

It's great but...

It's wonderful that TVFN is expanding their programming but I think they're still missing a chunk of the possibilities. Recipe-event-and location-based food programming will always have an audience, but they should flex their creative muscle and try fiction-based food-related programming.

As far as Emeril is concerned, the TVFN over exposed him and now in many circles he's a joke, like Martha Stewart. I wouldn't mind having either of their bank accounts. Emeril is now like a top 40 song, you like it the first 750 times you hear it, then it's like nails on a blackboard.

Luckily, given his talent and gift for business, he'll have his chef/restauranteur career to fall back on when his media career is over.