kelbro
Alfred Spatchcock
I had forgotten about the Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr. Probably my awakening that everything DID NOT have to be cooked in lard.
TexLaw, can you expand on that a bit? Why like a "timeshare pitch"?
With Milk Street [Christopher Kimball] seems to have necessarily taken a turn toward restaurant fare and spicy foods
I had forgotten about the Galloping Gourmet, Graham Kerr. Probably my awakening that everything DID NOT have to be cooked in lard.
That was a poor choice of words but the best that came to mind at the time. It's not so much as a sales pitch as it is like those bad, daytime TV cooking segments with a lot of fake enthusiasm--a lot of "ooo!"s and "AH!"s as if everyone were pumped up with coffee and sugar. Both Julia and Bridget were terrible about that when they first took over the hosting role. When I really think about it, just about everyone was, even the relatively sober (but always entertaining) Jack. Bridget and the others have settled in or back down, thankfully, and they all have a much more natural presence on screen, but Julia most certainly has not. I love it when Julia cooks, mind you--she rocks--but her hosting presence leaves much to be desired and does not seem to be improving.
I haven't really thought about whether the dishes on ATK or Cook's Country have improved, as I always liked what they did in the first place. The magazines always have been more adventurous than the TV shows.
"Necessarily" is a good way to put it, because his parochial attitude and aversion to spicy foods had become tiresome. I am glad to see him drop at least some of the curmudgeonly attitude. I wouldn't call the Milk Street recipes "restaurant fare," though. It's still home cooking. It's just not the classic, white American home.
I like Dan Souza, the younger guy on ATK, a lot.
Which brings up the Frugal Gourmet. That was a great show and well-produced. He had so much enthusiasm.
I agree with most of what everyone already has said. One person I very much enjoy but who has not been mentioned is Lidia Bastianich. She has that same honesty vibe you feel from Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, two of my other favorites. I want to cook nearly everything she does on her show.
Likewise, I loved the Two Fat Ladies for much of the same reasons, and I missed that show enough that I asked for (and received) all the episodes on DVD for a Christmas gift some years ago.
No one has mentioned Nigella Lawson? O, be still, my heart. You fellows can keep your Giada.
Rachel Ray, Guy Fieri, and Bobby Flay all are folks that I could do without. I shed no tear for Paula Deen when she had her downfall. I got worn out on Emeril pretty quickly after he went to that hour long nightmare of a show. I sometimes hear that Gordon Ramsey is not the giant jerk that he often portrays, but I don't care. I have better things to do than watch him.
I do like Christopher Kimball, and ATK/Cook's Country now feels more like a timeshare pitch than a cooking show since he left. The magazines still are good, but the shows are starting to get on my nerves. Milk Street is good and is finding its stride.
I adored Good Eats, and I'm enjoying the "Reloaded" episodes, but I've not liked the other shows that Alton Brown has done.
I go back and forth on Jamie Oliver and Anthony Bourdain. I always enjoyed Bourdain's shows, and I even went to see him speak one time. He did some great stuff, but he got that "I'm cooler than you are" attitude just often enough that I had to push him aside from time to time. It's been the same way with Jamie Oliver and his tendency to get preachy.
I see what folks are talking about Sara Moulton being condescending, but she always has had a place in my heart since the beginning of the Food Network, and I really like how she and Christopher Kimball work together on the call-in portion of the Milk Street podcast/radio show.
Every time I watch Ina Garten I wonder why I don't watch her more often. I like her style.
I always got a kick out of Graham Kerr and his honest enthusiasm. I never understood why, but I never got tired of Martin Yan, despite him getting pretty over the top at times. I sometimes had to turn off Justin Wilson when he got too far into the Cajun caricature, but I otherwise enjoyed his shows. I loved what Paul Prudhomme might cook on his show, but watching that show was like watching paint dry.
Anthony Zimmern has done great stuff, and I would like to see more than just taking bits and pieces of old shows and putting them together for something "new."
I have tried to watch her, but I get distracted.Mmm-hmmm.
I have tried to watch her, but I get distracted.
If you did, you might get arrested.There's a couple of distractions about her TV programmes, but I can't quite put my finger on them...
If you did, you might get arrested.
Unfortunate autocorrect, or did I miss something?Racial ray
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Racial ray