TV’s cooking talent tends to fall into three categories: chefs, cooks and hosts. But often, those lines get a little blurry. We’ve all seen it. Some chefs are more entertaining as hosts, some cooks pretend to be chefs, some hosts think they can cook. Then there are the ones who want to be everything!
Take our good friend Guy Fieri, for example. After winning the second season of The Next Food Network Star, the bleached bundle of energy showed off his cooking skills by preparing his dude-dishes on Guy’s Big Bite before moving out of the kitchen to host the comfort-food foodie’s dream show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Fieri perfectly transitioned from cook to the role of host, charming the pants off viewers with his rambunctious nature as he took road trips to America’s best Mom and Pop joints and celebrating all things cheesy, greasy and gravy-covered.
Fieri’s latest gig finds him leaving the food circuit behind to become a game show host for the new NBC series Minute to Win It. Through all of this, Fieri has proven he is one cook who is clearly better fitted for the role of entertainer, though the jury is still out on if Fieri will cook up tasty ratings on mainstream, primetime TV.
But Fieri’s success isn’t the norm. There are plenty of food show personalities who have tried venturing into new roles, and audiences just aren’t gobbling them up. Especially not me.
We all have culinary celebrities on TV we love, and those we love to hate. There are a few I’d like to see put down their knives and just stick to entertaining, and others I’d love to see only in the kitchen. Who should put down their knives and who should pick them up again?
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RACHAEL RAY
Shows: 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray
Verdict: Pick up that knife
Like many of you, I find Rachael Ray to be rather annoying, especially as a talk show host. Her hyperactive feistiness reminds me of 10-year-old boy who needs a dose of Ritalin. Harsh, I know, but have you seen her interview her guests on Rachael Ray? She practically yells in their faces. Relax, Rach. Easy. However, I actually really enjoyed her cooking show 30 Minute Meals. I saw past the “Yum-O” and “EVOO” catchphrases and give her credit for cooking in real time (as much as she can) and giving busy parents easy, casual meals that are doable. The talk show thang just isn’t doing it for me, even with her cooking segments, so I say pick up that knife again and stick to the kitchen. |
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JAMIE OLIVER
Shows: Jamie At Home, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
Verdict: Pick up that knife
I’ve been a fan of British chef Jamie Oliver since he burst on the scene over 10 years ago under the alluring guise, The Naked Chef. Since then, it’s been non-stop action for the food star. Fourteen cookbooks, numerous side projects and countless TV series … the man is unstoppable. But lately, Oliver seems to be leaving cooking by the wayside and venturing into politics instead. He took it upon himself to improve Britain’s school meals with Jamie’s School Dinners and Return to School Dinners. He helped out disadvantaged youth in Jamie’s Kitchen and is now taking on America’s most unhealthy cities in the new ABC series Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution (which debuts Friday, March 26 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC). Phew!
But the Oliver I most love watching is the one on Jamie At Home. There he showcases one ingredient and makes several different meal options in a country setting, at his cozy, well-equipped farmhouse which boasts a huge, impressive garden. He cooks on a campfire, in his wood-burning oven, throws together a mish-mash of homestyle, delicious meals and looks most at peace there. He really thrives doing these types of rustic meals and that’s the Oliver I prefer. I commend him for doing all this great work with healthy eating and infiltrating the school systems, but what I really want to see is the man cook! I say pick up that knife, Jamie, and take a break. |
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ANNA OLSON
Shows: Fresh with Anna Olson, Sugar
Verdict: Put down that knife
I adore Anna Olson. Love her, love her, love her! I could watch her show Sugar all day, every day. Her delectable desserts, pies, cookies, tarts … mmmmmmmmmm! Trained pastry chef Olson completely wowed me with every scrumptious episode. But then she decided to end Sugar and to go all Barefoot Contessa-stylie on us with her new gig, Fresh with Anna Olson. Here she prepares whole dinner parties, visits local farmers and grocers and puts together several dishes. Great dishes even. I just really miss Sugar which she completely excelled at. So I say Anna Olson: put down that knife and pick up a baking tin. |
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BOBBY FLAY
Shows: Throwdown! With Bobby Flay, Iron Chef America: The Series
Verdict: Put down that knife
Oh, Bobby Flay. The audacity of this man is unnerving. Throwdown!, to me, is the most pompous show on TV. Basically Flay dupes people who are renowned for a particular dish into taking part in his show (though they think they are taping a special on them or something). Think chili king or barbecue master, that kind of status. So these poor saps are all excited, thinking this is their big break into TV when whammo! Here comes Bobby Flay challenging them that he could make a better dish than the one they’re champions at, in a “naynanaynabooboo” kind of way. Really? Really, Bobby Flay? Do you have to show the world that you’re the best at everything? This kind of macho behavior is just gross and I plead for Flay to just stick to the competitiveness in Iron Chef America instead of trying to humiliate random Americans. |
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ANTHONY BOURDAIN
Show: No Reservations
Verdict: Pick up that knife
When I read Anthony Bourdain’s controversial memoir, Kitchen Confidential, I think that was my launching pad for becoming a foodie. I don’t know if I quite fit that status yet, but Bourdain made me interested in food on a completely different level. He was a rock star. He made food and being a chef exciting and continued to demonstrate that bad-ass persona through his food travel show No Reservations. Here, Bourdain travels overseas to experience local cuisine and the best-kept food secrets. When I saw him eat a beating cobra heart in Vietnam, I was instantly hooked. But I wish I could still see Bourdain in action in the kitchen. As the executive chef for Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan, I’m sure Bourdain’s dishes would blow any TV food star out of the water. So Anthony Bourdain, I ask that you pick up that knife and start a cooking show. |
Who would you like to see have a cooking show? Who do you want to see step down from the kitchen? Any thoughts or questions? Email me at jessica.russell@tvguide.ca
Minute to Win It debuts Sunday, March 14 at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.
JESS’S MESSES: I SAY DIY-NOT?!
Challenge: Breakfast Bars
Nigella Lawson
Nigella Express (Knopf Canada)
I thought I’d start out my first DIY cooking challenge on a smaller scale with breakfast bars. I’m anything but a well-seasoned cook and when I saw this recipe being tested out on Anna and Kristina’s Grocery Bags I thought, if they could make it work, so could I!
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Nigella Lawson is one of my most favourite celebrity chefs. I’ve had Nigella Express in my cookbook collection for a few years now and it has been the go-to resource for my chef-tastic BF many times. For me, though? I haven’t even opened it … until now. Though I doubt I looked half as titillating as Lawson does on her show while whipping these babies up, I tried my best and the result was spot on.
I’m very bad at making time to eat breakfast in the morning, so these delectable, healthy breakfast bars were not only simple and convenient to make, but also made my life in the morning simple and convenient as well. I would just grab one on the go. |
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Full of oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, peanuts, cranberries, pumpkin seed, sesame seeds and some condensed milk as the binder, these were a much healthier breakfast option on-the-go than sinking your teeth into a fattening muffin. Plus this recipe is flexible. Add some flax seed, almonds or different dried fruit and it would be fabulous. I found using parchment paper worked a lot better when getting these gooey squares out of the pan. Though I thought they were too sticky and sloppy at first, after leaving them for a while, they firmed up nicely and still remained chewy. The parts that did fall off, I kept as granola for my yogurt.
Buyer beware, you’ll need a scale to get through these recipes, as the Brits don’t rely on measuring cups.
Nigella Express is definitely a great cheat-sheet style cookbook to making classic and exotic dishes during a busy work week. I love Lawson’s style of flirtatious writing and the directions were really easy to follow. For a newbie like me, I’m eager to dive into more of her tasty meals.
Check out Nigella’s Breakfast Bars here.
COOK WITH ME!
March Challenge: The Barefoot Contessa
Resources: Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Barefoot Contessa At Home, Barefoot Contessa Family Style
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Since I’m trying to become a better cook/domestic diva/decorator/housekeeper/you name it through this column, I thought a great first challenge would be to pick a different TV personality or program each month and learn from them; like a domestic mentor, if you will. And I want you readers to be my partners-in-crime along the way.
This month, I’m picking my most favourite TV food star in the world, Ina Garten, a.k.a. the Barefoot Contessa, whom I just adore. I love the way she talks to viewers. I love how she considers butter a food group. I love when she jaunts out to her enormous garden to pick fresh herbs for her dishes. She is a domestic goddess in my eyes. |
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So each and every week I’ll cook a recipe from one of her many books. I have never even attempted try out one of her delectable dishes, but I’m jumping in head-first. At the end of the month I’ll post a recap of whether I succeeded in my challenge.
If you love the Barefoot Contessa as much as I do, join me in this cooking challenge. You can email me your recipe picks and how you did with them at jessica.russell@tvguide.ca.
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After writing about music for a solid eight years, Jessica has realized taking advice from her record collection ain’t gonna help her become the domestic diva she secretly longs to be. Though her passion for music will never take a back seat, she prides herself on becoming the craftiest gal on the block by combining the DIY esthetic of alternative culture and the new wave of craft influenced by traditional handiwork.
When she’s not stitchin’ n’ bitchin’ with her knitting and crochet needles, Jessica has been known to salivate at the Food Network, watching countless hours of cooking shows and being inspired by home projects on HGTV. She hopes one day to make bacon the new food group and add brunch as the fourth meal of the day. With the help of DIY television, Jessica’s alter-ego, Homegurl, will one day become a grown-up.
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