Ran across this on YouTube - watched it in spurts. Entertaining, charming, emotional, educational - I’ve read their books and still love Pepin’s cooking videos. I mourn the loss of Bourdain.
I’ve been watching Jacques and Tony for years and years . Reruns, reruns. Pretty much every night for wine time and dinner prep . I’ve got to be close to a hundred thousand.
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Pepin is the consultant chef (or whatever) to the Oceania cruise line. Before our 2017 cruise, I had never heard of him. Presumably his fame in America has never really travelled back to Europe.
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I find that with most media chefs… Delia is still mostly unknown here, and even those who broke into US TV are still not household names. Nigella, Jamie Oliver, Paul Hollywood,and Mary Berry are at least recognized, but certainly not well known.
And in return, Julia Child, Pepin, and their colleagues are recognized by a hardcore few across the Atlantic, but aren’t the household names they are here.
FWIW, Food Network UK runs a mix of American and British programming (with the occasional Canadian and Irish show thrown in). Tomorrow, of the American shows, we’ll have - Mystery Diners, Trisha’s Southern Kitchen, Pioneer Woman, Guy’s Grocery Games, Delicious Miss Brown, Barefoot Contessa, Girl Meets Farm and Restaurant Impossible
And, for the British programming : Hairy Bikers Best of British, Michel Roux’s French Country cooking, Nigel Slater’s Simple Suppers, Great British Bake-off, Jamie & Jummy’s Friday Night Feast, James Martin’s Favourite Feasts, River Cottage Every Day.
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Jeez, I wonder who decides on the American content.
That’s the worst of Food Network, at least to my jaded eyes.
Jaques and Julia are on public tv here.
I suppose you have no idea who Rachel Ray is?
Some would consider that a blessing.
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I do. And, at least back in her “30 Minute Meals” days, I was a big fan of watching her shows whenever we visited the States. I havent seen her on more recent trips which is a shame. Her style of quick “throw it together” meals entirely fits my cooking style which is why I’m a big fan of our own Nigel Slater who is also a good exponent of the easy, simple dinner. At one point, I had quite a collection of RR’s cookbooks but realised I actually very rarely cooked from them. The issue was that, too often, ingredients (mainly short cut stuff, flavouring mixes and the like) were just not available here, or not readily available, and it was too much of a faff to try and adapt them with what I had.
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That made me laugh!
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While I do not view Rachel Ray or her dishes with the same level of admiration (and sometimes awe) I do others, I think she probably helps a lot of households up their game. I would certainly enjoy most of the things she throws together.
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Rachel Ray’s personality is downright obnoxious, and became more so the more exposure she got. However, her aim to cook a flavorful well rounded meal in about 30 minutes is much more in line with what working parents can accomplish than the more high-falutin stuff. Which by the way we can aspire to on those rare Saturdays when no one else has any claim on our time (i.e. when the kids are grown, the job is retired, the landscapers are doing the yardwork, the personal assistant is doing the shopping i.e.i.e. never).
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I agree on all points and would add that she tends to focus on a single dish. Most home cooks cannot knock out chicken or veal piccata, a mushroom risotto, and steamed asparagus in twenty minutes because they have not been taught the intricacies of timing, but it is an eminently doable task, assuming you made the broth ahead of time. Capturing that kind of frenetic activity by Rachel might be very entertaining but hard to assimilate. At least she has some semblance of mise en place, and to teach that is gold, even if she is obnoxious. However, she rarely emphasizes what it involves.
That’s interesting!
This just showed up in my YT feed.
I think it is not too difficult to allocate during the week 1-1:30 hours/evening to cook something good for dinner. It is more a case of being organized and work in all aspects together…(and no we are not retired, have kids, no assistant for shopping etc)
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How so? I’m interested to hear what makes her obnoxious to you? What does she do or say?
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It’s entirely subjective and based on other decisions you make and other activities that you prioritize. During our non office hours, we have quite a lot of house and yard chores. The kids have activities that they need to be schlepped to and from. We try to get in some exercise daily. We try and set aside some evening time to do something as a family, whether a tv show, a crossword puzzle, a game. Sometimes dinner does take an hour of prep. I would not say that for my family, 90 minutes is “not that difficult.” Also, I question the presumption that you need that much time to make something good. You need that much time to make something complex.
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She’s a very big personality. She appears to laugh a lot, artificially, and for effect. She shortens a ton of words into some cutesie language of her own. She’s more physical comedy than intellectual wit. She rubs me the wrong way over a long exposure. It’s been years since I’ve watched her. Perhaps she is more subdued now.
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Personality’s one thing, but her traveling on a budget show where she’d regularly stiff/under tip the servers to stay within her limits was pretty tacky.
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I forgot about that show. I was thinking about her 30 minute meals and then the show that she did in front of a live audience.
