I found this
And this
I think of it like chief or jefe.
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Any time I see Jose Andres cook, I’m inspired. He’s just so creative, and what a guy.
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Interesting that in the kitchen of Marco Pierre White, everyone wore a commis apron, navy with white stripes, even Marco, the guy who allegedly made Gordom Ramsay cry. If I were a better cook and got serious enough to do the work, I would find White Heat incredibly inspiring. His recipes are sheer genius.
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paul prudhomme/dom deluise
essence of emeril show
galatoires cookbook - so many foundational matters there
james hemings and hercules posey stories are fascinating and very inspiring
marcella hazan
colonel harland sanders
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Early on - Julia Child. I started watching her on WGBH when we lived outside of Boston in the late 70’s. When I was in college, I took a cooking class with a good friend and we learned a lot about ingredients and techniques to cook Chinese food from an American married to a Chinese man. Then again, living in Acton west of Boston I had access to a Joyce Chen store run by her daughter-in-law and I learned so much from her for over 20 years. As far as television/media cooking goes, I think Jacques Pepin and Chef John are my go to people for recipes. I also like Ina Garten - she makes very accessible recipes. Within my recent history, Kenji Lopez Alt is my go to.
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I don’t know if I’ve had any one chef I’ve tried to emulate, but I’ve watched a lot of long running cooking shows and they have introduced me to either new flavors, ingredients, or cooking styles. All of them have made cooking (look) more approachable so I’ve grown up wanting to learn how to cook for myself.
To be honest, I get more inspired not by watching tv chefs as much as those food shows (think food porn like Flavorful Origins, or those Japanese food shows that showcase a restaurant or dish) and food contests (Top Chef, the original Iron Chef). They just make food look so good or so creative that I want to give it a go.
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This is not an easy question for me to answer, for a variety of reasons.
The biggest reason is that I distinguish between inspiration and education. Sometimes there’s crossover, but I can’t say Paul Prudhomme educated me much, but he sure inspired. Opposite for someone like James Peterson, from whom I’ve learned a proverbial shit-ton. I suppose Jamie Oliver is a crossover.
Another reason is that different chefs have helped me more at different points in my progression as a cook. Some are the keys to liking to cook, others to not being daunted, still others to understanding what is happening (and why) to foods. Lately–and this probably relates to my age and prices–I’m inspired by chefs who can cook, and enjoy cooking, simpler fare; Jacques Pepin and M.F.K. Fisher come to mind.
I come from a background where a wide range of excellent, fresh, seasonal ingredients was more the rule than the exception. So I’m less impressed by chefs whose messianic zeal takes that turn.
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Agreed. I think the “joy” of cooking - yeah, we all have the cookbook from our misspent youths - is the first step, and makes the learning contagious. The why and how just seem to naturally follow from curiosity. Pepin is perfect for that, he’s got the technique and the resume and he has nothing left to prove, so soak in in. And be delighted.
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I suspect that Pepin is a fundamentally happy person, and further that this trait is rare in celeb chefs.
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I think that, of the various American cooking shows we get on Food Network UK, Barefoot Contessa is the one I most relate to. I think it’s probably because her food often has Europeanesque leanings so is most familiar for me.
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Agree on both points!
She’s got a good attitude, and one thing I like about her is that she doesn’t act like she knows everything. She’s approachable.
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I really like her story. She’s a real person. Detail oriented. I think she would be lovely to meet.
George!
I love that show!
two icons in one !
