isachandra ([info]isachandra) wrote,
@ 2005-05-10 15:37:00
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Why can't all TV chefs be more like Sara Molton?

I was visiting one of my favorite LJ communities Rachel Ray Sux and I came across this great idea: " I happened to end up in four bookstores on Sunday, and in each one, I covered up all the Rachael Ray books with other, better cookbooks. "

Then the soothing sounds of Sara'a voice came on the telly. I like Sara Molton's show. She's not coming up with stupid nicknames for things or interviewing "celebrities", she's simply teaching people how to cook. She has dignity. She frequently cooks vegetarian as well, I think she may have been veg at one point, but not sure. She had Anna Thomas (who wrote Vegetarian Epicure)as a guest once and talked about how she used her book throughout college. One thing that I learned from Sara is to use wonton wrappers to make individual lasagnas. That actually led me to make raviolis out of dumpling wrappers. Little things like that make her show so worthwhile, meanwhile Emeril's show might turn you into a mouth breathing neanderthal who thinks he invented cilantro.




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[info]anarchivist
2005-05-10 12:53 pm UTC (link)
i have a totally love/hate relationship with rachael ray. while i think her cooking's atrocious i love watching the show for the sake of amusement.

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 01:33 pm UTC (link)
I watch it all the time. God, this is embarassing but I was watching a PPK episode (i think 4?) and I said "rub the dried spices between your fingers to get the flavors out". Yikes. I had a Rachel Ray moment. I was mortified watching it back, I didn't remember saying it.

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[info]anarchivist
2005-05-10 01:35 pm UTC (link)
as long as you don't utter the abbreviation "EVOO," you'll be fine.

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[info]stormsweeper
2005-05-11 08:49 am UTC (link)
You can say it as long as you don't then immediately explain what EVOO stands for. ;)

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[info]anarchivist
2005-05-11 08:55 am UTC (link)
she usually does it the other way around! haha.

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[info]crismissinapril
2005-05-10 01:08 pm UTC (link)
I'm joining the Rachel Ray Sux community now. I wish I would have known about it sooner....better late than never :p

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[info]drew_blood
2005-05-10 01:09 pm UTC (link)
Never caught Sara's Secrets but I'll watch for it. It doesn't seem like there's much worth watching on FoodTV anymore. I'll catch Unwrapped once in a while if I'm bored, and I still enjoy Iron Chef...that's all I can think of. I dunno how people think Emeril is entertaining at all.

Did Anthony Bourdain have a food/travel show on there at one time or am I hallucinating?

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 01:30 pm UTC (link)
Yeah he did. The thing that bugs me about him is that he is very vocal about his hatred for vegetarians. Other than that, his stories are fun to read.

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[info]drew_blood
2005-05-10 01:34 pm UTC (link)
I dunno, you probably saw my little review of Kitchen Confidential after I finished reading it. I took his anti-veggie rants as humor. He may be serious about it but it's awful hard to take that stuff seriously. I want to get a book of just him ranting about vegetarians. I would laugh my ass off I think :-p

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 01:47 pm UTC (link)
It's not just KC, he goes on in interviews too. I can laugh at it if it's funny, with him it gave me flashbacks of waitressing at this one organic veggie-friendly place. The head chef there would put chicken stock in the quinoa soup. He hated vegetarians so much. Anferny reminds me of that.

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(Anonymous)
2005-05-10 01:19 pm UTC (link)
Hey, this is Michelle C. I just got the DVD last week and I loved it! I'm going to buy a tee or apron -- I don't know which. Anyway, I haven't watched the food network in awhile but I used to watch it all the time, trying to imagine things were vegan in my mind. One show that was kind of fun to watch but I haven't seen it in a long time was the Surreal Gourmet? Did you ever catch it? He had, I think it was, a toaster truck which he traveled around in and cooked in and served to the people he met.

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 01:34 pm UTC (link)
I've heard of it but I never seeneded it. I don't think it's on anymore. Glad you like the dvd! Sorry it took forever to get them out!

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[info]minus_one
2005-05-10 01:55 pm UTC (link)
i saw a show emeril did once that was vegetarian- and he put eggs and cheese in everything. now i know that's techincally lacto-ovo but i mean come on, put a little effort into it.

does bobby flay still have a show? that guy is such an ass. i remember watching him a long time ago and he had this co-host who he would say the most awful jerk degrading things to. it was horrible.

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[info]cynnagirl
2005-05-10 04:12 pm UTC (link)
Is Emeril the guy who does the toothpaste commercials, where he yells 'Bam BAM!' at the amazing flavoured toothpaste? Based on that alone I couldn't abide any show of his.

I will check out this Sara Molton, but I'm still fearful from years of growing up with the Galloping Gourmet!

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[info]ijustdiedinside
2005-05-10 04:19 pm UTC (link)
i got a really good asparagus pasta salad recipe from rachel ray...not that i dont think she's pretty ridiculous, i still watch her all the time. the worst thing she ever did (in my book) was refer to a quesadilla as a mexican grilled cheese. (i mean..ok thats what it is, but still!) oh yeah, and i have the same knife as her which i love.

what do you think about the barefoot contessa. she's probably the yuppiest person on the food network

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 06:46 pm UTC (link)
Which knife?

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[info]ijustdiedinside
2005-05-11 10:40 am UTC (link)
the wusthoff santoku knife. i never realized how bad my other knives were. i can cut butter squash now!

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[info]ijustdiedinside
2005-05-10 04:27 pm UTC (link)
ha, now that i'm thinking about it. rachael ray does A LOT of annoying things. why can't i stop watching?

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[info]ijustdiedinside
2005-05-10 04:39 pm UTC (link)
oh man..what about semi homemade with sandra lee?!! she really bugs me. but..sigh...i watch them all. i love foodnetwork.

im going crazy with the comments, but i never knew i had this much pent up stuff to talk about regarding food network. i dont really know anyone else besides my family who watches it.

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 06:34 pm UTC (link)
I'm obesessed with it, too. Sandra Lee strikes me as, I don't know, she seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, or like she could at any moment peel of her face revealing her alien face beneath. What's her face, Jean? The Southern lady? She does this one thing that really annoys me. She'll be cooking zucchini and she'll say "You really don't have to do much to it, it's so delicious". THEN she'll proceed to fry it, smother it in cheese and eggs, douse it chili and hang it from the ceiling doing and do cartwheels. Barefoot Contessa, the same thing - "Strawberries are good by themeselves" then she covers them in sugar and cream. Also, she seems to have a very co-dep relationship with her man.

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[info]ijustdiedinside
2005-05-11 10:57 am UTC (link)
yeah sandra lee is very alien like...her kitchen and her outfit always match whatever she's cooking. scary! and paula dean..man..shes scary cause its like shes never heard of nutrition. at least most of the other chefs try to be somewhat healthy. yeah...she always will start making something that looks decent then pour some canned frosting and gravy with a stick of butter on top. i saw her making something with top ramen the other day. she was mixing the little oriental seasoning packet with something else. as for barefoot contessa, despite her yuppy life and yuppy friends she taught me to make really good butternut squash. one time she bought brownies from the store and just served them for dessert. ha ok...i should just write an essay!

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 10:27 pm UTC (link)
What's her face Jean = Paula Dean. I = senile.

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[info]veganfreak
2005-05-10 05:55 pm UTC (link)
being the cave-dweller that I am, I had no idea who Rachel Ray was until I googled. She's seriously got that scary suburban soccer-mom intensity written all over her.

as an aside, I personally gave up on Food Network a long time ago, mostly because every time I turned it on, there was some bougie fool harping on about eating tripe, or lusting after some torture-filled "delicacy." Plus, foodie types don't really ::heart:: vegans.

And as for Emeril, that little furry troll, I really hate him. Him and his "bangs!" and "bams!" Who the hell falls for that shit?

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[info]cynnagirl
2005-05-10 05:57 pm UTC (link)
You mean he 'bams' on his show too?? Oh man.

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[info]craftyscientist
2005-05-10 09:14 pm UTC (link)
Lovin' this! Gotta join that RRS blog too! Rachel Ray n' Emeril, being so popular, are on 24/7---where's the naked chef? He whips up vegetarian stuff sometimes too, plus he is down to earth. And, Nigella rocks too---(on style network)---she loves to eat, and has a healthy relationship with food---her risotto episode is great, she says in theory it serves two, in reality...one --as she eats it right from the pan. After the show came out, it was referred to as 'gastro porn'---perhaps the PPK can pick up on some of that mojo?

back to rachel....caught her one weekend on 40.00 a day because she was going to be in Mystic, CT, near where I used to live--I bet on where she would go in this overpriced seaside town to get food that fit the bill (and it wasn't mystic pizza, either!) and I was so on target for lunch! She picked a cool breakfast place, Kitchen Little, which has a huge menu and is really creative and veg friendly. That was cool. For lunch, I knew she would hit the local greasy fish shack, the Sea Swirl, for a fried fish dish. Never expected her to go beg freebies for snacks at old mystic village---got a handful of free popcorn and a small beer!!---and proceeded to talk about how that was the perfect snack in her smarmy voice. Dinner was unexpected--she hit a decent restaurant, Noah's, but then hit the before dinner 'early bird' crowd and got the bar menu light app menu---and she made it under budget! This was then followed by yet another show, inside dish? where she interviewed adam corolla, of the man show, who owns his own restaurant---this got an hour of air time I think? Her interviewing skillz are extraordinary...?

My love hate relationship with the food network continues---they used to show many different shows, then I guess they see what the status-blow likes, and regurgitates the same shows out with the same 3 hosts--emeril for hours, rachel ray, bobby flay, and thats about it. Sara M used to have more prime time, but I think she is too 'to the point' and is on earlier. I have learned a lot of great things from her too.

Love Anthony Bourdain's humor, esp KC, and he really does hate Vegetarians, which detracts. He also publicly hates the food network, so it was oh so interesting when the next book was put on there as a show. Money talks I guess...

Thanks for the venting on pent up food network issues...best get to the PPK store and buy a shirt!

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-10 10:26 pm UTC (link)
The "celebrities" she "interviews" are bullshit (aside from Morgan Freeman, but I also saw him on the cover of Cigar Afficiwhatever so I guess he'll do anything). Raven Symone? The guitarist from Aerosmith. Jill Whonnesy? The Cheap Trick drummer? I would think this would be an embarassment to the Food Network, I like to think that all the Hollywood agents are avoiding her.

I like Nigella, too. Her writing style grates after while (especially her Times column) but I like her show. I don't get the Style channel though!

I like Alton Brown, too BUT his "Ummm" is getting on my nerves. I think that may be because I watch his show too much though.

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[info]stormsweeper
2005-05-11 08:57 am UTC (link)
Nigella's show is porn mainly because she is so bootylicious and is usually barely dressed. ;) Her recipes are somewhat hot-or-miss, though. The best thing of hers I made wasn't even hers - the Elvis Presley PB and banana sandwich.

I used to have a crush on Rachel Ray, despite her annoyingness. Then Isa had to point out her cankles, and $40 a day just pisses me off, it's such bullshit. Oh, and she did some cheesecake photo shoot for FHM or Stuff or something, so she doesn't even have the Soccer Mom appeal any more.

Food network for me is all about Alton Brown and Jamie Oliver. The only other cooking show I'm watching these days is America's Test Kitchen on PBS. It has lots of flaws, too, but it is better than most of the stuff out there.

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[info]craftyscientist
2005-05-11 09:05 am UTC (link)
I think Nigella just has the bootylicious thing going, and she usually has tight low cut things on, I don't recall seeing her less than fully dressed? She loves to eat, and makes lots of orgasmic noises while eating...why it is porn-ish. This is the first cooking show that shows someone running in trying to get something on the table in 2 minutes, so it has that reality to it--jamie has that going on too. that and eating out of the fridge after midnight...

alton is ok, he is a bit annoying...jamie is my boy--i just love those brits I guess!

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[info]isachandra
2005-05-11 09:06 am UTC (link)
I turned you into a hater!

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[info]veganmomma
2005-05-10 09:35 pm UTC (link)
I did not know the name until I got a look at her picture. I rarely watch television. I was pregnant, bored, and channel surfing when I saw her show a while ago. I was hoping to find a vegetarian food show. I was not impressed with her and definitely not the meal she was preparing. I remember thinking, Oh my this looks like something a person would get at Taco Bell.

As veganfreak mentioned I really do not care for the way the food shows I have seen (years ago) rave about delicacies which usually involves animals. I am not sure if that has changed any?
I imagine if I turned on the tv I could find out. ;-)

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[info]menoditre
2005-05-11 10:25 am UTC (link)
Did you ever notice sometimes that Sara Moulton seems to skip over some more difficult steps in complex recipes? Thats my only beef with the lady, I think she is otherwise wonderful to watch.

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hay yaya
[info]velma_007
2005-05-12 06:19 am UTC (link)
I hate rachel ray too! she is tooo nice or maybe very fake! I still watch her show though. I prefer her to emeril...I caaaaaaaaan't stand him & he is always on food network.

I like jaime oliver...cuz he cute on his little vespa & is so caring for his friends and wife. I used to love the surreal gourmet...does that show still air? oh yeah and that show that used to have all the latin chefs..that was a good one too.

your show tops any on the food network...I almost peed my pants the first time I saw it!

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[info]jennyfactory
2005-05-13 09:37 am UTC (link)
You know, I've only seen part of Rachel Ray's show, and I was impressed because she showed how to make the dish she was making veggie-friendly, but she is just so damn chipper, I can't take it. I try to watch her show every so often, but her perkiness drives me away.

I used to like watching Sara Moulton years ago, but I have to confess I like the eye candy shows now: Barefoot Contessa, Michael Chiarello--their shows are so pretty. And Barefoot Contessa has enough veggie-friendly stuff that it is worth sitting through the fillet mignon segments. Michael Chiarello has less that is veggie-friendly, but there are a lot of great ideas there that are very easily vegified.

I also love Alton Brown with a fiery passion. Food science is sexy. So is surreal humor.

The one person I really can't stand is the skinny chick who does the "nouveau Italian" show. Um, you're a toothpick and you speak with a slight Southern accent--and you're going to teach me how to cook Italian? Let's see what Lidia Bastiannich has to say about that. (I love her show.) I also think that the low-carb assholes have no business being on the Food Network, same goes for the scary Stepford Wife with the recipes that use pre-packaged foods. If you have a cooking show, shouldn't you love food? Though, I guess that's Anthony Bourdain's argument against veggies... I did love his show, though. That's pretty much my dream: to spend my life traveling around the world eating amazing food.

Paula Dean: Oh. My. Gawd. That show is a train wreck. I love watching it. Everything she makes is so disgusting. The first time I saw her show, she took some Stella D'Oro breadsticks, slathered them with butter, and wrapped undercooked bacon around them--and that was it. A yummy little appetizer for the "We love being dewormed!" set.

I really want to like Nigella Lawson, but the truth is, her recipes are crap. I've tried several, and only one was halfway decent. It's nice to have a woman who many think is drop dead gorgeous be unabashedly in love with food and eating, though.

Mmm, yeah, I love cooking shows. I could go on, but I've lost my train of thought.

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Moulton
(Anonymous)
2005-05-21 07:05 am UTC (link)
Sarah Moulton is a serious control freak who doesn't like anyone and has zero sense of humor. I'm sure she's a fine editor, but as a personality, tv show or not, she has serious issues. She is constantly accompanied by disgust.

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Re: Moulton
[info]isachandra
2005-05-21 09:17 am UTC (link)
OK. I can believe it, it doesn't come across on her show though. For me anyways. But I'm all for hate.

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TV chefs like Sara Moulton?
(Anonymous)
2006-10-02 07:02 pm UTC (link)
Funny you should mention Sara Moulton - I love her show for the same reason you do. But guess what? The Food Network just cancelled her show, along with Batali's Molto Mario, another serious, thoroughly enjoyable show where you actually learn how to cook. You may want to read Bill Buford's latest article in the New Yorker Magazine (Oct 2, 06 issue)about the Food Network. I wrote in to the Food Network complaining about RR's annoying habits, but since she's the top-selling cookbook author in the country, and the top-rated show(s) on the Food Network, no complaints of ours are going to do any good. As far as some of the other cooking shows, I do like Iron Chef America, and I sometimes like Alton Brown because of the geeky scientific & historical explanations provided. But nothing comes close to the original Julia Child shows, which I used to watch as a kid.

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Sara Moulton
(Anonymous)
2006-10-20 12:13 am UTC (link)
Dignity and class come to mind, and although she is 50+ and I am considerably younger than that, I find her 10 times more appealing than Raytard, Sandra semi Ho, or Giada Everyday Italian Ho in every way, from her presentation, wonderful thoughtful speaking voice that is musical, classy way of dressing, not over the top but attractive, it is about the cooking after all, and as you correctly point out, she is a first class chef, something none of the other three aformentioned wingnuts can claim. I can now watch her regularly as I am staying home with my young children during the day. Sara and Alton Brown are truly what make the Food network worthwhile!

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