A relevant article in an unexpected news source today (thanks to the Association for the Study of Food and Society ListServ for bringing this one from the Chronicle of Higher Education to my attention): A professor of English imagines Chef Gordon Ramsay’s techniques put to use in the classroom. Lamenting the too-soft touch that educators have gradually adopted over the years, Professor Benton suggests taking some cues (minus the expletives and self-esteem gouging invectives) from Ramsay’s methods that seem so successful in getting contestants to not only survive but prosper and learn. What have I been telling you? TV cooking shows still teach us – even the scary reality shows. (see more on Edutainment in chapter 7 of Watching What We Eat)

Yes, Professor!

In journalism school, they tried to teach me to read the New York Times every single day. (I rebelled and listened to NPR - the “station of record,” in my book.) My profs would be smirking now if they knew I had to rely on my friends to point out screamingly relevant articles to me (thank you Barbara, Alison, et al). The latest one that I read three days late is from the Sunday Styles section about the William Morris “branded lifestyle” agent, Jon Rosen, who transforms mere cooking show hosts into money-making machines and household words. If you were, say, a contemporary of Eleanor Roosevelt and someone told you sixty years ago that someday cooking show hosts would be famous and rich and sporting agents whose clientele is virtually dedicated to their type, you’d probably choke on your 5 cent ham sandwich. But so it has come to pass.

I can’t help but remark, too, on the concept behind the new Food Network show featured in the article. “5 Ingredient Fix” is hosted by rising, represented star Claire Robinson and is driven by the new trend of fewer ingredients in the foods we eat, a notion championed by the likes of Michael Pollan and Häagen-Dazs. Imagine Mrs. Roosevelt, digging up something from her Victory Garden, pronouncing the virtue of a White House menu featuring as few ingredients as possible!

Jon Rosen, agent to TV star chefs, with Rachael Ray

Mark Bittman tells it like it is: they just don’t make ‘em like they used to. The legendary, oft re-told tale of Julia Child dropping a chicken on the floor (it was really a potato pancake on the stovetop) may be a beloved anecdote because we never see mistakes on cooking TV any more. Perhaps a pinch of peccadillo deserves a place on our screens today. (Much more on Julia Child and “The French Chef” in Chapter 3 of Watching What We Eat)

Julia Child, the imperfect but impactful "French Chef"

Check out my Q&A with Michael Park at Epicurious.

The New York Times‘ Alessandra Stanley explains why the newest network cooking show, “The Chopping Block,”  had such a short lifespan, and makes interesting points about the differences between cable and network cooking shows.  Stanley also writes, “As anyone who has watched ‘Hell’s Kitchen,’ ‘Top Chef’ or ‘Iron Chef America‘ knows, cooking shows are no more about food than talk shows are about conversation.” I would like to point out, as I am wont to do, that this was not always the case (see Watching What We Eat, chapters 1-5). It’s telling that the concept of “cooking shows” is thought to be synonymous with these bloodsport programs, but there are still a few shows on PBS and the Food Network that do mean to teach us how to cook in addition to entertaining us. Just as today’s born-digital kids don’t know from a typewriter eraser, anyone who began watching cooking shows in the 21st century might have a hard time imagining competition-free cooking.

Marco Pierre White, late of "The Chopping Block"