Do you remember Jeff Smith?

[sketch182]

Jeff Smith had a show called the Frugal Gourmet during the 80s and 90s. I found him to be one of the most entertaining and enjoyable TV food people of his time. His personality was very relaxed and he made the viewer feel like he was talking directly to them. I particularly remember that he often used white wine as a substitute for salt.
Unfortunately, there were sexual assault allegations that ended his career.

 

[bethzaring]

I was not aware of who he was, but it was a mistake in one of his cookbooks that led me to this forum....I was repeatedly getting "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian" out of my local library, until I finally bought a copy. Then when I was studying this cookbook, I found a mistake that I wanted clarified. I wrote him...turns out he was dead! Then I found this forum and asked here.....and received conflicting advice!

 

[Cooksie]

Jeff Smith had a show called the Frugal Gourmet during the 80s and 90s. I found him to be one of the most entertaining and enjoyable TV food people of his time. His personality was very relaxed and he made the viewer feel like he was talking directly to them. I particularly remember that he often used white wine as a substitute for salt.
Unfortunately, there were sexual assault allegations that ended his career.

That's a new one on me.

 

[sketch182]

I was not aware of who he was, but it was a mistake in one of his cookbooks that led me to this forum....quote]
Imperfect, but I still liked his show.

 

[Scotch]

Actually, Smith was alleged to have sexually assaulted about 20 teenage men; he was not charged with a crime, but was sued by seven of his purported victims and settled out of court a few days before the trial, according to this article: CLICK ME

 

[Toots]

I remember the Froog! I liked him but he was kind of creepy. I used to watch his cookng show quite a bit on PBS.

 

[Cooksie]

I never thought he was creepy, but now I do. I don't know how I missed all of that in the news. I must have been busy flittin' about in my younger age . I think I remember him talking a lot about his sons on the show. I'm shocked .

 

[larry_stewart]

Way back when, The Jeff Smith, along with Jacques Pepin, Julia, Pierre Freney(sp) , and the cajun guy ( who burned everything, but liked it that way) Give me a sec and ill remember his name, Justin something...ok, quick search --Justin Wilson. Now, I still watch jacques Pepin and occasionally the food network. But I did like jeff smith. although i didnt eat most things he made ( being a vegetarian), I felt like i learned something after each episode, whether it was something about the food culture, or a cooking technique.

 

[lyndalou]

I do remember Jeff Smith. I watched his show a lot and was saddened to read about the allegations against him. I still use his cookbooks occasionally. He was very entertaining and I missed him after he lost his show. Never thought of him as creepy.

 

[mike in brooklyn]

Smith was a great influence in getting me
cooking - He was a great lover of Chinese food.
I think he was a reverand of some kind which made the
molestation charges all the more distasteful.

An interesting thing about Pepin - one of his first jobs in the USA
was as executive chef in Howard Johnsons where he worked for 10 years.
I still find I learn an awful lot about techniques from him.

Julia was the queen of saturated fat and would get insulted if you
tried to lighten up a recipe - but I loved her anyway.

 

[licia]

I remember both of them, but I wouldn't eat anything Justin Wilson cooked. He always kept that napkin/handkerchief/dishtowel handy and wiped everything with it - including his nose.

 

[Michael in FtW]

I was, and still am, a big Jeff "The Frugal Gourmet" Smith fan! Let's see - he taped how many shows(?) and put out 10 books - a couple of mistakes out of 10 cookbooks isn't too shabby. As for the allegations against him (which I'm not convinced were true) should not be apart of the things and the recipes he shared with us as the Frug. Ah, yes - PBS ... the birthplace of real cooking shows!

re Justin Wilson ... tis a far better thing that he wiped his nose than letting it drip into the dishes he was preparing!

 

[mudbug]

His show was one of the first cooking shows I watched. I don't believe the allegations against him. One thing I always enjoyed about his perspective was how he kept alive the idea of learning about your history/culture thru what you ate.

 

[sketch182]

I do remember Jeff Smith. I watched his show a lot and was saddened to read about the allegations against him. I still use his cookbooks occasionally. He was very entertaining and I missed him after he lost his show. Never thought of him as creepy.

Yup yup yup!

 

[Essiebunny]

I don't think anything came from the allegations. They did ruin a fantastic career. I never missed his show and own some of his cookbooks, as well.

 

[msmofet]

i loved "the frug"!! remember this?

i watched alot of PBS. i learned so much from jeff, julia, jacques, madeline kamen and natilie dupree (i hated when she left her rings on while mixing dough and biscuits and such with her hands).

 

[marigeorge]

I do remember him very well, watched his show on PBS every week. I also have a few of his cookbooks..........the best cheesecake I have ever had is from his Our Immigrant Ancestors cookbook.

 

[freefallin1309]

I enjoyed the Frugal Gourmet, I had no idea about the allegations though. As far as Justin Wilson wiping his nose on his omnipresent checkered towel ... I have seen many a chef let their sweat drip into the food instead of wiping it off too I'm a big fan of bandannas in the kitchen myself ... kind of solves the sweat issue.

 

[goodgiver]

I do not understand what one thing has to do with the other. I truly loved Jeff Smith and his cooking shows. I learned a lot from him. What a great man

 

[chefkathleen]

I remember both of them and watched both of their shows.
What a sad thing to happen to Mr. Smith. I hope it wasn't true but, that has nothing to do with his cooking IMHO.