What do you think of celebrity chefs?

[Barbara]

I'm not much of a fan of "celebrity" chefs. I'm old school - Julia Child etc. like others have mentioned. However, when we went to New York recently we ate inn Bobby Flay's place Americain and it was delicious. Since then I have started watching him more and become a fan.

 

[kitchenelf]

The size of a chef may catch my eye but it certainly doesn't make me distrust them - either way. We don't know their family history i.e., are they destined to be thin, or heavier? What I concentrate on is what they are cooking. I enjoy watching something because it is soooooooo way out there and I know I will never cook anything like it so I enjoy watching it at least. I also enjoy watching someone who makes the most simplistic things, as a lot of times these dishes are too often overlooked. However, "easy on the eyes" be it male or female, certainly makes the show more pleasant.

I certainly don't rule all of them out as unworthy to watch just because they are celebrity chefs - I would have missed out on some great recipes that have become some of my family's favorites. But star-struck - no, I'm not. However, I may reconsider if Tyler Florence was standing beside me

 

[skilletlicker]

I hope kitchenelf doesn't get too mad at me but since the size of chef and Tyler Florence have both been mentioned in the same thread, doesn't he seem to have grown quite a bit lately?

 

[GB]

I am very much in the same boat as Kitchenelf.

For me it is the food. If I enjoy what they are cooking, be it very simplistic or amazingly complicated or anywhere in between, then I will enjoy watching the show. Everything else is extra. If the chef non-chef is good looking then that is a plus. I enjoy watching Mario Batali though and he is not what I would consider easy on the eyes though. I enjoy Rachael Ray because a lot of what she has made really appeals to me. I could care less that she is not a "real" chef. Some of the cooking shows I have seen on PBS just showed the food itself. You never even saw the chef. There was a narrator, but it was not the chef. It was really just about the food. Those shows were great too.

 

[YT2095]

some people have a certain Flair for certain foods, and as long the camera pays more attn to the pots and pans and the Mic is getting good instructions fed to it, I`m happy.
we Know what the person looks and sounds like, now lets cut to the chase and get Cooking!

 

[ChefJune]

Well since T.V. Food Show and Celebrity Chef bashing is prohibited here, and I don't want Miss Elf sending me to the woodshed, I shall pass on this one.

I'm not going to bash anyone. However, as a chef and cooking teacher for more than 25 years, it makes me sad to see culinary celebrities made of some people who barely know how to cook, and don't know how to hold a knife properly. If some interested home cooks would take a good look at the food shows on PBS, they would see an entirely different sort of celebrity chef.... All those I've seen (Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Ming Tsai, et al) are knowledgeable, talented chefs and teachers with real information to pass along.

 

[skilletlicker]

I'm not going to bash anyone. However, as a chef and cooking teacher for more than 25 years, it makes me sad to see culinary celebrities made of some people who barely know how to cook, and don't know how to hold a knife properly. If some interested home cooks would take a good look at the food shows on PBS, they would see an entirely different sort of celebrity chef.... All those I've seen (Jacques Pepin, Lidia Bastianich, Ming Tsai, et al) are knowledgeable, talented chefs and teachers with real information to pass along.

I'm not going to bash anyone either, I hope. I'm a home cook with no interest in becoming a professional. I've learned a lot from the Chefs ChefJune mentioned above as well as some of the Pros on Food Network but I've also gotten a lot out of a few of the amateurs with TV shows. One of the best of these was recently on PBS called Daisy Cooks. I think Daisy Martinez has had some formal training but in my opinion she is clearly a home cook. The culinary professionals among us may not learn much from her show but I did and I strongly recommend it. The half-hour time slot directly before Daisy was filled locally by another cooking show by another home cook. It was called [her first name] Cooks. That show, from my very humble perspective, represented the opposite end of the spectrum. If anybody cares what [her first name] is, send me a PM. Mods, if I haven't avoided "bashing", at least you gotta give me an E for effort.

By the way, my nomination for the best all time cooking show by an amateur cook is Julia Child's, The French Chef.

 

[ChefJune]

By the way, my nomination for the best all time cooking show by an amateur cook is Julia Child's, The French Chef.

Julia Child was not a chef, but she in NO WAY was an amateur cook. There are many of us who are professional cooks but are not chefs. Chefs run restaurants or catering businesses. Julia was the consummate teacher, on screen and off, and a fine food writer... to say nothing of the fact that she was also a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.

 

[carolelaine]

I enjoy alot of the celebrity chef shows, and I have learned from some of them. It doesn't seem to matter to me what they look like, some of the better looking ones are not hosting the shows I enjoy. My husband does like Nigella alot and he doesn't care a wit about cooking.

 

[ChefJune]

[QUOTE]I think Daisy Martinez has had some formal training but in my opinion she is clearly a home cook.[/QUOTE]FYI. Daisy Martinez may look like a home cook on the set of her show, but here is an excerpt from her bio: "Prior to entering the food world, she was an actress and model. A surprise birthday gift of culinary school from her husband Jerry led to her matriculating at the French Culinary Institute in 1998.

Shortly after graduation, she worked on the set of PBS' Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen as a prep-kitchen chef, and as a private chef in New York City. In addition, she managed a small catering business, “The Passionate Palate”, which she continues to operate. "

 

[skilletlicker]

Julia Child was not a chef, but she in NO WAY was an amateur cook. There are many of us who are professional cooks but are not chefs. Chefs run restaurants or catering businesses. Julia was the consummate teacher, on screen and off, and a fine food writer... to say nothing of the fact that she was also a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, Paris.

ChefJune, Did you think I meant any offense to Julia Child? Or do you think the word amateur is pejorative? I think she was almost 50 when her first cookbook was published and, if I'm not mistaken The French Chef began shortly thereafter. I chose to name her first TV show because if you insist on calling her professional at that point, at least, you would have to concede that she had only very recently become one. If she cooked professionally before that I'm unaware of it but if you say it's so, I won't argue. For what it's worth, in 1776 I think Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and George Washington were all amateur politicians.
As to differentiating professional cooks from chefs I won't quibble with you there either. In fact, I'll go you one further. Without doubt, there are many professional cooks who cook better than some chefs. While I'm at it, I'll go you two further and say there are some amateur cooks who cook better than some chefs.

 

[skilletlicker]

FYI. Daisy Martinez may look like a home cook on the set of her show, but here is an excerpt from her bio: "Prior to entering the food world, she was an actress and model. A surprise birthday gift of culinary school from her husband Jerry led to her matriculating at the French Culinary Institute in 1998.

Shortly after graduation, she worked on the set of PBS' Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen as a prep-kitchen chef, and as a private chef in New York City. In addition, she managed a small catering business, “The Passionate Palate”, which she continues to operate. "

Whatever it was about my compliments of Julia Child that upset you, it must apply to Daisy Martinez as well. I hold both of them in very high esteem and I can only conclude that you consider "amateur" and "home cook" to be insults. I doubt if Daisy would be at all insulted by the comparison to Julia Child, or vice versa.

 

[ironchef]

I think the bottom line is that a person's answer to this question will be totally dependant on their cooking skill and interest.

For example, I learn things or get ideas from Top Chef, Iron Chef, Iron Chef America, Emeril Lagasse once in a great while, Mario Batali, Ming Tsai, etc. Others may not because the food is too intimidating to cook, it's beyond their skill level, they have no interest in eating or cooking high end food.

I learn practically nothing from Ina Garten, Giada, Rachel Ray, Sara Lee, etc. because for me, what they make is so basic. I can walk into a kitchen that I've never been in before, look around in the pantry for 5 minutes, and put out a similar meal or dish. For others, the ease and simplicity of what they make is much more appealing and much less intimidating.

With the term "chef", the problem is the same problem that plagues many terms, words, ideas, etc.: the media. Unfortunately, mass media can take something, even though it's wrong, and make 50 million people think it's true. Chef is a title. It is something that is earned, much like attaining a black belt in martial arts. If you advance to say, a brown belt in jiu jitsu, you don't get a black belt just because you get a tv show teaching people how to do it. It's the same with being a chef. You earn your title by leading a kitchen.

 

[ChefJune]

While I'm at it, I'll go you two further and say there are some amateur cooks who cook better than some chefs.

I agree wholeheartedly, SL, and I'd be honored to list my Mom among those! No question that cooking well, day in and day out takes more than just skill. When love is factored in, it trumps skill every day of the week!

 

[letscook]

If you have watched any of the profiles of each of the celeb. chefs, you would of seen all of them have a tough time getting in to the field. They have paid their dues and there isn't a single one that I haven't learn something from.

 

[amber]

What do I think of celebrity chefs? I first base my like or dislike on their personality, and second would be their cooking abilities.

 

[luvs]

they annoy me like gnats. alton is great. wolfgang puck, too. a couple others. those others, well.....

 

[D_Blackwell]

Well since T.V. Food Show and Celebrity Chef bashing is prohibited here,.....

By definition so is fair and proper critique/opinion, which doesn't help the forum any.

Most of these shows are entertainment first and last; with little to be learned - only the illusion of substance. Alton Brown is one of the most notable exceptions.

 

[GB]

By definition so is fair and proper critique/opinion, which doesn't help the forum any.

How, by definition, is "proper critique/opinion" not allowed here? If that is what you think then you have a serious misunderstanding of the rules here. Please feel free to PM any other the admins or mods if you would like a better understanding.

 

[ChefJune]

Most of these shows are entertainment first and last; with little to be learned - only the illusion of substance. Alton Brown is one of the most notable exceptions.

Your observation is interesting, because it proves how good the food network is at smoke and mirrors. Alton Brown, while a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute, has fewer credentials for what he does than the much discussed Rachael Ray! He is, indeed, an actor who went to culinary school so he could "get a show," and he sold his concept because he is geeky looking, that he was some kind of scientist. The scientist on his show is Shirley Corriher. Doesn't she make Alton look GREAT? He's fooled a whole nation into thinking he actually has all that knowledge, when in reality he's reading a teleprompter!