There was a time in my life when I used to love the Food Network. In fact, I liked it so much, that when I walked in the door after work, I turned on the TV, which was already programmed to the Food Network from the night before. I would leave it on all evening until I went to sleep. I wasn't always watching very carefully what was happening on the screen, and sometimes, I even had the sound on mute, but it was comforting to know that someone inside the little flickering box in my living room was cooking something delicious. Back then, I even liked watching Emeril Lagasse, though I have to admit that I was watching his old show, The Essence of Emeril, in which a young Emeril was somewhat awkwardly, but very earnestly, cooking something. Hell, even in the early days of Emeril Live, I thought "Bam!" was kind of cute.But these days, Emeril, among many others, are a real turn off, IMHO. The days of keeping the TV turned to the Food Network for hours on end have been long over. With the exception of a few of my personal favorites, I can hardly stand to watch the personalities fill up the screen with almost nothing but their personalities. For a long time, I couldn't quite place my finger on why I wasn't in love with the Food Network anymore. Sure, I was hurt when they decided to cancel the original Iron Chef. Sure, I am not fond of the "new breed" of celebrity chefs that have ousted my long-time favorites like Sara Moulton and Ming Tsai (and what on earth ever happened to Jamie Oliver, Tony Bourdain, and Two Fat Ladies?!?!) But I knew there was something deeper. I knew there was something broader about the "new" Food Network that bothered me.
In a recent feature piece in the New Yorker, Bill Buford talks about the Food Network. Buford describes a marathon session in which he forced himself to watch the Food Network for a duration (72 hours?!?!), and explains what he did and did not see. "I couldn't recall very many potatoes with dirt on them, or beets with ragged greens, or carrots with soil in their creases, or pieces of meat remotely reminiscent of the animals they were butchered from-hardly anything, it seemed, from the planet Earth." I think that perhaps his sentiments are what I have been feeling, but have been unable to express.
The Food Network is about food, but not really. Buford sums it up in his last paragraph: "Never in our history as a species have we been so ignorant about our food. And it is revealing about our culture that, in the face of such widespread ignorance about a human being's most essential function-the ability to feed itself-there is now a network broadcasting into ninety million American homes, entertaining people with shows about making coleslaw." Is the Food Network a reflection of the way we cook (or not cook) and eat, or are we changing our perceptions of "food" based on what we've seen on the Food Network? I don't know.
There is nothing wrong with making coleslaw. I love cole slaw. But it sure would be nice to know that you can make cole slaw from cabbage, which is a vegetable, that grow in the ground; rather than "making" cole slaw from a bag.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-29-2006 @ 8:41PM
Kt said...
I agree! I do still watch the FN (several from your list), but it's not what it used to be. I've found myself back on PBS more and more, watching Julia, Jacques, Ming, Lydia et al. I am looking forward to Nigella's new show on the FN, though I can think of better times than Sunday afternoon!
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9-29-2006 @ 8:41PM
Zach said...
I know how you feel Sarah. I still love to have it on in the background even though I don't care for several of the shows. Alton Brown and Paula Deen are lots of fun to watch and those are the shows that I learn from/imitate the most. The rest is just background and not much more.
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9-29-2006 @ 8:51PM
sarah said...
but who could ever get tired of re-runs of iron chef?!?! i mean really, every time i see that seabass mousse, it's like i'm seeing it for the first time.
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9-29-2006 @ 8:59PM
sixty-five said...
I not only quit watching the Food Network; I quit watching TV entirely. Bleccch!
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9-29-2006 @ 9:23PM
MJ said...
I say bring back the fat ladies!! they were awsome. remember the old cajuin guy? Its no what it use to be. Im a little tired of Iron Chef. Please no more new food shows. some of them need to be taken off...They are dry, like toast.
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9-29-2006 @ 9:37PM
John Romkey said...
I think they just ran out of original Iron Chef episodes to air. It was originally produced by FujiTV in Japan, and they cancelled it in 1999.
The Two Fat Ladies was cancelled because one of the fat ladies, Jennifer Paterson, died of lung cancer at age 71 while they were taping the fourth season. I loved that show... We had a memorial brunch in her honor after her death.
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9-29-2006 @ 9:51PM
MJ said...
I meant the reruns of the fat ladies. Love the english and the way they cook. Not all boiled and fried. they need to do something about the food network. It needs some OOPAH........something cant put my finger on it, yet!
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9-29-2006 @ 11:30PM
dragonet2 said...
Justin Wilson (the old Cajun) was only on PBS (I think, I didn't pay so much attention to Food Network in the early days).
Justin's Web site (maintained by his son) says he died 9/5/2001. I loved his shows though. Very practical and down to earth.
I used to work at home for my real job and liked the day FN shows better than the night ones. And though I am an Alton Brown fanatic, but that's about it. I still often have FN on for background noise while working at home at nights. (least offensive, less needing attention), but it's except for AB, it's not necessary much anymore.
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9-29-2006 @ 11:33PM
Kim said...
Bring on Justin Wilson reruns or Chef John Folse!
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9-30-2006 @ 12:18AM
Daniel Burns said...
I agree. Food Network is about food, yes... but it has nothing to do with Food.
And what business does Marc Summers have doing anything on the Food Network. You might remember him from Double Dare, the kids game show on Nickleodeon. And he still hosts a show as if he is addressing children.
Hey... Food Network... it's insulting, what you've done with your channel. I'll come back when you get your sh*t together.
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9-30-2006 @ 1:30AM
ryan said...
Yep, all i watch is good eats, and ham on the street just because i like the people he grabs from the street. I've seen every original iron chef sevral times over so im pretty burnt on it now.
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9-30-2006 @ 5:29AM
Vic Cherikoff said...
I agree that we have really been divorced from the origins of our foods and so the cooking show hosts are forced to use near-fully prepared ingredients - canned vegetables, packeted salads, pre-chopped fruits and the same boring herbs and spices over and over.
The truth of the matter is also that the number of foods we rely upon has fallen dramatically compared to our free-ranging hunter-gatherer forbears. While they might have been adapted to getting all their nutrients from 200 to 600 different foods, most Americans would be trying to do the same from less than 80. Unfortunately, even the quality of the foods has changed for the worse.
My work with Australian Aborigines and their similarities to desert dwelling Indians in Arizona and Utah supports the above. Perhaps a look at new foods from other cultures, such as lemon myrtle sprinkle, Wattleseed (Emerill made ice cream out of this one) and Alpine pepper all from Australia could be of interest on the FN. If only they'd stop Bam Bamming and cooking food for good lovin'.
It is our health and life after all.
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9-30-2006 @ 10:18AM
SCSthrnBell said...
I have just started watching FN in the past couple of years, so I am not familiar with any of the old shows you all are referring to. I love Paula Deen and Alton Brown and usually have the TV programmed to them as well as Marc Summer's show "Unwrapped" and the show "The Secret Life of...". I love those shows!
Paula is my favorite because as a southerner, I like to see someone cooking familiar foods that I am actually going to cook. Every now and then I venture off and try something that someone else has made, but that's only like once every couple of months or so. Alton Brown's Good Eats has some realy good techniques that I use a lot.
I also like to watch Ace of Cakes and the competitions that they have. However, I don't think they needed to add any new shows like "Throw Down" or the one with the Food Network Star winner, Guy. How many FN Star winner can they give shows to? I mean come on....Food Network diving into the Realty TV Show World? Ick!
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9-30-2006 @ 10:59AM
jessica said...
I completly agree with SCSthrmBell
I watch food networth or have it on because I have 2 children and it's the only channel that we can both watch I do like rachel rays new show lots more than I like her 30 min shows I do cook some of her recipes but more because i have 2 sm children and no time for anything exciting by the time dinner comes around I used to cook great things but you just need more consentration and money to by most of the ing. that are needed for some other more gourmet recipes.
I do love paula and alton.
I know all of you are going to ream me for watching rachel but it's my opinion not yours
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9-30-2006 @ 9:21PM
Adriane said...
It seems like the food network needs to come back with a little SOUL. Emeril was good in his early days, the fat ladies...and other chefs like Julia Child, etc- they cooked food because they submit themselves to the experience fully. FN today seems so cookie-cutter! Like the Semi-Homemade show? what is THAT? No offense, but that is just not cooking.
In my eyes, the love for cooking is about being able to create something from raw ingredients, no? It's a lot more satisfying to whip up some homemade banana bread then make it "homemade" from a packaged mix...the later seems to be where FN is headed-boohiss!
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10-02-2006 @ 9:30PM
Allen said...
I can see where you guys are coming from, but we have to remember it's a mass media and they are trying to cater to everyone. Impossible, but it's good business. There are some folks out there who want that "Semi-Homeade" meal because they are more interested in the experience as a whole, instead of the cooking part. Then there's those of us who are total food geeks and love Alton Brown because he really REALLY gets into the details of what cooking really is -- science.
Rachel Ray is great, she has her niche. Personally, I like her shows. Especially the $40/day. But, I don't watch it for cooking, I watch it for ideas about where to go when I'm in another town... 30 minute meals is another great show if you take it for what it is: a show that gives you ideas on how to cook decent meals quickly. Lots of us parent types out there really benefit from that.
So, I just think you have to take it for what it is. We're not watching it all day anymore because it's a more diverse selection of content now. I do miss Ming, and Bourdain (who's on Travel now), but I've learned to accept the new Food Channel offerings for what they are... They do say, "Food Channel -- It's More Than Just Cooking..."
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10-03-2006 @ 10:37AM
Ed said...
I used to watch tv only for the food network. Ming, Wolfgang, Jaime, Bourdain, etc. were all wonderful. When Rachel Ray, Bobby Flay, and Emeril first came around a few years ago, they were alright. Now, they're just over-promoted and washed out. How many shows can one person possibly host? I've heard everything that they have to say at least 10 times already. The competition shows are absolutely ridiculous. Also, the commercials have become wat too much. I don't remember the old times cramming in 13-14 minutes of commercials per half hour. I sold my television about a year ago and I'm pretty sure that I haven't missed anything from them since.
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10-08-2006 @ 1:13AM
Allison said...
I haven't watched the food network in ages. It's gotten boring and I don't have a tv anymore. It's all about celebrity now. I love the River Cottage series' that is shown on British tv. Now THAT's about food: raising it, catching it, pulling it from the ground and making amazingly delicious looking stuff out of it.
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11-09-2006 @ 9:24PM
jennifer said...
Cooking should be fun, educational,and leave a satisfying result.However shows like Throw Down,Semi-Homeade,Iron Chef,and Ham on the street are boring.Do we really want to see Bobby Flay make the best chowder do we care if he can,Sandra Lee do another tablescape,Ham on street torture innocent pedestrians tastebuds with unusual concoctions,or see Cat Cora challenge someone we did not know is a professional chef.Boring comes to mind when I see these shows I want scream out boring!!!!!
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