New Orleans Chef John Besh Rolls Out Two New TV Shows

by Nicki Gostin, Posted Apr 8th 2010 @ 2:00PM

Getty Images

Celebrated New Orleans chef John Besh has not one, but two upcoming TV shows. The first, Inedible to Incredible, will be on TLC starting in mid June. Besh smartly describes it as the What Not to Wear of the food world.

"It's people who mean well about food but eat terribly and no one has the heart to tell them," explains Besh to Slashfood. "I go in and help them. One reason I really wanted to do the show is because I can attract a huge audience and teach people about food. Unfortunately today there are a lot of people who rely too much on overly processed food. Hopefully I can introduce them to farmers' markets, alternatives in the supermarkets and offer them some cooking tips.

The second show will be on PBS and is based on -- and shares the title of -- his 2009 cookbook, My New Orleans. The series will be a celebration of the wonderfully rich New Orleans culinary heritage. Besh is following in the footsteps of another local chef made good -- Paul Prudhomme -- and even checked with the big man to make sure he was OK with him doing the show before he took up the mantle.

"I looked up to Paul Prudhomme when I was a kid," Besh says. "We had food shows before it became the fashion. One reason I'm a chef is because we have a tradition of honoring chefs and fostering culinary arts."

"I don't want to sound big-headed, but I want to be an ambassador of New Orleans food. Creole food is a true national treasure and I want to help perpetuate it. It's a very valid and honorable thing to do."

We can't wait for the episode on po' boys. Let the good times roll!

Filed Under: Television/Film, Chefs
Tags: creole, inedible to incredible, john besh, my new orleans, new orleans

Chew on This

Royal Wedding Cake Details Revealed! - YumSugar

Make Your Own Pop Tarts - CHOW
Denny's Introduces a Maple Bacon Sundae - Eater
Whole Foods Opening Bars in Stores - USA Today
Rules Of Bar Etiquette -- For The Bartender - HuffPost Food

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-08-2010 @3:13PM Bean Reel said... Good for you, Chef Besh! Being #2 in TNFNS means getting the goods in the end. You won't be jaded by being prostituted by The Food Network.

Can we hope that PBS and the other cable channels hook up with Jeffrey Saad in the near future as well?
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

4-08-2010 @9:22PM Nan said... John Besh never appeared on TNFNS. I believe you meant his competing on The Next Iron Chef show. He is a fabulous chef who is very well known in the south as one of the best in the New Orleans area.

Well done Chef Besh. I'm looking forward to both your new shows!

Vote upVote downReport

4-09-2010 @10:31AM Bean Reel said... You are absolutely right, Nan. It WAS the Next Iron Chef competiton. My mistake.

Chef Besh has popped up on other FN programs as Judge -- a poor use of his abilities. I am looking forward to his take on what Chef Prudomme teased up with.

Vote upVote downReport

4-08-2010 @6:59PM Jack said... I keep hearing these peo;e say go to the farmers market. How much have they checked the food sold at the farmers market? Where did it really come from? Like there was one that said everything here is local grown, but half the stuff for sale could not be grown in the area. So many times these people go down the the central market, by the stuff put on clothes that look like they are farmers and sell it at the framers market.. They have stuff at the farmers market that is for sale but in the wrong growing season.
Now if you were to take a ride out some of the back roads in the right season you might just find a farmer with his product that he grew on sale. But these only would be the ones in season.
But even then you have to find the right road.
Now I know that in California there are two type of straw berry stands. Ones that have just strawberrys for sale, these came from the field that day, were surplus for the amount needed to ship. Then you have the other kind that has all kinds of flowers, other produce and strawberrys. You can't be sure that those berrys came stright from the field, since most of the other stuff on sale was bought at the whole sale market.
So don't be fooled just because they call it a farmers market it is local grown produce, grown by the person selling it.
Reply

Vote upVote downReport

4-08-2010 @8:39PM Robbie said... The biggest problem I have with farmers' markets these days is that it's hard to find anything that's conventionally-grown. At the farmers' markets in my area, a larger percentage of the food available is the so-called "organic" or "natural" food. "Organic" is the biggest food scam going these days, and has suckered millions of people into believing that it's a good thing. As for using the alternate term "natural": this is the other big food con! ALL of the food I eat is natural - none of it is made of aluminum or plastic. - Now I expect that some of you will attack me for speaking the truth, but study the subject yourselves - you'll find that the emperor's wearing no clothes, is probably aware of it, and doesn't care, as long as he can con you out of your money, while doing less to earn it!
Reply