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HOUSE episode guide
The Ten
Before There Was EVOO …
There was Julia.
TV food personalities we miss.
Julia Child
Justin Wilson
Martha Stewart
Jeff Smith
Martin Yan
Sure, we now have an entire network devoted to food and cooking shows, but what about those bygone cooking hosts we watched and loved before the deluge of BAM! and EVOO? Here are some we miss the most. (We would have included Jacques Pépin but are reliably informed that he’s got another season of Fast Food My Way coming out.)
1. Julia Child. From The French Chef to Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, the undisputed grande dame of cooking shows spent more than 30 years demystifying some of the most daunting dishes for an adoring audience of home and professional chefs alike. Julia made us realize that both butter and making mistakes were OK in moderation, all in those signature plummy tones that always made it sound like she had a mouthful of something delicious.
2. The Two Fat Ladies (Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson). Cavorting around the English countryside on their Triumph 950 and Watsonian sidecar, the Two Fat Ladies baked fish pies for Welsh choirs and flirted with fishermen while despairing over the thickening ranks of vegetarians. Even as they jugged kippers for a brewery breakfast, they still managed to crack ribald jokes about “old cocks” and use tea sandwiches to compare the behavior of various royal mistresses.
3. Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray. Filming in the kitchen of their London-based River Café, Rogers and Gray brought rustic Italian cooking into our homes, stifling the idea that Brits don’t know good food. They also made pilgrimages to the sources of their favorite ingredients, camera crew in tow. They visited Maldon’s salty banks and tasted sticky balsamic gold in Modena, Italy, giving us an idea of how important individual ingredients are. And hey, they also gave us our first lascivious glance at a wet-behind-the-ears Jamie Oliver before he got Naked.
4. The Swedish Chef. Before Garrison Keillor was around to poke fun at Scandinavian accents, we had The Muppet Show’s own pot-hurling Swedish Chef. We never really knew exactly what he was saying—snatching only tidbits of muddled culinary lingo like hot doggies or shzouppa—but we loved watching his curiously dexterous hands groping around sharp knives and hot food. What with the gun-toting lobster banditos and a bemused chocolate moose, though, we wonder if the Swedish Chef wasn’t trying to turn us all into vegetarians. BORK! BORK! BORK!
5. Justin Wilson. Speaking of needing subtitles, do you remember this Cajun chef with the red Colonel Sanders tie? With his thick accent and charming stories (punctuated by his famous promise, “Ah garr-on-tee!”) on Louisiana Cookin’, it was impossible not to fall completely in love.
6. Martha Stewart. Yes, she’s still on television, and yes, we can still watch her cook, but can we please have the overproduced, perfect Living-era Martha back? The one who calmly held off a hogtied Cookie Monster while she showed us how to bake cookies in his likeness? Not this new “humanized” Martha whose awkward interactions with her audience and guests totally obscure whatever Good Thing she’s frosting, gluing, or creaming.
7. Graham Kerr. Long before he swore off alcohol and heart-harmful fats, Kerr attracted swarms of swooning women with his luxurious BBC accent and butter-happy hands. Although he made other televisions shows, Kerr was best known for Galloping Gourmet, which served up 455 episodes from 1969 to 1971.
8. Joyce Chen. Dubbed the “Chinese Julia Child” in the ’70s, Chen had her own eponymous restaurant in Massachusetts (Julia was a frequent diner) as well as a popular cooking show on PBS. In 1968, Joyce Chen Cooks was instrumental in bringing simple Chinese dishes into homes all over the country. Not only did Chen demonstrate cooking methods, she demystified the specialty ingredients by explaining how to find, store, and prepare them.
9. Jeff Smith. From 1988 to 1997, Smith’s message on The Frugal Gourmet was not about money but about being careful with time and ingredients in the kitchen. Also a Methodist minister, Smith taught “Food as Sacrament and Celebration” at a Seattle-area college before PBS beamed his white goatee into household televisions, and before he was accused of (though never charged with) sexual harassment.
10. Martin Yan. Give him 18 seconds to tell you—with knives flashing at warp speed—that the most important thing about boning out a whole chicken is to make sure the bird is relaxed. That’s your cue that Yan Can Cook’s host is all about fusing humor with cooking. And his knife skills—which will be on display again in January in a new program, Martin Yan’s China—aren’t too shabby, either.
Illustration by gregma
Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic is a freelance writer, editor, and sometime cheesemonger in San Francisco. She blogs at The Grub Report and KQED’s Bay Area Bites, writes for Cowgirl Creamery, and is a staff writer at Television Without Pity. She also rewrites culinary manga for Viz Media and is the author of CocktailSmarts (2006).
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Grear retrospective review! Makes me long to see reruns.
Chowhound thread on this topic:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/357991
God, I miss them all! Jeff Smith was really fun, and I was so saddned when the scandal arose. I have no idea as to if he did or didn't. If he didn't, it's a pity his career was ruined. If he did, eek!
Actually, though, I never was wild about Martha. I suppose if your scandal isn't of a sexual nature, and you're not on PBS, than you can be convicted and still come back to a mega career.
Man, I miss Jeff Smith. One of my earliest cooking memories is watching him make cream of potato soup. It looked so delicious that we both ran to the kitchen and made it right after the show was over.
Can we add Ming Tsai to the list? His show was so good, it's too bad it didn't last. I guess we can now add Mario Batali to that list, too.
I think writer Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic read the CHOW boards for this *idea*.
Man, when I saw the headline, I knew that Julia was going to be on the list. I miss her!
And I whole-heartedly agree about Martha. Her old show is exactly what I want to see from her; I don't need to see her interviewing Lindsay Lohan while making pasta. When Martha doesn't respect her guest, it shows. I'd rather learn about the intricacies of making a wedding cake or planting an orchard.
i was in love with jeff smith as a little kid.... frugal gourmet was better than cartoons.
i miss the two fat ladies.... something about them was conforting, and all that butter - whoa.
Agree with everyone. It's time for a Retro Food Network that would replay all these great old shows instead of Food Network's mishmash of junk food unwrapped. I can't even find the Two Fat Ladies on DVD. I also miss Marcia Adams (Cooking From Quilt Country) who specialized in Amish and country fare. Talk about comforting -- it was just like watching my Aunt Bernie cooking in her big farm kitchen!
Fun to see this retrospective. This brings to mind the section of Bill Bufords' "Heat" in which he chronicles the trend on Food Network to the cooking show as a sub-genre of reality TV, as opposed to the shows discussed in this article, which consisted of a cook standing behind a counter.
For the most part, I agree wholeheartedly. However, Jeff Smith wasn't accused of sexual harassment, it was sex with a minor. That puts him in the same ballpark as Michael Jackson, who was never convicted either.
I miss the Two Fat Ladies the most. If I think about how much I miss their show I get depressed. Can you buy the show on DVD?
alkapal: No, Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic was *assigned* this piece by CHOW editors who read the boards.
EWSflash: you can -- at least you used to be able to -- but they aren't complete. It's just the "greatest hits" as deemed by Food Network.
i have a few of the frug on vhs tapes
he was my fav
I did like the frug, I bought one of his knives after the scandal (WAYY marked down!)
I loved the Two Fat Ladies, and the Two Hot Tamales, and Sarah Moulton.
Hey, Classic Rock lives on, why not Classic Food TV?
i knew both julia child and joyce chen.
joyce had an unbelieveable store in arlington yrs ago 70's -80's it was one of the first and best in the "burbs" at the time
I miss David Rosengarten's show on in the early days of FNTV. His D&D cookbook is filled with recipies that work.
I really enjoyed an 80's PBS show from England with Keith Floyd. Not too much of an instructional...mostly it was some sort of an outing with cooking involved. And LOTS of wine. He was always sloshed. The best part was that his theme song was "Peaches" by The Stranglers! My kind of show.
I miss David Rosengarten On TASTE,
Boy was he able to pack in a lot of info into those twenty two or so minutes.
I still miss Nigella Lawson.
Pierre Franey, Julia of course!
The nightmare began when Emeril tried out the live show and it turned into the monster it did. Now we get to watch Rachel Ray, and how gummy worms are made.
Thanks for Tony Bourdain!!!
To the poster who wants Ming Tsai back: PBS Ch. 13 in NYC has started broadcasting his show every Sunday.
Re Martin Yan: although I could have done without his cringe-inducing jokes, he does know what he's doing.
I remember Justin Wilson's belly shaking while he stirred! And "if you like red wine with fish, drink red wine with fish!"
There used to be a woman on FN, her show was called CookWorks, who was really bossy and ruled her kitchen with an iron fist which I loved. I always learned something from her shows.
May we never have to hear the acronym EVOO uttered ever again!
Spicedish, you got THAT right.
i knew Food Network was doomed when the work lunch group lechers discovered Rachael Ray, and then later, Giada. And then Rachael had some bad cosmetic surgery which appears much better now, but the weirdness remains, and she still tries to act , like a hyperactive 25 year-old, which just isn't dignified, but is kind of embarrassingly sad.
Then they get that blonde babe with the low-cut top and the German name doing "Latina" food. What the hell is Latina food? Apparently 'it's doable' in less than a half hour and you don't have to 'be a slave to your kitchen', but you have to have jiggly cleavage.
THEN they get rid of Mario Batali, whom I adore. I'll take Mario and Ming Tsai and Tony Bourdain any old day, I don't even care that there isn't enough space in any given room for two of their egoes at once. They entertain and teach me, and that's all I require. I hope Alton Brown joins them outside FN.
I tried to start a topic similar to this, reminiscing about cooking shows we missed, a few months ago and it was deleted by one of the moderators. The reasoning was:
"Chowhound's mission is to help everybody eat better right now, today. Nostalgia threads are fun, but they usually end up chatty, taking a lot of space and diluting Chowhound's effectiveness. If you want to discuss the cooking shows that are on today, or ask hounds to suggest cooking shows you might like, please go ahead."
In any case, I'm glad Rogers and Gray were included. I loved their show, particularly when they would fawn over the fresh produce being delivered to the restaurant that day. I remember they made some champagne ice cream in one episode that looked delicious.
Graham Kerr made a big impression on me as a child. For UK residents of that same era Fanny Craddock (and hapless hubbie Johnnie) are also worth a mention.
http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/fan...
You have to recall that in the mid 60's in the UK ingredients like green peppers were totally exotic. Ditto (in most circles) tippling on red vino whilst cooking. Kerr found religion, and lsot both the booze and his audience. He seems INsane now.
Great list!
Some of my fondest childhood memories were watching Julia Child and Jeff Smith on PBS, even as young as 3.
My Grandmother died when I was 1 and I never got a chance to know her. But what I did know was that she loved Julia Child and so as a child I use to watch Julia and almost feel as if she was my grandmother. She is a fascinating woman. And far surpasses many of the hacks on tv today,
What happened to Mario Batali's show? I used to watch food network for his show, Tony Bourdain and Iron Chef (original). Then we stopped getting Food Network for a few years. Now none of those shows are around and I can't find even one show to watch on that network!
As far as regularly scheduled reruns available nationally, Molto Mario (Batali) and East Meets West (Tsai) are currently on the Fine Living channel. Martin Yan is on PBS Create TV. Keith Floyd is on the Travel Channel. Graham Kerr is on the American Life channel. Naked Chef (Jamie Oliver) is on BBC America.
tsai is on pbs ch2 here in boston area
I loved those old shows save for J Smith. Once you have waited on him in a restaurant, you too will see the error of your ways. Not too nice in person and assumes it is all about him.
I loved those old shows save for J Smith. Once you have waited on him in a restaurant, you too will see the error of your ways. Not too nice in person and assumes it is all about him. Jacques on the other hand is a great guy and very helpful in person.
I always heard not-too-nice things about Jeff Smith being a tyrant. But I learned to make risotto out of his Italian cookbook, and it's a no-miss recipe. Likewise, I'm so glad to hear that Jacques is truly a nice guy. I ran into him on the street in Chicago once and he was very gracious.
I miss Pierre Franey (or pudgy Pierre as we called him.) I loved Julia's Cooking with Master Chefs which still shows up in re-runs on PBS once in a while. If you have TiVo, you can look for cooking shows under "interests" and record your favorites.
I remember a cooking show with a Hawaiian woman. What was her name and the shows name?
I remember a cooking show with a Hawaiian woman. What was her name and the shows name?
The shows that influenced my culinary enthusiasm were the ones I watched with my dad on the weekends; The Frugal Gourmet, Justin Wilson, Martin Yan. I didn't get to see Julia the first time around because dad was certain cable would get to our neighborhood any day, it finally did after I moved out : )