# What do you think of celebrity chefs?



## readandfed (Jun 10, 2007)

Dear fellow gastronomes!
 
I am doing PhD research in to celebrity chefs. Why are they so successful? Does Nigella have to be sexy? Does Jamie have to be pukka? Would really appreciate your opinion. 


Angela Higgins

URL removed by Katie E


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## sattie (Jun 10, 2007)

I think the personality of the chef and the tips/cooking style draws me in more than anything.  Here are some reasons why I like particular celebirty chefs...

Alton Brown....  basic fundamentals of cooking... I love watching him and his shows because I learn so much about things that I use in the kitchen.

Bobby Flay.... he appeals to my fire mouth.  His cooking style and choice of ingredients appeals to me when it comes to robust and zesty food.

Their looks or sex appeal really do not affect what it is that I can learn from them.... it is what they can do to teach me how to please my pallet or the pallets of my family.

I like Rachel Ray.. because she usually cooks practical food and I like the Tasty Travels shows because it gives me ideas for food to cook as well as places to check out should I ever visit the towns for which the show is showcasing.

Hope that helps some!


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## Robo410 (Jun 10, 2007)

It seems they have to be TV personalities first, chefs or cooks second or maybe even third after looks for some of them.  THe best have all three.


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## Barb L. (Jun 10, 2007)

I agree  with the personality, and the types of they are cooking.  We are drawn to our favorite foods I think.


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## Uncle Bob (Jun 10, 2007)

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.


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## obiwan9962 (Jun 10, 2007)

while i enjoy alton/rachel/ming tsai/morimoto and a few others
the rest of them drive me nuts as a professional chef i guess i will walk the same path as uncle bob


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## kitchenelf (Jun 10, 2007)

Uncle Bob said:
			
		

> 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.












(and thank you for not bashing - I appreciate it)


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## Uncle Bob (Jun 10, 2007)

I knew it! I knew it! I knew you was watching! I was just trying to send a message to folks saying, they better tread softly 

So obiwan ya made a smart decision! Ya just don't know how smart it was!


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## obiwan9962 (Jun 10, 2007)

Uncle Bob said:
			
		

> I knew it! I knew it! I knew you was watching! I was just trying to send a message to folks saying, they better tread softly
> 
> So obiwan ya made a smart decision! Ya just don't know how smart it was!


well in the chef's code of ethics, it says never to bash a fellow chef
no matter how fake they are 
lol


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## Katie H (Jun 10, 2007)

For me, as long as they prepare dishes I enjoy and they don't annoy the bejeepers out of me, they are fine.

Some of what I've seen on the food channel are a bit tooooo much.

Just give me my own show.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 10, 2007)

Katie E said:
			
		

> Just give me my own show.


 Uh, . . . is there a petition we can sign?  I promise to be your most loyal viewer.


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## Katie H (Jun 10, 2007)

Thank you, skillet.  I appreciate your loyalty and enjoy much of that from my readers.  If this doesn't make sense to you, please look at my "profile."


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## bethzaring (Jun 11, 2007)

I am REALLY into food, and have been since I left home almost 40 years ago. I mean, really, really into food.

That said, I have no interest in celebrity chefs, absolutely none, zero, zip, nada. Could not care less. Not the least bit interested in what they do. 

This forum is probably one of the best places for me to learn what I need to learn about cooking.


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## Lizannd (Jun 11, 2007)

*I try to remember that everyone starts somewhere,*

and if some of the celebrity chefs seem too much personality and to little in the skill dept, I just think of my son and one of my grandsons. They actually enjoyed some of the cooking shows. The ones that seem simple and cute to many people are really just perfect for the beginning cook. And everyone is a beginner at some point, even if they start at 3 or 4. My son would see something on T.V. and want to make his own version. He learned just as I did from the variety of shows.  I started watching Julia Child as a pre teen and have been watching and learning from TV chefs ever since.  TV is the only place I have an opportunity to learn from ANY of these people so I take advantage of it.


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## ironchef (Jun 11, 2007)

I usually enjoy watching them IF they are a chef. Many so-called "celebrity chefs" are not chefs. They are TV personalities with a cooking show.


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## obiwan9962 (Jun 11, 2007)

bethzaring and lizannd and iron chef i agree with all 3 of you
while i grew up admiring julia child and jacques pepin and martin yan
and used their books to further my skills
rarely these days do i find a chef who i will go out and grab their cookbooks
it's all hit and run and flim flam
here today gone tomorrow
the ones that endure are the ones i am concerned with
and the ones that had sucessful restaurants and then get a show
but the ones that never had a restaurant or did not have successful restaurants but had the personality required for the show, those guys irk me


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## licia (Jun 11, 2007)

It seems that many cooking shows are mostly for entertainment now rather than serious cooking. I suppose they do get some interested in cooking who wouldn't do so otherwise. I pick the ones I watch by what I may actually make. If exotic ingredients are used that I know won't get much use, I don't watch them and if the food is too rich and something I know we shouldn't indulge ourselves, I stay away from that too. I'm not a health nut, but don't want to do myself in with a fork and spoon.


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## Claire (Jun 12, 2007)

Some good, some just flash.  Some _were_ good, but let the 'flash' overshadow real cooking, their "personalities" now get in the way (for example, I like Emeril's low-keyed shows he occaisionally does, but have heard "bam" way too many times so don't watch him mutch).  And if the "chef" is so skinny she can disappear behind the pot she's boiling pasta in, I have a hard time taking her seriously.


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## GB (Jun 12, 2007)

Claire said:
			
		

> And if the "chef" is so skinny she can disappear behind the pot she's boiling pasta in, I have a hard time taking her seriously.


I find that an odd statement. Shouldn't a chef know how to prepare and eat properly so as to maintain a healthy weight and not be overweight?


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## Katie H (Jun 12, 2007)

Claire said:
			
		

> And if the "chef" is so skinny she can disappear behind the pot she's boiling pasta in, I have a hard time taking her seriously.


I sometimes find it difficult taking a heavy chef seriously even when what they prepare is nutritionally balanced, etc.  However, I also find it hard to warm up to a thin one who cooks what I would consider questionably nutritious and/or calorie-laden dishes.

Having said that, I don't judge anyone on their physical size because we really have no clue what got them to be large, small or in between.

For example, my father was 6'3" and never weighed more than 165 pounds.  He ate constantly and a lot.  He loved ice cream and never went to bed at night without having a soup bowl of it.  He definitely would've disappeared behind the "boiling pasta pot."

Just my take.


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## Barbara (Jun 12, 2007)

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.


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## kitchenelf (Jun 12, 2007)

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


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2007)

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?


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## GB (Jun 12, 2007)

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.


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## YT2095 (Jun 12, 2007)

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!


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## ChefJune (Jun 12, 2007)

Uncle Bob said:
			
		

> 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.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2007)

ChefJune said:
			
		

> 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.


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## ChefJune (Jun 12, 2007)

> 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.


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## carolelaine (Jun 12, 2007)

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.


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## ChefJune (Jun 12, 2007)

[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. "


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2007)

ChefJune said:
			
		

> 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.


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## skilletlicker (Jun 12, 2007)

ChefJune said:
			
		

> 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.


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## ironchef (Jun 12, 2007)

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.


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## ChefJune (Jun 13, 2007)

> 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!


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## letscook (Jun 13, 2007)

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.


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## amber (Jun 13, 2007)

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


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## luvs (Jun 15, 2007)

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


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## D_Blackwell (Jun 15, 2007)

> 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.


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## GB (Jun 15, 2007)

D_Blackwell said:
			
		

> 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.


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## ChefJune (Jun 15, 2007)

D_Blackwell said:
			
		

> 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!


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## ironchef (Jun 15, 2007)

I've never listened to Alton Brown. For the definitive answer on the science behind food, I usually always refer to Harold McGee.


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## ChefJune (Jun 16, 2007)

ironchef said:
			
		

> I've never listened to Alton Brown. For the definitive answer on the science behind food, I usually always refer to Harold McGee.



Good choice, IC!  My first reference is Shirley Corriher, but that's largely because we've been friends for more than 20 years, and when I need a quick answer, I call her up!    (I know... lucky me!  )


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## ironchef (Jun 16, 2007)

ChefJune said:
			
		

> Good choice, IC! My first reference is Shirley Corriher, but that's largely because we've been friends for more than 20 years, and when I need a quick answer, I call her up!  (I know... lucky me!  )


 
That is a nice luxury to have. It would be nice to have a lot of people on speed dial: Harold McGee, Wylie Dufresne, Alain Ducasse, etc.


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## Claire (Jun 20, 2007)

Katie E, my dad, too, could eat tons of food and was (and IS) very skinny (he doesn't eat so much any more).  He used to eat a big bowl of ice cream every night, with a half a can of fruit (in syrup) dumped on it.  Then sometime during the evening he'd fry a few slices of cheese.  Then sometime during the evening he'd have a bowl of cereal (yes, whole milk).  Oh, how about the beer he loves?  But us girls (Mom and the four of us girls, and both of my grandmothers) can gain weight watching him eat.  I do recognise there are women born lucky when it comes to metabolism (I actually had a freind who had to drink a milkshake or instant breakfast _with_ every meal).  But my intellectual knowlege and my feelings are two different things.  I want a chef to be larger than the pot they cook in.  I want them to _look_ like they enjoy eating.  I don't mean obese (aka, Prudhomme in his worst days).  Just to look like they might have had a sandwich for lunch and a glass of wine with dinner.


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## Claire (Jun 20, 2007)

Then there are folk who are what we used to call (in the military) "Talking Heads".  They never actually were cooks, chefs, amatuers, family cooks, etc.  They look good and get the job because they know someone.  I've even actually heard one of them admit they do not cook at home.  So all they do is pose around the food.  And I don't think any of the celebrity chefs (including several I love to watch) actually cook at their restaurants any more.  They coordinate recipes and locations and TV shows.  Some I like, some I don't, some I like in one format but not another.


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## luvs (Jun 20, 2007)

eh, i'm more towards channnel 42- women's network- than that food television. or discoveryhealth.


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