# Tuned Out Food Network for good!



## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Today I watched The Theme Cake Challenge.
I’m sure this was aired previously but this was the first time seeing it for my wife and I.
I was really disappointed in the mockery they have made of our profession.
There was Collette Peters, Duff/joke, the Cake Diva from Jersey etc. The mystery theme was sports. The cakes were 2 fishing,1 Matador,1 L.Armstrong, and a boxing
Then these so called professional started stacking, schlacking plain cake, building layers out of plastique, welding and screwing non-food safe structures
I can’t go on. It had to be the biggest public knock of our specialized trade.
I don’t care what the competition was, but to completely disregard flavor and quality to display the sizzle and no steak. We were so embarrassed we think we have turned off the Food Channel for good. I still can’t understand what that hour of garbage was supposed to translate or deliver to the audience. As far as I know no one has split cakes or wedding cake into two categories. Inside and out.
It’s like a theme plate for a Chef and he or she comes up with beautiful garnishes and plates them surrounding a plastic steak and a fake potato. It was humiliating.
We work our butts of to dispel the history of dry white wedding cakes only to have it knocked back by these yahoos (Fnet)
Off the soapbox I go.
Pan


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Ever since I started up my business 9 years ago, I haven't had much time for TV. Matter of fact we don't even have a cable connection. Kids grew up without live TV ( but we do rent videos/dvd's), so they don't miss what they don't have. So I've never watched the Food network, never seen Emeril, never seen "Iron Chef" (although I did see a Bugs bunny spoof on it called Aluminum Chef with Daffy as the host..)

Am I living in a cave? Do I care? I tune out when my staff are talking about some stupid sitcom or reality show, but it doesn't bother me. Haven't seen an informercial in over 10 years and THAT doesn't bother me. Still get my news-fix from "traditional" sources; listening to the 6 am news as I open up the kitchen and get ready before the rest of staff get in, reading the paper on my lunch break. Nope, I'm happy about my choice. Try it yourself, you might like it....


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## cape chef (Jul 31, 2000)

Pan,

I agree.

I saw a small part of that show today and found it repulsive. It is all self promotion bull ****. Be comforted in the fact that a good % of our consumers see right through this garbage. All anyone needs to do is click on your website to see that they will enjoy one of the greatest tasting cakes one could hope for.


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## castironchef (Oct 10, 2005)

At least they referred to it as a "cake decorating contest" and the participants as "cake decorators." No one even pretended that their stuff could or should be eaten.

All in all, lots of hype about nothing. However, I was TRES IMPRESSED with the skills shown on the matador and the Lance Armstrong "cakes."


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I didn't see that particular show, but I did see the first 5 minutes of the Elvis Birthday cake competition tonight. I also saw a few minutes of Sugar Rush (personally I can't see what the hype is on this guy, he seems to be as average as average gets, but then again, hey I could be wrong about him.)
Anyway the common point was that in all 3 shows was a guy named Mike who owns Mikes Amazing Cakes in Redmond, Wa. He was the guy who did the Matador cake. I cannot speak to the quality of his cakes and flavors, only to his artistic skill which is pretty impressive. Seeing his cakes, and Pans cakes and Momoregs cakes, really make me miss cake decorating! I did some nice stuff, but these people are artists of the level that I'm not sure I could reach myself. The biggest sticking point though is that it's a business and I just want to play, but in order to play, I need a business.......
Anyway to the point of the post, it would be nice if they could counter balance the shows by showing the amazing flavors, textures, etc that real Pastry Chefs offer, but then that wouldn't be "dramatic" foodtv now would it. so just grin and bear it and if someone comes in and asks for a cake like what they saw on foodtv, try not to lop off one of their fingers with your decorating spatula


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Didn't see this particular show, but I also want to add that to my chagrin, the Okla. competition also doesn't require the cake inside to be real, and so it's strictly a visual arts competition. I really wonder, if taste were an issue with these contests, how the scores would change. After all, it is about the CAKE!:chef:


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

Okay, lets start a campane to have the inside judged as well!
I will write a letter suggesting such an addition to the judging, any one else with me? 
At the very least, a small tasting cake of what is inside the rotating, lighted object for judging, could work?
I love to see how far the decoaration can be taken but just being edible is not enough. Give it ten percent of the total.
I have been inspired by several of the contestents and these shows help me because, I don't get out much!:bounce:


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

I did not mean to be so harsh.I know these guys have good reputations.

An example. Our website is 5 yr old. We made a descision not to put the high end cakes up for fear they would scare of lesser cake sales.
We just bartered a huge cake with a very well known web designer. He will be working with my son to develope our site geared towards the sizzle. This really chaps my ---. When I entered this ring, I found my niche to be FLAVOR-QUALITY. We don't have a buttercream filled cake or a cake that can sit out for hours. Hense we are limited to volume based on delivery. Meaning we cannot over book cakes and deliver a cake early knowing it will be ok for service. Our cakes don't do well with fondant. Since most of our cakes are mousse we find the fondant a negetive when slicing.Something a lot of places don't care or even consider. Meaning, once outside the door your on your own. I have seen some of these sculpted cakes sliced. It's a joke! We have done these also, but take the time to plate and seperate the interior. Meaning if a cake structure is a 20" tall building, there will be 4 servicable layers and even different flavors.
ANYWAY I think I'm still going to stay away from FN. It's just not relivent.
I will let you know when the site and the photos are up.I'm thinking my son said they found 460 usable pics. Should be interesting. BTW We did a xmas wedding cake that was 4' x 8' x 5' high with assorted presents and gifts. When we had sculpting you can be assured there was cake inside. still not buttercream, 8 layers of pound cake with green apple and raspberry puree between the layers for color. I personally hired two banquet managers that I know to come to the shop to learn how to slice ,and work the wedding to serve. It's not all about the sizzle! You hot chefs woud not stand for this sort of thing, right? A show about presentation with no insite to the food!!
Also, Mike is a great guy, he has found a creatice outlet for his talent that pays well. Peters does one style and one style only.Don't know the cake deva. seems scattered buit did at least fill her cakes with something. The boat guy has been in other comps. Must have a family member on FN." 
Food Network has gone with the sizzle, put the beautiful people out there, not the beautiful food.
Man, I think I'm going to hurt myself jumping off the box this time.


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Hey Pan, if you haven't been admitted to your local hospital, I am in agreement with you on all these things.
I agree about the interior, that it has to be sliceable, and not just a giant mass of cake. I also offer only perishable fillings, but ganache tends to do well in the heat for longer. 

Although this is a bit off topic, for your website, I do hope you manage to incorporate all types of wedding cakes you offer. It sounds like in your effort not to scare away the smaller cake buyers, you scare away the higher end ones. 

Now, regarding Colette--Only one style, you say? How do you figure?


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Made it off the box.
I'm voting to put all our cake up on the site. Even the ones where we should probably have a release since they were for prominent people. We probably don't need the site since it's only been an issue when I started the January push for new things. Most of our business is word of mouth (knock knock on my wooden milk crate). We'll see. I don't know if you recall me purchasing websites a while back. Seems one I bought will do much better for us then our current. We will have two,one wedding and one bakery with links to both.
What do I need to explain about Peters? I know she probably runs the gament. but I think her main exposure and what she goes back to in a crunch is the whimsical, no? fondant 
Over the years we have pledged to get out of the fondant arena. Doesn't work with our cakes, we can achieve the same look with other products, never tasted one that compimented our cake, made popular by the persons having to hide or not able to spin a clean surface,yadda yadda.
Jumping down
pan
BTW turned on the TV in my office and it was left on FN. Watched the southern lady leave the set and have her two boys make beefaroni.
She returned with bananas to make something. She then proceeded to rub these eggs and explain that she believes in using fresh eggs as long as they are not cracked. You think she knows that the sam. is also spread by the shells? What a joke. Mabe the new site will give me enough exposure to join yous guys on TV so I can preach:smoking:


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Yes, those homemakers gone TV chefs are the most annoying of the bunch. I have no patience for that either. 

One thing about fondant, because I do feel the need to defend it, is that you not only achieve a matte finish, but it rounds the edges, which I know is possible to do with buttercream, but it's a different look. i think there's a softness to the look of a fondant cake that just isn't possible with bcrm.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

I uderstand. I'm not knocking fondant. it just doesn't fit with us and soft mousse cakes. but, when our site is finished or when I learn how to put up a picture, we'll have a vote to see if we can distinguish the fondant cake vs the bc cake. We were forced to learn how to get the same look or we would have to turn down business.
I know you make your own, can you make it tasty enough to compliment you cakes?
GTG
antiques roadshow


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

Tasty enough?? Well, I think it's subjective. Some people like it; some think it's too sweet. There's no avoiding the sweetness, or the fact that it turns leathery. the truth is, though, that it can easy be peeled off or not eaten if the guest doesn't like it. 


I add just enough vanilla before it turns off white, and it mellows the intensity a bit. I suppose I could add other extracts too, but haven't thus far. The beautiful thing about making my own is the price!! I have a job next month-- 15 3-tiered cakes in one day. I may just buy a couple of buckets for that one.


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

My wealthy "Step" Aunt was my Chefs favorite customer when I was with Ridgewell Caterers, because all the parties she did. When her daughter got married she wanted the gift box cake that was I believe on the cover of a Colette Peters book. We did a mock up and her fru fru "wedding designer" came in and made us revamp it and actually his design was better. But what we did, and granted she had the money for it, but we did the cake part dummy, and part cake. The top gift box was also the piece they took home for the first anniversary. Part of the base was real cake that we made up for the cutting ceremony, and what we did for the guests was to make a sheet cake, cut and decorate individual slices and box them up to take with them. Now they could have just as easily served the sheet slices. This eliminates the need to be a surgeon to cut the show cakes, it also allows the ability to have a showpiece cake and not sacrifice the quality of the service cake. If you can get your customers to go for a couple of extra bucks, and it doesn't have to be much, then everybody can have their show cake and eat it too!
Pan this ought to make you happy, you can give them what they want and stay true to your calling!


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## castironchef (Oct 10, 2005)

Sara Moulton had some interest comments on the eGullet forum about her departure from Food Network for PBS, including:

"The new president came in with her agenda which included getting rid of some of the old guard. Their new demagraphic is something like 15 to 35 year old males and their goal now is to appeal to that segment of the population. They want talent that is for the most part young, telegenic and very entertaining. I have a producer friend that tried to pitch some shows and was told, 

'No chefs please, and nobody with training.' "

That pretty much says it all, I think.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Sara's no longer there? Forget it then. I haven't watched Food TV in such a long time anyway.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

we were flipping last night and stopped at FN to see some bakery making some sort of spicy cookies. The kitchen was trashed. The underside of the mixer, the handle, etc. was caked with ----. The whole place was light years away from passing a health inspection. This bozo seemed proud of his filth pit and bragged about his product all over in grocery and upscale boutiques.
I kept waiting for someone to come on and explain how this type of place should never be allowed to serve the public. 
Downhill spiral! 
but we did notice that the snips for upcoming shows had the little slit on the womans shirts enlargerd:lol:


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## momoreg (Mar 4, 2000)

The 18-35 male set must like the grunge kitchen.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

There was this other cooking show and I forget the name. It was like the American version of Great Chefs. It had more than just three items per show and each show focused on one establishment or one chef, not multiple chefs. Anyone recall? It was on public TV.


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## chef.assassin (Dec 3, 2005)

i'm so confused. how did they determine that particular group of individuals as their demographic?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

C'mon Pan, give it a try, just for a week; see if you can wean yourself off the 'tube. If you make it over 4 days you're allowed to sneak into a bar and watch a game or the news there....


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

No!! 
I really enjoy TV! We're not much into weekday sitcom, but I don't think there is anything we have not seen on Discovery, Nat.Geo.,History. etc.Actually they are very repetative. Also like Mythbust. and we now make time for Amer.Idol. and of course The Antique Road Show.
Keep up to date on the PC. Give up TV.NEVER!!!! otherwise I'd have time to cut the lawn, clean the pool, NO WAY!!!!!


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

O.K....But if the FN ever does a show about the finer points of doughnut frying with Ms. Trixie Bubbles in a halter top, start mowing the lawn.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

You got it!!  :roll: :bounce: 

I think the last time I cut the lawn was a couple of years ago. It was 106. zero humity. breathing in hot air combined with cake clippings,pollen etc.
eyes watering, runny nose, heart pounding, legs shaking. 
I looked next door to see the lawn maintanence guy with a hat on, jalapeno in his mouth, dry, and seemed to be enjoying himself. :smoking: Haven't mowed since.:beer: 
How far off topic is this?!


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## erik (Jan 23, 2006)

That seemed perfectly on topic to me :look: 

...and donut frying is a complicated art, involving precise temperatures, dropping distances, and excellent timing.  I fear for the grease burns the poor girl would get though....


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## robinchev (Jan 13, 2006)

Whenever my husband starts to worry that my blood pressure is too low, he waits until I get settled with a good book and then turns on FN......
<sigh> 
Are you absolutely sure they can't hear me screaming at them? (Stop laughing, Steve.)If they do this for a living they should know how to properly pronounce the names of the ingredients.
And I swear... If I see ONE MORE "chef" stick their finger in the saucepot and then in their mouth, I'm gonna rupture something!
We have this really cool new invention... it's called a _spoon_...


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Unfortunately fingers in the food is rampant in the industry, even in a lot of nicer places. 

If I ever run my own kitchen someday I plan to enforce tasting spoons. But odds are that the chefs that made your food at that fancy restaurant had their fingers all over everything.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Good thing you never saw anyone stick their hand in the fryer.


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## mikeb (Jun 29, 2004)

Not that I'm condoning putting fingers in food (I usually go through 50 spoons in a day for tasting, laying out sauces, etc...), but the cooks I work with have extremely good hygiene, and the cleanest hands of anyone out there. Although I have a good number of callouses and scars, you won't find so much as a speck of dirt or anything on my hands, we wash our hands literally dozens of times a night.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Mikeb, don't take this wrongway 
but please keep your fingers and your coworkers fingers out of my food. 
95% of all commercial contamination is caused by the hands.
also, 85%+ of all food borne illness originates in the home 
Mike,
I just saw one of your cooks give a little high five to one of the servers, that server was just picking their 'lksdfiu[ o:beer: :crazy:  :lol:


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## mikeb (Jun 29, 2004)

As you said, 85% of food borne illness originates in the home. That leaves 15% coming from commercial establishments. I'd guess that the vast majority of that comes from chain and fast food restaurants (I've seen many people wearing gloves touch raw meat and then vegetables without changing gloves, or using the same tongs for raw meats and burger buns). If you go to a Michelin 3-star restaurant do you honestly think that your food will have never been touched by someone's hand? As I said, for tasting I use spoons, but it's rediculous to think that someone using bare hands to plate a dish is going to cause you illness (especially at a half-decent restaurant).


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Mikeb,
Now I told you not to take that the wrong way.
I'm sorry if I offended you. I certainly meant no harm. It's just that we have so many newbies, I would hate to giv em the wrong. I should'nt have posted.
But I do have to tell ya, it's definately not rediculous to think that someone using bare hands to plate a dish is going to cause me illness. I also don't think that the level or quality of a food establishment has anything to do with sanitation. I could be wrong. I would assume you would find more violations in the 3 star Mich then in a franchise where sanitation is an important part of SOP's. Now, this is just me. I absolutely know you place is clean.
pan


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## aprilb (Feb 4, 2006)

I absolutely agree. It seems like they are more "inspired" by glitz and drama then actually creating a beautifully presented, delicious pastry. Part of the blame goes to the limitations due to the TV hype. 5' sculptures that aren't really edible on a food channel? I could have beaten the booboos out of any of them just in the hour I watched. 

I'm not stopping, I'm just getting fired up.

April


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## siserilla (May 14, 2005)

Did anyone by chance check out the Food Network Challenge that was on tonight? It was hosted by Disney and it had a few Le Cordon Bleu schools and then two other smaller schools. It was a complete disaster!! There were 3 students then their chef instructor. The instructors kept breaking the sugar tubes etc. I'm curious why Johnson and Wales or CIA didn't have an apperance at this competition.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Siserella,
I refuse to watch, but I do tape stuff for the crew, so that they might pick up something. The review from them was after watching this competetion was they are ready to compete. I have not watched yet.
pan


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## cakerookie (Sep 10, 2005)

The real competition begins here check it out www.pastrychampionship.com this one ought to be great. Could tell you where to find more but I might get reprimanded for self promotion.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

CR,
You are participating in a Pastry competition?


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