Is there no end to the insult to" Professional Chefs" on television?

The Great Chef's Series" on PBS was, and remains for me, the best portrayal of what comes out of real kitchens. Simply shot with a cameraman on one side of the camera and a cook on the other, Great Chefs is certainly light-years beyond (yes, beyond!) the mockery that exists today. Alas, let us not confuse reality television with actual reality. Entertaining? Perhaps. Reality? Not hardly.

 

"When will they show the kitchens that 99.99% of the rest of us work very hard seven days a week in? "

Because we would throw the camera crew producer and director out on to the street for getting in our way......

 

Caterchef,

As a kid did you ever read "Mad" Magazine, and on every back cover there was a cartoon entitled "Why kill yourself becasue you mised the last issue of Mad" and then a scene of some crazy, suicidal situation?

Turn off the box, loose the remote..  Get your news and sports on the radio or from the paper.  Whatever is on the tube is crap, so why kill yourself?......  

 

If you want to be a Chef TV Star, then forget cooking as we know it(ask Bobby Flay) It is surely not reality, because there is a script and it is produced and directed by someone. There is a new show coming soon sponsored by IKEA  about Pro. Chef going into a private home kitchen, and the first  prize being  redoing  the kitchen so it is like being in a  restaurant kitchen. Whats next??  Bring back Julia, Jacques Pepin, and the old masters.                                                   Teach how to make it the right way and not Decomposed, Deconstructed, or turned into a  foam, or granules.  SORRY . I call this form of cooking  Discombobulated Cuisine

 

You don't get it. do you?

Televison is only there becasue of the ratings.  If a reality show about farting was high on the ratings, it would be on all the networks.  People watch the crap because it's there.  If no one's watching it, then they'll think up of a reality Farting contest.

No Russions, Nazis or pinkos.  Just good old US TV programing.  HIt 'em where it hurts--don't watch their crap.

 

If only life were fair.

BDL

 

Umm... did I just see someone compare "Bitchin' Kitchen" with the Nazis?

or... umm... the... uhhh... "Japs" (really? Japs?)

Settle down. Yeah, she's a Quebecois fool with a really, really bad show... but, let's keep it in perspective shall we?

Get rid of your television. Turn it off, unplug it, take it to the trash. Then when someone comes up to you and says "So, do you watch The Food Network?" you can look 'em in the eye and say "no, I don't". The single greatest choice I've made in the last 15 years was getting rid of my television.

Who gives a rat's ass what the general public thinks of my profession? I know what I do. That's all that matters. Let 'em all think we're in the back losing our shit and throwing pans around (many of us have done this at least once, by the way), who cares?

I cook. I'm good at it. I get paid for it. End of story. TV ain't gonna change that.

 

I like the recipe shows (Paula Deen, Michelle D'Arabian), the science side of things (Alton Brown), and the televised chaos of Iron Chef America.  I also like Chopped and Top Chef. 

I watch Hell's Kitchen too, to watch the drama and the kitchen time.  At least the time in the kitchen doesn't make it all look like a life of glam.  It's no secret that that they "stack the deck" just like shows like Big Brother, Survivor, etc. 

If there were a "true" reality show about life in the kitchen, no one would want to watch it.  Chances are, the few who did watch it would never eat at the restaurant ever again.  The editing would cut out the boring parts, leaving only the great successes, huge failures, and stupid actions (a la the 3 second rule). 

Think of everything you do as part of your day at work.  Out of an 8 hour shift, how many minutes (probably more in the seconds range) do you think would survive the editing room? 

Here's an example from me.  I do telephone tech support for IT professionals.  I hit a major home run today.  The entire call took under 5 mins.  This was a "pat yourself on the back" call.  I mean, I rocked it.  Of that call, 30 seconds might survive editing.  Otherwise, while I had some good calls today and helped people and did what I consider to be a very good job, nothing else was tv-worthy.  The 30 seconds that MIGHT have been tv-worthy are only of interest to other IT geeks.  In the average 40-hour week (yeah, sorry about that), you might cobble together 1 minute on average of "usable" footage.  More times than not, it's the caller doing something less-than-brilliant.  This is not to say I don't have great days and even sometimes great weeks, where I truly felt like I've made a big difference, but for the most part, what I do is boring and mundane to even IT geeks.  Even the part that IT geeks might determine to be "worthy" of watching, the rest of the world wouldn't care.  Cooking is unfortunately the same way.  No one wants to watch someone washing dishes for 2 hours.

 

You left out the F Word /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif  (with Gordon Ramsay)

Its TV, it is entertainment. Do you think Doctors get upset over House? I had the chance to talk to some, and 9 out of 10 wouldnt watch Hospital shows because they did not want to be reminded of work. The one that did watch, watched for entertainment value. 

And while I am not a Guy fan, as sometimes he comes across disrespectful of hardworking successful folks,  I like to see the mom and pop joints all over the US. 

That show makes me seriously hungry.

 

If you want to see so called "chefs" or even worse foodies poked fun at youtube poshnosh which is a silly little 7 minute cooking show out of the U.K. which will make you laugh

 

Ok I'm prepared to be lambasted over this one, but hear me out.  Yes, a large percentage of the food celebs are annoying and have nothing to do with what goes on in a commercial kitchen.  And I too wish Guy Fieri would just take his sunglasses off of his head when they're not over his eyes.  But surely you have to see the correlation  between the rise of food on tv over the last 15 years to the publics heightened interest in trying new and exciting things.

I think anything that gets people excited about something that pays our bills is a good thing, even if it is a husky voice Rachael Ray touting 30 minute meals.  It's the end that is important not the means.

That being said, I stay away from food shows as much as possible. Although "After Hours With Daniel" is a favorite and is a very honest view of the kitchen. It's filmed at some of the best restaurants in the country and features some great American chefs. 

 

As far as Guy F. When he eats in every kitchen this is a clear violation of any state health code. As well as his not washing hands before or after eating. As a CHEF? and in public he should know better.

 

All the hate for the Tv personality chefs is getting a bit over the top.I don't like many of the shows your talking about either but most of it is for show, they are actors who can cook.

And most if not all are only over the top for the show.

 

I'm telling you again, CaterChef, the more you moan and bellyache about "that stuff", and watch it, the more you are helping "those shows".  Any publicity is good publicity as far as TV is concerned.

Toss the remote in that spot in-between the furnace and hot water heater, breathe a sigh of relief, and enjoy your free time.

I've been doing it for almost 14 years now..............