The Dumbing Of The Kitchen: Part ?

So, it was one of those quickies between shows on the new Cooking Channel. Rachael Ray is giving us a rundown of "don't miss" restaurants in whatever town she was in. She's sitting in front of one dish and exclaiming how wonderful it is, expecially since "it's sushi without the rice."

I'd always thought "saute in a little wine" was the dumbest culinary statement ever made. But this one really beats all.

Does anyone have a clue as to how they get away with that crap?

 

I was down sick for a few days, KK, so must have missed that post.

But it doesn't surprise me that she said that. She's not the only one who uses "Mediterranean" and "Italian" as synonyms---especially on the Food Network, where they seem to believe Italian is the only non-Asian ethnic food anybody really cares about.

Many people also say "Mediterranean" when they mean countries of the northern coastline. This, understandably, leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of those who live in North Africa and the Levant. Or, to put a point on it, Malta and places like that.

We have a similar problem here, in that far too many people use "Early American," "colonial," and "New England," as synonyms, particularly when discussing culinary matters.

 

DISH Network turned on that channel unexpectedly. They do that, from time to time, trying to promote an upgrade. Anyway, been watching it while it lasts.

I've got mixed feelings. On one hand, it's certainly exponentially better than what's on FN, in terms of the actual how-to of cooking. With some really good shows, such as Michael Symon's How To Cook Like An Iron Chef. Much of the "new" programming is merely a redo of an FN show currently in production. For instance, instead of Alex's Day Off we have Chuck's Day Off.

That said, the majority of the programming consists of blasts from the past. The far past, with reruns of things like Julia Childs' several shows, The Galloping Gourmet, etc., or more recent past, with shows that didn't make it on FN, for one reason or another, or on their Canadian equivalent, such as Molto Mario and Nigella Feasts.

There are, to be sure, some real screamers, like La Doce Vita. But, on the other hand, they still run the original Iron Chef (now called "Iron Chef Japan"). 

Taken as a whole, I'd have to give it high marks for reaching out as a cooking education medium, despite some rather obvious flaws. But I don't understand why, with a network that's barely been around, they feel it necessary to repeat the same shows ad nauseum. That's something the new network shares with FN.

That's a head scratcher!

To say the least. Around here, sushi without rice is called bait.

 

but I have to ask. "Sushi without the rice" --- you mean sashimi?

Don't ask me, Chris, cuz I haven't a clue what she meant. The dish she was showing was so far from anything Japanese that I can't begin to guess.

What she had was a bi-colored disc, composed of bands of red and off-yellow. I don't know what the ingredients were that formed the colored rings. This was mounted to a mini-skewer as a "lollipop." On the plate was a big puddle of two sauces; mostly a lighter colored sauce with one of those spider-web patterns drawn with the dark sauce. The two sauces mimicked the colors of the lollipop. Apprently, you're supposed to drag the lollipop through the sauces, and munch away.

For all I know it was very tasty, whatever it was. But it sure wasn't sushi. Sushi, whether you like eating it or not, is all about the rice. And, unless the lollipop was made from strips of two different raw fishes, it couldn't even be misnamed sashimi, IMO.

 

Chris, note that I said "misnamed" sashimi.

My thinking was that somebody might mistakenly believe that any raw fish, served by itself, was sashimi. Two different fishes, rolled together, would then be a really fancy sashimi in that person's mind.

Do you suppose she thinks sushi means "rolled up stuff"?

I don't presume to suppose what she---or any of those other idiots---thinks. I just wish they'd either learn the correct names of things or have the grace to shut up and stop misleading people.

 

Just out of curiousity, Junglist, which shows on the Cooking Channel do you like, and which ones dislike?

 

Leeniek, I have to disagree. Not with your basic contention; there are fewer people cooking.

But in this case it has to do with access. How does somebody who does know correct them? Even if you could reach an FN executive, and express your opinion that people like RR are culinary idiots, do you think it would go any further?

They've made it abundently clear that they could care less about good cooking. All they're concerned with is "good television." And, of course, they're the ones who define what that means.

 

I don't think they use the word "secret" to actually mean that, Gobblygook. It's just to tie it in further with the Iron Chef idea. Perhaps if they said "theme" ingredient (as they did with the original Iron Chef) it would be a better choice.

The point of the show, I believe, is to demonstrate that good cooking is based on techniques, rather than recipes. That's not only how Iron Chefs do it, it's how any good cook does it. Good techniques applied to good ingredients. That's the whole secret.

That's why good culinary education is based around techniques. Whether you apprentice in a kitchen with a true brigade, attend a top-ranked culinary school, or enroll in classes like mine, what you'll be taught, primarily, is technique; how to manipulate ingredients to achieve a desired end.

Or, as Symon sez: If you learn a recipe you'll make one great dish. If you learn the techniques, you'll be able to make hundreds.