Celebrity Chefs - All Too Common

In season 5 of the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, the character aptly named Bubble proclaims, "Celebrity chefs. How common." I couldn't agree more. It's like there's some giant Pez dispenser out there, spitting them out one every second.

Julia Child had a mission when she first appeared on PBS in the early 1960s. Her goal was not just to teach Americans how to cook, but to teach us to create dishes that elevated the senses. The title of her first book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, says it all. Julia wanted American home cooks to practice the techniques used by French home cooks so that we might experience food as more than just a source of energy for the body. It was Julia Child who spawned the American Foodie Craze.

I grew up watching Julia Child. She was my cooking teacher. I learned little to nothing from my mother who, unfortunately, had no understanding nor any desire to master any culinary skills. My mother's best friend in the kitchen was her pressure cooker. Everything went into that frightening steam machine. Especially leftovers. Even now I get chills just thinking of the leftover "stew" or "soup" concoctions that emerged from that pressure cooker. Devil's Island inmates would take a pass.

Shows that closely followed Julia, like The Galloping Gourmet, also stressed cooking methods. Graham Kerr, in addition to his hilarious antics, tried to give the American home cook an understanding, not just of what to cook, but how to cook. Both Kerr and Child wanted us to learn practical techniques, knowledge we could transfer into our home kitchens.

Sadly, except for a very few shows that are currently on the air, most cooking shows no longer teach. They have deteriorated into useless demonstrations by restaurant chefs or have become game shows starring "celebrity" chefs who yell at their students, bizarrely demoralizing them as if they were grunts in boot camp. I see no practical purpose or entertainment value in either.

I say that these demonstrations are useless because cooking in a restaurant kitchen is very, VERY different from cooking in a home kitchen. Making a meal for two or more is nothing like preparing the same dishes over and over for an ever flowing stream of customers. Restaurants have stations manned by sous chefs that prepare specific foods - pastas, fish, meats. Restaurants also have food assistants who peel, chop and otherwise prepare in bulk ingredients that'll be used for that evening's menu. I can't stand when a TV chef tells me the key component in a dish is a ridiculously small amount of some unusual ingredient like lemon grass or crème fraiche. And they always claim these ingredients are "now available in most local supermarkets." They are not. And even if they were what am I going to do with the rest of the lemon grass. For most Americans crème fraiche it not a daily food ingredient.

The time constraints and dynamics are also very different. Restaurants favor high heat quick cooking dishes. And the chefs have one chore - to prepare the food. But at home we have (and need) more time and require multiple portions. Many home cooks have tasks that need to be done while the food is cooking - like overseeing the kid's homework, running a home business or doing a load of laundry. Unlike a restaurant chef, the home cook needs to be able to walk away from the stove, not baby sit the risotto.

I think everyone should learn basic cooking techniques. And watching well-made TV shows is much cheaper and less time consuming than a ten week course at the local culinary institution. Considering the roller coaster ride the American economy is always on, knowing how to prepare good tasting, economic, nutritious meals for yourself and your family is essential to a decent standard of living. Fortunately, there are a few shows that still emphasize home cooking.

One of the very few programs currently in production that's actually geared toward the home cook is America's Test Kitchen and it's sister show Cook's Country. Not only do these shows emphasize method and technique, they, very democratically, test and retest their recipes until a committee of tasters is satisfied. They also compare the different brands of ingredients and equipment with regard to quality and price. I have made dozens of their recipes and never once (no exaggeration) have I been disappointed with the results.

Another fantastic learning source is Jacques Pepin's The Complete Pepin: Techniques and Recipes. In these programs, which are available on DVD, Monsieur Pepin demonstrates everything from how to fillet a fish to the best way to prepare and cook artichokes. He covers different cuts of meats, the proper way to sharpen knives and how to use that mysterious pastry bag. Jacques Pepin is unique in that he has adapted restaurant techniques to the home kitchen. He is a master chef and teacher. The Complete Pepin is as essential to a cook as salt and pepper.

And of course, you can never go wrong watching the original, Julia Child's The French Chef. Not only was Julia a fantastic teacher she was hysterically funny. She took cooking seriously, but never apologized for being imperfect. Julia kept things in perspective. She was herself, that is a great home cook not a brain surgeon. Julia wasn't a drama queen. She never threw a childish fit when the soufflé fell. She made a joke and kept going.

Celebrity chefs really are all too common. You can tell 5 minutes into their shows if they are going to teach or just show off. Beware of the chefs who never mention ingredient amounts. Their only goal is to sell you something. And believe me, they are never going to reveal their restaurant secrets. Your time is too precious to waste. Find shows like those I've mentioned above. They aren't the only ones out there but in my opinion are the best. They teach you something. Everything else is just a chef's vanity and restaurant voyeurism.