Poor Rachael Ray. The perky, upbeat little kitchen diva has more than a few detractors in the food blog world. I have no idea exactly why she evokes such a strong reaction in people. Sheesh!
Yes, she is a bit too much sometimes, mugging for the camera and being cute. I suppose that bugs people who do not mug and who are not cute.
Not much substance there maybe, but well, not everyone is an intellectual. Nor should we want them to be.
I’ve watched Rachael’s show(s) a few times just to see what annoyed people so much. (I kind of like the one where she eats on $40 a day while sauntering through Savannah or Carmel: My kind of eating budget.)
Yes, the EVOO and the eyeballing and the “yumo” stuff are a bit much. So? You don't have traits that annoy people? (I know I do!)
But really, is what she’s doing really so bad? I mean, not everyone can afford to buy top quality, organic items. Rachael Ray seems to be showing people how they can eat fairly decent food without spending a lot of time or money. She's helped them eat a few steps above fast food and TV dinners. Is that bad?
Some people don’t like spending hours in the kitchen, something most of us don’t understand, but, hey, we’re all different. (My mother, who married a chef and whose mother and grandmother cooked and loved it, readily admits she doesn’t like to cook. So? Should I stop speaking to her? Disown her? I think not.) Rachael provides fast meal ideas for busy people.
You’ve got to wonder if some of these RR bashers are jealous of her success. Maybe they want cooking shows of their own. Maybe they want a cookbook contract.
You could pick apart other TV cooks or chefs, too, I guess. Laugh at Paula Deen’s accent. (I like it. I like her.) Ridicule Emeril’s “Bam!” (Aw, c’mon, it’s endearing.) Make cracks about Giada’s toothy smile. (Good dentist!)
Really, it takes a lot less energy to leave them to their kitchens and focus on the positive. No one ever offered a TV cooking show to an old sourpuss. Trust me on that one.
Besides, some people believe that unhappy cooks produce lousy food.
And the photo? That’s my kind of convenience food, fresh herbed Mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes and garlic from the olive bar I talked about a few days ago. Yum. Oh.
36 comments:
Last year, Bill Buford had an article in the New Yorker about the systematic dumbing down of the Food Network, the firing of chefs who teach real technique and replacing them with people who teach more shopping skills than cooking skills. Rachael Ray is the poster child for this movement.
And yes, I use various convenience products [bagged lettuce chief among them], the staple of RR's so-called technique. But when I see Charlie Trotter [for instance] making real food from real ingredients, I actually learn real cooking methods and ideas, and I get inspired. Even if I never make what I've seen him do, I feel that my personal bar has been raised--that I'm a better cook for it.
All this said, I don't have cable and only catch the Food Network when I'm traveling and in a hotel. But it's a disturbing trend overall, and I'm glad it appears to be backfiring on them.
I'll send you the link to the article in a separate email, Mimi, in case you'd like to post a link. Very interesting.
Oh Mimi you always make me smile, some days more than others. I am never able to post a comment but I've tried several times when you have an especially good/funny post. RR gets on my nerves sometimes but so do the others shows...just depends on what they are doing. Keep up the good work.
I've always preferred to make things from scratch, but I sometimes I am in a hurry. And once upon a time, I insisted on doing everything from hand, cutting, chopping, mincing, etc. I didn't even believe in food processors or anything like that.
I've changed my approach a bit and I now use labor-saving devices.
I'm not advocating using a whole lot of prepared foods. Too much sodium, for one thing.
But the animosity toward Rachael Ray seems downright mean spirited. A lot of it comes in the form of personal attacks.
I seldom watch the Food Network. But I do miss Julia Child.
I simply cannot let this post go by w/o commenting! I, for one, like a bit of Rachel Ray. Not a daily dose, mind you, but perhaps thrice weekly? Her "Mineste" soup is one of my all-time favorite meals.YUM-OH. And when you only have 30 minutes to work with, saying "EVOO" cuts a few seconds off "extra virgin olive oil"! I could never rush thru the prep and cooking like she has to, nor do I want to, but it's the "hook" that made her famous,and she's good at it! I think each one of the cooking show hosts has something unique to offer, and RR is entitled to her share of the pie! Personally, I'm partial to Ina and Giada! But on any given weekday, you'll find my TV on and tuned to the Food Network. I wouldn't have it any other way!
OK now 2 in a row, I can't believe it went this time...wonder what I did differently. I may never know. Yeah, I am so excited.
Judy, she grates on my nerves, too!
How can anyone be that perky and chirpy all the time?
Not moi!
Cyn. I've watched both Ina and Giada once or twice and prefer Ina.
I don't think I've ever watched an entire show, though. We have one TV (on purpose) and I do not control it.
I feel the same way about RR as I do about Martha Stewart -- don't like her, but have respect for what she has accomplished (business-wise). Annoying as she is, Rachael Ray encourages people to get in the kitchen and cook. And that's the important thing. No, she's not a trained chef, or a gourmet cook, or even easy to listen to. But spend five minutes listening to Sandra Lee (Semi-Homemade), and you'll be begging for Rachael Ray.
Oh, Lydia, I am in complete agreement with you.
You said it: She gets people in the kitchen cooking. Maybe they'll move up once they get interested. (As a history major, I feel the same way about historic fiction. A lot of it is junk, but maybe it will pique someone's interest and they'll go on to further study.)
I get Sandra Lee mixed up with Sara Lee and Sandra Dee.
RACHAEL: Complain all you want. It’s like railing against the pounding surf. She only grows stronger and more powerful. Her ear-shattering tones louder and louder. We KNOW she can’t cook. She shrewdly tells us so. So...what is she selling us? Really? She’s selling us satisfaction, the smug reassurance that mediocrity is quite enough. She’s a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that “Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!” Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, “Hell…I could do that. I ain’t gonna…but I could--if I wanted! Now where’s my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?” Where the saintly Julia Child sought to raise expectations, to enlighten us, make us better--teach us--and in fact, did, Rachael uses her strange and terrible powers to narcotize her public with her hypnotic mantra of Yummo and Evoo and Sammys. “You’re doing just fine. You don’t even have to chop an onion--you can buy it already chopped. Aspire to nothing…Just sit there. Have another Triscuit…Sleep….sleep….”
I agree wholeheartedly.
http://blog.ruhlman.com/2007/02/guest_blogging_.html
As I said she certainly evokes strong reactions. Thank you for your comments. Your blog is quite elegant.
"But really, is what she’s doing really so bad? I mean, not everyone can afford to buy top quality, organic items. "
Bit of a false dichotomy there, no? Is certainly cheaper to chop your own onion than buy it chopped-- without even mentioning 'top quality, organic...'.
I've never seen pre-chopped onions — sounds terrible. If they sell 'em that way, we don't have 'em up here in the hinterlands.
Unfortunately, organic foods are very expensive here, especially this time of year, when there are no farm markets open.
As the daughter of a chef, I've always been taught to buy the best and make meals from scratch. But there have been times in my life when money was tight and I could not do that.
I simply refuse to belittle people who cannot afford to eat well or have taste that is different from mine.
It's cruel.
I agree with everything. She's not the type of personality I'd enjoy for my good friend, but if she gets people to cook something better than Hamburger Helper, I'm all for that!
As for your dinner, yummo indeed.
Kalyn, you are always the voice of reason. I think RR would probably wear me out in a minute.
Can you imagine the sodium in a box of Hamburger Helper?
Afford? Raw ingredients are cheaper than packaged, and it is almost always cheaper to cook from scratch than otherwise. However, if you are talking afford in class terms, and the difference in time that the working class has to prepare food compared to the middle class, who can afford all sorts of luxuries given their propensity to benefit rather than lose from surplus labor, I'll then agree with you.
O, I am glad to see we are in agreement on this one!
I agree that it is much cheaper to buy fresh than to buy prepackaged. But fresh food in winter is very expensive where I live.
As a newspaper reporter I've met people up and down the income scale. I know of single mothers who hold several jobs and have limited time for cooking the kind of meals you and I probably prefer.
They consider RR "fancy."
To each his own, I guess...
Glad to see you back here, O.
I'm with you , Mimi, all the way-the smile gets bigger! Thanks, my dear....
I must confess I've never seen RR, since I don't have cable. I've watched the Food Network only when visiting family members who have cable. I've seen Ina Gartin's show as well as Giada's.
But the basic subject you bring up is a recurring theme on your blog, and that is one of snobbery and rudeness vs. civility. Mimi, this is one of the reasons why I wrote you an email telling you that I felt that I had met my new best friend. You have put your finger on one of my pet peeves... One of the things I feel has gone terribly wrong with this society. Freedom of speech is a hard won gift, and a treasure I shall always be grateful for. But freedom of speech doesn't necessitate rudeness. If we look back at some of the great writers and speakers of the past, we will see that they made their opinions clear without pettiness or rudeness. Tearing others down is for those who cannot lift themselves and others up.
The other issue here is something others have addressed, too. And that is that while it may be cheaper in terms of $$ to start from scratch, and it is unquestionably tastier, it is not cheaper in terms of time. And sometimes that is the issue that people face. How to put food on the table quickly. For those of us who work all day, it is not always possible to start from scratch after a long day. I choose to solve that problem by cooking in larger quantities and relying on leftovers. But I am only one person. If I had a husband and possibly children, there just might not be the leftovers.
So don't invite RR to dinner if you don't like her. Don't even watch her show if you don't like her. But as you pointed out, perhaps she'll get those who do watch her into the kitchen. Maybe they are people who might not have used anything but the microwave before. And having taken that first step, maybe their confidence level will rise and they'll get interested in "kicking it up a notch." (Oh, yes. I forgot to mention that my mom was an Emeril fan before she died.)
I've read so much about RR on lots of food blogs but we don't get any of her shows here in the UK. I actually wish I could see a show to judge for myself. We have a lot of TV chefs here and you could easily pick holes in some of their shows.
I don't watch her much, except, of course, for when she tried to eat for $25/day in Paris. It was kind of hilarious...Not impossible to do, of course, for a day, if you don't mind doing somersaults and haggling over an olive. However, Mimi, given the number of comments you've gotten on this new post already, you struck a nerve!
Jann, thank you, you are one of the most upbeat people I know and I am so glad you are part of my blogworld.
ChrisB, you too are always the voice of reason and sanity and I'm glad you are out there, too!
Toni, we are en rapport. Maybe its my job that has sensitized me to man's inhumanity to man. Of course, as a journalist, I cherish and defend freedom of speech. But it try to teach my journalism students that it must be used responsibly. I've seen my share of ugliness and witch hunts.
I'm watching one right now. A bunch of locals have ganged up on a female official and made it impossible to do her job correctly. They hunted her and cornered her and now they are kicking her while she is down. Ugly stuff.
You are quite right. Leave RR alone if you don't like her.
Thank you all so much for posting a variety of thought-provoking opinions here this afternoon. More?
Chris, we were posting at the same time.
I'd love to see her live on $25 a day in Paris!
I have to admit, she's not for me. I watched her several times and I didn't hate her, I just forgot to watch her again. Didn't inspire me. Perkiness does seem to grate on people. I've heard a lot of people say they hate Katie Couric for that reason. (I like Katie.) For me, RR's recipes don't grab me. Her delivery does remind me a bit of the old Bass-O-Matic spoof on Saturday Night Live. :) My only concern is that her success may mean that her type of show becomes more common, knocking out shows with more complicated cooking techniques and recipes.
I used to feel the same way about Katie Couric, but she's cleaned up her act since she's been on nights. Maybe there is hope for RR, too?
I would think the Food Network people would not be so foolish as to develop a whole raft of similar shows. My guess is that RR, who seems to be everywhere at the moment will wear out her brand, as I think Martha Stewart has.
Maybe I'm wrong about Martha? I just don't think she has the pull she had 13 years ago and I don't think that has anything to do with prison.
Mimi,
I cannot believe that mentioning RR would generate such a diversity in opinions! It is indeed one of the best part of blogging - sharing ideas and seeing others' points of view.
I think there are two issues with RR: the perky happy person that rubs quite a few people the wrong way (I am sorry but you cannot be THAT happy ALL the time!)and the hum-hum food she presents (as in, when you compare her to Julia Child).
As a professional and a mom, when my second shift kicks in at the end of the day, I want to get dinner done in a hurry. But I don't want to short-cut it just because. That is why I sometimes rely on RR's recipes. I do watch her show and I do have one of her book although honestly, most of the recipes take me more than 30 minutes - perhaps I should pre-wash my veggies and herbs! Yet, iff it enables me to make dinner quickly so that I can finally sit down and breathe and spend time with my family, then so be it. Actually, sometimes, I wonder if I'm not a fan just because she has a house in the Adirondacks, where I live (although technically, her little town is OUTSIDE the park - we're very picky about that, as you can see by this parenthesis...)
I do have to admit that of all of the celebrichefs, I prefer the Barefoot Contessa. I even think she somewhat looks like you :) She cooks the types of food I see on you blog and I can really relate to the food and their simple, yet elegant presentation.
Something funny is going on here because I left the 2nd comment and it's not there now. Well...
I find it odd that the Food Network changed it's focus right after I started blogging which was when I stopped watching much. I miss Mario and Sara Molton; Paula reminds me of my Aunt some and I find her entertaining but think her arteries must be very narrow at this point; RR probably does more good than harm. BUT it's the semi-homemade that turns me OFF.
Basically, I think I replace food tv with blogging before it lost it's focus.
I find it amazing that this got so many comments.
Tanna, I thought there was a comment from you earlier, too! Do we have gremlins here? I agree - the idea of semi-homemade is just weird. Either it is homemade or it isn't.
BTW, I have had reports of other bloggers being unable to post here in the past couple days.
Sylvie, I feel the same way at night. During my ill-advised hiatus from my current job, I often worked 7-day weeks. I do not recall much from that time, but I know that is when I used bagged lettuce. I do ot do that anymore.
Maybe all these people who demand everything be made from scratch are trust-fund babies who do not work?
As for the contessa, we have the same hair style and if I had Giada's figure I would not be on South Beach. . .The Contessa is a real woman, not a Barbie Doll.
Call me Contessa Mimi from now on.
I think the peppy is just her performance personality. When I teach, I'm much peppier than when I'm quietly hanging out. That's just part of being "on." Didn't Jennifer Hudson say Eddie Murphy when the cameras weren't rolling was really shy?
I am a casual visitor in the food blogging world, so I am curious: do the people who argue EVERYthing must be made from scratch can all their own tomatoes, dry all their own herbs, crack a coconut rather than using it from a can? Where is the line drawn? (This is a sincerely curious, not snarky question. I'm wondering what the parameters of this argument are.)
Mimi, I posted my further thoughts about this; I wrote something after you and I talked about this a little bit.
Oh Laura, thank you! I am behind on my visits to blogs as this week has been nuts. I might tell all over the weekend. I can relate everything in life to food becase in my books, food is life.
I, too, am more animated when I teach or when I speak before large groups or even small groups. You are quite right: This is a must.
Morever, I have observed that the most successful professionals are usually quite, introspective types who have adopted an outgoing public persona.
Thanks for bringing this up.
Long story, but I realized that I own an RR cookbook. I bought it as a shower gift 3-4 years ago for a niece but found that some of the pages were upside down so I bought a new one, and forgot to return this one.
Short story is, I paged through it and found very few recipes that included anything more readymade than canned tomatoes or white beans. Really.
In journalism, we are supposed to search for the truth. The truth is that this RR book (maybe this does not apply to the others) was no more can- or box-oriented that any other cookbook I've seen.
What I think is that anyone who has enough time to do everything from scratch simply does not have a balanced life.
That's what I thought about RR! You know, I don't really watch her very much, but I always enjoy her when she's on. (I think she's just cute. ) But I can recall her using store-bought pizza dough once, and once doing a show that included a way to pep-up frozen fries, but most of her things don't seem that pre-packaged to me. Just simple. That's why I was wondering where the from-scratch line was being drawn.
I dunno, Laura.
Perhaps some one else out theree would better define that line for us.
Anyone?
She's not Poor Rachael Ray. She's Rich Rachael Ray and laughing all the way to the bank.
Yes, she is, isn't she?
Good point. I hear she's worth $8 million. That's why I think a certain amount of jealousy enters in to the equation.
Well said mimi! I have nothing to add, you summed up my take on the whole subject beautifully. Much easier to focus on the positive. And for the record, One of my family's favorite dinners comes from RR.
Oh, Charles, you tempt me!
I might just have to do a Rachael Ray Day and see who shows up....
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