How fitting that my final Food Network show is somewhat regional; Paula Deen is a Savannah chef and therefore a beautiful metaphor for the end of my Georgia experience. Too bad her food looks disgusting.
To be fair, I’m burnt out, maybe this food isn’t disgusting. But Beef Wellington with oyster pate looks disgusting to me right now. So does Shrimp Pie.
Paula’s accent is slightly endearing; she feels like the real deal. I liked the episode I saw once where she made beer can chicken, shoving a beer can in a chicken’s cavity and cooking it on a grill. I also like how she rides a motorcycle and has biker friends. I just don’t like her food.
That pretty much complete’s the spectrum, doesn’t it? Let’s draw that spectrum:
INANE/EMPTY
Ultimate Kitchens
The Best Of
Food Finds
BAD CONTENT/BAD HOST
Good Food Fast with Family Circle
30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray
GOOD CONTENT/BAD HOST
Hot Off the Grill with Bobby Flay
How To Boil Water (b/c of Reese Witherspoon)
Calling All Cooks (b/c the anchors are kind of sucky)
The Essence of Emeril
BAD CONTENT/GOOD HOST
Paula’s Home Cooking
GOOD CONTENT/GOOD HOST
Sarah’s Secrets
Food 911
Molto Mario (the best)
And that my friends is my analysis of 8 hours of Food TV watching. Thank you for your time and may my brain cells one day be restored.
Applause!
That was great, thanks so much for enduring that for us. Being a non-tv, especially non-cable person, a step through cooking shows was like a whole new world. It was marvelous of you to spare us all that tedius viewing. Fantastic reviews!
ok. so have you ever been to savannah and eaten at the Lady & Sons? the food is classic southern, classic savannah. No longer living in the south myself (at least not technically, you try telling anyone in the DC Area that they’re in the south just because they’re below the Mason -Dixon line and you risk a beating), I miss that cuisine. One of my girlfriends got me the Lady & Sons cookbooks for my bridal shower a few months back and I’ve made several recipes out of it (knocking out some calories and fat, of course). . .Southern cooking, true southern cooking, is something to be cherished. . .you might miss the biscuits when you move to yankee country, my friend. ..
oh, and, by the way, best of luck in the NYC.
I’m just curious, but did you photoshop her eyes to make her look like a space alien?
Thanks, Adam. Glad to know I’m not missing much by not watching food shows on TV.
what about Alton Brown’s “Good Eats”? One of the best shows on the food network- entertaining and extremely informative- he explains some of the science behind the cooking, without being annoying.
on another note, i am studying in italy at the moment, and even here, they hate rachel ray.
Wow Adam, you outdid yourself. I just read your Food Network reviews outloud to my dad who religiously watches the FN and had him cracking up with agreement.
YAY! That was fantastic. I enjoyed reading each entry and stalking the comments section of your blog. Consider me a regular reader, now. Thanks for this great series.
Danielle,
I’m kind of a food network junkie, and have to say I agree with your categorizations of just about every show. To the bad content/bad show category, I’d have to add the insipid Semi Homemade with Sandra — Lee is it? She’s pretty unbearable, and somehow by the end of every show there’s a multi-tiered display of white trash desserts to show for a half hour of time investment. Plus she’s skinny, so f her.
I also can’t bear to watch that Every Day Italian show or the Easy Entertaining Show. Both would fall into the good content/bad host category in my book.
I also totally agree on the panning of Rachel Ray. She gives Western New Yorkers a bad name.
I’m bummed that you don’t like Paula, though. She’s my idol. Not so much because of the food she makes (although usually it looks a helluva a lot better than oysters and whatever wellington slop it was you described).
I adore her because of her sheer, unadulterated love of eating. The woman looks as though she’s having an orgasm every time she samples her creations (which is every time she makes something from what I’ve seen). I really love her. Please give her another chance, and pay close attention when she takes that inevitable bite.
I would like to get the phone number of namd and address where to buy the beer glass bottles, that Pauls used to meke uncle Bubba’s beer biscuits.
Many thanks..
I think that Paula’s cooking show is one of the best on tv. Her foods are excellent and I have tried many of them.
I like to look at her expressions when she is tasting the foods she makes it makes me think of my mothers cooking.
I would let her cook for me anytime.
SAW YOUR SHOW ON SHRIMP NOV. 5, 04 IF YOU DUST YOUR SHRIMP WITH CORN STARCH BEFORE THE BATTERING. THE BATTER WILL STICK BETTER. ALWAYS WATCHING PAUL FRANKEN
Thanks Paul. Your all-caps and good cooking advice makes me think you’d be an ideal husband. Do you snorkel?
Best,
Paula
Whom ever says your food is disgusting is crazy! I for one have tried many of your recipes, and my family has enjoyed it.If people don’t like your cooking or thinks it’s disgusting or even don’t like your accent turn off the tv and stop critisizing and do something better with their time. I think you are sweet and jolly. That is whatI like about your show(I like your food too). Keep up the GREAT cooking!
[I think it’s funny when people post comments on my Food Network marathon thread thinking they’re writing directly to the stars of the shows. This has happened several times. I think it’s funny.]
Paula is a warm and engaging host with a wonderful sense of humor. Each presentation of of her show is entertaining and you can almost taste each delicious bite as she enthusiastically samples her finished recipe. What makes her show unique and refreshing are the little out-of-the-kitchen jaunts around town and on the water with family and friends all in the name of creating a mouth watering dish. Love the humor and cute antics of her sons as they remind me so much of my own! Hope we see Paula for a long time as she is a real family favorite.
I heard that Paula Deen is going to be cruising on the Celebrity Millennium in April 06. If anyone else is interested in cruising with her the info is on http://www.PaulaCookinAtSea.com