In Defense of Food Network

Bill Buford’s piece in the New Yorker about the Food Network has one central message: We’re all dumb apes who can no longer cook even basic meals. Sadly, he’s pretty much right. Rachael Ray grilling skirt steak isn’t exactly the sort of thing our grandmothers needed a manual for, let alone a 30-minute instructional video.

But you know what? Fine. So we don’t know how to cook anymore because we eat prepared food more often, either at home or at restaurants. Buford can moan about dumbed-down cooks like Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis replacing more traditional, gifted chefs on the Food Network’s programming menu or he can moan about how people don’t know how to cook anymore, but he can’t complain about both.

Even the Accidental Hedonist joins the dogpile, taking issue with the “food porn” surreality of the way Food Network shoots its cooks’ ingredients, with nary a pool of blood or dirt-covered tuber to be found. What horseshit. One doen’t expect This Old House to begin every show by felling a tree for the sawmill.

Perhaps the Hedonist would be happier with CSI: FCI?

Shows like 30-Minute Meals and Everyday Italian are designed to give folks a few ideas and inspiration to actually skip the drive-through for an evening and try cooking at home. They’re speaking to the skill level of the modern homemaker.

One concession: Rachael Ray, while boneable, is what harpies use to scare their children into behaving. Thank god Alton Brown makes up for her efforts tenfold. In fact, his two shows—Good Eats and Iron Chef America—are the best programs on the network, entertaining and informative.

TV Dinners [NewYorker via Kottke]