Julia Child, the original celebrity chef and what she hath wrought

Julia Child, the original television celebrity chef, would be 100 hundred years old today. Her show on public television, The French Chef, broke ground for everything that has followed.

Of course it is remarkable that her show even happened. And if it had been a commercial station or network, rather than what was called at the time educational television, it probably wouldn’t. She was most likely not what CBS, NBC or ABC had in mind as a female television host – even one doing a cooking show. She didn’t look or sound like Bess Myerson or Harriet Nelson. She was tall, had that voice and cooked with abandon.

But the show was a success, first on WGBH Boston, and later on what became PBS.
Her success spawned other cooking shows, initially on public television stations but later as cable TV developed on commercial cable channels as well.
The French Chef and the subsequent shows she hosted, as well as the other cooking/food shows that came were essentially cooking demonstration programs. Here is the recipe, here is how you do it.

That has all changed. There are still the recipe demonstration shows, but in addition we now also have the challenges: groups of cooks vying to for this championship or that. It started with the Iron Chef franchise. There is an American version, but the Japanese original was quirkier and funnier, partly because it was dubbed – the dubbing itself was humorous.

We also have the restaurant makeover shows, Robert Irvine and Gordon Ramsay, etc. Bobby Flay even has one about helping people – who have no idea what they are doing – open a restaurant in 3 days.

Now the cooking challenge programs have gotten even more strange and extreme. There is the not so exotic, Grill Masters Challenge on the Food Network, that takes place on a dusty street in a western movie set town. But you have others that put people in extremely difficult cooking situations the middle of a jungle, in the water, hiking into the back country to cook.

I keep waiting for what it next. I imagine programmers sitting around a cable channel office trying to think up even stranger formats that involve food (I haven’t even mentioned Anthony Bourdain). Perhaps “Desperate Housewives in the Kitchen – I leave that to your imagination.

As I have said, I am a foody and I love watching cooking shows. I even watch some of the ‘challenge’ ones. But there is a limit for me and I do draw the line.

Shepherd's market

Going to London for the Olympics? Visit Shepherds Market for shopping or something to eat. There are lots of restaurants with a wide-variety of food options. Most restaurants are small and the ethnic food choices are varied: French, Italian, Greek, typical British pubs with typical British pub fare, Sushi (London is one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities after all) and some middle-eastern. Middle-eastern offerings are not surprising. Not only has Mayfair seen a large influx of middle-eastern residents (oil money likes the Mayfair neighborhood) but the area is the site of a number of embassies of middle-eastern countries I often stay in Mayfair when in London and always enjoy eating in Shepherd’s Market. One of my favorite restaurants is L’Autre, about which I have written in the past. The menu is Polish and Mexican but the name is French. The name means ‘uncommon’ and that it is. Even in today’s world of food fusion, that is somewhat unique

As I said most restaurants are small and some have common ownership. Three, the Old Express, The Market Brasserie and The Little Square share supplies. If one runs short of something you can see cooks or waiters running to one of the others for the item. All three are within 100ft of one another and it is not uncommon to see a waiter running for a fresh supply of Rocket or Espresso grounds. There is also some very nice shopping in the Market; small boutique style shops. There is also a terrific movie theatre, The Curzon, if you are interested. It is part of a chain that is similar to the Landmark theatres we have here. It is what we used to call an ‘art film’ house. Shepherds Market is just a few blocks from Hyde Park and is between Curzon Street and Piccadilly. The square was originally developed in 1735 by Edward Shepherd, hence the name.