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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Rachael Ray Stole My Life
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AT RIGHT: Why can’t I be on the cover of Newsweek like Rachael Ray (and Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin)?
Photo: PRNewsFoto/Newsweek
I really have no reason to dislike Rachael Ray, the perky optimist-cum-TV chef who has turned her original “30 Minute Meals” television show into three Food Network shows, upteen million cookbooks and her own magazine, “Every Day with Rachael Ray.” But I do.
I could argue that she’s not qualified as a culinarian. (She openly admits that she can’t bake because that requires proper measuring of ingredients. I taught baking and pastry arts at the largest culinary school in the world for seven years, dangit.) I could argue that she’s just not cute enough. (After all, her weight has become such an issue in the tabloids. One of my colleagues actually calls a patty melt and fries a “Rachael Ray.”) And what’s with all those catch phrases? EVOO? Puhlease. Stoup? It sounds way too much like a Yiddish term that has NOTHING to do with cooking (not the kind in the kitchen, anyway).
But the truth is, I’m just jealous. I think she stole my life — wasn’t I supposed to have all the Food Network shows and the publishing deals? Apparently someone in the Great Beyond has the two of us mixed up. After all, I’m perky and optimistic. And I can bake. Plus, how’s this for a culinary catch phrase: ooey gooey. I use it all the time. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the Cosmos figures the whole thing out. Meanwhile, I’ll be here at my desk thinking up a response to “yum-o.” How good is THAT?
Who’s your favorite TV chef? Do you plan to watch Atlanta chef Richard Blais battle it out on the season premiere of “Top Chef” tomorrow night?
“Good oil, like good wine, is a gift from the gods.”
— George Ellwanger
Especially when it’s EVOO.
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