As someone who communicates about food, people ask me about food television. "You would be great on those shows." They are kind people. I could be good on The Best Thing I Ever Ate since I can be passionate about the best thing I did eat. My "best thing" would actually be good.
Hosting Chopped or some other competition show would require some sincerity, but being aggressive in yelling out "2 minutes. You have 2 minutes left, chefs" would make me numb quickly. Doing the actual fake tension countdown would make me very sad.
The primary reason why these food shows and your humble narrator wouldn't be a good fit is what makes people on the Food Network and Cooking Channel so effective for television: I love food yet they love everything.
I acted in high school plays. I could be a good voiceover artist. Acting on television? Not likely.
When they try a food, the response is positive followed by a recitation, a backsell of the ingredients, and how they come together in what they are eating. The responses almost feel like completing a MadLibs page.
Food on television is loving food and acting the part.
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Rachael Ray and Katie Lee both received sexist coverage IMHO over their "mmmmmmm" response to eating foods.
Maybe these TV personalities really love everything they eat on camera. This is where I can't compete with them. Eating a hamburger with 10 other ingredients and being able to spot the nuance of the burger taste is pretty disingenuous. They could have superhuman skills where they can taste 12 things in just a single bite.
Objective vs. subjective: watching them say a burger is juicy when the burger looks overcooked. I couldn't pull off that lie even if they would cancel out my considerable credit card debt.
If you love everything, how can you tell when something is good. Yes, this is food television where they have picked the "best" so everything is good.
Some food TV shows have actual actors, such as Tiffani Amber Thiessen, Tia Mowry, and Haylie Duff. Michael Symon isn't a better actor than they are but Symon is better in the food TV world.
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This brings us to Anthony Bourdain. Bourdain did a different level of food television. Sometimes, he would later say in an interview about how something he ate wasn't that great. He had subtle levels of difference. A soup made with a goat's head wouldn't be the "best thing" but Bourdain was more about the idea that a soup made from a goat's head could be good.
Bourdain loved sea urchin and anything made from pork. His inflection would change when those ingredients would come up. Bourdain may be more polite when eating on television but you know he really loves sea urchin.
Michael Symon shows that when you love everything, you love nothing. Bourdain would tell you what he liked better than other things. There is a difference.
BalanceofFood.com reality TV coverage
BalanceofFood.com television coverage
No one, not even me wants to see someone on TV say "that is awful" or quote such lovely child-like words as "yucky." We want to believe that what we see on food television is not "yucky." A happy medium is a good step. Taste usually refers to how a food comes across to us; taste also means having good taste in what is out there.
My palette is selective and I tend to be honest: primary reasons I would be a failure on food television.
photo credit: Cooking Channel
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