Do You Miss Emeril's Bologna?

Food television has changed.  Early on there was Julia Child, followed by The Galloping Gourmet and others. Later, when the  Food Network started, you could tune in and get ideas on what to make for dinner.  You could learn new recipes by watching Mario.  He was fun to watch  despite his poor fashion sense.

Mario always wears these
 

  He would make homemade pasta look easy. And fun.



 Or you could watch Emeril bam! his way around a kitchen, while at least once, trying but failing to stuff an entire  bologna into an oven.  There was Paula cooking with butter, and the slightly pretentious, but likeable Barefoot Contessa cooking up gourmet dinners and ladies luncheons in her Hamptons kitchen, to name just a few.

Lately, though, Food Network is mostly contests instead of cooking.  If you ever need to make 750 cupcakes in an hour and a half, or if you have to make chicken noodle soup with one hand tied behind your back, or stir with a shovel, food television is for you.  If you want to make dinner using leftover fermenting salmon, cotton candy, dragon fruit and brazil nuts there's a show that'll help.

It seems as if food television has become a reflection of ourselves.  Many of us don't have the time to cook, and when we do, we are juggling soccer schedules, dance practices, music lessons and work schedules to fit it in.   These food contests are helpful after all.  How fast can you whip a corndog and pretzel dinner with pickles as the vegetable because you didn't have time to shop, (Guy's Grocery Games), and making dinner from what's  in the refrigerator.(Chopped)  I can also see that knowing  who has the best pizza  might come in handy when you're looking for new places to add to your speed dial.  (The Best Of..)





green vegetable
 

I for one though, look forward to the day that  Food Network goes back to real cooking, even if some of us don't have the time or the inclination to cook that way. Maybe, instead of being a reflection, they can show us who we could be, if we choose.  Television doesn't have to be about real life.  Just watch The Real Housewives of  New Jersey and you'll see that.