|
Post by pairesta on Feb 28, 2018 6:30:15 GMT -5
Netflix has Ugly Delicious, a new food show hosted by David Chang and Peter Meehan. Deep dive explorations of a dish, like Pizza, or Tacos. One of the episodes is about Cajun Crawfish and is shot here in Houston. Can't wait to watch it. It's odd that Chang and Meehan are working together on this; didn't they have a falling out that was the reason Lucky Peach ceased publication? I watched the first episode this weekend and thought it was, I dunno, okay? I'm confused by the concept, since there was absolutely nothing ugly about the food in the episode (pizza). And also I generally dislike David Chang as a presenter. I've no doubt his food is good - I know is ginger scallion sauce is good - but Chang as always struck me as a huge dick. Maybe a great chef, but someone who would be completely insufferable to be around, and this episode of television didn't convince me of anything different. I might actually hate him. The third episode is about home cooking and features Chang with his Mom and goes a long way to softening his edges (although he infuriatingly contradicts himself in a discussion he has towards the end). He also explains the title of the show, so maybe this should have been the first episode of the series instead. The Houston episode is great, and made me feel bad that I'm not eating out more to enjoy this great city.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 1, 2018 8:48:04 GMT -5
I liked the taco episode of Ugly Delicious quite a bit more. I attribute this to 3 things: 1) Tacos! 2) I was a bit tipsy. 3) I have a newfound crush on Rosio Sanchez.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Mar 1, 2018 10:51:56 GMT -5
OMG YES. I was totally going to mention her but decided not to. But I was in absolute LLLUUURRV with her by the end of the episode. Those eyebrows!
|
|
Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber
ffc what now
Posts: 7,058
Gender (additional): mostly snacks
|
Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Mar 1, 2018 22:12:23 GMT -5
Wasn't David Chang in the first season of The Mind Of A Chef? He didn't seem that dickish to me, and I was actually intrigued enough to try Momofuku Noodle Bar sometime last year I think. The show was a while ago, so maybe he became more of a dick as he grew more famous?
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Mar 2, 2018 6:58:02 GMT -5
Wasn't David Chang in the first season of The Mind Of A Chef? He didn't seem that dickish to me, and I was actually intrigued enough to try Momofuku Noodle Bar sometime last year I think. The show was a while ago, so maybe he became more of a dick as he grew more famous? You can kind of see it creeping around the edges then. That was PBS, too, so he feels a little more free to cut loose. I think it has gotten worse over time though.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 2, 2018 8:54:17 GMT -5
Wasn't David Chang in the first season of The Mind Of A Chef? He didn't seem that dickish to me, and I was actually intrigued enough to try Momofuku Noodle Bar sometime last year I think. The show was a while ago, so maybe he became more of a dick as he grew more famous? And to go back to Gumby's post, aside from my personal impressions of Chang, he doesn't strike me as a natural TV presence. Kind of bland. Which is fine, of course. On shows like this we want to see "real people," but my point is that it seems like Chang does a LOT of TV for someone who doesn't seem suited to the form.
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Mar 6, 2018 20:05:17 GMT -5
I like David Chang! You guys are no fun at all.
I've been skipping around the new show - so far I've seen Pizza, Stuffed, Home Cooking, and Fried Chicken, and I liked but not loved them all. The show is good, but kinda feels like Lucky Peach/Mind of a Chef Lite - and do we need that? What new ideas does this show, er, bring to the table? All of the Deep Thoughts about food and culture have been covered before, and the quirkiness feels forced or tacked on for cuteness-sake.
That being said, it's not a bad show. The Home Cooking one is quite good, and the Fried Chicken one too ... IF you can stand looking at Aziz Ansari any more. What a bummer.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Mar 7, 2018 9:33:07 GMT -5
The show is good, but kinda feels like Lucky Peach/Mind of a Chef Lite - and do we need that? What new ideas does this show, er, bring to the table? All of the Deep Thoughts about food and culture have been covered before, and the quirkiness feels forced or tacked on for cuteness-sake. I think alot of this stems from Chang's reflexive (and infuriating) hatred of foodie-ism. He's so self-conscious about appearing like he's on a cooking or food travel show; he's constantly interjecting and lampshading the fact that he's on a food show but doesn't want to be. "I don't want to sound like I'm on a fucking food show and say how good this is, but this is so good!" When he gets out of his own way, either literally by letting Meehan or someone else be on camera, or figuratively by being on unfamiliar ground, the show gets better. The fried chicken episode--after that god-awful sitcom parody start--settles into an unexpectedly politics and culture-heavy deep dive into what fried chicken means in America and Chang is clearly uncomfortable the whole episode, but he knows enough to shut up and let other people talk, and it made for a much more thought-provoking episode than I thought going in. Then at the end there's that bit of him getting angry that white people are cooking Korean food. Yet a few episodes back, he was getting angry that people were offended when tacos or pizza get appropriated. "You can't tell me what's good! Fuck you!" The disconnect there, and that no one called him on it, is so goddamned irritating.
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Mar 7, 2018 9:46:55 GMT -5
I think though that he knows his feelings are illogical and contradictory, and he'd probably laugh if some white guy said 'Fuck you, you can't tell me not to cook Korean!' But yeah, he's all over the place - I liked him better as the subject of a series rather than the host. And I get the feeling that he's trying waaaay to hard to express Important Ideas about food, when all he really wants to do is drink too much beer and eat greasy food.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 9, 2018 23:19:21 GMT -5
I hope we can at least all agree that Dave Choe appearing in an amazing red suit, and then later in the same episode appearing in a hoodie covered with pictures of himself wearing that same suit, is one of the best things ever.
|
|
Gumbercules
AV Clubber
Get out of my dreams, and into my van
Posts: 2,979
|
Post by Gumbercules on Mar 12, 2018 5:55:14 GMT -5
on FB someone posted about a new show on Netflix called Nailed It, so I watched the first episode. Before I continue, have any of you seen season 2 of Master of None? I swear to god, they just used the same shitty looking set for his show Cupcake Wars for this show. The host was terrible, the jokes were worse, and everything just seemed forced. It was awful. Do not watch this show. No one's favorite chef will ever be on this.
|
|
Crash Test Dumbass
AV Clubber
ffc what now
Posts: 7,058
Gender (additional): mostly snacks
|
Post by Crash Test Dumbass on Mar 12, 2018 9:38:47 GMT -5
on FB someone posted about a new show on Netflix called Nailed It, so I watched the first episode. Before I continue, have any of you seen season 2 of Master of None? I swear to god, they just used the same shitty looking set for his show Cupcake Wars for this show. The host was terrible, the jokes were worse, and everything just seemed forced. It was awful. Do not watch this show. No one's favorite chef will ever be on this. I watched the trailer for that and couldn't see what the point was. You're braver than me to have actually watched an episode. I think someday I'm just going to start a show called Terrible People Make Bad Food and sell it to the networks and never have to work another day in my life.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 12, 2018 11:28:12 GMT -5
... ... ... ... ... ...
The wife and I watched 4 episodes of Nailed It! last night and thought it was really funny. Liked the host, liked the challenges, liked the contestants, liked the judges. Come on, how can you not like Sylvia Weinstock getting bored with the challenge and wandering around the contestant pantry looking for things to steal? She was a hoot.
It plays like a parody of shows like Cupcake Wars - the likes of which I hate by the way - in which they only had enough budget for a single take, so whatever they got they got.
Unlike something like Cutthroat Kitchen, which is simultaneously self-serious and ridiculous (and terrible) - Nailed It knows it's stupid and plays loose with it. We enjoyed it.
(And much as I love that one British show, as one of the world's worst bakers, it's fun to watch people fail in all the same ways I would have.)
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Mar 26, 2018 8:06:43 GMT -5
So I rewatched the first season of Mind of a Chef shortly after completing Ugly Delicious. The older show wasn't fresh in mind at all, so it was funny to be reminded just how completely similar the two seasons are. A lot of the same segments, the same chefs, the same celebrities, the same opinions. I like how Mind of a Chef is more focused on recipes and cooking demonstrations, even if many of them are not easily replicable in the home kitchen. But I favor the weirdness and humor of Ugly Delicious, and even if some of it is well-worn territory, I'm glad they dipped into the historical, cultural and sociological factors behind these common food concepts. The fried chicken episode was my favorite.
|
|
Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
|
Post by Trurl on Mar 27, 2018 10:28:10 GMT -5
For some reason I've gotten into the youtube show "Binging With Babish", where he recreates dishes from movies and pop culture. I find the idea of recreating dishes interesting in ways that simply following recipes isn't, there's a puzzle-solving and engineering aspect to it. Bon Appetit also had a number of videos where the chefs try to recreate junkfood in their kitchen, which I also liked.
I've also watched Jun's Kitchen because his cats are adorable.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Apr 6, 2018 9:18:22 GMT -5
I've rewatched most of Mind of a Chef at this point, and my favorite episodes are the "Techniques" episodes that conclude most of the seasons. All recipe demos, no story.
God I miss cooking shows. Not food shows ... cooking shows.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Apr 6, 2018 9:52:56 GMT -5
I've rewatched most of Mind of a Chef at this point, and my favorite episodes are the "Techniques" episodes that conclude most of the seasons. All recipe demos, no story. God I miss cooking shows. Not food shows ... cooking shows.Something about cooking shows is so soothing to me. I remember being very little and just hypnotized watching them. (Edit: I just realized this could be some sort of ASMR thing with me? I'm still not entirely sure what it is but what I've read sounds like my response to cooking shows). Cooking Channel started off promising only, well, cooking, then they let one "X on the Road, sampling the Highways and Byways of America!" show through the gates and it was all over.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Apr 6, 2018 9:55:57 GMT -5
So because I watch mostly food stuff on Netflix my queue is clogged with food and cooking recommendations. I've watched most of "Ainsley Eats the Streets", aka "Ansley Harriott goes to countries not known for street food, remarks on that fact about halfway through the episode, and refuses to eat about half of what's offered to him. Also he appears to have no handlers or translators so he just bellows in English at people."
|
|
|
Post by songstarliner on Apr 7, 2018 20:01:56 GMT -5
I want to like Phil Rosenthal, host of Somebody Feed Phil, who seems like a genuinely nice fellow - but he gets on my nerves. There's only so much cutesy hamming around I can stomach, thank you I'll be here all week.
|
|
Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
|
Post by Trurl on Apr 9, 2018 21:08:55 GMT -5
Somebody give him a cooking show
|
|
|
Post by The Spice Weasel on Apr 9, 2018 21:17:21 GMT -5
I've rewatched most of Mind of a Chef at this point, and my favorite episodes are the "Techniques" episodes that conclude most of the seasons. All recipe demos, no story. God I miss cooking shows. Not food shows ... cooking shows.10 years ago I probably averaged between 6-12 hours a week watching Food Network. Now I catch about 15 minutes of DDD late night on weekends when I'm clicking over during a commercial break of the show I'm really watching.
|
|
|
Post by Pedantic Editor Type on Apr 9, 2018 22:00:22 GMT -5
I may be professionally obligated to watch Nailed It! ... we provided product and prizes for the contestants.
|
|
Trurl
Shoutbox Elitist
Posts: 7,471
|
Post by Trurl on Apr 10, 2018 0:22:48 GMT -5
I may be professionally obligated to watch Nailed It! ... we provided product and prizes for the contestants. I remember when game shows were sponsored by Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Apr 10, 2018 8:38:09 GMT -5
I want to like Phil Rosenthal, host of Somebody Feed Phil, who seems like a genuinely nice fellow - but he gets on my nerves. There's only so much cutesy hamming around I can stomach, thank you I'll be here all week. YES. Me too. Just the constant "It's me, Phil! Everybody's favorite!". He's slightly better with this series than the PBS one, but I still need a few days after each episode to reset the system. That New Orleans episode is pretty perfect, though.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Apr 11, 2018 7:50:03 GMT -5
I like the theme song to Somebody Feed Phil. It's so silly it makes me laugh. Otherwise I agree with y'all. The peppy, "nice guy"-ness can be creepy though. That one early episode where he found out it was his handler's birthday and took her to that fancy dinner. The way he was just staring at her, watching her eat, waiting for her reactions. It was very, "look at this great thing I've done for you that you didn't ask for. Be pleased, I demand it."
I'm making it more sinister than it was, but still, weird scene.
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Aug 19, 2019 7:41:36 GMT -5
Let’s talk YouTube chefs!
YouTube is the last bastion of the instructional cooking show. Last year I used it to research much of the French cooking I did, and now it’s an after dinner ritual to just surf the channel and see what’s there. Here’s some of my favorites:
French Cooking Academy: This is where I got most of my research done for French meals last year. It runs the gamut, from basics like making your own stock or how to prep and cut vegetables, to French country classics, to elevated Escoffier fare. The host is affable and goofy, often getting giddy about how good he made is. Apparently he’s made enough off the channel that he has moved back to France from Australia for the year and is now touring the country, stopping in each region and doing a run of local dishes.
Food Wishes: We’ve discussed this before. There’s no real theme other than whatever the host wants to cook, but there’s years of backlogged recipes (he does two or three episodes a week) to pore through. The host has a particular sing-song cadence to how he talks that my wife hates but I like. Also, plenty of cornball dad jokes abound.
Adam Liaw: He leans hard into the ASMR qualities of cooking shows: soft white background, gentle voice, soothing music, tantalizing closeups of food. He specializes in Asian cuisines, so he’s my first stop now when I’m going to cook something from that part of the world.
Bon Apetit: This has a whole roster of cooking shows and hosts. You’ve got Alex Delaney puttering around the country, eating different versions of a dish a city is known for; goofball spaz Brad Leone and It’s Alive; Carla Music aka Everyone’s Mom, and Claire Saffitz. Oh, Claire. She is a goddess. I keep waiting for my wife to realize I sure seem to watch a lot of videos with her. Ahem. Anyways. Watching the videos shot in their expansive test kitchen has now made Working at Bon Apetit rocket to the top of my fantasy jobs list.
Binging with Babish/Basics with Babish: Two shows: Binging has the host cooking a famous food dish from a movie, book, or TV show. Basics is a series on cooking fundamentals. The host very much has Alton Brown’s same cadence and very dry humor.
Taco Tuesday/Rick Bayless: It started as just recycling clips from his old PBS shows, but gradually they started adding new content just for YouTube. They update only very sporadically, but there’s quite a useful backlog of taco ideas and so far, not one dud.
Alex French Guy: A little goes a long way for him with me. He’s a bit too YouTube-y: working his subscribers, hooks and gimmicks. And he doesn’t really do all that much French anymore. But I must say his pizza series is a must if you want to up your game.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Aug 19, 2019 8:20:09 GMT -5
Let’s talk YouTube chefs! YouTube is the last bastion of the instructional cooking show. Last year I used it to research much of the French cooking I did, and now it’s an after dinner ritual to just surf the channel and see what’s there. Here’s some of my favorites: French Cooking Academy: This is where I got most of my research done for French meals last year. It runs the gamut, from basics like making your own stock or how to prep and cut vegetables, to French country classics, to elevated Escoffier fare. The host is affable and goofy, often getting giddy about how good he made is. Apparently he’s made enough off the channel that he has moved back to France from Australia for the year and is now touring the country, stopping in each region and doing a run of local dishes. Food Wishes: We’ve discussed this before. There’s no real theme other than whatever the host wants to cook, but there’s years of backlogged recipes (he does two or three episodes a week) to pore through. The host has a particular sing-song cadence to how he talks that my wife hates but I like. Also, plenty of cornball dad jokes abound. Adam Liaw: He leans hard into the ASMR qualities of cooking shows: soft white background, gentle voice, soothing music, tantalizing closeups of food. He specializes in Asian cuisines, so he’s my first stop now when I’m going to cook something from that part of the world. Bon Apetit: This has a whole roster of cooking shows and hosts. You’ve got Alex Delaney puttering around the country, eating different versions of a dish a city is known for; goofball spaz Brad Leone and It’s Alive; Carla Music aka Everyone’s Mom, and Claire Saffitz. Oh, Claire. She is a goddess. I keep waiting for my wife to realize I sure seem to watch a lot of videos with her. Ahem. Anyways. Watching the videos shot in their expansive test kitchen has now made Working at Bon Apetit rocket to the top of my fantasy jobs list. Binging with Babish/Basics with Babish: Two shows: Binging has the host cooking a famous food dish from a movie, book, or TV show. Basics is a series on cooking fundamentals. The host very much has Alton Brown’s same cadence and very dry humor. Taco Tuesday/Rick Bayless: It started as just recycling clips from his old PBS shows, but gradually they started adding new content just for YouTube. They update only very sporadically, but there’s quite a useful backlog of taco ideas and so far, not one dud. Alex French Guy: A little goes a long way for him with me. He’s a bit too YouTube-y: working his subscribers, hooks and gimmicks. And he doesn’t really do all that much French anymore. But I must say his pizza series is a must if you want to up your game. I've never watched French Cooking Academy or Alex French Guy, so I'll have to check those out. Thoughts on your list: Food Wishes: I'm already on record with my love of Chef John and Food Wishes. I love his dopey humor and sing-song cadence. I love how he keeps all his mistakes in his videos, or even admits when he doesn't like the recipe he's making. I love that his website is still on Blogger (!!!) I've had great luck with his recipes when I've tried them, too. His no chop, no form meatballs are one of my go-to's when I just want a simple meatball. Adam Liaw: I like this guy a lot, and you're right, his videos are very chill and relaxing. He has such a laid back and calm presence that I'll end up watching videos for dishes that I know I'll never cook (like anything seafood). His homemade teriyaki sauce is pure magic. Bon Apetit: Love their videos, though they're on the long side. It doesn't always feel necessary to do in 12 minutes what these other channels can do in 5. But I like the personalities of all their chefs, and the information is good. I like the Q&A videos. I like Clair, but I don't care very much about the series where she makes homemade versions of popular candies. This marks a rare occasion when you and I crush on a different lady. I'm more of a Molly man myself. Babish: I like the basics more than the binging. This is a good series for its information, but I don't turn to it often, because I gotta say ..... I just don't like Andrew Rea all that much. I feel like I say this a lot about TV chefs, but Rea seems like a dick. He doesn't seem pleasant to be around. Like any affability he has is a put-on for the camera, and then behind the scenes he'd be a really prickly perfectionist who's mean to interns.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Aug 19, 2019 8:30:29 GMT -5
And a few of my own:
Marion's Kitchen: Very similar to Adam Liaw in both cuisine and style. Marion teaches Thai and Chinese cooking, and I find her recipes about an inch more approachable than Adam's. There seems to be a little less prep, one less strange ingredient, etc. Videos are very short, and she puts them out constantly. A couple a week at least.
Pro Home Cooks: This channel used to called Brothers Green Eats and starred two brothers teaching basic home cooking techniques. One brother very recently left the channel to do his own thing, so now it's down to the one guy. I think the channel is still finding its footing through the transition, but in its day it had a lot of good information. The remaining brother does a sandwich series where he dives into the history of a sandwich (usually something esoteric, but he's also done, like, a Philly) and then he'll make the ultimate version of it. Like, down to making his own bread for it. I like those videos in particular.
Tasty: The Buzzfeed behemoth. Videos are short and snappy. I like'em.
|
|
LazBro
Prolific Poster
Posts: 10,018
|
Post by LazBro on Aug 19, 2019 8:31:52 GMT -5
And not for nuthin', Alton Brown's Return of the Eats finally debuts on Food Network this Sunday. AB is back, baby! (Of course I don't have cable and don't get the Food Network )
|
|
|
Post by pairesta on Aug 20, 2019 7:05:18 GMT -5
Adam Liaw: I like this guy a lot, and you're right, his videos are very chill and relaxing. He has such a laid back and calm presence that I'll end up watching videos for dishes that I know I'll never cook (like anything seafood). His homemade teriyaki sauce is pure magic. Babish: I like the basics more than the binging. This is a good series for its information, but I don't turn to it often, because I gotta say ..... I just don't like Andrew Rea all that much. I feel like I say this a lot about TV chefs, but Rea seems like a dick. He doesn't seem pleasant to be around. Like any affability he has is a put-on for the camera, and then behind the scenes he'd be a really prickly perfectionist who's mean to interns. Pro Home Cooks: This channel used to called Brothers Green Eats and starred two brothers teaching basic home cooking techniques. One brother very recently left the channel to do his own thing, so now it's down to the one guy. I think the channel is still finding its footing through the transition, but in its day it had a lot of good information. The remaining brother does a sandwich series where he dives into the history of a sandwich (usually something esoteric, but he's also done, like, a Philly) and then he'll make the ultimate version of it. Like, down to making his own bread for it. I like those videos in particular. Thoughts on your thoughts! Yes, Adam's teriyaki sauce is amazing. I made a batch of it for the first time earlier this summer and put it in an empty vodka bottle. I used half on some chicken wings for an app, and the other half on chicken teriyaki last week, so it's quite a resource hog. But it's so good. He even points out that it's not as cloying or sweet as commercial teriyaki is and I like that touch. I don't quite get the same dick vibes off Babish that I do, say, David Chang (boy that discussion takes up quite a bit of this thread), but there's some other food videos where he's a guest and he really doesn't want to be there. Man, something huge went down with Brother Green Eats/Pro Home Cooks, didn't it? They had to do three videos explaining the split. I had no idea they got so big they had a show on MTV at one point?! Anyways, yes, I like the series videos, and yes, I've watched that cheesesteak episode multiple times. Now I want to track down amylase to try in my bread!
|
|