The Next Food Network Star 2006
Before beginning this missive on a most pleasant and informative reality show, yon readers might want to check out my prior missive on Those Celebrity Chefs.
I have a method for watching cooking shows. I do enjoy a fine show on the culinary arts but mostly I listen more than watch. Those times when the chef says something especially intriguing I might look up and I do tend to pay closer attention to Alton Brown’s show. This is not the first time I’ve tuned in to The Next Food Network Star. This reality show was featured last year and as I recall the “winner” was two fellows who cooked as a team.
There’s also the problem of trying to follow a reality series on a cable show. For in one evening three variations of the series might be presented with one of them the newest version. If a cherished broadcast show is on during those times I go with the broadcast show, my assumption being that the cable show will re-air 73,000 times in the coming week.
Throughout this year’s version I did tune into this Food Network reality series as often as possible but in the confusion the finale crept up on me before I knew it was even upon. Thus yon reader will be unable to vote by the time this is posted but there is time to catch the finale, scheduled to air Sunday, 4/23/06. The series is currently down to two finalists and frankly I like them both. More on these gentlemen later.
For now let’s delve into why this series is so interesting and informative. So much so that I find I give the series my complete attention.
This show is as much about producing a cooking show as it is about cooking. The information is provided thoroughly but quickly enough not to bore. I watch with unfettered intrigue. There’s so much I didn’t know about producing a cooking show.
Yet it isn’t at all boring, at least to one who is a simple cook with no ambitions to produce a cooking show. Which is not to say that food is not cooked although frankly the cooking segments by the contenders are often quick and rushed as the intent is to determine, well who could be the next Food Network Star rather than teach the home viewer deep lessons on cooking.
The viewer learns how a cooking show must be carefully prepped in advance, the components of the meal sliced, diced and pre-measured. A finished product must be ready so that the chef, once demonstrating ingredient prep and assembly can pull, voila, the result from a cold oven. But yea the TV Chef must wear oven mitts before pulling out this thoroughly cooled result and the would-be TV chefs often forgot this factoid. The audience is not stupid and understands the need for a conveniently ready finished dish. But to pull it out of the oven with no oven mitts is a bit too obvious.
For each program in the series an established Food Network chef descends upon the scene to give the remaining contenders tips and tidbits on doing a cooking show. Rachel Ray was particularly entertaining when she did her bit for the contest. “Small bites are your friend”, she told the TV chefs in training.
Just between yon reader and I, and please don’t tell the Food Network Gurus I told you this, but Paula Dean appeared to be heavily in her cups when she did her segment in the contest.
In the matter of The Apprentice the contestants are given cooking assignments which range from preparing a dish in one minute to a six minute segment on The Early Show. After each challenge the camera segues to a vignette with the would-be chef where each laments what he or she did or didn’t do.
The series began with eight finalists and the challenges got more complicated with each elimination. The eliminations up until the final two were done by a trio of judges that included Chef Bobby Flay, and two Food Network Gurus. The winner will be voted on by the public from the final two culled from the original eight.
On another note, Food Network’s vaunted Emiril was nowhere to be found during this contest.
From the initial entry of eight contenders, two made the finals.
Guy Fieri is one of the finalists. He has spikey hair of platinum and black and resembles more a rock singer than a TV chef. Guy is married with one son, has a degree in restaurant administration and his cooking style is fun with a flair. I especially like his stories about how he adjusts his meals for his young son. I rarely hear TV chefs talk about feeding their children and this makes Guy a bit more appealing to the average cooking show viewer.
During Guy’s preliminary show review he took the time to show the viewer how to properly peel a jalapeno pepper to take down the heat a bit. Guy inserts these informative tidbits throughout his cooking stint and he does it well.
Reggie Southerland is 39 years old, has no formal education in the culinary arts and is currently employed as a cook in a Los Angeles café. Reggie’s cooking “specialty” is more his personality than his cooking. Which is not to say that Reggie doesn’t cook up some fine dishes with an emphasis on comfort food with a kick.
Reggie has a sparkling personality that shines through the TV into our living room. He has a smashing and witty humor and by golly, I like him.
Thus I have no preference as to which one wins and even hesitate to predict a winner. If push came to shove I’d go with Reggie but either one of these fellows could produce a cooking show I’d tune in to with eagerness.
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