Emeril out at the Food Network

[Jenise]

I'm not an Emeril fan, but at least he could cook:

RIP Emeril Live

[Robin Garr]

I'm not an Emeril fan, but at least he could cook:

I didn't care for his boisterous persona, but you're right about his skills.

Sadly, this just about completes the decay of Food Network into "cute chicks with skillets." Ming: gone. Mario: gone. Emeril: gone. None of them sexy enough for the under-30 demographic that Food Network seems to crave.

How does Alton Brown hang on ... and how long will it be before he gets the axe?

i could easily forgive him the entertainment value stuff because he was also very educational. yes, RIP.

Re: Batali….I had wondered who Michael Symon was replacing on Iron Chef America. I thought it would have to be Cat Cora until I saw the noticeable lack of Mario during the judging. Now Emeril… Well, its not surprising considering the what the network looks like these days.

I am pretty impressed with Symon though. Nice that they gave so many a chance at the spot instead just designating another chef, though.

Richard

but at least he could cook

Really?

Ha! Negotiations between ME and Scripps broke down over a contract. Anyone with skill and a brain would walk from their contracts (and yes, I asked if the talent was forced to sign the onerous contact offered me and I was told yes....Now it makes sense. Hooray for Emeril...)

[Robin Garr]

Ha! Negotiations between ME and Scripps broke down over a contract.

So this means you won't be doing that Web thing, Barb?

I'm with Stewart on this one. I think Emeril is an okay cook. Inventive, on occasion. I've eaten in his restaurants in NOLA and I was not impressed. I do appreciate the Essence of Emeril (tone and quality). Hated Emeril Live -- BAM!

Exactly. It was nice while I thought about it..c'est la vie...

I think I need to look elsewhere (still talking about being my own publishing empire...)

b

but at least he could cook

Really?

My thoughts exactly...never cared for him or his cooking. I am not sorry to see him go. And just remember...he's the one to credit for the "Fluffy Food Network"...I mean did he REALLY need a band for his cooking show

It always makes me laugh when Alton Brown makes digs at Emeril and RR on his shows... .

I was very sorry to see Mario go...I think HE is a wonderful chef and his will be a great loss at the Food Network.

I am pretty impressed with Symon though. Nice that they gave so many a chance at the spot instead just designating another chef, though.

I agree Richard...I have been impressed with his skills...I enjoyed watching the "Next Iron Chef" as well.

I always wondered why Emeril wasn't an Iron Chef

[Jenise]

It always makes me laugh when Alton Brown makes digs at Emeril and RR on his shows...

.

Speaking of that, I watched an old Anthony Bourdain last night, one where he toured Charleston SC. He ate at a restaurant that Rachel had eaten at on her $40 a day show--and he asked how much she tipped! The restaurant staff's eyes all rolled, and one waitress said, "Don't ask...."

But Emeril CAN cook. And buffoon though he may be, he's a real chef, with real restaurants, and reputedly a real nice guy (a friend of mine cooked for him at the Commanders Palace), not some no-talent pretty boy winner of an overly contrived cooking contest, and whether or not you like what he does his shows ARE cooking shows. That's what I would tune in to the Food Network to watch--not Sandra Lee, not Ina Garten and her blue shirts (does she own any other color?), not Paula Deene and her 40 Ways To Clog Your Arteries (much as I love her personality), not Bobby Flays Food Fights and definitely not those other Five Best Candy Bars In America type shows that the Food Network keeps pumping out. These are the reason I never watch any more, not Emeril.

It always makes me laugh when Alton Brown makes digs at Emeril and RR on his shows...

.

Speaking of that, I watched an old Anthony Bourdain last night, one where he toured Charleston SC. He ate at a restaurant that Rachel had eaten at on her $40 a day show--and he asked how much she tipped! The restaurant staff's eyes all rolled, and one waitress said, "Don't ask...."

HA!

Leave it to Bourdain....

Well...Jenise, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. No one can ever convince me that Emeril can cook well...I don't like his recipes, or his restaurants, and I especially never cared for his patronizing tone in his shows, "First you take some vermouth, add some chilled vodka...shake well, and that is what I like to call a Martini". REALLY?!! WOW...you're amazing!!

Anyway, I do totally agree about the other Food Network people you cited...I think they are just gosh darn awful...and had to LOL about Ina's blue outfits!! I haven't watched much Food TV in yrs...kinda sad, BUT, at least I found you all. MUCH better than FoodTV !

Edited to add: I do like Tyler and Alton though...

Well...Jenise, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. No one can ever convince me that Emeril can cook well...I don't like his recipes, or his restaurants, and I especially never cared for his patronizing tone in his shows, "First you take some vermouth, add some chilled vodka...shake well, and that is what I like to call a Martini". REALLY?!! WOW...you're amazing!!

As much as it pains me to have to disagree with a fellow New Jerseyan, I think Emeril does know how to cook, although I doubt I would really want to eat what he cooks regularly. He seems to thrive on putting different twists on things which, to me now, don't need twisting. Perhaps I'm just a culinary conservative, but I don't need to kick a lot of things up a notch. But, then again, I don't go to a restaurant to eat what I can eat at home and that might just be the allure of Emeril.

Now, despite his inability to pronounce words properly, I believe his head is way up in the culinary clouds beyond the reach of mere mortals such as I. When he tries to come down out of those clouds and communicate what he knows, he seems to fail. There is the peculiar abillity of genius to go from A to Z directly and skip the intervening letters. Emeril is at Z while some of us are still trying to get to B.

He also has the bad habit of telling the same jokes over and over and over and over again ... and screwing up the puns and punch lines to top things off ... as if every audience were new and had never seen him before. He seems to forget there are folks who watch him daily and that his wit gets tiresome from repetition. Nonetheless, I believe he does know his metier and is also a pretty smart businessman to boot.

He also has the bad habit of telling the same jokes over and over and over and over again ... and screwing up the puns and punch lines to top things off ... as if every audience were new and had never seen him before. He seems to forget there are folks who watch him daily and that his wit gets tiresome from repitition. Nonetheless, I believe he does know his metier and is also a pretty smart businessman to boot.

I agree, and the repetitiveness goes deeper than that. He says everything three and four times..."Now, I'm gonna put some salt on the chicken. I'm gonna salt the chicken. I'm just gonna put a little salt on my chicken here." Argggg!

He also has the bad habit of telling the same jokes over and over and over and over again ... and screwing up the puns and punch lines to top things off ... as if every audience were new and had never seen him before. He seems to forget there are folks who watch him daily and that his wit gets tiresome from repetition. Nonetheless, I believe he does know his metier and is also a pretty smart businessman to boot.

I agree, and the repetitiveness goes deeper than that. He says everything three and four times..."Now, I'm gonna put some salt on the chicken. I'm gonna salt the chicken. I'm just gonna put a little salt on my chicken here." Argggg!

Uh, repetition is the mother of learning!?

I also happen to like Emeril's show, as do my sisters. I have made several of his recipes, and loved them all. Plus, he may be from Yankeeland, but he DOES agree with the Deep South on one point - real cornbread does NOT have sugar in it!

[Jenise]

Maria, that's fair enough. But I do think he cooks well--now, he futzes up on the show a lot and he never admits to errors, that annoys me, and I hate it that the audience is obviously prepped to break out into applause every time he says "garlic", or should I say, "gahlic", and bam and all that Essence crap, but I wouldn't mind having to eat his food at all and I'll bet if he moved into the house next door, we'd be over at each other's houses all the time--that is, if I could summon up the nerve to cook for him! But my point is, I sense that he's actually a really nice, fun guy, and for me that trumps everything.

... but he DOES agree with the Deep South on one point - real cornbread does NOT have sugar in it!

Gee, and I thought that was only me. I hate those breakfasty, cupcakey things which are supposed to pass as corn muffins or corn bread. Corn bread has to be gritty, crumbly and a little something else, maybe a touch alkaloidal, but it ain't sweet ... and I was born in Jersey City!

... but he DOES agree with the Deep South on one point - real cornbread does NOT have sugar in it!

Gee, and I thought that was only me. I hate those breakfasty, cupcakey things which are supposed to pass as corn muffins or corn bread. Corn bread has to be gritty, crumbly and a little something else, maybe a touch alkaloidal, but it ain't sweet ... and I was born in Jersey City!

Sugar or not, my only real stink about corn bread is that lead based stuff that is 3 inches or more thick. For me, cornbread should have a little butter or oil added to the batter to lighten up the texture, just a bit. Prefer it made with buttermilk and an egg. All other additions are okay, as long as the texture is right (and it's not sweet).

Let's face it, all of these people on the FoodNetwork are personalities. Mario was a real chef, but the fact that he smokes like a chimney was always the image lurking in the back of my mind, along with cigarette ashe in the sauce. Ina has a beautiful home (especially the kitchen) and herb garden to die for. Somehow, between those two things, I never noticed her blue shirts. Aside from the exaggerated accent, the only thing I noticed about Ms. Deene is that she really likes sloppy, gloppy food. I've never seen her prepare anything that didn't drip (and that she didn't lick up)! Rachel Ray has stackable pots, pans and staples; Giada has a great set of matching boobs; Sandra can make a mean breakfast cocktail and Alton is the McGyver of culinary skills. Because of everything that has been said about him before, I will not miss Emeril. And, I do believe he's probably a pretty nice guy! BAM!

Yeah, he could cook - as well as a couple of hundred line cooks who have worked for me.

Batali can cook.

What always bugged the holy hell out of me was when he would say "This the way I do it..." when he was merely using a procedure that every professional cook and chef on th eplanet has been using for a few hundred years. Bah.

Jenise, my favorite Paula Deene quote is, "Honey, I just cook for ya', I'm not yo' cardiologist."

Carrie, that made me laugh. You know what, she could move in next door to me too. She'd be a blast.

Maybe we should come up with a list of replacement shows to pitch to the Food Network. Like...Blowjobs With Bobby Flay. (He's done everything else, hasn't he?)

...and definitely not those other Five Best Candy Bars In America type shows that the Food Network keeps pumping out. These are the reason I never watch any more, not Emeril.

Who watches these? They are such a waste of good airtime.

[Jenise]

Who watches them? Frankly, and don't take this as sexist, but that programming is for men who don't cook. It's strictly entertainment, and pretty lowbrow at that. But apparently that's what sells at the food network, or Sandra Lee wouldn't have a show!