Why has there been a shift from creating in the kitchen to “consuming” food though cooking shows. Whether it be on the Food Network or the Cooking Channel, why is it that we view these shows and aspire to attain an unrealistic lifestyle portrayed through a certain chef? From Giada to Rachel, media influences us to purchase certain things and use certain foods but it takes away from the motivation of getting ones hands dirty and crafting our own masterpieces in the kitchen. “But here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves?” writes Michael Pollan in his article “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch”. Is food media the reason we are consuming more via TV programming rather than cooking in the kitchen? Have we just become lazy as we gaze at the numerous lifestyles portraying a perfection we cannot achieve? “The popularity of cooking shows — or perhaps I should say food shows — has spread beyond the precincts of public or cable television to the broadcast networks” says Pollan. I think many fingers could be pointed but I think food media plays I big role in this shift leaving the kitchen empty.
Why is it take out and pre-made rather than cooked at home and homemade? Why do we stylize our kitchens with state if the art appliances if we never turn them on and use them. What happened to trial by error and imperfection being the social norm just as Julia Child would show through her cooking. We watch this programming and try to embody something that seems perfect yet perfection means crafty TV magic and cinematography. We’ve begun to believe that a delicious pot roast is as easy as one, two, three, just as Ida says but when it comes out wrong we feel like failure has crept into the kitchen. My friends, it’s time to make the movement from TV to kitchen. It’s time to get back to the Julia Child stage where “TV magic” was seeing the steamy meal at the end without pre-chopped veggies, commercial breaks or “30 minutes”.
Is food media causing a shift from kitchen to TV? Why is it that we have lost our courage as home cooks and shifted towards paying someone to cook for us. Whether it be fast food or a 5-star restaurant, we’ve hung up the apron and have lost a tradition that is now seen more as a profession rather than an everyday delight. How has food media changed our ideology of cooking in the kitchen? “Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America” yet we now sit on the couch watching new programming afraid to light the grill and try out our skills, afraid to miss the mark and ruin the recipe. I think food media has challenged our thinking when it comes to quintessential cooking. What once was a celebrated activity is now a specialized lifestyle broken into many demographics using “proper ingredients”, “restricted time” and “certain personalities”. I challenge everyone to get of the couch and get back into the kitchen. Take back the Julia Child style and spill, drop, flip and flop food, making mistakes but perfecting them along the way.
Keepin` it Julia Child ~J
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