NPR - "Michael Pollan's recent cover story in The New York Times Magazine explores America's obsession with cooking as a spectator sport — and why the rise of cooking shows has coincided with the rise of fast food and prepackaged meals.
As Pollan points out, the time it takes the average American to prepare dinner has dropped to less than half the amount of time it takes to watch an episode of Top Chef.
In a conversation with Fresh Air guest host Dave Davies, Pollan fondly remembers Julia Child, the woman credited with upgrading the meals coming out of American kitchens. Child, he says, spawned the cooking-show genre, now a TV mainstay.
"They're called dump and stir shows," Pollan says. "In a way, they're very much the children of Julia, although I think their style is different, and their cooking is different. It's all about the shortcut. ... I don't think they have the kind of conviction Julia had, even though I think they're probably useful to some people."
Pollan is a Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and the author of several books, including In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire."
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Commentary - I find this NPR interview and New York Times article by Michael Pollan most interesting, as it is a cultural phenomenon I was not really aware of happening around me. All that is missing is an empty-calorie, zero-fat, scratch-and-sniff screen for foodies addicted to cooking shows to make it a complete virtual experience. Personally, I don't watch food channels, because I don't watch TV. I haven't watched a cooking show since the days of the Galloping Gourmet! I no longer subscribe to food magazines; I have stacks to glean from in my garage. I don't pay out money to take gourmet cooking classes. I eat out less and less, spending more time in the kitchen creating tasty meals using fresh produce from our organic garden, and prefer spending our food dollars to support local farmers. I like to concoct my own culinary creations, experimenting in the kitchen with herbs, seasonings and ethnic cuisines. Having accumulated thousands of recipes and a hundred-plus cookbooks over the years, I have no need to acquire more... besides I can troll the Internet any time of day or night to find a plethora of recipes for anything I can imagine cooking. Cooking with fresh ingredients and enjoying healthy food should be creative, fun, hands-on, sensory experience that children learn from their parents and caregivers... so, get off the couch and get back to the kitchen!
