Food writer and frequent NY Times contributor Mark Bittman
recently reveals how he really feels about food television in an interview with Ruth Reichl, stirring up controversial opinions and more than ruffling Alton Brown's feathers.
Bittman stated that food television isn't as "pure" as his writing process and is nothing more than "competition" and "nastiness." He continues further to declare that no one has "actually learned how to scramble an egg" from a cooking show. Bittman argues that food television has blurred the line between cooks and chefs, and that anyone on television is assumed to be a chef.
Bittman's comments fired up Alton Brown's twitter feed:
"I guess I should feel grateful that Mark Bittman has erased any illusions I may have had regarding Good Eats as a teaching vehicle."
"Because we now know definitively that you can't learn cooking from television. Dang."
"Very good cooks who are employed as 'chefs' rarely refer to themselves as 'chefs'. They refer to themselves as 'cooks.'"
"To the thousands who've told me you learned to scramble eggs from Good Eats, the shocking truth: you didn't!"
What do you think about the Bittman-Brown feud?
Recommend
Comments (7)
As a rule of writing, never listen to anything a critic says other than her/his professional critiques.
Alton is cool. Don't know if I could handle a friend that intense though.
I love Alton and I think he has every right to be annoyed. I, personally, have learned a lot from his show as he also teaches you the background of the food presented, the science behind cooking processes and history of the cultures the food comes from. His approach is very teacher-based and easy to follow and understand. Plus he can be funny as hell. <3
uI disagree with Bittman. I cook a lot, and granted, most of what I know I learned from my mother. But if I'm working with a new fruit or vegetable and I'm unsure of the best way to peel or chop it, I go straight to youtube for a visual referance. I think it is absolutely possible to learn cooking from television...after all, how did I learn it from my mother? I watched her cook! Will you be awesome at it just from watching a cooking show? No, it still takes trial and error, and practice. But food television is not a bad starting point.
Also, although I'm a very good cook, I have looked at Bittman's blog before, and a lot of his stuff is too complicated and takes too long to cook for a normal person who doesn't have all day to cook. Doesn't he realize people watch Rachel Ray, even though she isn't a chef, because her meals are practical for an average person to prepare during the week (I don't really use Rachel Ray's recipes, but I understand why many do and am using her as an example)? Whatever, he just seems like a snob who wants to think the only way one can be good at cooking is to go to culinary school.
Bittman seems a bit competitive and goes a little too far.
I understand both opinions.
I learned how to make delicious fried calamari from Alton Brown's show, Good Eats. I also get a lot of cooking tips and recipes while watching some youtube videos.