Everyone is capable of learning to cook from cooking shows, cookbooks, and online compilations of family recipes. The popularity has grown in shows that aren’t just for cooking, but are for baking as well. Teacher Ms. Bonjione, stated, “Cooking shows are fun to watch if they are not too complicated.”
Rachael Ray, a familiar face to television audiences since 1999, may be someone who enraptures the attention of all who watch. Ray uses her spunky attitude, friendly nature, and interactive methods to produce a series of recipes that are to be made and displayed to the public. She not only cooks the dishes while showing every step, but she also interacts with her audience as if she were teaching each individual viewer.
She hosts the show 30 minute meals, which has Oprah Winfrey as one of the executive producers. 30 minute meals was the start of her career, and the start of a collection of delicious, quick, and family-oriented recipes.
Emeril Lagasse, the star of Emeril Live, chose Orlando, Florida as a home for two of his Restaurants. Lagasse is another Food Network star who has high spirits and good meals. Emeril Orlando and Emeril’s Tchoup Choup are the restaurants he owns which are in Florida, followed by nine other restaurants in the United States. Also, Lagasse can add the impressive accomplishment of writing a dozen cooking books to his résumé, making him quite an accomplished chef.
Another cooking celebrity is Paula Deen; a southern woman who started on the Food Network in 2002. Deen often gets criticized for her foods, which contain a lot of sodium, fat, and sugar, but this doesn’t prevent her from being a skillful chef. Her southern roots run deep with her extensive recipes that make families happy.
Cakes and cupcakes are becoming more customizable and more appealing. Nowadays, there are cupcake shows, cake shows, and competitions for both categories. Not only do the viewers get to see the process of making it, but they also get a little outlook to their life.
Buddy Valastro, the Cake Boss from Hoboken New Jersey, is all about family and cakes. Not only does he make stupendous cakes for a living, he does it with his family by his side. It gives an outlook on how he lives his life; showing a family trip to Disney, Italy, and every prank in between. Valastro took over the restaurant from his father, who had previously taken the bakery over from his father. The incredibly crafted lineage can make any cake the heart desires; occasionally while using technology to make it spin or move.
A mixture of different cooking shows can also benefit people because their teaching styles differ. “Julia Child, Paula Deen, and Rachael Ray are my favorite cooking stars,” stated Bonjione showing diversity in her interests, as they all have different styles. Junior Tatiana Anthony referred to the teaching style of her favorite cooking show: Ace of Cakes, “I love how Alton Brown both explains what you do, as well as why you do it.”
Cooking may not be for everyone, but televised broadcasts of cooking tutorials should be utilized to those who need it. Sophomore Anthony Catotti, replied “not particularly” when asked if he is a good cook. He also stated, “I can cook eggs and I can burn water.” But, being a bad at anything is necessarily bad, but someone should be willing to learn how to do it, and improve their talents for the better.