Like Whatever Gen-X
Remember the 1980s and 1990s and all things Gen-X. Take a stroll down memory lane, drink from a hose, and ride until the street lights come on. We discuss the past, present, and future of the forgotten generation. From music to movies and television, to the generational trauma we all experienced we talk about it all. Take a break from today and travel back to the long hot summer days of nostalgia. Come on slackers, fuck around and find out with us!
Like Whatever Gen-X
What's Cookin Good Lookin
From Julia Child's kitchen to Gordon Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen, cooking shows have transformed dramatically over the decades. What started as humble instructional programming has evolved into a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire that has fundamentally changed how we think about, talk about, and consume food.
In this episode, we trace the fascinating evolution of food television from its educational public broadcasting roots in the 1960s through its commercial explosion in the 1990s. We explore how pioneering shows like "The French Chef" and "Yan Can Cook" demystified global cuisines for American audiences, before cable television and the launch of Food Network in 1993 revolutionized the format, turning chefs into celebrities and cooking into competitive sport.
The conversation takes unexpected turns as we share our personal connections to restaurant life and cooking. You'll hear why one of us passionately hates the term "foodie," what it's really like working in a professional kitchen (hint: it's nothing like TV makes it seem), and why that first cigarette after a kitchen shift feels so damn good. Plus, we reveal Julia Child's surprising connection to shark repellent during WWII and how it launched her cooking career.
Whether you're a cooking show devotee or just someone who appreciates good food, this episode offers a delicious deep dive into how television transformed our relationship with cooking - creating a world where we paradoxically watch more cooking shows while actually cooking less at home. Join us for this entertaining exploration of how food television went from teaching Americans how to make a proper French omelet to turning food into the ultimate form of entertainment.
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We're never done as ever laughing and sharing our stories. Clever, we'll take you back. It's like whatever.
Speaker 1:Welcome to Like Whatever a podcast for. By and about Gen X, I'm Nicole and this is my BFF, heather. Hello.
Speaker 2:So what's new? Um you know.
Speaker 1:Don't act like you haven't been obsessing over something.
Speaker 2:I have. It's the White Marlin Open here in Ocean City, maryland and it is my favorite time of year Do I go out in the ocean and fish. No, have I ever been out in the ocean to fish.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Will I ever go out into the ocean to fish? Probably not. I've actually never been out in the ocean on a boat once.
Speaker 1:That's crazy and that was when my uncle died, and we tossed him over the side.
Speaker 2:Um, good times. Yeah, so I have not actually, but for me, the white marlin open is something I remember as a kid. Because for those of you who have no idea, what it is.
Speaker 1:It's a.
Speaker 2:It's a bill fishing tournament and it's the largest bill fishing tournament in the world at this point and it started in our humble little area, um of ocean city, maryland, and every year my dad would take us down to the docks and we would watch back in the day when it was just teeny, tiny little. They hardly had any boats, it was only one day of fishing. My dad has fished in it several times, my mom has a marlin from it, my grandfather, so it's just one of those things that's very nostalgic for me. So every year I like to obsess over it.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's been.
Speaker 1:It started Monday and they've even extended it two days because of there's a I don't know if it's a hurricane or tropical storm out there, so that's my current yeah, I went to it like eight, nine, ten years ago, I don't know a long time ago, and yeah, it's, it's. It's a lot of fun just to be down there they have um.
Speaker 2:I was just showing mom before you got here. They have a contest. There's a bar over at the harbor where all the boats slip um called sunset grill. Shout out to sunset grill. They have a contest of the biggest bar tab every year and they post it and it's always on sunday night because that's the night before the. I think this year it was 20, 20 900 was the fire tab. This is they bring in special bartenders for this week, this week alone. I mean, michael jordan just showed up today. His boat showed up monday and well, his boat fished monday but he showed up today. That's how big of a tournament it is.
Speaker 1:It brings I did see jordan's boat when I was down there? Yes, I did not see him by it's huge it is very big and I got my picture taken with one of the guys from Deadliest.
Speaker 2:Catch. Yeah, it was Deadliest Catch.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Wild Bill.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, and the guys from the tuna. Whatever the tuna catching show is oh yeah, Wicked Tuna.
Speaker 1:Yeah, maybe.
Speaker 2:They enter out. It's a big deal. Well, I was watching before she got here. The first qualifying white marlin came in and the fish is now worth $4 million, so it beat out the blue marlin. That was 929 pounds, which no one cares about but me, but that's what we have it on right now on my phone. I'm watching it out of the corner of my eye. It's just something I've always enjoyed. I always.
Speaker 2:My grandfather and my uncle are both fishing. They, they were big into fishing. Um, my grandfather used to take us fishing all the time and I was like, because I was a weird child, I was obsessed with finding out what was in the fish's belly. So I would stand there and while he cleaned it and I would have to, like he would point out all the organs and open the stomach, just so you could see what the flounder had just eaten. Um, so I just I don't fish. I did, but I don't anymore because a I don't like touching bait and putting it on a hook and all that. That. That's gross. I don't want to clean a fish.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I grew up fishing. I've mentioned before that my grandparents had a beach house and we just ran wild down there. But yeah, I've never been a fan of bait Like I can do pieces of squid and stuff, but especially bloodworms.
Speaker 2:They're so gross.
Speaker 1:But as much as I am grossed out by everything like as far as like anatomy, blood, all that stuff I used. I had my own fillet knife. I used to catch my own fish. I would clean my own fish and gutting them never bothered me. But that's just how much I love fish.
Speaker 2:I never liked the bait. I uh well, I shouldn't say that because for flounder you use minnows and I never liked that you have to hook them live. But when I was a kid we would fish for them and my friend had a minnow trap. So because we live right at the end of the yellow and white one with the black door, and my mom would get very mad because we would go fish across that we never caught anything we just kind of chucking fishing rods in, but I don't know why.
Speaker 2:But I would put the minnows in my pockets to carry them around and she would open the washing machine and there'd be dead minnows in the bottom of her washing machine for me to come in.
Speaker 1:You shouldn't do that, no.
Speaker 2:No, it's mean Take the minnows out of your pocket. But we lost Lonnie Anderson this week. We did yeah.
Speaker 1:She's one of those I had kind of forgotten about until I saw it yeah, and I was like oh, yeah, I loved her. Yeah, she was awesome back then yeah, wkrp in cincinnati, yeah that was a good show. It was a good show. I've been watching some golden girls lately. I love the golden girl. It's so funny. It is funny like laugh out loud, funny. And now we we're that age, I know it's even funnier.
Speaker 2:Now. What's more relatable?
Speaker 1:I watched the Nona's movie on Netflix. Have you seen it yet? No, so it's based on a true story, an Italian restaurant in New York and Vince Vaughn stars in it, and the premise of the story is that this boy grows up with his mom and his Nona and he's very interested in what they're doing in the kitchen, but he doesn't grow up to do anything like that. He works in like a factory or a warehouse or something, and so when his mom dies Nona's already dead. He starts trying to make their recipes because he misses their food and he's really good at it. So he gets an inheritance life insurance inheritance and his best friend and his wife which his wife is Chrissy from the Sopranos. They tell him you know, do something you've always wanted to do with it, like go big. So he decides he's going to go to Staten Island and buy this restaurant and he's going to hire nonas to cook. I have heard the true story of this.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And so he hires three nonas to cook and then one, who is Susan Sarandon, to be the baker. She's awesome in it. God, she's still so stunningly gorgeous. It's ridiculous, but there's this one scene. So she owns a hair salon and the other nonas are typical Italian nonas. So she takes them in there for a night of beauty one night, oh boy. And it is just such a wonderful scene. Like she does all their hair, all their makeup, they sit around and get drunk and it's just so cute it's. It's a really cute movie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:But I know how it feels to miss the italian food yeah, you my mother doesn't cook anymore. That's a shame, I know.
Speaker 1:Mine doesn't either, Like she hasn't for years. She used to be a really good cook and now everything is processed and quick and easy and so lame.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she doesn't make nothing anymore. I mean she will if her grandchildren ask.
Speaker 1:Of course the rest of us can go fuck ourselves, I guess well then, you need to get your niece and nephew to ask for you.
Speaker 2:I do, I totally do, when it's time for pizzelles and I'm I text the boy and I'm like yo because he likes him. The girl doesn't, but the boy does, and I'm always like yo. Ask your mom for some freaking pizzelles. Kid, what are you doing to me exactly? And then I have to make sure that they're evenly distributed between the two of us, because I don't want. That's not right that he gets more than me. He already gets enough more than me, so exactly he gets.
Speaker 2:He is the apple of my mother's eye it's so funny too, because my dad, my dad always wanted boys. He's always made that perfectly clear. He has always wanted boys and he ended up with girls. Those are exact words that he has always said I wanted the boys and I ended up with girls. So when my sister had the boy, the boy just turned 20. When my sister had the boy, well, we thought well, there you go, there's your boy. He doesn't even know what to do with him, so the boy is the apple of my I mean, my mother's whole world revolves around that kid and and he loves his mama like nobody loves their mama more than he does and then my sister had the girl and he's she's pop-up's girl, like pop-up.
Speaker 2:She calls and pop up comes. Whenever she calls hey, pop-up, I want to ride the bike, he comes and picks her up on his motorcycle takes her wherever she wants to go.
Speaker 2:It's just hilarious. We have this picture and it's my favorite picture of them. They're under his car, working on whatever, and it's his legs hanging out and her teeny, tiny little legs hanging out and she's got like ripped off up girly jeans on and the best part is she's got like leopard print flats on so it's like him and his boots and her teeny tiny little.
Speaker 1:But he I guess he didn't actually want a boy no, because he just wants to make you feel bad for not being a boy he never really roughhoused with the boy, nothing but the girl.
Speaker 2:Oh, he flings her all over everywhere and she loves, she loves it. She's pop-up's girl and she could probably care less about. And she texts him all the time and they time they probably text each other more than she texts my sister, to be honest well, that's fair.
Speaker 1:My youngest never texts me. Even when I text her, I have to send her some guilt text like why are you ignoring me? She's like I'm not ignoring you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you kind of are check the last text you sent yeah, 12 days ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah or look how long it's been since I text you a question and you haven't even answered it there's a a kind of an upswing in um earthquakes here.
Speaker 2:Uh yeah, it's a little concerning.
Speaker 1:It is, yeah, that one off of Russia.
Speaker 2:Created tsunamis. Yeah, there's one in New York a couple days later.
Speaker 1:Yeah, good times. First trying to shake us off like fleas.
Speaker 2:I don't blame it, I'm being honest, I do not blame it.
Speaker 1:It has had enough of us. I have as well.
Speaker 2:So anything else you want to add.
Speaker 1:I can't think of anything. I had a really fun day Friday. My daughter turned 25 on Saturday, so happy birthday to my girl. So we both took Friday off and we went to the beach and ate at the most popular restaurant at the beach and went to the outlets to go shopping and just had a fun day. That's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was awesome. It's a nice beach.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is, and it was a beautiful day. Oh my gosh, that was a cool day right, yes, it was, I was almost cold. I almost took a sweater with me and I was like that's crazy talk because it's been as hot as the surface of the sun for a week. But then I got down there I was like damn I imagine by the water it was yeah, she even looked at me at one point. She's like why do you have goosebumps? I was like I told you I'm freezing, it's cold down here.
Speaker 2:It was an absolutely beautiful. If it could be like that all the time here, and the waves were nuts.
Speaker 1:They were so high, that's because we have that.
Speaker 2:I don't know if it's a hurricane or what. It is Dexter, which is a horrible name. I love it For a storm, I don't know whose idea that? Was. I hope it's a serial hurricane yeah.
Speaker 1:It was gorgeous it was super awesome yeah all right, well, let's get to her.
Speaker 2:She doesn't know what the subject is because she never looked. She never reads my emails.
Speaker 1:I don't they were good this week too, but in all fairness, I don't read most people's emails. I sent you two today too, one of them you really should read. And last last night I did an event for it was National Night Out across the country last night and they always hold one at one of the schools that I work with for my job and I've worked at like the past five years. And, yeah, I had a couple of parents approach me last night and they were like I emailed you.
Speaker 1:I'm like oh, I promise I'll answer you tomorrow. The one I answered her at like eight this morning. She wrote back. Oh, my gosh, you wrote back. I was like yes, I just have so many emails to get sorry.
Speaker 2:Well, you really should read one of mine. Okay, it's important business related stuff All right. Yeah, I'm trying to. We'll see. I'm trying to get us a sponsor, oh.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, oh yeah. So it's like there's real emails I should read yes, oh.
Speaker 2:Yep, there is Okay yeah.
Speaker 1:Anyway, I feel like I'm at that event last night.
Speaker 2:again, I will look it up, okay uh, so let's fuck around and find out about cooking shows. Oh, I love it, do you, lord Yay? This is a subject near and very dear to my heart because, as everyone who listens at any point would know, that I grew up in a restaurant, mm-hmm, and I grew up to be a cook.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm.
Speaker 2:And then I stopped doing that and I sadly miss it every day, because when you're a restaurant person, it is built into your DNA. It is, and it is definitely built into my DNA. So as a child I watched all of them. We played cook and waitress outside. We would have to go to the bus in the morning and while we were waiting for that my dad had to open the restaurant. So we would be in there playing restaurant while we waited and I was always the cook and my sister was always the server. She did not end up being a server. She did not.
Speaker 1:She grew up to be a cook as well. She was also a cook.
Speaker 2:Yes, so the first televised program was the French Chef, which aired in the US in 1963. The show was presented by Julia Child and was followed by a number of other cooking programs, including the Galloping Gourmet and Ready Steady Cook. These early TV chefs were often considered to be eccentric and their shows were popular for their mix of cooking tips and entertainment.
Speaker 2:julia child in particular was known for her enthusiastic presenting style and her catchphrase bon appetit the period spanning the 80s and 90s marked a profound transformation in culinary television, shifting from a predominantly educational public broadcasting model to a more dynamic, entertainment-driven and commercially-backed format.
Speaker 2:The 80s established a foundation by demystifying gourmet cooking and introducing diverse global cuisines to home audiences through charismatic instructional hosts. This era, largely supported by public television, cultivated a growing national interest in food. The 90s, catalyzed by the emergence of cable television and the launch of the Food Network, accelerated this evolution. New formats, including competitive shows and lifestyle programming, proliferated and chefs ascended to celebrity status, becoming influential cultural figures. And chefs ascended to celebrity status, becoming influential cultural figures. The commercialization and diversification not only reflected but also actively shaped evolving culinary tastes, promoting globalization and health consciousness. Cooking shows of the 80s served as accurate barometers of societal change, adapting their content and character to reflect and influence prevailing trends. It began to cater to burgeoning interest in more lavish lifestyles and culinary excess, while the late 90s represent responded to a celebrity hungry reality, crazed audience oh, yeah, yeah it's.
Speaker 1:I bet it was exciting for both people that like to cook and the spouses of people that like to cook, because it was pretty much the Betty Crocker cookbook back then and whatever hand-me-down recipes you had on index cards until then.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, and of course Julia brought in. You know French food and you know probably not a lot of people, unless you had french heritage probably eating a lot of of the typical french cuisine. Yep, the pervasive influence of these programs also played a critical role in redefining the very concept of a foodie, which, can I just tell you, I fucking hate the word foodie fucking hate foodies, I hate anyone. Sorry if you decided that you're a foodie, but I don't like that.
Speaker 1:It's stupid do you have a reason why so many I have?
Speaker 2:just because I have feelings about that too it's because I owned a restaurant and I can't take foodies well, yeah, and I mean just, everybody likes different kinds of things.
Speaker 1:So who are you to say what's the best and what's good and where you shouldn't eat? I know.
Speaker 2:That's my issue with reviewers Right Like what if you don't like chicken cordon bleu? But it's the best fucking chicken cordon bleu on the planet, exactly, but you don't like it Exactly, fuck foodies, I'm sorry. Planet, exactly, but you don't like it exactly. Fuck foodies, I don't sorry, I hate it. I hate the word, I hate them. One time we were eating in a in a bar in ocean pines at the bar, we were at the bar I mean, it was a decent mid-level restaurant, right, and we had to sit at the bar because there was nobody else.
Speaker 2:But this person had specifically sat at the bar to sit at the fucking bar and was trying to have conversation, and you know I don't like having stranger danger and he was like, well, I'm a foodie, and I almost just punched him in the face. I had to look at my husband and I was like hurry up and eat. We're getting the fuck up out of here. I can't take foodies, you're not. You're in fucking ocean.
Speaker 1:Pines, calm down yeah, I mean I like posting about the foods I make because I love my cooking exactly, but I'm not. I mean I'll post food if I got to eat, if it looks super pretty I don't even have a problem with that.
Speaker 2:Just don't call yourself a fucking foodie right and don't review it. And if you?
Speaker 1:got to eat and you didn't like it. Don't say anything. Yeah, I mean do you know? How bad you hurt restaurants when you do stuff like that.
Speaker 2:Don't go back there. That's what I'm saying. Like, we all eat, we're all foodies. We all eat, exactly. Take it down a notch, you're no more special than I am.
Speaker 2:I digress. In the mid 80s, the term popularized by writers Paul Levy and Ann Barr carried a somewhat exclusive connotation, typically referring to dedicated gourmet home chefs who actively sought out rare ingredients and possessed considerable financial means. And that's what I'm trying to say. Like that's what started. And now Billy Bob on the side of says oh, I'm a foodie. No, you're not. You never left Sussex County. You're not a fucking foodie.
Speaker 1:You don't like to cook and you like to go out to eat, so You're a restaurant-y.
Speaker 2:You're a lazy.
Speaker 1:You're a customer. Yeah, yeah, that's what you are.
Speaker 2:By the close of the 90s, however, the landscape had dramatically changed. The widespread accessibility of cooking shows, amplified by the Internet, contributed to millions identifying as foodies, though a more precise description for many might be food TV enthusiasts. Yes, it's a hobby.
Speaker 1:If you watch food shows and you like to try to make those recipes, it's called a hobby. My favorite is when these people think they can open a restaurant. Yeah, it's a hobby. If you watch food shows and you like to try to make those recipes, it's called a hobby.
Speaker 2:My favorite is when these people think they can open a restaurant. Yeah, no you can't. Right, you have no idea. Right, not a single clue. That's why they all fold. That's why restaurants fold in three years. You can get past three years, you're good, but most restaurants fold in the first year, year and a half, because you have no idea, yeah.
Speaker 1:None, exactly, and I love cooking, as I just said, but I like my own food better than I like most food when I go out to eat. And I had another point with that, I don't remember what it was, except my food.
Speaker 2:She loves my food.
Speaker 1:Oh, I remember. I never really watch, as much as I love food I do. God, your cheese omelets oh my God, I made myself a cheese omelet this morning and your rosa sauce. I cannot master your rosa sauce.
Speaker 2:Nope, it tastes pretty good.
Speaker 1:That's a known. As to the secret ingredient, and he was like I don't know her secret ingredient and she was like that's what makes it you're known as gravy is that you don't know the secret ingredient. He ends up figuring it out at trial and error. But, um, or maybe you find I don't know anyway. But yeah, I don't even like watching cooking shows. I don't follow recipe books like I know what ingredients I enjoy. I know what things go together like. The other night I had made grilled italian chicken uh, chicken breasts on the grill, duh, grilled um, and I bought pita, um pitas, because I've been on a big hummus kick lately. I love hummus and I had fresh tomatoes out in the yard and fresh basil out in the yard. So I like drizzled the pita with olive oil, chopped up the grilled chicken, put the big chunky Parmesan and Romano on it and sliced tomatoes and basil and just put it in like a low heat oven, just enough to like warm it up and melt the cheese.
Speaker 2:Oh well, it was so good the weird thing about me is I don't like 90 of the stuff I make yeah, but you still make it really good, I know the way I feel with my chicken salad because, like, okay, I have to admit the chicken salad isn't my, it's my dad's and my sister's, but I do make it just as good.
Speaker 1:Well, it's the family recipe, so that counts.
Speaker 2:But everybody at work is like, oh my God, what do you put in it? And I'm like I put in the same shit everybody else does. It's just about what ratio. So how I do is if I dip it in the mixture and it makes me go like that and it makes me gag, then it's done, it's ready. That's how I make most of my food. If it makes me nauseous, then I'm like it probably tastes good. Then somebody should probably not admit that. I did like my gravy, though. My gravy was good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I make really good gravy.
Speaker 2:My gravy recipe is stolen from several different people, so mixed together.
Speaker 1:Mine's made up on my own. I am going to eventually perfect it. I have decided that, well, I'm going to start yoga. That's going to be a new hobby. Nice, I started therapy. That's a new hobby. Yeah, no-transcript. And just cooking in small portions and just trying different things and buying different ingredients, because I want to go to the ethnic grocery stores. We have a lot of Hispanic grocery stores around here. We have a lot of Caribbean, and then we're around cities if I wanted to go get other stuff. So I really want to start playing around with different things and making different foods, because it's so much fun. It's a shame you don't like food.
Speaker 2:I like making it.
Speaker 1:I don't like eating it. It's a shame you don't like eating it, I know.
Speaker 2:I make it and then I give it away.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you're just missing out. No, I mean, I know you don't think you are, I'm not. I know that you're not.
Speaker 2:I'm just imposing my opinions on you, I like to bake and I don't eat any of the stuff I bake.
Speaker 1:No, I don't like to bake.
Speaker 2:I like it all. I miss it.
Speaker 1:I don't like baking because you have to be precise with your measurements or else it doesn't come out right and I like to just throw shit in there and see what happens. So, yeah, baking's not for me. I do like eating baked goods, I know I.
Speaker 2:I just don't have a very good kitchen where I live, so it's not very conducive to yeah any of the yeah, if I ever win the lottery, or this podcast makes it to anything other than what it is currently. Um, I'm totally gonna get like well, when we live together, we're gonna get to get a nice super nice kitchen. Like professional, I want fucking Vulcan equipment in there. I want it to be a professional. I'm picking it. I will be the one doing our kitchen.
Speaker 1:So is it going to look industrial, or can we make it pretty?
Speaker 2:too. You can make it any way you look the equipment in. There will be professional equipment.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm very, very, very good with that. Yeah, I want a kitchen big enough that I can have this humongous island in the middle of it. You can have whatever, but I don't like any kind of granite okay, you can have the whole hawaiian islands if you want in there.
Speaker 2:I like the wooden countertops yeah, I don't give a shit as long as I can have my vulcan oven, my Vulcan stovetop and my Vulcan flat top. What kind of mixer are we going?
Speaker 1:to have Hobart, because we might as well make bread.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the Hobarts are so big we probably have to just go with KitchenAid because they're small.
Speaker 1:The.
Speaker 2:Hobarts are like way bigger than we need. Yeah, so okay.
Speaker 1:All right, settled All right. They were settled All right, so tell all your friends about the podcast.
Speaker 2:So we can get this kitchen going. We'll invite you over.
Speaker 1:We will. I'll eat with you. Heather will help me cook. I'll cook it.
Speaker 2:I'm really good at cooking for like two, three hundred people at a time.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. The most I've ever cooked for is 700. So there you go, I can. I can have 700 of you over. If you all give five dollars, I don't think that's asking for a whole lot.
Speaker 1:You know that only gets us thirty five hundred, Right.
Speaker 2:Right, that's enough For what I can get used equipment. Shine's enough For what I can get used equipment. Shine it up.
Speaker 1:A KitchenAid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, probably I forgot. It's not 1997 anymore.
Speaker 1:No, and if we're going to get it, we're going to be rich and get brand new shit. Okay.
Speaker 2:Not auction stuff you have to clean up. So all of you have to give us how much.
Speaker 1:Oh, is it still 700 people? Yeah, oh, geez, we don't need to do math 10 grand.
Speaker 2:We're going to need 10 grand from each of you, or you're going to need to tell your friends it's like a pyramid scheme, exactly so if you.
Speaker 1:You only have to give five, but your friends got to give 10.
Speaker 2:You want to be your own boss.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Got some Avon going here? Oh God, don't get me started. Okay, we're going to go back to the cooking shows. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. By the close of the 90s, however, the landscape had dramatically changed. The widespread oh, I did that Roll up. The transformation highlights a dynamic interplay. Societal interest in food created a receptive audience, which in turn encouraged broadcasters and chefs to innovate programming. These innovations in turn further amplified the public's engagement with food, democratizing culinary appreciation and expanding its reach beyond elite circles. So let's talk about the foundations. Let's talk about the foundations. The 80s established a crucial groundwork for the evolution of culinary television, characterized by educational and making gourmet cooking accessible.
Speaker 1:Of course, public broadcasting this was the same time everybody thought they could be a handyman, because this old house was on.
Speaker 2:Well it's funny because when I was looking this up, this old house came up a lot and, oh shit, what was the other one?
Speaker 1:my dad is the woodworking guys or something like that my dad's not a particular handyman, I mean he will get in there and do what he needs to. He's more of a mechanic type of guy. But man, he loved him some, this Old House.
Speaker 2:We watched this Old House, bob Vila, bob Vila and.
Speaker 1:Norm right Yep.
Speaker 2:Norm had his own. Norm took over after Bob Vila left. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, this Old House. There's another one too, but I don't remember. Several influential programs and their charismatic hosts define the culinary landscape of the 80s. The Frugal Gourmet, hosted by Jeff Smith, a United Methodist minister who initially taught food as a sacrament at the University of Puget Sound, by the mid-80s the Frugal Gourmet became the cooking show everyone was watching. The program, which aired from 83 to 95, aimed to redefine frugal not as cheap, but as the careful use of time and food, and gourmet as a lover of good food and wine, oh, but as the careful use of time and food and gourmet, as a lover of good food and wine.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, that's another reason I love cooking because you drink wine while you cook.
Speaker 2:Well, julia did, that's for sure. She put most of it in her gullet rather than in the dish. Smith was celebrated for bringing fine dining to regular households. His engaging style was marked by thoughtful, heartfelt details and personal anecdotes that connected recipes to cultural heritage. He concluded each episode with the memorable sign off eat well. I bid you peace. I don't remember the frugal gourmet.
Speaker 1:I don't feel like I do either, but it must not be something my parents watched Because at that age it would have been.
Speaker 2:It would be just weird, because he is the Christian guy.
Speaker 1:Well, my mom.
Speaker 2:Okay. Recipes featured on the show include beer and cheese soup, applesauce, fruitcake and creamed pearl onions smith, yeah, I know smith's practice of recommending products also signaled an early subtle integration of commercial elements into educational programming. In 97 seven men filed a civil lawsuit against smith, charging him with sexual abuse oh, shocker I know.
Speaker 2:Six of them alleged that they were molested as teenagers in the 70s while working at the Champlain Champlain Pantry in Tacoma. The seventh claim that he was assaulted in 92 at age 14, after Smith picked him up as a hitchhiker. Smith denied the allegations and no criminal charges were filed Shocker. But he and his insurers settled the case for an undisclosed amount in 1998. The litigation ended his television career, though he continued his writing and charitable work.
Speaker 1:I just wanted to throw that in there. Charitable work with kids I just wanted to throw that in there yeah, maybe that's why we don't remember it, because his legacy would have been cut off at the knees at that point, yeah, so now this next one.
Speaker 2:I fucking love this one. This one, I watched all the time and I can tell you right now that I would have never eaten any of the stuff that was cooked on this, but I wanted to walk, so bad Yan can cook what's my favorite.
Speaker 1:I make really good Asian food, if I must say so myself. Good for you.
Speaker 2:The show featured the energetic chef, martin Yan, focusing on Chinese-oriented cooking, including stir-fried dishes and traditional Chinese techniques. Originating in Canada in 1978, the series moved to PBS in San Francisco in 1982. Yan's presentation was characterized by humor, wit and cultural references. His iconic catchphrase if Yan can cook, so can you, and I knew I was gonna. I, I practiced this, I don't even know how many times and right now it went right out the window.
Speaker 2:Sajuan goodbye in Mandarin uh became Sajuan is right Sajuan yeah, I know, I looked at as soon as I'm telling you, I practiced it 500 times and then when I just this minute was, it went right off the you're so cute top of my head. Uh, he was also known for his frantic food shopping, often creating a rhythmic sound that added to the show's entertainment value. The program was typically filmed on a stage, so he was my favorite and I wanted a walk.
Speaker 1:I still want a walk.
Speaker 2:There was another cooking show that had walk. I forget what it was called and I didn't put it in here, but I wanted a walk. And there's zero reason for me to have a walk. I do actually have one but, I, don't ever use it for anything it's use a wok so hard. Maybe I'll just give you the wok I have, because I don't use it properly. I do make vegetables in it. Sometimes I use it for your husband, yes, I don't eat that shit.
Speaker 1:I know you're not eating it?
Speaker 2:Nope, great Chefs. The franchise began with 13 half-hour programs for PBS, later expanding to the Discovery Channel in 1986. Unique for its time, great Chef featured over a thousand chefs from 51 countries, with segments recorded entirely on location, in professional restaurant kitchens rather than studios, and that is why I loved it because to this day, when I go into a restaurant and I can see their kitchen. I want to see the motherfucking kitchen, oh nothing I love an industrial kitchen.
Speaker 1:I can still smell a kitchen, oh, and I was a waitress, but I can still.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Sometimes the noise of the machines wakes me up in my sleep the ticket machine. The series distinguished itself by having no hosts or competition, allowing the chefs themselves to be the central focus. It concentrated on cooking techniques and was considered evergreen due to its timeless instructional value. Programs typically showcased the preparation of one meal with three dishes by three different chefs, accompanied by clear, precise instructions. The franchise produced numerous regional series, such as Great Chefs of New Orleans, Great Chefs of San Francisco and Great Chefs of Chicago, and later expanded to include Great Chefs of the East, Great Chef great cities and great chefs of Hawaii. It was. It also produced holiday and barbecue specials, further displaying its content. Here's my other favorite one Besides.
Speaker 2:Julia, I did like Julia too. Justin Wilson's Louisiana cooking. Do you remember that one? I don't know you will. When I OK, Louisiana cooking. Do you remember that one? I don't know you will when I read.
Speaker 2:Hosted by Justin Wilson, a renowned Cajun-inspired humorist and chef, his show aired on Louisiana public television during the 80s and 90s and was nationally distributed on PBS. Well, it was nationally distributed on PBS. Wilson's programs were instrumental in popularizing Cajun cooking, engaging viewers with stories, jokes, music and poetry, creating a warm, familial atmosphere. His famous catchphrase, I guarantee and hoo boy became widely recognized. Wilson also appeared in television commercials for Cajun spice ruffles, potato chips, highlighting an early form of chef endorsement. Commercials for Cajun spice ruffles, potato chips, highlighting an early form of chef endorsement.
Speaker 2:Other notable culinary figures also contributed to the 80s landscape. Jacques Pepin launched his first television series, Everyday Cooking with Jacques with Take Kerr in 1975, a daily five-minute series that continued into the early 80s, focusing on healthier, lighter recipes and incorporating Christian elements. I'm not sure how, I guess you're cooking the body of Christ. Additionally, chefs like Ken Holm and Madhar Jafri were pivotal in the early 80s for introducing authentic Asian. These programs successfully brought culinary arts into living rooms across the globe, introducing viewers to a wide variety of cuisines and making cooking both educational and entertaining. Cooking both educational and entertaining. They were instrumental in transforming the kitchen from a mere space for chores into a hub of creativity and fun, and I honestly wonder if that's how we got to the open floor plans of today.
Speaker 2:Because if you think about it, like all the old houses, the kitchen was kind of closed off into another area of its oh, that's where the woman lives and now it's like all open and it's the hub of that kitchen.
Speaker 1:I want a lot of light in our kitchen too.
Speaker 2:I'm telling you, you can do whatever. Oh, can we have, though I do want over our bar, I want Einstein. What are they called? What are those light bulbs called?
Speaker 1:Oh, I know what you're talking about. What the what are they called? What are those light bulbs called?
Speaker 2:Oh, I know what you're talking about. What the fuck are they called? They're not called.
Speaker 1:Einstein, I don't know, but I like those two Edison bulbs. Edison bulbs, I knew it was somebody smart.
Speaker 2:Perfect. The widespread presence of these shows on public television, a non-commercial platform, cultivated a national interest in diverse cuisine and built a loyal audience base, effectively laying the intellectual and cultural foundation upon which the more entertainment driven, commercial food televisions of the 90s would build. Furthermore, the 1990s represented a dramatic acceleration in the evolution of culinary television, largely propelled by the proliferation of cable television and the landmark launch of the Food Network. The dedicated fundamentally reshaped how food content was produced, consumed and perceived, transitioning it from an instructional niche to a vibrant entertainment genre. April 1993 was the launch of the Food Network. It's the first cable channel dedicated exclusively to food, hence the name the Food Network. This move to cable signaled a decisive move toward the mainstream for culinary content and, if you remember, that was a time where, like cable kind of started blowing up. At that point, like everything had a, there was a lot 57 channels and nothing on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it was a lot. Yeah. The network's inception transported food into part of the popular culture, elevating chefs to new levels of cool. I was cool then. That had not been seen before. Critically, the Food Network is widely recognized for steering the genre away from its traditional instructional format towards an entertainment-driven model. The commercial imperative, driven by the need to attract larger, more diverse audiences for advertising revenue, fundamentally altered the content and presentation of cooking shows. The financial backing and broader reach of commercial cable networks enabled higher production values, more dynamic formats and aggressive marketing of chef personalities, creating a positive feedback loop that fueled the network's growth and influence. The 90s witnessed a significant diversification of cooking show formats, the hybrid entertainment approach that blended instruction with entertainment. So Chef Paul Prudenholm I don't know if you remember him, but he has spice now he's probably best known for his spices in the grocery store.
Speaker 2:He's spicy now yeah his natural charisma and down-home authenticity made him a revelation on screen. Beginning in 1995, he created and starred in five pbs cooking series fork in the road, fiery foods, kitchen expedition, louisiana kitchen and always cooking. His warm, engaging presence and ability to make complex dishes seem approachable made him natural on camera. Each episode ended with his trademark sign off good cooking, good eating, good loving a phrase that encapsulated his joyful approach to food and life. What made him different from earlier TV chefs was his storytelling ability. While Julia Child taught technique and precision, chef Paul shared the cultural significance behind each dish, weaving tales of childhood in Appaloosa, louisiana, explaining how family is made use of every ingredient and connecting viewers to the emotional heart of Louisiana cooking. Master Chef, the iconic competition series, debuted in 1990.
Speaker 2:Really yeah, yeah and has run almost continuously since, damn the original format featured amateur cooks competing to prepare a three-course meal with a strict time limit, with their creations judged by professional chefs and celebrities. Lloyd grossman served as the original host until 2000. Broadcast on BBC One, the show underwent a significant revamp in 2005 to boost viewership, introducing a wider variety of tasks. The success of the competitive format demonstrated that food could be a compelling subject for dramatic television.
Speaker 1:See, and that timed cooking is definitely something for restaurant chefs. Yes, cooking is definitely something for restaurant chefs? Yes, because my joy of food is taking my time and also some things need time, which I know that restaurant chefs. That's why you make stuff ahead of time, so that it's ready to go when it's go time and it gets that time that it needs. But yeah, that show does not sound like any fun for me to compete on at all. I would not enjoy having to be on a time limit.
Speaker 2:I love it, I know, and watching you do it is amazing, but not my love not very different kind of cooks turn and burn ready steady cook, recognized as one of the most iconic shows from the 90s. Can't cook, won't cook, also hosted by the charismatic ainsley harriet program, aired on bbc from 1995 to 1996. The show's premise involved two nominated individuals, one genuinely lacking cooking skills, the other simply unwilling to cook, who were guided step-by-step by a chef to prepare a dish A unique segment involving blindfold nominees tasting and judging the food to determine the winner. Despite its short run and criticism for being similar to Ready Steady Cook, its emphasis on entertainment through culinary mayhem was clear. The Naked Chef Premiering at the very end of the decade in 1999, this series introduced the young Jamie Oliver to television screens. Running until 2001,. It was praised for inspiring men to engage in cooking.
Speaker 2:The show brought a freshness to cooking shows with its dynamic camera close-ups and a much more relaxed style that was less common previously. Each episode often featured Oliver cooking for different people in his life, such as colleagues, his girlfriend or his nieces, adding a personal and relatable touch. And Emeril Emeril Live Bam yeah. Adding a personal and relatable touch. And emerald emerald live bam yeah. Emerald lagasse, a regional james beard award winner, became a household name with his distinctive new new orleans style of cooking, a vibrant fusion of creole and cajun traditions with influence from asian, portuguese and southwestern cuisines. His shows, the essence of emerald from 94 to 2007 and emerald live 97 to 2007, were major successes on the food network. Legasi was renowned for his energetic, jovial hosting style and memorable catchphrase like bam and kick it up a notch. The addition of a live studio audience for emerald live significantly enhanced its entertainment value, transforming a cooking demonstration into a lively performance.
Speaker 1:He was lively Good.
Speaker 2:Eats, created and hosted by Alton Brown. This program premiered on Food Network in July of 99. Good Eats distinguished itself by exploring the science, technique and history behind cooking, often likened to television science educators. The show was notable for its distinct visual style, employing Dutch angles and camera placed into side kitchen appliances to illustrate concepts and features. Alton Brown and other actors playing various characters to tell the story of food.
Speaker 2:Julia Child, a pioneer of culinary television, maintained her influential presence throughout the 90s. She hosted Cooking with Master Chefs hosted by Julia Child from 1993 to 1994, a series where she visited and collaborated with 16 celebrity chefs. Later she partnered with Jacques Pepin for Julia and Jack Cooking at Home, which aired on PBS from 99 to 2000 and earned a Daytime Emmy Award. Other significant American shows Baking with Julia Cooking, live Dinner and a Movie I used to love Dinner and a Movie how to Boil Water and Ready Set Cook that was Bobby Flay.
Speaker 2:He joined food network in 95 with hot off the grill with bobby flay and mario batali's molto mario began airing in 96, introducing regional italian cuisine for a wider audience. The 90s marked a considerable acceleration in the globalization of the kitchen. Previously exotic ingredients and dishes became increasingly available and influenced eating habits worldwide. This included the mainstreaming of foods like tacos, thai curries, regional Italian classics such as tiramisu and particularly sushi, which evolved into a global phenomenon, with california roles serving as an accessible entry point you the burgeoning internet also played a crucial role, disseminating recipes and cooking advice and effectively shattering our spatial relationships to culinary knowledge.
Speaker 1:Health consciousness experienced a significant boom in the 90s, leading to a proliferation of low-fat products in the market yeah, when you didn't have to eat cottage cheese and canned peaches to be eating healthy, it became a lot more accessible and desirable.
Speaker 2:This trend was influenced by heightened public awareness of healthy eating and the official publication of the food pyramid in the USA which, by the way I did not know that, was not until the 90s.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's actually completely inaccurate, correct?
Speaker 2:Graham Kerr's Kitchen, 94 to 96, notably embraced a low-fat, minimax approach, focusing on maximum flavor while minimizing unhealthiness, Regional. Alongside the embrace of global cuisines, there was a parallel and growing nostalgia for all things regional. Americans began to move beyond generic understanding of cuisines, appreciating, for instance, Italian food not just as spaghetti and meatballs, but recognizing its diverse regional variations, like those from Piedmont and Emilia-Romagna. I know I'm not going to say that Cut that part out.
Speaker 2:This reflected a deeper engagement with culinary authenticity and local foodways, the increased visibility of international cuisines and health-conscious trends in the 90s cooking shows directly correlated with broader societal shifts such as accelerating globalization and increased public health awareness. Which is funny because, like the 80s, it was all the French foods and Asian foods and it was all about excess in the 80s and a lot of oh. By the way, I was watching the Tickety Talk the other day and the girl was doing jazzercise.
Speaker 2:She found somebody's jazzercise tapes and she was doing them and the TikTok. She comes on and she's sweating all over and she's like I and she's like maybe in her 20s and she's like what was happening in the 80s. What were you doing in the 80s? And like every comment after that was like coke, coke, coke, coke, lots and lots of coke.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's why jazzercise was a thing yeah, yeah, yeah, you had to expend that energy somehow.
Speaker 2:A lot of skiing trips happening there. So yeah, the 90s was more health conscious and I think the 90s was more health conscious and, like I said, more regional and more not fancy, like fancy, but not.
Speaker 1:Right, exactly Like it wasn't something you would just make for a special occasion. It was actually things you could make every day.
Speaker 2:Yeah, whereas Julia was making things every day. And she was drunk. All the time. I should not talk.
Speaker 1:She probably actually doesn't talk like that. That's her drunk talk.
Speaker 2:I'll love me some Julia Child. Hell yeah. The cookie shows of the 80s and 90s exerted a profound and lasting cultural impact, fundamentally redefining culinary appreciation, influencing home cooking practices and shaping the broader food industry. Pivotal period laid the essential groundwork for the diverse and persuasive food media of the 21st century. While these programs undeniably generated more interest in organic and locally produced ingredients, fine dining and homemade dishes, they paradoxically did not necessarily translate into a significant increase in actual home cooking. Instead, americans continue to eat out more, suggesting a shift from direct instruction to aspirational viewing. I think they called that food porn, didn't they? For the longest time, the Food Network was just food porn.
Speaker 1:Yep, yep.
Speaker 2:The highlights of fun. I mean, I never cooked anything, they may, I just like to watch. Yeah, I'm a voyeur, I like to watch. Yeah, I'm a voyeur, I like to watch. The highlight. This highlights the fundamental change in the primary function of cooking shows for many viewers oh where were we all right? I got distracted. The. This paradox suggests that foodie culture fostered by tv was more about the consumption of food knowledge and experience, such as dining out or purchasing celebrity chef product, than about active participation in the kitchen, indicating a growing disconnect between culinary appreciation and practical application. For the stupid ass, motherfucking foodies, nothing, nothing makes me more angry than the word foodie. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:And she was way angry before we ever started recording.
Speaker 2:I was very irate, I don't even know why, just because you even made me a little angry. Oh, I know why I was mad. We're not going to talk about that. Yeah, you even made me a little angry. Oh, I know why I was mad. Oh, we're not going to talk about that. Okay, it's the current news cycle. Yeah.
Speaker 1:You mean like when Grandpa got stuck on the roof the other day.
Speaker 2:There's a really funny TikTok about that too.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of funny memes about it.
Speaker 2:It's him up there and underneath they're just playing. Jump by van halen anyway, might as well, jump, jump so basically that's it. Um now. Now we went from having the instructional videos of the 80s to like this super fancy pants, game shows, and like every kind of cuisine. Everybody's got their own show. But one thing I would like to say, of course is, my favorite chef but he didn't come along till the 2000s on tv was anthony bourdain I wasn't gonna let this slide without just talking about him, so I knew he'd come up, but I feel like if anthony bourdain probably hates people who call themselves foodie also for sure
Speaker 1:um, he was my favorite because, oh my god, I love man.
Speaker 2:He started as a dishwasher. He tells you how it is. He even says he is not a great cook. He's not a great chef. He was not a great chef and he is where he's supposed to be. He had a serious drug problem, which most people in restaurants do. I mean I don't know what is not to love about Anthony Bourdain. I mean I don't know what is not to love about Anthony Bourdain. He would go to these places in the middle of fucking nowhere and sit down in these people's homes.
Speaker 1:Right, just find a family and have them cook him dinner. Yes, and my gosh, it was amazing. Like I don't know if I would rather have been him or just got to spend time with him, like I can't even decide. Like he was he. He was a force, that's for sure he really was um, and he did have my dream job so my other favorite is Gordon Ramsay, I know, I go back and forth with him. I love Gordon. I think I like him as a person. I don't like him as a character.
Speaker 2:I think I like him as a person. I don't like him as a character.
Speaker 1:I think I like him both. Well, that's because you were a mean chef. Yes, so you enjoy watching that and you're probably jealous of how much he got away with that is how it happens.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you will, I don't care. Look, I have yelled at my fair share of servers in my life. I have called people names, I have told them how stupid they are. I have done all of those things is it? Right? No, is it just the way it goes in a kitchen? Yep, yes, cooks have incredible egos, just high For no reason. There's a reason, but it's.
Speaker 1:It's a thing that's hard to explain if you aren't a cook.
Speaker 2:Cooks are cooks because they can't be out in public Right. Servers and bartenders make 40 to 50 times more money yes Than a cook ever will. Cooks have it? I get it. Don't get me wrong. I know that servers have it rough because they have to deal with both the cooks and the people in the dining room. I understand that 100%, but it is also not 56,000 degrees.
Speaker 1:I was going to say like it is definitely harder. I did 25 years in the restaurant. It is definitely harder. I could never I have. I did 25 years in the restaurant, all front of the house and a lot of it's hard. Yes, a lot of it, but it's never as hard as it is in the kitchen, like it's hot. Everybody's in everybody's way, everybody wants to know where their shit is. Tickets keep coming, coming. They don't stop. You're on your feet.
Speaker 2:You have to have no stopping so many things happening at one time and you have to stay focused. You have to know the entire menu and every single solitary ingredient in it, and if you work in more than one restaurant, especially especially around here you have very limited time where you get to learn this shit. It's all learned on the fly. I mean, I've worked in a few restaurants Some were not my own that I did not make the menu for.
Speaker 1:If you make your own menu, then it's a lot easier to remember things.
Speaker 2:But there's just you have to know it's very difficult, it's timing, it's working with the other people, knowing the other people that you're working with so well that you know how long it's going to take them to do one thing.
Speaker 1:So you can time things together.
Speaker 2:You also have to be able to communicate without saying a whole lot to each other.
Speaker 1:Right, or else nobody would hear anybody.
Speaker 2:You can't hear anything in there. It's so loud, right. It's so hot, it's so fast, it's so sensory overload, which is why I can't believe I like it, because I absolutely hate sensory overload. But it is so many things happening all at one time and you have to be able to work with other people in real, close quarters, like I always used to tell them. This is a full contact sport. You are in each other's armpits, you are in each other's faces, you are sweating on each other. There are no secrets in a grill room and it's so hot. And these poor people make $15, $17, $20 an hour. That's it. Most of them are ex-cons, because restaurants are the only place that will hire them.
Speaker 2:They're all on drugs they're all hopped up on something caffeine, coke, meth, it's all it's. You just have no idea how difficult of a job it is Right Until you do it Right, and not everybody's cut out for it.
Speaker 1:Oh God no.
Speaker 2:I could not wait tables. I have tried and I hated every second of it, because I don't like talking to people.
Speaker 1:One thing I will say that, like, servers and cooks have in common when it comes to the restaurant and bartenders not hostesses. So much Boo, but there is a rhythm to all of it. Yes, like when you're a waitress, if you have not worked in a restaurant, it's called being in the weeds, when you just have lost control. But you have everything in your head, you know what you need to do and you know the order. You need to do it, and nothing will fuck you up worse than somebody coming up and being what can I do for you? Don't even make me think about it. I've got it all. Just give me five minutes and it will all be done. Don't help me.
Speaker 2:And that's like another thing, like if it's not a turn and burn restaurant, so it's not like an IHOP or some breakfast Right Pretty much anything else. You have to in your brain, because the ticket prints out with everything that those people ordered on it. Some places will print apps different and you can fire, but you're just asking for someone to forget something. If you do it that way, in my opinion, I liked all my service with the whole thing in and then I'll. If you do it that way, in my opinion, I liked all my service with the whole thing in and then I'll. So you have to have in your head the whole thing has to come out in 15 to 20 minutes. The entrees have to come out in 15, 20 minutes, so you have to watch your server take the salad out. Now you're on the clock for your app. Your app has to come out so many minutes but not too soon and not too.
Speaker 1:It's just such a delicate balance. There is nothing worse, though, when you're sitting at a table and you get your appetizers and another food runner right behind them brings your food. Exactly you're like what the fuck?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's just such a delicate balance and a lot of times these foods they've all been prepped, you know, ahead of time and they're, so they're not taking as long as it normally would because they're pre-cooked or pre-done or whatever. But with food there's like a sweet spot and if you're out of that in by like two minutes at all, then it goes bad. Yeah, so if you're two minutes too early, it's not done enough.
Speaker 1:If you're two minutes too late, the food is dying and your servers are not coming when you need them to I was gonna say don't let a server leave it sitting up under the heater, no, where it drying out, the plate is steaming hot, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's another thing. As a cook, you don't have fingertips anymore, like they're just all gone. Everything's burnt off. You're covered in burns all the time. You have to learn how to deal with it. It hurts like a motherfucker.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and as a server, I hated when people ran my food. Yeah, like I never wanted to work in a restaurant with a food runner and I would tell other servers, if there was no food runner, don't touch my food, because I had my timing too. I know when those things came out.
Speaker 1:I know, when everything is ready to go. And I know when the cooks are going to have it ready. And if they're falling a little bit behind, I bring them a tray full of ice cold sodas. And if they're falling a little bit behind, I bring them a tray full of ice cold sodas. Let them get a drink and then ask them if they can let me know when my food might be ready. And that is mostly happens because some asshole at some table is like right, I ordered my food 10 minutes ago. Yeah, so customers are the worst.
Speaker 2:Anyway, that's all I have to say. When you're eating out, you just have to understand that there is a very delicate ballet that happens in any restaurant anywhere, I don't care what level of restaurant it is, If it's a gourmet restaurant down to Waffle House. Those cooks have an ego. They are very proud of what they do and how they put it out. And they only make 10, 15, maybe 20 tops and it's a real hard job.
Speaker 2:No benefits, no tips, no nothing. No insurance no Nothing. They miss family, and that's another thing. Nobody really understands you miss every family event because everybody has shit on Saturdays and that's your busiest day, so you can't be off for that.
Speaker 1:Man, can we talk about that first cigarette though, after the end of the night? That is great, that's the best one ever.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, all right, I better get to my fun ever. Yeah, yeah, all right, I better get to my fun facts. Ooh, yeah, oh. But one thing real quick, I did. I was very close to auditioning for Hell's Kitchen. The only reason I did not? Because I was gonna. I was already, it was in Philadelphia, I was headed up, I was gonna, I was already, it was in Philadelphia, I was headed up, I was gonna do it. And as I was reading the thing you have to sign, it says do you have any allergies? And they cook a lot of scallops.
Speaker 2:I didn't even think about that, and I knew, as soon I had to put it, I would have to put it. I mean, I couldn't have not, in case something happened and I knew they weren't going to take me because of it. I knew it. They can't, they can't have that liability. That has been your lifelong curse, it is, and I was on my way and I was like fuck, I didn't even think about that, I can't do it. This is a wasted trip Because they're not going to take me. I would have won, though. Definitely Because I can take, because him screaming and yelling at you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you would have been like you just do what you're told. That's all. Yeah, it's not your kitchen. You wouldn't have been crying back. It was so mean to me.
Speaker 2:It's not your kitchen.
Speaker 2:No, and then they won't be mean. Exactly, Suck it up buttercup, Yep, yeah, Okay, Fun facts. For a year Julia Child worked at the OSS Emergency Sea Rescue Equipment Section in 1942 in Washington DC as a fire clerk and then as an assistant to developers of a shark repellent needed to ensure that sharks would not explode ordinances targeting German U-boats Crazy sharks. When Child was asked to solve the problem of too many OSS underwater explosives being set off by curious sharks, Child's solution was to experiment with cooking various concoctions as a shark repellent which were sprinkled in the water near the explosives and repelled sharks Still in use today. The experimental shark repellent marked Julia's first foray into the world of cooking.
Speaker 1:That is one of the coolest fun facts I've ever heard.
Speaker 2:Julia Child was six foot two. She was tall. She was awarded the presidential medal of Freedom in 2003 for her contributions to American culture. Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook has hosted over 3,500 episodes of the PBS cooking show Yan Can.
Speaker 1:Cook God damn Since 1982. That's a lot of shows.
Speaker 2:Here's my favorite fun fact of all Martin Yan can debone a chicken in 18 seconds. Get the fuck out of here I will not. Oh boy, that is fucking fast.
Speaker 1:I would love to see that I would too. That is fucking insane.
Speaker 2:You don't even know how sharp of a knife you have to have for that.
Speaker 1:For real.
Speaker 2:And to 18. That's amazing, I know I wanted to get some chickens to debone them, just to see.
Speaker 1:It would probably take three or four minutes.
Speaker 2:At least. I would put me at five, maybe ten oh.
Speaker 1:I think you could do it faster than that. I'm out of practice and I don't have very good knives. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Justin good knives. Yeah, justin wilson the cajun guy presented himself as cajun in his act. It is unclear if he had any actual acadian or french ancestry. His father, harry wilson, was of welsh descent. Justin wilson described his mother, the former olivette minturn toadvin, as cajun, but she has no known ancestors who either were acadian, lived in the cajun regions of louisiana or emigrated from france you know what I actually, as poor as my memory is, I remember as a youngster being like are you sure this guy's cajun?
Speaker 2:like you sound like a cartoon he is from louisiana, um her her. His mother did teach him how to cook but her name derives from an. Is a native of her family. Is native to maryland, oh yeah, all righty um, not very exotic.
Speaker 2:And the parish where the family lived was not part of the French or Spanish colonies of Louisiana. And my last fun fact because there are really not a whole lot of fun facts is the longest running cooking show is the British show, MasterChef. The show first aired in 1990 and is still airing today. Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that is a long-running show. Not like the Simpsons. But so that's my cooking show. That was super duper fun. I love me some cooking shows.
Speaker 1:I was starving when I got here. You're even more starving. No, I'm going to die of starvation. Oh my God, I like literally my whole drive down. I was like what am I going to get for dinner on the way home? What are you going to get for dinner? I don't know. Nothing sounds good, although I am thinking sushi now. I did think sushi on the way down. Then you mentioned it.
Speaker 2:So I'm thinking maybe I don't know, I don't know what.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have either. But then I also thought like there's a place up there that you can just get like meatballs with some sauce and mozzarella on it. There's also a place up there called Clean Eats that I've not tried yet. I might give it a go, but I think it's a chain.
Speaker 2:Yeah, sounds like a chain.
Speaker 1:My favorite sushi place is like three minutes from the house there you go and it's right next to a liquor store and I'm out of wine. Oh boy Thinking I have a plan. Oh boy Thinking I have a plan. Oh shit. Well, let's wrap this shit up then.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening. Like share rate review. Tell a friend, get us to that money so that we can get us an industrial kitchen and invite you over. You will love the meatballs that I make. My god yeah, and the rose sauce real quick. One more. One last thing, and then I promise I'll be done. My whole philosophy on cooking for in a restaurant as a restaurateur is I want you to eat my food and say, as you're eating it man, that's really good, this meatball really good. I want you to enjoy it while you're there, and then I want you to go home and two days later I want you to go. God damn, that meatball was good and then three days after that.
Speaker 2:I want you to be holy shit, that meatball was fucking amazing. I want you to think about that food. I want you to enjoy it while you're there, but I really want to leave you with an impression that you want that next week.
Speaker 1:That's another thing that I can connect with you is. Food is definitely my love language. I want to cook food and have people I care about eat it and be happy. Yeah, yeah, like you can pay me no greater compliment than to tell me how delicious what I just made was. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:All right, we got to get her some sushi. Like share rate review. Get us that kitchen. Find us where you listen to podcasts. Tell your friends where to find us when you listen to podcasts. Follow us on all the socials. At likewhateverpod, you can send us an email about how you're going to give us enough money.
Speaker 1:Bye.
Speaker 2:All my Hobart and Vulcan stuff or don't like whatever, whatever bye.
