What's so funny 'bout peace, love, and recipe sharing?
We're not sure just when it all happened, but at some point over the last few years, food shows became the new reality TV craze. We've got mixed emotions about this. On one hand, as restaurant owners as well as lovers of good food we happen to find food to be a great source of entertainment...but what has us bothered on the other hand is the "celebrity chef smack-down" mentality of the entertainment we constantly see. I mean, since when did cooking become a competitive sport? Isn't the kitchen a place where people come together to share and nurture one another?
Oddly enough, the inspiration behind this blog post was our Brick Oven Bistro Brownie. The recipe for our brownies was "paid forward" by a friend and legendary foodie, Pat Miller of Denver. Known locally as the Gabby Gourmet, Pat has been a long time and much loved fixture on the Colorado food scene. Back when we were involved in a Denver-based restaurant, Pat befriended us. Thanks to her we met a lot of great culinary personalities, since Pat liked to "hold forth" with visiting chefs in the area following her weekly radio programs. Because Pat liked us, she gave us the recipe for her famous brownies. As far as she was concerned, sharing her brownie recipe was just putting more love out into the world. To paraphrase Sting, "if you love a recipe, set it free."
We had a similar experience years ago when we visited a famous New Orleans restaurant, Dooky Chase's. Dooky's daughter and current owner, Leah, sat down and visited with us during our meal. When she learned that we had a restaurant in Boise, she asked if we served gumbo. Finding out that we didn't, she gave us Dooky's recipe, which we continue to prepare to this day. After all, it wasn't about aiding and abetting the competition, it was about the conviction that life is simply too short not to have a place to go for the gumbo that kept Louis Armstrong coming back for more. Somebody say "amen"!
So, here's a food-based reality show concept: how about bringing a group of chefs together in
the kitchen of a homeless shelter, give them some fresh produce from a
local farm, and have them share recipe ideas to create a wonderful meal that
they sit down to with the shelter residents? Try pitching that one to
Hollywood and see where it gets you.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 3:45:03 PM (Mountain Daylight Time, UTC-06:00) 
|
|