Real Emeril: Chef or Entertainer?
Posted on February 16, 2007 by Gary McCarty
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Those of us who’ve been watching Food Network since its infancy have seen a lot of people come and go, but one of the stars in the network’s firmament has always been [tag]Emeril Lagasse[/tag]. (Where are you, David Rosengarten? Story for another day, I guess.)
The thing is, there are actually two Emerils. Which one do you prefer?
There’s the chef Emeril of “Essence of Emeril,” which still airs in the daytime, and there’s the entertainer Emeril of “Emeril Live,” which is a nighttime staple on Food TV.
Thing is, the food Emeril the Entertainer produces looks like garbage. He gets carried away with “bam, bam, bam”ing ingredients into dishes until they become almost violated. He’s even worse with alcohol. If a drink or dessert calls for one cup of rum, for instance, Mr. Entertainer will say something like, “What the heck?” as he pours in the whole bottle. I only pray that the food and drink he serves his live audience have been prepared by the back kitchen and substituted for the monstrosities he uses to tell his repeated, tired punch lines as he “cooks.”
In contrast, the more sober Emeril the Chef on “Essence” actually displays craftsmanship in the kitchen and produces foods that I, for one, could see myself making.
The best thing I ever saw on “Live” was a segment with Julia Child. Emeril was preparing one of her dishes, and he said, in effect, “If you don’t like water, then use stock.”
Julia immediately shot back: “No, you don’t. Use only water.”
Emeril the Entertainer, it seems, needs more coaches to keep him in line on his nighttime show. Chef Emeril, however, can be trusted in the daytime.
Thank you, Julia.
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