Cooking Magic
Have you ever thought about the amazing number of entertainment choices we can access on our television sets with a simple click of a button at any time on any day – 24/7 as they say? Human behavior is showcased on every level under every conceivable circumstance.
We can watch people pawn their goods; lose weight; sell jewelry and most anything else; sue one another; pick a bride or a husband; buy and sell real estate; redecorate houses and apartments; fish and hunt and do whatever it is that the Kardashians do, not to mention the regular programming of news, weather and sports.
But my favorite new phenomenon by far is The Food Network We have continual shows running all day and all night featuring the newest celebrities with their own thirty minute show; we have some competitive shows where the contestants prepare exotic entries in a selected time frame creating frantic activity and extraordinary dexterity; we have elimination contests where contestants vie for cash prizes and the winner is the last one standing after some grueling judging by famous people whom most of us have never heard of.
And what are these acts of stamina, dexterity and extraordinary presentations that we are we treated to? COOKING!!!! That’s it. They cook. Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not here to demean the good folks on these shows. Nor am I in any way trying to belittle the culinary skills they perform. They are obviously popular. Their numbers are incredible. And there is nothing I respect more than the success someone enjoys by creative ingenuity and marketing.
Also, one only has to see me in person to be immediately aware of my fondness for the art of cooking. I don’t have any skills personally, but I greatly admire the talents of others in this regard and enthusiastically participate in the fruits of their labor on literally a daily basis.
What I feel is worthy of note is the fact that these shows are not some special program on a larger network. No, they are the larger network. They have the major audiences. They have the superstars that everyone knows and loves. It is truly remarkable and refreshing, actually.
About twelve years ago I was in New Orleans and a friend recommended the hottest restaurant in town – NOLA. It was described as the smaller of the two restaurants operated in New Orleans by Emeril Lagasse. I wasn’t familiar with the name, but soon felt like I might be the last living soul that was not aware of the man and his New Orleans legacy. What really got my attention, however, was meeting a couple at the adjoining table at NOLA who had come down from Chicago with the sole objective of eating at the restaurants and meeting the man whom they were so fond of on his “Television Show”.
Now that got my attention. I readily admit to my lack of chic-ness or being into the latest happenings, but a television show featuring a restaurant chef? How could that be? Two nights later we had dinner at Emeril’s, the other restaurant, and to everyone’s excitement the “Man Emeril” was entertaining guests at the next table. Here was celebrity as large as any rock star or sports hero I had ever been around. And the especially good news – it was all G rated as best I could tell.
My point in all this is that television has such a commanding presence in our lives today that it can create not only a billion dollar industry, but produce hundreds of celebrities earning millions of dollars and what is it all about? What is this new miracle we have discovered and are infatuated with? COOKING!!!!
Is this a great time to be alive or what?
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