Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows

by Kathleen Collins

Book Overview

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• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826429300
• ISBN13: 9780826429308
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book About the History of TV Cooking Shows

This is a surprising book. For one thing, I did not know prior to reading this book that TV cooking shows have been around since the very earliest days of TV. Turns out that there have been certifiable stars of TV cooking long before Julia Childs. Not only does this book introduce you to stars of TV cooking shows that you have never heard of, it also details their back stories and even some gossip about these TV pioneers. This is a human interest book at its very best. Kathleen Collins has written an excellent book that should be on the book shelf of everyone who is a regular watcher of TV cooking shows.

The perfect gift for that Food Network junkie in your life!

A platterful of tasty information on the evolution of TV cooking shows. An expert researcher, Collins provides an extremely detailed history of this genre of TV programming, incorporating rare historical photos and texts as well as juicy personal interviews with contemporary cooking show commentators. Especially interesting is her discussion of the ways TV cooking shows have changed with the times, from selling gas ranges, refrigerators, and other kitchen appliances to a country unfamiliar with these items in the 1930s and 1940s (ushering Americans into modernity), to selling sophisticated French and other gourmet dining in the 1970s and 1980s (encouraging Americans to become cosmopolitan), to selling notions of social class and cultural capital in the 1990s and beyond (teaching viewers about the wine & food lifestyles of the rich and famous or, conversely, the down home cookin' ways of the girl next door). At times, I wished this analysis had been pushed further, since there was so much information to absorb! Educational and entertaining, the author's witty writing style makes us feel as if we're having a face-to-face conversation with her and the famous cooking hosts she describes.

fascinating, meticulous book. a foodie essential.

A splendid read! With the prevalence of television cooking shows these days, it's easy to forget the pioneer TV chefs. Collins brought me back to my days as an adolescent foodie, watching Justin Wilson, Jeff Smith and Graham Kerr when most kids were outside making mud pies. I found most fascinating Collins thorough examination of the cultural juggernaut that is the Food Network and it's ability to appeal to everyone from professional chefs to those who "keep sweaters in their stove" (and instead prefer to just watch other attractive, manicured people do the cooking). The author provides sometimes shocking historical anecdotes from the very moment when cooking and media merged on radio in post WWII America. An incredibly well researched and entertaining book! If I were a professor teaching a Sociology of Food course, this would be an indispensable addition to my reading list.

This book is a delightful ride

on a journey I didn't know I wanted to take! I would never have suspected how much influence these shows have exerted on our cooking and eating habits, our culture and the food industry overall. Collins loves her topics and respects them through her impeccable and more than thorough. Better still, her enthusiasm is infectious, and her prose is as breezy and entertaining as an episode of "The Galloping Gourmet." The addition of photographs throughout the book is a pleasant surprise, though their effectiveness would be enhanced if they were a bit larger and in color. And wouldn't it have been fun if the publisher had included a DVD with excerpts from some of the classic shows contrasted with some from the "Modern Period."

An entertaining and informative history of TV cooking shows

I'm absolutely addicted to cooking shows, so this book really reached out and grabbed me. It was fascinating to learn a little more about the context that these shows came out of and the transformation of the genre from serving a purely educational purpose to something approaching pure entertainment (a lot like the change in the role of news media in the last 50 years, but that's a topic for another conversation altogether). And it's also interesting to see how these shows have shaped the attitudes we hold as a culture toward cooking and the food we eat. The author has obviously done a lot of hard research and knows her stuff, but at the same time you can tell she's a fan and delivers the goods in a non-stuffy way... Her approach is reminiscent of a certain television chef named Julia, come to think of it. Highly recommended summer reading.