Destiny has a way of catching up with you, even when you’ve tried to side-step it. Years ago, I got a phone call from the television production office of FOX’s Hell’s Kitchen. They were looking for a “ mature women” to be a contestant against Gordon Ramsey for their very first season. “Mature” is code for old in Hollywood. They called me several times, but I told them absolutely not interested. I’ve worked in television for 20 years and I know the tricks.
Television, especially reality TV is all about setting the participants up for failure and then taping their reactions. Every scene can be manipulated and usually is. A show like Hell’s Kitchen isn’t entertainment unless someone is crying, sweating, screaming, swearing or failing. Bravo’s Top Chef is the same premise with a little more panache and more refined hosts (or they appear more refined).
I told the FOX producers on their last attempt to entice me, “but if I stab Gordon in the first episode, what do we do the other 12?” I could hear the click as they took me off of the speakerphone. Apparently, they weren’t looking for anything that real.
Why the success of reality cooking shows? They are cheaper to produce, give unknown chefs a chance at quick fame, and the audience feeds off of the train wrecks. I get it. I have the same appetite for websites that show botched plastic surgery or watching Sandra Lee cook on Food Network. I’m addicted to horror!
I just finished a culinary consulting gig in Atlantic City. I was hired to set up and organize the backstage kitchen for the food demos and challenges for a live, onstage cooking show entitled Taste of Emeril's. The host of the show is TV legend Marc Summers and the Chef is Ralph Pagano.
Um, where’s Emeril? He hovers above on a big screen with appropriate taped responses and after the show, the hotel kitchen passes out an Emeril taste treat to the audience.
If the show is a success, they will take it on the road.
The show is part theatre, part cooking, part game show and actually fun because of the unknown factors: the contestants. Yep, it is endlessly fascinating to me what people will do for the opportunity to whisk an egg and possibly win a cookbook. It’s a testament to Emeril Lagasse and how he has made people enjoy cooking that they are selling 500 seats a performance.
Why did I bring up the destiny circle? It just so happens that Ralph was a contestant on Hell’s Kitchen that first season, the one thatt this “ mature women” turned down. Obviously we were supposed to meet. I knew nothing about Ralph before our week together, but I’m a big fan now.
Ralph’s funny, can cook and is a true boy chef. He made my job easy. He worked diligently learning Emeril’s recipes, found the funny bits and was without a doubt
a pro. As a culinary producer, I’ve worked with all kinds; the mean, the ugly, the untalented and the blonde. It’s not always fun, and many times I needed vodka, I mean vitamins, to make it to the finish line. Happily, not this time.
If you can’t get to Atlantic City, watch for Ralph’s television show called Pressure Cook. You might catch some episodes on the web and it may be airing on a Scripps Network in your area very soon. It’s a wonderfully produced show that takes you around the world and shows what Chef Ralph is made of. Having a great sense of humor, and being able to laugh at your self is a terrific personality trait combined with legit cooking chops.
I’ve had the opportunity to have one of the greatest cooking careers ever. I’ve met and cooked with some of the world’s best chefs, eaten really well, and for crying out loud, drank some extraordinary wine! Even the days that my backstage kitchen may have resembled the Titanic (and my feet were wet), The Taste of Emeril experience did not disappoint, and I’d like to thank everyone connected with the show and Fremantle Entertainment for giving me the opportunity to be a part of it.
Denise Vivaldo is writing a memoir entitled Cooking Like the Boys, and is the author of five cookbooks.
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