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Josh Ozersky And Nina Lalli Join The Fray

Posted by Lia Bulaong, February 16, 2007 at 6:39 PM

Yesterday we linked to Michael Ruhlman's response to Anthony Bourdain's Food Network rant, today we point you both to the return of serve from New York Magazine's Josh Ozersky in defense of Rachael Ray: "We don’t think this mandarin hauteur has any intellectual basis. Aside from the fact that it is unbecoming for a privileged and educated man to sneer at his own countrypeople, even by the standards of practical gastronomy his complaint doesn’t hold water. Rachael Ray and Sandra Lee are culinary lightweights, as they would be the first to admit, but they’re a product of — and engine for — people’s love for food. (...) For an amateur, taking tips from Rachael Ray is no less legitimate than a good cook learning from Lidia Bastianich or Mario Batali. (And that’s leaving aside the class issue — Ray’s special appeal to the hard-working people who barely have the time to make meals for themselves and their families.)"

Immediately volleyed back by Nina Lalli of the Village Voice: "Our problem with her—aside, of course, from the baby talk and gufawing—is that her food doesn't just look bad, it looks dangerously fatty and in many cases, not cost efficient. If Ray's passion is for the regular, hard working families who might otherwise turn to cheap, greasy takeout, she has an opportunity—if not an obligation—to explain that buying pre-shredded cheese is barely a time-saver and a huge waste of money, or that eating that much cheese to begin with is unhealthy as well as avoidable—even on a budget."

(We've got a continuing discussion on the Food Network's personalities in Serious Eats: Talk, you can tell us whom you like best or least over there or respond to the hullaballoo in the comments here.)

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Tags: Anthony Bourdain, celebrity chefs, classism, Food Network, health, Josh Ozersky, Michael Ruhlman, Nina Lalli, Rachael Ray, snobbery