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I grew up watching Julia and the Frug I've even still got a few of his cookbooks, I always go to him first when I'm looking something fairly simple but delicious, and as I said in another thread, his take on pollo diavalo is one of my go to meals when I have chicken but no ideas.

*meat

Craig now counsels kitchen staff who have been victims of abuse.

Jeff Smith taught how to make an omelet, to loath his sometimes cooking partner Elmo from Sesame Street, and to enjoy jokes at his expense which he deserves (considering the allegations and quick exit from the scene he deserved much more)

Then I guess my interest in the history of all types of cuisine is duly negated.

I don't remember any of that stuff ever being proven. ((Shrugs))

He settled out of court and did not admit to any of it.

In the real world, we're all guilty until proven innocent.

I've always associated "frugal" with "cheap" but his show was far from it.
His show was great, since it satisfied both hemispheres of my brain, so to speak. It was like you were getting two for the price of one. :P Wish there were more of those kinds of shows around. Having grown up with Japanese travel/cooking-with-a-decent-dose-of-history/science tv programs, I really miss those kinds of shows.

I met both Jeff Smith and Craig Wollam at the James Beard House in NY (if you have never been there - it is a very cool place!) The chef of the restaurant I was working at invited me to be his chef commis when he presented a dinner there.

Jeff Smith was very personable, affable and approachable. He had just stopped by - wasn't a guest that night or anything. He was just in the neighborhood.

Craig on the other hand, was a snot. Walked around like he was all that and a bag of chips and he really wasn't.

Whether he did or didn't do what he was accused of, it doesn't change the fact that he showed you could do amazing things with food - frugally, not cheaply, but frugally.

Right, his name was Craig Wollam. From what I remember on the show he would give Chef Jeff these snotty looks and try and disagree with what he would say. He should have been honored to work with Chef Smith.

chiff0nade, please post that pizza dough recipe :)

While goggling Wollum's name, I found this link. Apparently he was involved in some sort of child support case:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=wa&vol=380052&invol=o01

Less about food, more about gossip LOL.

It's unfortunate that someone's accusations can throw an entire carreer out the door. From what I've heard and read about Mr. Smith, he was a kind and gentle person. One could believe that he decided his career was over whether he proved himself innocent or not (something that's not supposed to have to happen in America) so why ruin someone else's career along with it (Wollum's). We are all supposed to be innocent until PROVEN guilty, and that did not happen. If the allegations were proven, I'd be right along side BITTER there, but they were not.

As for his recipies and cookbooks, with some experience and "Try, try again" spirit, you could get some darned good food out of them. Now Alton, he bats closer to 85%, little prior knowledge required!

I agree that his accomplishments in food education on TV, and otherwise, were enormous. I also agree that ignoring his greatness because of unproven allegations (for which he was never prosecuted) is foolish. Every time I head to the stove I never fail to think to myself, "Hot pan, cold oil, food won't stick!" Plus I think it's silly to hold something that may or may not have happened (but probably things happened) against a dead man. I'm sure those last few years of his life were hellish and he suffered enough.

As for uppity Craig Wollam, he grated on my nerves something fierce! I suspected (even way back when he first appeared on the show) that he and The Frug were more than just "friends." I mean, all the trips, come on. However, I expect he's much more circumspect now that he's been taken down a bunch of pegs. I think counseling for kitchen workers that have been abused is a great idea and he will never run out of clients. All kitchen workers have been abused at some point.

As an aside, I once asked a chef why he was so hard on his crew and was told that he was treated the same way when he started. So, just like abusive parents being a repeating cycle, so goes abusive chefs.

I was a big fan of the Frug' and I think his influence changed a lot about how cooking shows are presented. I can't think of another show at that time that really explained the regional differences in how people eat.

He really raised the bar of food knowledge in the country, especially in the midwest where I grew up. In the mid-80s people just weren't eating things like squid ink pasta, balsamic vinegar, fennel bulbs, etc. etc. Al dente' was a word most had never heard.

If he hadn't had his troubles, and the evidence is pretty overwhelming against him even if he never had to admit to anything, then I believe he would be among the most revered food educators. As it is, most younger people don't know him at all, but his influence is still being felt in very strong ways.

It was a deep personal loss to me, he really taught me how to cook and also why it's important to be curious about the foodways of other cultures. I still have all of his cookbooks, but I don't use them much.

His cooking show was truly the best I've ever seen. I'd never watched cooking shows before until The Frugal Gourmet, but it was an amazing education delivered with compassion and caring. I got a chance to meet with Jeff on several occasions and he was always the most caring and gracious person. Yes, he was a minister and came from a Methodist background. In his shows and his books he often shared messages of compassion to care for our elderly who ate TV dinners alone, or to remember to put meaning in our holidays.

He was certainly the cooking celebrity of his time and I don't know if he was guilty or simply a target that money, not jail-time satisfied. We will never know what really happened, but there but for the grace of God go you and I. It is wrong to judge someone without walking in their shoes and knowing the facts. I can only speak to my experience of his deeds which spoke volumes of caring and compassion.

Jeff Smith (January 22, 1939 – July 7, 2004) was the author of a dozen best-selling cookbooks and the host of The Frugal Gourmet, a popular American cooking show which began in Tacoma, Washington and aired on PBS from 1988 to 1997, and consisted of 261 episodes.

Along with Julia child, his show was one of the first cooking shows that I watched. As a kid, although I loved Julia I also found his food and his techniques much easier to understand. I don't know much about the allegations, but I hope they aren't true.

I remember watching the Frugal Gourmet with my grandfather all the time when I was little. It's sad to know what was going on behind the scenes, but I'll always remember both fondly.

I taped Jeff's holiday episodes (Thanksgiving/Christmas) along with many others and to this day I enjoy his enthusiasm and zest for life. I watch them to this day because he makes me smile! As for alleged transgression, I understand they are just that: alleged. I didn't know the man personally and I would venture to say from reading above that all but one had never met the man. I have to agree with kratos that a person is innocent until proven guilty and sensationalized media coverage shouldn't count as a jury of your peers. I pray he was innocent and paid his out of court settlement so that he and his family could have some peace. We will never know. I miss him but I have his chuckle, his Handel Watermusic theme song and his sign off to remember him by: "I bid you peace...bye bye!"