PrintThe Frugal Gourmet
I miss Chef Jeff Smith. Anyone know whatever happened to his assistant on the show Cliff Smith? He was a really young whipper-snapper on the show.
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28 Comments:
I am not sure Cliff's last name was Smith - Were they related? As for what happened to Cliff - that's a good question.
Smith's cooking legacy was clouded by the scandal that helped end his career. Still I can't help but acknowledge that his was one of the great cooking shows bringing that "you can do this" attitude into pre-cable living rooms. Smith's was one of the first associations I ever heard between cooking and spirituality. It confirmed for me my belief that food is more than gasoline for the body.
chiff0nade at 5:08AM on 04/08/08
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.
huney_bumper at 7:22AM on 04/08/08
My favorite Jeff Smith quote on one of his shows "Me and the boys just love to all go in the kitchen together and and take turns beating the mea!"
I think it may have been veal scallopeni (a ha)!\
Oh little did we (or management at PBS) know.
Stiv61 at 7:33AM on 04/08/08
*meat
Stiv61 at 7:35AM on 04/08/08
I have several Frugal Gourmet cookbooks, too. I used to watch Jeff Smith every Saturday on PBS. The chef who assisted him was Craig Wollam. I did a search but didn't find anything current, unless he's working in theater as a set designer.
One thing I liked about Jeff Smith was that he went into the history of the food that he was cooking.
MelsDiner at 7:39AM on 04/08/08
Craig now counsels kitchen staff who have been victims of abuse.
Stiv61 at 7:52AM on 04/08/08
The Frug's Chicago Pizza recipe is my default pizza crust. My WW crust is a close second.
chiff0nade at 7:59AM on 04/08/08
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)
bravian at 9:23AM on 04/08/08
Pedophilia negates any contributions he ever made to the cooking world. I don't even think I could look at his recipes, let alone cook them.
BITTER at 9:54AM on 04/08/08
Then I guess my interest in the history of all types of cuisine is duly negated.
MelsDiner at 10:03AM on 04/08/08
I have to concur with @BITTER on this one.
crazyspice at 10:05AM on 04/08/08
I don't remember any of that stuff ever being proven. ((Shrugs))
chiff0nade at 11:05AM on 04/08/08
I'm sorry this thread took such a sour turn... I think I'll just remember the Frug as he was and leave it at that.
chiff0nade at 11:09AM on 04/08/08
He settled out of court and did not admit to any of it.
crazyspice at 11:09AM on 04/08/08
I grew up watching the Frug and Julia Child and other wonderful chefs. I preferred watching the cooking shows instead of going outside to play. And when I did play, I pretended I was a chef.:)
It's a shame that someone I once wanted to be like/cook like is capable of something like that. I do not have any of his cookbooks and my mom has since gotten rid of hers.
Butrflygirly at 11:53AM on 04/08/08
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.
Cassaendra at 11:59AM on 04/08/08
I was always kind of mixed on Jeff Smith. I loved his cooking show. I think it was probably the first show after The French Chef that I got hookd on. He had a very pleasant manner to him. His cookbooks, on the other hand, in my experience weren't so great. In that his and my relationship was forged when I was trying to teach myself how to cook, it's entirely possible that this may have been more my fault and not the fault of the books. Coolest thing ever on the show? He was at Craig's place and Craig had like this lowering ceiling in the kitchen that was just one enormo rack for hanging pots. Sweet. To this day, I think that's about the coolest thing I have ever seen.
Okay, on the other stuff - it's kind of hard for me to get past it. I want very much for it not to be true. Don't care that he liked him some men, do care that he liked him some boys. Look, I won't pay to see a Roman Polanski movie either.
chisai at 12:26PM on 04/08/08
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.
SayWhat at 2:00PM on 04/08/08
chisai, I think you said it well. There's no doubt that Jeff Smith influenced people to pick up a pan and cook. He fostered a curiosity in people, including myself, to look beyond the techniques and ingredients and find out how a dish originated, etc. It definitely changed how I look at cooking and food as a young cook. To that extent, you can't "unring the bell," so to speak. To invalidate everything any person guilty (or allegedly guilty) of despicable acts has ever done would negate much of history. There's no telling what accomplishments we would disavow if we really knew the people behind the technological, creative and engineering marvels. Would I buy one of Jeff Smith's cookbooks today? No. Would I watch his show? No. If I'm a horrible person because I didn't throw three books that I already owned in a fiery pit, then so be it.
MelsDiner at 2:03PM on 04/08/08
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 :)
Hunnyoil at 2:31PM on 04/08/08
I have often wondered what became of the allegations against the Frug. I was deeply disappointed when his transgressions came to light and felt terrible guilt for missing his show after it was off the air. I agree with MelsDiner- I couldn't support him today but wouldn't have tossed his books had I owned any at the time.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't he an ordained minister to boot? That fact keeps popping into my brain. And I wasn't aware that he had a penchant for men, I thought it was just kids.
AuntJone at 3:56PM on 04/08/08
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.
BITTER at 4:22PM on 04/08/08
Jeff Smith is one of my three favorite cooking show hosts of all time, along with Julia and Alton. The Frug is where I picked up such educational tidbits as "hot pan, cold oil" and the joys of Parmagiano Reggiano. (I remember turning to my mom as a kid and exclaiming in wonder: "that stuff doesn't always come in a can?!"). I remember doing some research on the case out of curiosity a few years back, and not being terribly impressed by either side's story--my suspicion is that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Anyway, I don't think he deserved to keep his fame/fortune, but to refuse to use his cookbooks and such seems a bit like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. YMMV, though.
OKLibrarian at 9:40AM on 04/12/08
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!
2muchfood at 5:01PM on 04/12/08
I remember this show. My mom used to watch it. The Fugal Gourment, Jeff Smith, passed away in July 2004.
paris221966 at 8:11PM on 04/12/08
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.
Calichef at 9:13PM on 04/12/08
@Calichef: "So, just like abusive parents being a repeating cycle, so goes abusive chefs."
You don't know how true this still is!!
SayWhat at 9:20PM on 04/12/08
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.
ebraun at 4:28PM on 04/13/08