Paula Deen or Serious Eats Trying to Kill Us?
i know you guys are always poking at Paula Deen for her doughnut burger and butter this, butter that, but I can't help but notice how many not-so-good-for-you foods that Serious Eats writes about....burgers, pizza, fried pickles, ice cream, and most recently deep fried bacon
I would love to see more high quality food news, not all, just some
thanks
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24 Comments:
Everything in moderation jpmcd!
Raphael at 10:26PM on 06/29/08
I don't think we're all subsisting on a diet of ice cream and deep fried this or that.
It's just sometimes difficult to wax poetic about oatmeal, even though I eat it 5x/week.
chiff0nade at 4:58AM on 06/30/08
High quality food news, great idea jpmcd get some ideas together, write the articles and present them to Ed. I think you should get right on that.
JerzeeTomato at 7:50AM on 06/30/08
I'm sorry but if you don't consider deep fried bacon to be high quality your measuring stick is broken ;)
bobbob at 8:40AM on 06/30/08
Well I've seen that strawberry spinach salad as Today's Special for several days now. Serious Eats does a little better than Paula Deen, IMHO. Serious Eats in some ways represents what Americans eat, and pizza burgers and ice cream are all favorites; guaranteed to generate a buzz. But Serious Eats also features other items when it's worthy of a piece and writers feel that other Serious Eaters would be interested in reading about it.
blankplate at 8:40AM on 06/30/08
just because i like to read about deep fried bacon wrapped hot dogs {and i do} doesn't mean that i feel obligated to eat them.
lighten up.
cybercita at 9:13AM on 06/30/08
I'm a vegetarian and contrary to some people's insistence, I have no intention of 'going back' for the sake of bacon or a burger for that matter, although I can weigh in on the value of mustard and ketchup on veggie burgers. Pizza and ice cream can be very decadent or quite low-calorie or healthy, depending on how they are made.
Regarding 'comfort food' threads in general, though, I think part of that is that many of us, however healthy we are now, come from a culture with profound significance attached to the foods you mentioned. That may changed as I think all of us are eating differently, as we get introduced to different foodstuffs. However, it's not surprising that lots of us have hot dog and McNugget memories--I haven't had them in this millennium, but when young I was a happy kid with a Happy Meal.
I think negotiating the new food culture is one of the things that 'serious eating' is all about and I'd love to hear your thoughts about nutrition and such.
However, Paula Deen is just a monstrosity--doughnut burgers and drinking butter and making fun of people who care about the way food makes them feel at all is just daft.
HeartofGlass at 9:14AM on 06/30/08
It's not necessarily about nutrition, as it is about variety of stories - and not saying take it down altogether, said "not all, just some"
@JerzeeTomato - my guess is you were being sarcastic with the "get on that" but I think there is some merit to that idea, so Ed if you are reading, I'd love to see a piece or two on Garden plots, Making interesting flavored sorbet or homemade Italian ice, difference in plum varieties
but maybe I am misinterpreting the term "Serious Eats" and comfort food is what it's all about!
jpmcd at 11:37AM on 06/30/08
I'm just still trying to figure out what "high quality food news" means...
Prairie at 11:40AM on 06/30/08
p.s. today's topics are great New Amsterdam Market, Cooking with Kids, Cheap Organic Food
jpmcd at 11:51AM on 06/30/08
Serious Eats is about everything going on in the culture of food, from organics to comfort food, from bacon to spinach. It's about people sharing food information, entertainment, and their own personal food experiences. Lastly it's about people eating more delicious food in every form imaginable, from salads to pork, from burgers to the perfect peach. We try to keep a balance in what we post about, a balance between comfort and health. Sometimes we might get out of balance, but I hope both the Serious Eats team and the community end up self-correcting the site. Most of the time we do get it right. Most of all, I think that if everyone in the Serious Eats community retains the ability to laugh at themselves we will be all right.
Ed Levine at 12:58PM on 06/30/08
thank you for the response Ed.
Looking forward to a sister site one day called Veg Out or something like that, but more clever like Slice and A Hamburger Today.
cheers.
jpmcd at 2:06PM on 06/30/08
Go Ed!!! Go Ed!! Go Ed!!
MadelynRodriguez at 2:06PM on 06/30/08
I think we need MORE articles about bacon!
bodaciousgirl at 3:03PM on 06/30/08
I was too busy eating my ice cream and missed the article about the deep fried bacon. I can't imagine anything better fried + bacon = heaven.
Muhlyssa at 11:26PM on 06/30/08
Serious Eats keep up the great job, and that goes for Slice and a Hamburger Today! while I donteat pizza burgers or even bacon very often, I have no issue reading about it or seeing food porn. We all try to eat healthy to one extent or another, but what brings us all here (I would think) is the love of great food. I promise no one in the history of the world has ever died from reading of looking at deep fried bacon;) lets not confuse "quality" food with snob food, there is merit in just about anything, it may not be "high class" but most italian food people rave over wasnt made and consumed by the elite either, and that goes for just about all types of food. think of deep fried bacon etc as just another form of peasent food, that if it came from another culture would probably send us scampering to over priced resteraunts to pay $30. for a bacon cheese burger ;)
huneybumper at 7:51AM on 07/01/08
So...if Paula Deen did a show about deep fried bacon, would everyone here be excited and singing her praise? trust me, I am no fan of her cooking style, I'm just trying to understand the thought process
maybe I just chalk it up to "to each his own"
jpmcd at 9:09AM on 07/01/08
I think we would if it was a good show. Everyone, including Paula Deen, understands that just because Paula Deen makes deep-fried bacon on her show doesn't mean we should eat deep-fried bacon every day. But a couple of times a year, sure.
Ed Levine at 12:37PM on 07/01/08
MUST. HAVE. DEEP. FRIED. BACON.
latteaday at 1:20PM on 07/01/08
Personally, I have never been interested in duplicating any recipe seen on the Paula Deen show. She literally "throws" ingredients together to produce recipes popular in the 1950's. She doesn't have the skills to be in front of a TV camera. Paula's Party should be removed from the network. Simply, it is disgusting. She lacks class.
So, deep frying bacon and doughnut hamburgers is just part of her act. I love bacon, however, common sense tells me that it shouldn't be deep fried. Her ratings are down. Rachel Ray's ratings are down. Giada's ratings are down. Emril has been cancelled. Mario Batali has been cancelled. It's just a matter of time before Paula walks.....and The Neeleys.....and SANDRA LEE, please. They need to get the charlatans off the network. Thank God for PBS!
dianeb at 1:39PM on 07/02/08
It's true that eating Paula's brand of food everyday would lead to poor health, but most reasonable people understand this and do not eat this way. Plus, I don't think Serious Eats OR Paula *ever* advocated eating over-rich food as a habit or lifestyle.
Serious Eats doesn't have a duty to preach about health food. It's an all-food site, as Ed Levine emphasized above, that assumes it's readers are reasonable people with decent self-management skills. We should all be flattered!
Parenthetically, some of the healthiest, fittest people I know -- who run marathons and complete triathlons -- rarely, but occasionally, eat stuff like Paula's cooks on her shows. They're good self-managers and aren't too rigid in their thinking or eating. I admire them.
@dianeb: I respect your opinion (and others'), but Paula's lack of class is what kinda' endears her to me. And my two great aunts, Evi & Kalli, get a real kick out of her. They claim that she is "the drunk cook" and they imitate her accent. Kalli believes Paula drinks a fifth of scotch before every show. Don't think so, but that is hilarious.
Susquehanna at 2:28PM on 07/02/08
@Susquehanna I agree with you. It pleases me that your aunts find her entertaining. Paula can be comical. With the health issues our country faces due to our chosen diets, I would like to see cooking shows promote healthier ingredients and use them in innovative ways.
Now that you mentioned it, I find Paula being called "the drunk cook" to have some merit. She does act a bit tipsy. Remember Julia Child's early episodes? "One cup of wine for the beef burgandy and one glass of wine for me." Gulp
dianeb at 3:02PM on 07/02/08
What ever happened to understandijng the concept of diversity. To the Indivdual beauty as well as passion is in the eye of the beholder Practice more tolerance of other cooking styles. These folks grew up around their cuisines and cherish their traditions as much as you do yours ! Our sensibilities are all different and take a lifetime to develop..Acid tongued food critics .....what R WE gonna do with them ?????
grizz518 at 2:03AM on 07/11/08
Wow, Dianeneb, why do you bother to watch any of the cooking shows if you re such an obvious "downer?" Why don't you change the channel? Ummm??
carol107 at 6:23AM on 08/12/08