Whaddya Say About Rachael Ray?

Whether you know me personally, just read this blog, or both, I'm fairly famous for resisting certain pop-cultural phenomena. It's for my own good really, because more often than not, once I've succumbed to something, I completely embrace whatever it is I've been resisting and wonder what I did before it was a part of my life.  Sometimes it's good to give-in because not long after writing about the iPod, I finally got one and now can't imagine life without it.  On the other hand, I managed to avoid the first four seasons of American Idol and then finally relented last January and watched the auditions for Season 5.  Like the proverbial drug dealer who gives you your first 'taste' for free, it was all I needed to get hooked and I then proceeded to care about people like Kelly Pickler, Eliot Yamin, Kat McPhee and Taylor Hicks, like it or not. My job requires me to be in touch with the pop-cultural zeitgeist and I have a pretty good radar as to what I don't really need to be up on and what I need to know about. I'm at a crossroads and I turn to you to tell me which way to go on Rachael Ray, my pop-culture vacuum has kept her out of my world so far.

I know it's hard to believe but I've never seen her on any of the talk shows or any of her own myriad shows. My wife gets her magazine once in a while and I've thumbed through it and perhaps even enjoyed a recipe or two that but I've never seen her on television. All I know about her is that she's cute as hell (but not sexy, check out the FHM pics, it didn't work for her) uses the word 'yummo' a lot and isn't fussy about exact measurements.  I did some research on her and found that a lot of 'foodies' hate her because she's too pedestrian and lacks formal culinary training. Then again, I tend to blanch at a lot of fancy foodie words you see on menus like reduction, infusion and chutney and I refuse to try sushi, so maybe she's right up my alley.

Whether you're a fan or not but have an opinion, tell me what you think of Rachael, am I too late or would I enjoy her show(s)?

Comments

[Mike]

I think she's up there with Rosie O'Donnell and Magic Johnson on the list of "worst TV personalities of all time." I can't say that I was able to get through much of it, but what I did see of her show (on NBC?) was unfunny, poorly paced, and just plain dumbed-down. I think she's unattractive (although that has no impact on her hosting/abilities), and her "personality" seems like a random sampling of every annoying sorority member I've ever known - TOTALLY UNWATCHABLE YET SOMEHOW SUCCESSFUL.

[Diedre]

I'm a guessing that you don't watch much Food Network programming. She has "30 minute meals" and "40 dollars a day" and I think there may be another one that I've never seen. I can tolerate her some times. Other times she is just too damn perky and her talking with the hands can get on my ever last nerve!!! Oh and everything is Yummo or Yummy. One day I want to see her spit up that fork full of food and start cussing.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/rachael_ray/0,1974,FOOD_9928,00.html

forgot one show (never seen it really) "Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels"

[freakgirl]

She's too perky and her voice grates on my last nerve. I don't even know why foodies bother complaining about her - she's not making gourmet or even original food, and she's the first to admit it.

A lot of people love her and love her recipes. The good thing about a cookbook is that it can't talk to you. :)

[Marjon]

Don't get me started on Rachael Ray. Her first name alone makes me scream. Add her annoying laugh, her "The Joker"-smile, her voice, her perkiness, her face, her hands, her appearance. I HATE HER!
And yet, whenever I am in the US I have to watch her show. Just so I can scream at the television.
And I can't imagine her food is yummo. It seems kinda bland and tasteless to me.
Did I mention that I hate her?

[mattbarr]

I don't hate The Ray, but she can be annoying, no doubt. And it doesnt help that she hosts daytime talkshows and cooking shows, two things I really dont care for to start with.

But if you ever find the Food Network, Ken, skip Rachel Ray and head straight for Giada DeLaurentis (sp?). You'll love them, i mean, her.

[Diedre]

Ah, Giada, I truly do LOVE her!

[Andy]

I've never seen her on TV, but "30 Minute Meals" pissed me off in a big way. I triple-dog-dare you to cook those recipes in 30 minutes! Maybe if you have six arms, a blowtorch for a stove, and a couple hits of meth, but completing those recipes in 30 minutes is impossible for mere mortals. False advertising, if you ask me.

[David]

I have a hard time "hating" fairly innocuous TV personalities. There are so many world leaders, Republicans, religious hypocrites and others who've screwed up society that I don't feel right wasting my hatred on cooks.

But...I DO believe Ms. Ray should have stuck to food issues and left talk shows to more interesting people. And yeah, Giada De Laurentiis IS a much better cook AND a much prettier lady than R.R. (And I'm NOT just saying that because I'm Italian.}

Incidentally, my wife and daughter watched the Food Channel before our last couple trips to the West Coast and were able to scope out some GREAT restaurants in both San Diego and the L.A. area. Yummo!

And another thing...the only reality show I've ever watched that was worth a damn was COPS. Some guy with three teeth and no shirt bleeding from the shoulder and a crazed lady standing over him with a bloody knife... THAT'S good TV! Some bean-pole girl sobbing because she ate one too many lima beans and won't be able to become America's Next Top Model or a bunch of castaways on an island in a controlled setting following a contrived plot trying to win a million bucks is NOTHING but boring to me. There...I feel better.

[Kent]

She calls "extra virgin olive oil" EVOO, that's enough for me to change the channel. A lot of the food network "stars" turn me off.

Don't like Emeril, Flay, Paula, Alton, Jim O'Connor and that stupid "Ace of Cakes" dude sucks it hard. He makes his "cakes" out of rice krispies, wood and rope?!?

Mario Batali is THE SHIT! Giada is ok but her head is giant and she's too in love with her cleavage.

[betty rocker]

I've never seen any of her shows, maybe 10 minutes of a 30MM, but I did get her magazine as a gift for Christmas last year and it has great content. I guess I don't like the idea of hating someone just because they are "perky"- really, is that so wrong? I do agree, the hand gestures and the lingo I saw and heard irked me a little, but you got to hand it to her; She's making millions off of simple things your and my mom have been doing for years. She just had the thought to bring that idea to popularity. If you don't want to watch her, the magazine lets you avoid all the things you may find annoying about The Ray.

[megan]

I cannot stand her. It's not to say I haven't done my research first, though. I've watched her show, bought her magazine and I, with full knowledge, can say she's incredibly irritating.

[megan]

PS. Did you know there is an entire website dedicated to hating her? Yeah, it's called "Rachael Ray Sucks Community" and can be found here:

http://community.livejournal.com/rachael_ray_sux/

"30 minutes of Ramblings, Giggles, and Arm Spasms!" so funny.

[marc]

My granny said if you don't have anything nice to say about someone don't say it. I do agree she is kinda cute but that voice ugh! Now if it was quarter beer night who knows what might happen if I saw her.

Giada is great especially the use of the bad porn music background and how she always says "Mmmm this meat is so firm and juicy"

My big question really is about Barefoot Contessa, it always seems her husband "Jeffery" is staying in the city so she is cooking all this comfort food. Does anyone know if "Jeffery" is barefoot with Racheal Ray or possibly Giada?

For actual cooking it's really all about Lidia.
http://www.lidiasitaly.com

She is a looker in the big old italian grandma kind of way and she almost slapped Campbell Brown live on the Today Show for thinking you can replace Riccotta cheese with Cottage Cheese in Lasagna.

[Jeff]

Which is strange - as you can, actually, replace Ricotta cheese with cottage cheese and no one notices.

[freakgirl]

"EVOO" was recently added to the Oxford dictionary. http://tinyurl.com/ydtw27

God help us all.

If you're into cooking and Food Network, I HIGHLY recommend picking up the book "Heat" by Bill Buford, who did a stint in Mario Batali's kitchen.

http://tinyurl.com/yd4ez2

[Chris M.]

I have what a certain lady in my life has described as a "love/hate relationship" with Rachel. This essentially means that I'll watch her shows on the Food Network and then sort of whine and complain about them while they are happening. Still, I keep watching them. I've probably seen every $40 a day that exists so I guess that says something. I haven't seen her talk show at all, and I don't plan on it.

Things I don't like -

1. There is no way those meals are 30 minutes. She's always pulling things out that are prepped ahead of time. Sliced veggies and what not. There is no veggie chopping fairy in my apartment that I have identified yet.

2. On $40/day, she likes every single thing she eats. She puts it in her mouth and has a completely exaggerated "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......." EVERY SINGLE TIME. It's ridiculous. I've done plenty of travel, I'm not picky, and I come across plenty of things I don't like. Rachel LOVES everything. It's insane.

3. I hate the phrase EVOO as others have said and no one is that perky naturally.

4. These portions she gets on "special" in $40/day are clearly not the same size that you or I would get.

Things I do like -

1. I just like $40/day. It's a travel show for foodies so pretty much you have me at hello with that. I like to see where she will go next.

2. I think she really has fun with $40/day. I used to like it when she would meet guys, like a gondolier in Amsterdam and then she would imply that something was going to go down later in a subtle way. She has a man now though, so this little aspect is gone. Still, I think she actually enjoys what she's doing and that makes it easier to watch.

3. I saw her in Maggiano's once. She didn't have that crazy perky look in her eye but I saw her talk to some people. A couple of them made what I felt were some not so appropriate comments. She shook those off and was still exceedingly nice despite the interruption to her lunch. I liked her a little more from this day forward. She's super short by the way. If she is a speck over 5', I'd be shocked.

4. I actually like that she has no culinary training. I wish the food network had more shows that weren't populated by people that make difficult things look exceedingly simple. Rachel still makes it look simple but more people without training of any kind would be fine by me.

[Marc]

Jeff, you are always welcome to cook Sunday dinner of lasagna for my family with cottage cheese in it.

I'm pretty positive they would all notice by the smell before it even came out of the oven.

[ken]

Wow, Rachael seems to be quite the polarizing force, 16 comments in 24 hours. I had to see what the fuss was all about so I TiVo'd '$40 A Day' and I guess I can understand some the complaints/compliments about her.

1. Way too many hand gestures.
2. A bit too perky.
3. She does love EVERYTHING.

However, I agree with David's statement that it's too much to hate someone like RR because she is simply a TV host. It's tough to hate anyone who's just trying to make a living.

I could understand hating someone like Paris Hilton much more because Paris does very little to dispel her image of being famous for being rich. Sure, she released a record but when you're super-wealthy and don't have to lift a finger for it, I guess you need something to do between coke binges, nightclubbing and allowing your sexual peccadillos to be videotaped.

I will have to watch the 30-Minute Meals sometime, just to see how impossible they are to make, one Slate writer wrote that one of RR's '30 Minute Meals' took him an hour and 57 minutes to complete.

[Ara]

I've never been a fan and as far as culinary goes she really dumbnifies her show down to the least common denominator, until I read in US Weekly or OK that a former boyfriend of hers said she is a freak in the sack, so now my opinion of her is more positive.

I'd like to see a mudwresting bout between her and Megan McCormick from Globetrekker, who does not get nearly the amount of publicity she should.

[DW]

Cottage cheesecake is delicious.

[RMR]

Got EVOO?
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/?q=evoo-dictionary
How cool is that! Even Bradjolina didn't make it into the dictionary, so that says something about the Ray impact.

I personally believe that if you cannot say something nice, don't say anything. Do any of you critics actually cook? Do you know how much time and energy it takes to prepare a meal for family, friends, gatherings? The Ray's stuff works!

The Ray has 1,200 recipes for 30 minutes meals on the food network website. she did 500 episodes of the damned thing, and 80 travels at $40 a day. She's got 16 cookbooks in print, a monthly magazine and now has a syndicated TV show produced by none other than the Big O (Oprah). Who do you know that works that hard, at cooking no less. And she is making a fortune doing this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Ray

No, she is not a chef. She calls herself a cook. That's how she relates. We all have do to this cooking stuff a one time or another and anyone with a helpful hint/tip or recipe to streamline the process and still make the final result edible and enjoyable is ok by me.

So put it in perspective people, and quit picking on the Rach. If you don't cook, you don't have any business marching down this road.

[megan]

I don't think any of us necessarily disagree that her recipes don't work, RMR, but were just commenting how incredibly irritating she is.

[dj]

I have no idea what any of you are talking about.

It feels pretty good.

[HESS]

loved this RR bit:
RachelRay-Secret

[JohnFrangerson]

Nice Post.

That was well said. Always appreciate your indepth views. Keep up the great work!

John