Do you know what it means
To miss New Orleans
And miss it each night and day
I know I'm not wrong
The feeling's getting stronger
The longer I stay away
This is the image that a lot of us woke up to this morning: Hurricane Ida taking dead aim at the Louisiana Gulf Coast. By day’s end, it’s going to rock New Orleans.
Whether we’re there, or hundreds of miles away, you can’t help but worry. Katrina struck 16 years ago this weekend, and for many people, it still feels like yesterday.
Sending love to all my friends in Ida’s path. If there’s anything I can do, please holler (or text, since we know how dicey communication can be in the wake of a hurricane).
Meanwhile, Chef Jose Andres got on a plane in Haiti last night, headed for New Orleans, where World Central Kitchen is already marshaling to help, once it’s safe. WCK is also feeding Afghan evacuees as they arrive in the U.S., and let’s remember them, too.
In troubled times like these, many of us find comfort in food, and throughout the pandemic, lots of us have turned to food television. But, for some viewers, that option is disappearing.
Food Shows Are Vanishing From Local TV
Numerous national food programs have helped shape our perception of cooking and dining, from celebrity chefs like Emeril and Bobby Flay, to instructors such as Julia Child and Nathalie Dupree, to travel and dining series from people such as Anthony Bourdain, Phil Rosenthal and Samin Nosrat.
But local food shows have played a role, as well. Throughout television history, stations from Boston to Detroit and Seattle have featured locally produced food programs.
Unfortunately, the emphasis is on history. In recent days, two popular Midwest programs announced they were leaving or would leave the airwaves.
Chicago is losing Check, Please! which ran on public television’s WTTW for 19 years, while Iowans are getting the last season of Iowa Ingredient, where filming of the 10th and final season is already complete.
Local food shows fill a number of roles. For their hosts, they often have been springboards for national programs. For viewers, they’ve highlighted places nearby where they can eat, and recipes that make the most of local produce. For the restaurants and chefs, the programs are valuable sources of customers.
However, these days, anyone with a cell phone or a video camera can host their own food show, whether on YouTube, Tik Tok or social media.
End of an era in Chicago
The Check, Please! news came in this post from its creator, David Manilow, who came up with the idea of conversations about local restaurants, and successfully pitched it as a TV show.
The basic format involved a host conversing with three people about restaurants they had recently visited, accompanied by features and information about the restaurants in the spotlight.
Over the years, Manilow wrote, more than 35,000 people from all walks of life had applied to be guest commentators. (Even Barack Obama appeared in 2001 when he was still an Illinois state senator. You have to enjoy the accents.)
The Check, Please! concept spread to other cities, including San Francisco and Phoenix. Unfortunately, the Chicago version couldn’t film in 2020, due to the pandemic, and the decision to end the show means its 20th season won’t take place.
Neither Manilow nor WTTW have been specific about reasons the show is ending, but in his post, Manilow said, “WTTW/11 and I want to go in different directions and pursue other opportunities.” Remember that phrase as you read on.
Illuminating Iowa food stories
Iowa Ingredient didn’t spawn a national franchise along the lines of Check, Please! But the program had a special place in the hearts of Iowans who enjoy food and appreciate the importance of agriculture and restaurants to the state’s economy.
The program combined visits to restaurant and farms, food shops and cooking demonstrations, providing a multi-layered view of a state that many people think mainly grows corn and hosts presidential candidates every four years.
So for Iowans, its ending is personal. “After 10 fresh and flavorful seasons, Iowa Ingredient is hanging up its apron,” Iowa PBS announced on Aug. 23.
I took a special interest in the program, because my friend Charity Nebbe is its host. Michigan Radio listeners will remember her from her time in Ann Arbor, before she and her family moved back to her home state.
When I emailed Charity to ask for more details, she replied, “We were still having fun, ratings were good and we still felt like we had stories to tell, but management decided to go in a different direction.”
There’s that phrase again: a different direction. What, exactly, is that direction?
Aiming for a national impact
If you’re a regular PBS viewer, you know that cooking and travel programs have long been an integral part of its lineup.
In many cities, PBS stations have separate channels where they put all that content; in other places, it’s featured on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, as well as some week days.
But over the past few years, there has been a change in PBS’ approach, away from programs that mainly appeal to viewers in a single market and toward those that are more regional or thematic.
You’ve probably noticed that locally hosted pledge drives rarely take place any more. Instead, PBS conducts cut-ins (as they’re known in TV), featuring a pair of hosts who encourage viewers to become regular contributors. In return, they can receive sets of DVDs and coffee mugs.
Even when a PBS show focuses on local cuisine, it has to have some kind of national resonance — the kind of thing that prompts a viewer in Maine to make note of a place to visit on their next trip.
Some of this is related to underwriting, those funding commitments by companies and foundations, which is how the shows are paid for. Another piece of it is the shift that PBS has made into streaming, through the PBS Passport app.
Now, you might say, that ought to make more space available for local shows, not less. Nope: every platform that hosts content is looking for the most valuable clicks and views.
It’s frustrating, given that the mission of local food shows is to teach, which coincides with PBS’ broader mission. That leaves viewers searching for information, and not everyone wants to watch chefs share their stream of consciousness observations on Instagram.
There’s a higher level of professionalism and presentation that goes into a program crafted by a host, producers and a skilled crew.
You don’t appreciate that until you compare it with someone sitting behind the wheel of their car, chatting profanely away, while you wait for them to get to their point.
If you value your local food programs, I’d suggest you let the stations know, PBS or otherwise. They are a resource that’s slipping out of our grasp, at a time when we’ve never needed the information more.
What The Baby Giant Panda Eats
Over the past year, many people were entranced by the birth of the Smithsonian National Zoo’s baby giant panda.
They followed the discovery of its gender — male — the selection of its name — Xiao Qi Ji, which means “little miracle” — and all the things it’s learned as it has grown.
For me, one of the most fascinating aspects about the baby giant panda is its diet. In the wild, pandas exist primarily on bamboo. In a zoo setting, however, pandas get to eat that, and more.
The Smithsonian has documented Xiao Qi Ji’s first tastes of sweet potatoes, carrots, apple, mango, and biscuits.
For his first birthday, he received a cake made primarily from ice and frozen fruit juices. You might call it a lick cake, rather than a smash cake.
If you enjoy the little fellow, you probably already know about the #PandaStory updates that appear frequently on the zoo’s website. If you haven’t discovered them, they make for a fun respite from hurricanes, Covid and the other perils facing the world.
Chefs Share Riffs On Caprese Salad
I may be the only person who visited the isle of Capri and didn’t eat a Caprese salad, but I’ve definitely made up for lost time ever since.
When tomatoes are at their peak, as they are now, few things are more delicious than the classic salad of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and basil, drizzled with olive oil, sea salt and maybe some balsamic vinegar.
But, as I wrote for The Takeout, a number of chefs are offering new riffs on Caprese salad.
My story features Gregorio DiMarco, known as Chef G in the Ann Arbor pop up and private dining community; Abra Berens, the author of Ruffage, whose new book, Grist, is now available for pre-orders; beloved chef and culinary teacher Virginia Willis; Jason Goodenough, the respected New Orleans chef and consultant, and Bob Bennett, executive chef at Zingerman’s Roadhouse.
Cottage cheese? Mini mozzarella balls? Pickled green tomatoes? They’re all mentioned. See if any of these ideas strike your fancy.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
If you would like any information about me, or want to know the latest plans for my upcoming Zingerman’s book, please visit my website, MichelineMaynard.com. I’ll be listing my speaking engagements there.
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With the Delta variant spreading, it’s never been more important to get vaccinated. Please wear a mask if local authorities direct it (I’ve seen an awful lot of unmasked people lately, even in area counties where mask mandates have been issued).
Stay safe, especially friends in the path of Ida. See you next week!