A Little commentary (read "minor rant") on Volunteer Demonstrations and "Food TV". . .

M

mistral

Well-known member
I did a demo of several items for class in San last week. I was one of 6 demonstrators; everyone demonstrated at least one recipe and some of us did a couple of recipes.

We are all volunteers and we bring ALL of our own equipment, recipes and supplies. In amongst the clothes basket of stuff I brought for my recipes I forgot a can openener--but we found one to use at the facility. Someone else demonstrating forgot her sugar, and another person her corn syrup but I had brought some of both, so we were all covered. Other than that all recipes went off as planned and everyone else remembered all the stuff they needed to use. All the recipes were interesting and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves.

At the end of the class we ask that our audience give us critiques of a sort, and we ask for Ideas for future classes. One critique this time said that the presenters were unprepared, which hit a nerve with me since I had tried so hard to BE prepared. I immediately thought that that person had watched too much food TV.

I guess what it boils down to is that I was upset at being compared to a pro on TV, a pro who has all sorts of help, who doesn't have to lug 30lbs of supplies and equipment to his/her show, who probably has more than one helper to prep things.

Waaaaaah! I want a helper, and all my stuff prepared and ready for me to step up and use it. Jeeze, just once I would like to be in charge of other people getting MY stuff ready! My husband says that's what we have kids for (! smileys/wink.gif ), but supervising unwilling offspring is not quite the same as supevising more-willing, paid employees.

Oh, well, rant off.

Thanks! --mistral

 
I agree, FoodTV gives such an unrealistic idea of what cooking is like. I'm sure they have

all sorts of foul-ups and miscues that get edited out. Their ingredients are all magically pre-minced and the kitchens clean themselves. They never sweat or get their aprons dirty. If that's all your audience is used to, who wouldn't look unprepared by comparison?

In the real world, things get forgotten or misplaced and you have to improvise. I think it's important for the audience to see the mess and the errors, so that they know they're not alone in their imperfection.

 
I can totally relate...it's such a pain doing off site demos...

and I can't believe you had to bring all your own equipment! Sheesh!

With all the labor, time, and energy that goes into preparing for a class, it's a wonder anyone does it locally anymore. If you get paid, after all the preparations, it's a very nominal sum.

But hey, I have an author friend who is gearing up for a book tour. She was telling of stuff like that happening to her on TV! There's someone on the ground assigned to her to be an "escort." They're in charge of getting all the stuff she needs...and picking her up at the hotel and taking her whereever she needs to be. This person got her to the studio minutes before they went on the air, and then, brought her a borrowed cuisinart that was broken. The darn thing only turned on if you stuck a knife in a certain place....It was a nightmare.

I have to say...since I'm a cooking class junkie, I really appreciate anyone who does classes. It's not easy...and I love them so much! I'm so thankful when they are done well.

 
I really think that I don't HAVE to bring all my own equipment, but. . .

sometimes things get mislaid and misplaced out at our site. With us it is generally best to bring all of our own stuff and then hope we can find missing things at the demo kitchen!

 
I, personally, would never allow anyone with a camera in my kitchen. . .

One, it's DIRTY(!); two it's teeny-tiny (I can reach kitchen counters on three sides standing in the center with my arms out-stretched; three, there is no room for more than one person at a time in my kitchen.

Maybe we should do a show on "REAL Kitchens", and call it "How to get along" where the focus would be on real kitchens and how cooks/owners get around their kitchen's inherent shortcomings. Shortcomings like dogs and cats in the way, annoying children/husbands/wives/signifigant others, small size, lack of counter/storage space, lack of light/ventilation, lack of stove, oven or both!

 
What a great idea, minstral, though it's probably too practical for Food TV.....

that, imo, has totally gone downhill and these days the downhill speed is close to breaking the sound barrier because there are only a few, very few, good shows left.

 
Have any of you watched the "Unwrapped" episode that aired this week about the FTV shows?

They include behind the scenes of how a lot of the shows are produced....and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have many, many people doing prep/set ups for the shows, as well as cleaning and etc between takes. The prep kitchen in the NY studio is over 3,000 SF of space.

 
Typical is Sandra Lee---you should parden the expression---who has 25

count 'em, 25 staff people to handle all those little cooking and decorating details.

None of that is real. And nobody with the brains God gave a turnip expects that it is.

But, Mistral, as a veteran of volunteer demonstrations, let me advise you not to sweat the small stuff. There is always one in every audience who comes prepared to find fault. You have to just ignore that one, and focus on the positive comments and the ones that can help you do a better job.

 
Oh, geeze, I have been doing this for years now--that particular critique. . .

was more annoying than anything else.

Really, when someone read it to me I thought, "Too much Food TV!" We all snorted and laughed rather than bristled and growled!

I would love to do a demo and then right after all the food has been mixed/prepared pull it right out of the oven, but I am just not that organized!

 
Mistral, the four large rubbermaid storage containers of stuff I bring to my...

...father-in-law's house in San Diego every Christmas is testimony to my empathy for you. I am teased every holiday by my wife, my f-i-l and assorted other relatives for bringing my entire kitchen and half the provisions from my local Trader Joe's to his house for the holiday. I don't hear a lot of teasing when the food starts hitting the table though, and that makes it all worth it.

Take pride in being an excellent cook, willing to get up in front of others and create your art for them. If they are unappreciative, then move right ahead to those who "get it" and enjoy yourself. There's a couple in every crowd, right?

Michael

 
Sound like holidays at my mom's. . .

My sister and I do most of the holiday cooking there and though she doesn't live but a couple of miles away, I like to bring everything, including electric mixer so that I am able to cook the way I like.

I know how you feel!

 
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