Psst, I Have a Secret

Having just watched the newest Food Network show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, I find I now have a secret of my own.  I have a crush on Anne Burrell.  I had first noticed the golden-haired gastrome as Mario Batali’s sous chef on Iron Chef America thinking, she’s cute and I bet she’d be fun to hang out with.

 

Well, I just hung out with her for 30 minutes and I am smitten.  Not just because she has such an adorable personality but because she has a food knowledge that is (dare I say?) sexy.  I know it is a testament of just how much of a food geek I am but any woman that can take a cut of meat and tell me what part of the cow it came from puts me under her spell.

 

Burrell’s first menu was rustic, spaghetti Bolognese with a salad of baby arugula, grilled asparagus, and poached egg, nothing technically challenging but dishes whose most crucial aspect is attention to detail.  The humor of this menu is that, as many guys can relate, the first meal that a new girlfriend prepares for us is usually spaghetti.

 

Thanks to the magic of television the Bolognese was done in half an hour, however Burrell pointed out that it had actually taken four hours.  For many people it seems absurd to spend four hours making spaghetti, but to a true cook it is time well spent.  She went into ample detail on the importance of caramelization on taste, salt as well.  To many it would seem that she used an insane amount of salt but in actuality it was the exact right amount.

 

For decades salt has had an undeserved bad reputation, not unlike Betty Rizzo from Grease.  Thirty years and millions of dollars have yielded nothing to suggest sodium chloride causes any illness save the occasional kidney stone.  It can aggravate existing conditions like hypertension and cardio-pulmonary disease, but it does not cause them. That is why it is now known as the great salt myth.  Grossly modest health recommendations advocate we ingest no more than 500 mg of sodium a day, but most of us eat roughly 3500 mg.  That’s okay since humans can easily handle up to 35,000 mg per day.

 

TFN has spent so much airtime trying to appeal to the novice that it seemed they had forgotten that many of us can actually cook.  30 Minute Meals is a fine show for those who want to put together a decent menu quickly and Semi-homemade Cooking is perfect for those who don’t cook but want people to think they can.  Unfortunately neither satisfies on the pure joy of cooking.

 

Many have complained that lately the TFN line-up has been driven by personalities rather than chefs.  Secrets of a Restaurant Chef fixes that.  It is a show for the advanced cook and it is the show I have been waiting years for.  Anne Burrell is the perfect host seamlessly teaching technique without leaving the beginner lost in the woods, plus she makes me giggle.  I will definitely add it to my favs list on the old DVR.

 

 

Dear Anne,

I like you do; you like me? 
__ yes __ no __ maybe (CHECK ONE).

Stuart