“From Scratch: Inside the Food Network”
By Allen Salkin; (G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 434 pages)
If you spend so much time watching Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Rachael Ray and Alton Brown on television that you pretty much consider them best friends, you need to read this week’s book, “From Scratch,” an inside look at the highs and lows of one of television’s most popular networks, the Food Network.
Author Allen Salkin takes the reader on a detailed tour of Food Network’s roller-coaster ride from rocky beginnings to present day blockbuster success. What results from this in-depth review is an action-packed, drama-filled biography of a business — the cable giant, Food Network — as well as revealing snapshots of past and current food stars.
For fans of such shows as “Iron Chef,” “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” and “Cutthroat Kitchen,” you may be surprised to learn what the early days of the network were like for some of its biggest stars. Rachael Ray did not consider herself a chef at all, and even tried to talk the network out of hiring her! After appearing on the “Today” show with Al Roker, Food Network executives requested a meeting with Rachael. According to this week’s book, Rachael was not unaware of the network’s stars at that time — Emeril Lagasse, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay — and feeling herself completely out of league compared to such illustrious chefs, her reply to the network’s offer of employment was this: “Listen … you’re champagne, I’m beer out of the bottle. I clearly don’t belong here, I’m not a chef. You’ve been duped.” Obviously the executives could see great potential in Rachael, so dismissing her protestations, they convinced her to join the Food Network family, and millions of dollars later, we can bet she’s glad the network liked beer in a bottle.
Allen Salkin points out that one of the big factors in Food Network’s amazing success is that it appeals to cooks and non-cooks alike. I can attest to this. My husband is the chef in our house, but I thoroughly enjoy watching and receiving inspiration from cooking shows. Perhaps if I wasn’t so fortunate as to have my own personal chef, I might take that inspiration to the kitchen and follow through on something. But for the Food Network it really doesn’t matter whether I turn on the oven or not: It has found the magic formula that satisfies all levels of interests and skills.
