Sex Sells

When did cooking shows become so sexy? Seems just like yesterday, I was watching good-old Paula Deen and Ina Garten, then bam! The Food channel became festooned with cleavage.

Sure, Nigella Lawson is voluptuous and curvy, but she plays up to it almost in a comical way. (She's also a brilliant food writer so that makes up for it.) But let's take a look at a couple of newbies on the scene and you'll see what I mean.

Laura Calder, French Food at Home:  

Laura is this French-Canadian young woman who glides around the kitchen in very form-fitting dresses. I'll take that back. She doesn't glide around the kitchen, she oozes around it. Nothing seems to get dirty or strenuous in Laura's world. Heaven forbid she should wear an apron for crying out loud.

The camera work is so obviously flattering to her as well; great camera angles and creative lighting. Only tiny snippets of food preparation are actually shown. She doesn't ever appear to actually cook. Oh and wait until you see her go to the fridge to get an egg. She slowly and seductively sways her hips from side to side -- it was so obvious that even I picked up on that.

After she's done slowly sashaying around the kitchen, voila! A full French meal appears with nary a dirty dish in sight. There's just something too unreal about the whole thing.

Chuck Hughes, Chuck's Day Off:

Not all sexy food shows are girl-flavored, mind you. Chuck is another French Canadian (what is it with this French part of Canadia anyway?) but his accent is totally different from Laura's for some reason. Chuck is the owner and chef at a popular, swinging bistro in downtown Montréal who cooks for various people on his day off. 


Chuck is a very handsome lad with a Pepsodent smile who likes to wear black t-shirts that show off his heavily tattooed biceps. One thing I've noticed about Chuck is that all his movements in the kitchen are highly exaggerated, even to the point of being overly-masculine. When he retrieves an egg, he'll walk over with big, broad quick steps, reach in with a big gesture and then hold the egg way down low to his side; almost gorilla-like.

But you can tell that the boy has spent a lot of time in the kitchen and has certainly paid his dues. All his movements, though exaggerated, are quick, sure, and deft. I can appreciate that. Too many of these food show personalities have obviously never spent any time sweating in a professional kitchen. (Giada De Laurentiis immediately leaps to mind.)


Like I said, Chuck cooks for various people on his days off. I've noticed a little trend with some of the people he cooks for, though:

A group of hunky firefighters
A group of hunky hockey players
His hunky personal trainer
His hunky beer purveyor
His hunky tattoo guy

Maybe he's just trying to pair up these guys with the female patrons. Who knows?

So that's the deal with cooking shows these days. It's a shame really. Do you ever think that Julia Child would have stood a chance among all these pretty teeth, cleavages and hip-swaying?

I think not.