Okay, this thread might win for most poorly-thought out and inelegantly explained this week . . . but . . .
So, I was thinking about the star presence of hot, thin women as star chefs, such as Padma on Top Chef or Giada De Laurentis. Does anyone else wonder how women so thin can have a good appreciation for food? I feel like to be a great chef you have to constantly be testing your creations, throughout their preparation, and trying out different combinations, etc, which would inherently involve a lot of eating. So is it possible that these women can thoroughly test their recipes on 1200 cal/day? Or, perhaps, do they “know” the tastes of food well enough that they don’t have to taste them in order to know what will work together? Any other theories on how such gastronomes stay so thin?
I figure they’re off making themselves throw up during commercial breaks.
As for Giada, any calories that remain in her after purging go straight to her head and boobs. But she is a formally trained chef and the food she makes looks good.
I don’t get how Padma is some sort of chef. I thought she started out as a model and then married Salman Rushdie. Does she actually have some cooking cred?
Weight gain is related to so many more issues than food consumption, including activity levels. Not to be too snarky, but they burn up a lot more calories doing the cooking than we do watching them.
But you only have to try a few bites of something to know that it’s done well and they don’t have to be big bites. A drop of a soup or sauce is enough to get the idea. Some foods like roasts and steaks can’t be tasted during the process or you ruin them.
Hmmm, it’s very true that you once only needs to try a tbsp or so of many foods to know they’re good.
I think for me it’s more a disconnect between the idea that these chefs are promoting a lifestyle of loving, perhaps even becoming obsessed with, food and being very involved in the preparation of it, with the fact that they don’t look like they eat very much.
There’s this. They probably eat very healthy most of the time.
And maybe your 1200 calorie a day point was an exaggeration, but 1200 is about the lowest amount of calories you are supposed to have in a day if you’re trying to lose weight - hell, I lose weight eating 300 calories more than that. If they’re maintaining their current weight, it’s probably closer to 1800-2000. Possibly more if they work out, and they probably do if their job includes both eating great food and being on TV.
I don’t trust thin chefs in the same way that I don’t trust overweight, wheezing, unhealthy doctors.
The gal who does “The Barefoot Contessa” looks more like my idea of a chef who really loves and appreciates good food. Mario Batali…now that’s a TV chef who looks like he knows his way around a kitchen, and a table.
I wasn’t sure what to think of Anthony Bourdain; on his show(s) he eats like a horse, but for the longest time looked rail-thin, junkie-thin. Now that he quit smoking he’s plumping up quite nicely.
IME, some people who love food channel their love into cooking rather than eating. They are great recipe creaters, testers, and finders, and they love the challenge, creativity, and art of cooking, but they cook mostly for others, tasting what they make only in moderation for themselves. Cooking is the main thing, and the triumph is a creation that other people moan over.
I don’t trust cooks who won’t cook certain things – the low fat cook, the low carb cook, the macrobiotic cook. I know they are conforming cooking to their chosen healthy lifestyle and that’s fine, but for them, cooking is not the thing. But a woman (or man) who will cook with real butter, sugar, and fat – them I can get behind (and get a behind). If they also have the self-control to remember that in eating, as in all things, moderation is the key – good for them. But if the true motivator is the cooking, not the eating, I don’t see what difference it makes how much the chef weighs.
I honestly believe there is a very large correlation between eating freshly-prepared meals and eating things with preservatives. I think all of these TV chefs end up eating much more balanced diets than most of us. They’re using a lot of fresh veggies and olive oil, and more spices than just salt. Sure they’re probably eating a lot more fresh cream and butter than the rest of us, but probably a ton less HFCS and trans fats.
Also, from what I observe, cooking for a living is a lot more physically demanding than just cooking (or not cooking) at home. In order to get to the point where you’ve got your own show you’ve probably spent a lot of time mopping floors and cleaning salad prep areas. Once you do have your own show you’re still probably on the go a hell of a lot more than a regular person at home.
Plus, I know that on the rare times that I cook, it’s usually pretty elaborate and I don’t even eat much of it at the end, because I’m just tired of dealing with it. Cooking for me is to make other people happy.
Not everyone who eats a lot gets fat. Some of these slender chefs, I am sure, don’t eat much, but not necessarily all of them. Conversely, not all the fat ones pig out.
Dude! I hereby invoke Guy Rule # 593-b: Thou Shalt Not Emulate Joey Tribbiani in Reference to a Hot Chick in the Presence of Said Hot Chick’s Older Brother!
