For instance, I’m watching Emeril Live right now and he’s cooking up some killer dishes. As usual he starts up by mixing a few ingredients and showing the rest of us how to get going on it and then he moves on a few steps to a more prepared version of the same dish. By the time he’s completely done demonstrating the dish, he’s started and worked with probably five different versions of the same dish in different levels of preparedness.
What happens to the stuff he just starts on and then abandons? Do they continue to cook it up for the crew and/or audience afterwards? All of it? Or do they trash the earlier versions and simply serve the final versions that have been, presumably, pre-made by off-stage helpers?
Actually Kalt, you’re not all that wrong. The food stylist I knew told me that not only is most of the food not ‘real’ (i.e., had had makeup applied to it, is some other substance than actual food) but that much of sits out for a significant period of time and is no longer considered fit for human consumption when food saftey and handling laws are taken into account. Most of it gets tossed in the trash.
I’ve seen some cooking shows where the chef will remark, for example, that “Bob the cameraman likes heat, so let’s put in a little more cayenne pepper. How much you put in for your family is up to you…” I guess on those sets the crew dines as soon as taping’s done.
[sub]Meanwhile, the chef runs across the street to McDonalds…[/sub]
Well, on a lot of the shows I see, there’s two versions of the food: the dish that the chef made before the show and put into the oven, and the dish that they throw together in front of the camera and then cook inadequately since most cooking shows these days try to squeeze a dozen dishes into a half hour.
The first version gets eaten on camera at the end of the program, and the second version probably gets thrown out by the property crew when they clean up the set.
And although I’ve never worked on a TV set, I have several friends who do work in the business, and they aren’t wealthy, far from it - I dare say if there is any edible food left after taping, it gets scarfed pretty quick.
You are thinking of the cosmetic stuff used for photo shoots. I saw a Consumer Reports (I think) show on this once. They used a white glue mixture in cereal, spray painted a turkey golden brown etc.
As most cooking shows actually feature people eating the wares, (or at least sampling during cooking) I would say that they are real
I’m sitting here digging around for a link in a thread I saw a long time ago on this board. In the process of trying to find it, I’m finding all kinds of old threads that I seem to have abandoned.
I didn’t abandon them, I, well, I’m not sure what I was thinking at the time this thread came up. I thought I came back to it, but apparently, I didn’t.
But I’m wondering now if anyone can add to what these guys and gals had to say.
Thanks.
*BTW, and an aside, Hiya Audrey! I don’t seem to say hi to you enough around here these days.
My video editing teacher used to work on “People Are Talking”, a local San Francisco morning show. He told me that the second the cooking segments are finished and the producer yells “clear” every cameraman, sound guy, grip, – everybody – makes an insane, crazed dash for the table, eating everything, even the raw, uncooked dough. The guest chefs were lucky to get their cookware back.
