arts & entertainment

Inside The Food Network

In his new book, author Allen Salkin goes behind the business,
media and cultural story of how food conquered television.

I

Suzanne Chessler

A

Contributing Writer

lien Salkin, who spent time in
Michigan covering a controver-
sial media trial for the New York
Post, returns to the state calling attention
to a considerably wider-reaching media
attraction: the Food Network.
While the earlier trip had to do with
TV personality Jenny Jones and a show
that gained public controversy but never
aired, his upcoming visit has to do with
many cooking show personalities and the
reasons their programs continue on or go
off the air.
Salkin will introduce From Scratch:
Inside the Food Network (G.P. Putnam's
Sons; $26.95) during the upcoming JCC
Jewish Book Fair. He will speak at 8
p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield.
"This book is a unique confection of a
rags-to-riches business story in the build-
ing of a media empire combined with the
delicious candy of the backstory of favorite
stars:' Salkin explains in a phone interview
from his New York home.
The author, who spent three years
researching and writing the book,
launched his career after attending the
University of California-Berkeley and then
traveling the world. He accepted odd jobs
while showing early interest in writing
poetry and trying to sell short stories.
"I took some journalism classes at the
University of California-Los Angeles and
was getting articles published in the uni-
versity paper;' recalls Salkin, 40ish, single
and thinking about upcoming projects.
"My first article was about a garlic festi-
val. Because I was a reporter, I got into the
festival for free, moved to the front of the
line and tasted everything. When I wrote
the article, an ex-girlfriend read it and was
impressed.
"I said to myself, 'I'm getting free food
and being published while impressing
women; this is a good career:"
Salkin advanced his journalism studies
at New York University, landed an intern-
ship at the New York Post and moved into
varied freelance work. His assignments
reached from the Jewish publication Heeb
to the New York Times, where he secured
full-time employment.
"That elevated my career:' he says. "My
most famous story was about celebrity
photographer Annie Leibovitz's financial
problems.

IN: What would you like to see if
there was a show dedicated to Jewish
cooking?
AS: I don't feel I have to be told how to
render shmaltz or make the perfect matzah
ball. I would want the show to tell me how
to make some unique matzah ball or lake.
The shows I like the most and the chefs
I like the most stir the viewers' creativity.
They don't just present something that's
delicious; they present something that
tickles the brain. The strain of Jewish life
I appreciate the most is our restless and
amazing creativity.

"The quality of the New York Times
allowed me to gain the reputation that
opened up celebrities attached to the Food
Network. That's how I am where I am
today"
Salkin previews his appearance for the
Detroit Jewish News:

IN: What will you talk about during
your book fair appearance?
AS: I hope I can explain the way that
creativity can be fostered and squelched.
That's one theme of the book. I want to tell
stories that will entertain people — things
they don't know about their favorite stars,
such as Mario Batali (who has a summer
place in northern Michigan). I will answer
questions.
In its early days, the network was so
low-budget and willing to take chances
that a lot of the most interesting shows —
Emeril Live, Iron Chef, Good Eats — start-
ed back then. As the company has become
more conservative with the Scripps
Network Interactive business empire, they
seem to be taking fewer chances.
As a result, they seem not to have
been developing the kind of
shows that America
fell in love with a
decade ago.

"There is something
relentlessly comfortable
about Ma [Garten]."

— Allen Salkin

IN: What has been the
Jewish presence on the
Food Network over
time?
AS: David
Rosengarten, the big-
gest star of the first
couple of years, was
one of the longest-
014
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s.
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the early days with
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Food News and
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Scenes St°
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.the-Se
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Be
learned his love
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of food from his
t.
father, who had a
dream to open a seafood res-
taurant. Unfortunately, it failed.
David carried memories of his father,
recipes and the smell of seafood cooking
forward into his own appreciation for food
and, in a way, made his father's dreams
come true by becoming a food star him-
self.
Of course, there's Ina Garten. You have
to look a little bit to find a Jewish Ina
recipe. She doesn't go out front proclaim-
ing that she's a Jewish television star. She's
portraying this next-door neighbor type.
My mother was at a talk Ina gave in L.A.,
and someone asked Ina about her heritage.
She didn't give a long story about it.

FROM

JN: Did you watch

,
osot l‘\`
FO OD

the Food Network
regularly before you
got the idea for the
book?
AS: The network first
got my attention with
Emeril Live, and then I
watched some Iron Chef and
Iron Chef America. I knew
who Rachael Ray was. I prob-
ably watched ESPN more.
What happened to me was
being sent to Miami in winter to
cover a food festival — I know, a tough
assignment — and I was amazed that
these chefs had handlers, talent agents
and bodyguards around them. Fans had
paid top dollar — some had come out
on crutches — just to take a glimpse of
Rachael Ray and others. I wondered how
this happened.
When I left the New York Times, I realized
I was going to be the man to figure out how
this happened and tell this story. It's not that
I'm some great chef or Food Network fanatic.
I am somebody who loves asking people
questions and turning them into stories.

E~W

IN: What do you think is the special
experience derived from watching
chefs?
AS: If you go to a gym, the televi-
sion has ESPN or the Food Network on
because we want something comfortable
when we're "in pain."
There is something relentlessly com-
fortable about Ina and her side remarks,
including what she's making for [her hus-
band], Jeffrey. It's like you're in her brain.
Everybody wants to get an invitation to
Ina's house. People go to her house and
peer through the hedges. She has to call
the police. We feel connected to her.

IN: Why did you include comments
by Gael Green, a food critic who grew
up in Michigan?
AS: What's important about Gael is that
she was on this so early. She was a foodie
before there was a word "foodie." I quote
her review of Bobby Flay's first restaurant.
She says something about "foodniks."
Gael was almost struggling to invent
the word "foodie." There was a sense
there was something like that, and she
was a prototype.

JN: Can you talk about the issue of
anti-Semitism that you reference with
regard to Guy Fieri? [Guy denies that
he once said, "Jews are cheap."[
AS: The guy who came up with the idea
for Diners, Drive-ins and Dives got into
a legal struggle with the Food Network.
Guy Fieri was pulled into it when the Food
Network wanted to switch producers.
There were lots of negative things that
got said on both sides. A newspaper print-
ed allegations about what Guy said. Guy
has always been nice to me, and I think
he's a fascinating American character.

Food Network on page 47

JN

October 17 • 2013

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