The Gloves Come Off in the Food Media World

Last week at the dessert exchange there was a lovely conversation about sacred cows. You know the folks who have become so big that no one dares to complain that their recipes don't work, or maybe even worse, as local blogger Tim Mazurek of Lottie + Doof has pointed out boring.

This piece speaks to the larger issues of sacred cows, can we truly no longer say hey I like her but her recipes aren't consistent? Or as I have found of late with a couple of big names, I really want to like this cookbook but I just have no desire to try anything in it.

TGIF & LLAP!

I think the grandmas are long past navel-gazing, and bored with the young people spinning their wheels. They just get dirty in their gardens, busy in the kitchens, and putter in their pantries. Ain't nobody got time for this!

While I have heard of Food52 (and subscribed to it several years ago before completely losing interest), I have no idea who any of these people are, or why I should care at all what they think about each other. I'll stick with David Lebovitz, thanks.

It sounds to me like what is often said of academia: "the fights are so fierce because the stakes are so small."

Not sure it really qualifies as a sacred cow (and I'm sure I've raised this before here), but I find Cooks Illustrated to be so soulless and joyless as to turn me off from reading/following it, notwithstanding the benefits of their scientific/multi-test approach to recipes. I want cooking to be fun and have some sense of soul, and while that comes through in certain cookbooks and food blogs, I see no enjoyment in the process or the outcome on the part of CI. Plus Chris Kimball comes across as a smug, faux-folksy, classic Cantabrigian (although I believe he lives in Boston proper) who loves to milk his small-town Vermont connection but seems to have very little sense of the reality of the way average Americans cook and eat.

Matt wrote:Not sure it really qualifies as a sacred cow (and I'm sure I've raised this before here), but I find Cooks Illustrated to be so soulless and joyless as to turn me off from reading/following it, notwithstanding the benefits of their scientific/multi-test approach to recipes. I want cooking to be fun and have some sense of soul, and while that comes through in certain cookbooks and food blogs, I see no enjoyment in the process or the outcome on the part of CI. Plus Chris Kimball comes across as a smug, faux-folksy, classic Cantabrigian (although I believe he lives in Boston proper) who loves to milk his small-town Vermont connection but seems to have very little sense of the reality of the way average Americans cook and eat.

Even my husband knows Kimball & Co are my "side dish". I love listening to Bridget on ATK podcasts. I want cooking to have a delicious finished product that works. Heck there are even some CI home testers on this site.

My pancakes are their recipe, so are my chocolate chip cookies, and many of my best practices for ice cream, plus I learned to love broccoli with them, oh and then there are the croissants, no knead bread, scrambled eggs, caramel cake, heck even beans and rice, and the courage to trust them and make lacto-fermented pickles.

I get great joy in making those things myself. Plus I can share with my friends and family and when they ask for seconds I feel happy.--LLAP

I've got nothing against Kimball & Co but I do find the accuracy/value of ATK's information to be very hit or miss. Sometimes I learn something. Others, I can't believe how completely wrong they are about something.

=R=

Ha! Who knew I was skewering your sacred cow, pairs4life? I say some of this tongue in cheek and really have nothing against Kimball and co. personally, although did live in Cambridge, MA for a number of years (including, for a year, next door to one of their staff who appears regularly on the ATK show, incidentally) and let's just say they fit a certain type. I do stand by my assessment that they take themselves a bit too seriously and don't seem to be having fun, but that's ultimately subjective and à chacun son goût.

Not sure if this has been posted here, but its a pretty interesting read. Lot's of allegations and some sour grapes also. I will be curious to see what comes of this, if there is a counter suit or if it winds up being settled.

https://whywearesuingchristopherkimball ... complaint/

you can also read thru the full filed case: http://whywearesuingchristopherkimball. ... PLAINT.pdf

It contains some redacted stuff, but we can learn a little, at least from one sides perspective, about the structure of the company, etc.

Kimball has always been billed as the founder of ATK, Cooks Country, etc. but this lawsuit says otherwise. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, but it will be interesting to see what the courts say.

I really don't know why they would post the lawsuit on their site. Anyone who wants to read the complaint could do so.

Hashing out allegations of a suit always seems like someone who really doesn't want to take their attorney's advice.

Perhaps there are fewer people like me, I kept CI and added Milk Street, than I thought. But I don't think any of the CK supporters who are made with CI are going to come back.

Christopher Kimball and America’s Test Kitchen Settle Lawsuit
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/22/dini ... -ios-share