James Beard Award Finalists: Spotlight on Broadcast Media
This week’s “L.A. Foodie Rant” continues with another glimpse into the James Beard Foundation (JBF) 2012 Awards nominees. This week, we’re diving into the Broadcast Media Awards, which go to—you guessed it!—folks who are on camera in some way or another, all in the name of food.
The umbrella category of “Food Broadcast Media” is rather broad—huge, rather—because of today’s multifaceted media outlets. We’ve got podcasts (both video and audio), film documentaries, TV documentaries, TV shows on-location, TV shows in-studio, and so on. Basically, if there’s a computer, an iPad, a television, or a radio, you can find something related to food being broadcast. And herein do we find nominees for the JBF Broadcast Media Awards.
As promised, each week I’m giving a bit of back-story into each of the JBF nomination categories. This week, we’ve got another pop-quiz to help you dig through the long list of contenders and determine which nominees are best for your interests. Follow the links for your respective shows of choice, and go get edu-mah-cated.
IF YOU:
- Grew up in a household that enjoyed home-cooked meals often, or are now leading a household that enjoys home-cooked meals
- Prefer the nourishing, comforting qualities of food above the chic, trending, or otherwise en vogue qualities
- Are a sucker for tradition, family, and gatherings around warm fireplaces
- Own at least one “Cosby sweater” and wear it proudly (and without irony)
THEN YOUR PREFERRED CATEGORY OF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA IS:
- Food culture, tradition, and home-style cuisine
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING JBF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA NOMINEES:
- Radio Show/Audio Webcast: “Fear of Frying: Culinary Nightmares”
Leave it to Chicagoans to go on and on about food—cooking it, eating it, and generally obsessing over it—on public radio. Radio show host Nina Barrett takes listeners’ hands and walks them through our deepest everyday kitchen phobias. If you’re terrified of messing up a boiled egg or entertaining a dinner party, this show is for you.
- Special/Documentary (Television or Video Webcast): “Lidia Celebrates America: Holiday Tables and Traditions”
Lidia Bastianich, the Italian-American chef personality on PBS, takes viewers through a journey into America’s cultural diversity through the lens of food. She visits with immigrant families around the country to see how where they came from affects what they eat today. From comedian superstars in New York City to traditional Chinese families in California, this documentary gives an affectionate look at the intersection of food and tradition inside Americans’ homes.
- Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location: “Essential Pépin”
Host Jacque Pépin needs no introduction; in his some sixty-odd-years as a chef, he’s earned his place in the ranks of serious chef instructors for the home cook, teaching simple and classic techniques. Leaving pretention at the door, Pépin warmly invites viewers into this cooking series and teaches them basic chef skills while applying them to seemingly fancy recipes.
- Television Program, On Location: “A Taste of History”
Winner of three Emmy Awards, this show is all about American cuisine from its very birth. Host Walter Staib walks you through the founders of this country, both political and cultural, and examines the foods that were born, revised, and adapted along the way. Powdered wigs and buckle belts welcome.
IF YOU:
- View competition as a means for achieving perfection
- Would rather beat your favorite chef in a cooking contest than eat a meal cooked by him
- Often ponder the powerful influence of food and cuisine within society
- Think that the stories of the people behind our food is more important than the very food itself
THEN YOUR PREFERRED CATEGORY OF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA IS:
- Food power, politics, and bigwig players
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING JBF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA NOMINEES:
- Radio Show/Audio Webcast: “From Bread Lines to Revolution: The Role of Food in the Arab Uprisings”
Chicago’s WBEZ station steps up again to the plate with a segment from its “Food Mondays” series taking a JBF nomination. “From Bread Lines to Revolution: The Role of Food in the Arab Uprisings” gives listeners a rare look into the issue of food in the Middle East during a time of political upheaval and unrest.
- Special/Documentary (Television or Video Webcast): “A Matter of Taste: Serving Up Paul Liebrandt”
This documentary gives viewers a glimpse into the life of the intensely driven and somewhat erratic chef Paul Liebrandt, the youngest chef to have ever been awarded three stars by The New York Times. Fellow culinary bigwigs like Grant Achatz and Thomas Keller speak their opinions on the near-genius creative mind behind Liebrandt and his intriguing roller-coaster career.
- Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location: “Chopped”
Yes, it’s another culinary competition on TV, and one that endorses speed, efficiency, and precision behind the knife. “Chopped” is like a newer (and improved) version of the older “Iron Chef” series; this one especially throws competing chefs under the clock. After being given a mystery bag full of foods, chefs get just 30 seconds to plan their meal and a measly 30 minutes to execute it. Host Ted Allen is a long-time food journalist with media credentials including judge on “Iron Chef America” and “Queer Eye.”
- Television Program, On Location: “The Wild Within”
Taking a cue from survivalists and sustainability nuts, host Steven Rinella is all about exploring and promoting the subcultures around the world that get their food first-hand—through hunting, gathering, and fishing. “The Wild Within” gives viewers a look inside not only the survivalist, but also the culinary, methods and adventures of those living a little more on the edge.
IF YOU:
- Are usually “up for anything” when it comes time for dinner decisions (and really mean it!)
- Have equal amount of foie gras and Frito Lays stashed in your home kitchen
- Have been known to wear a ‘50s apron to a dinner party, and sometimes a black dress to a potluck, just to switch things up
- Just can’t decide if Gramma’s apple pie, fried pork belly, or pad Thai is your favorite food … sigh
THEN YOUR PREFERRED CATEGORY OF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA IS:
- Food merriment, exploration, and pleasure
YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT THE FOLLOWING JBF FOOD BROADCAST MEDIA NOMINEES:
- Radio Show/Audio Webcast: “The Sporkful”
The show’s name says it all—the silly, quirky, and common minutiae of food culture are explored in “The Sporkful,” where hosts Dan Pashman and Mark Garrison dig into candy bar etiquette, chili, and even napkins. Toss on a bib and pull up a friend (and a cold beer) for this one.
- Special/Documentary (Television or Video Webcast): “Sky Full of Bacon”
Yet another Chicago-based program up for a JBF award, “Sky Full of Bacon” is hosted by Michael Gebert, who shows a sincere reverence for the Midwest just as much as the all-mighty pig. Each video webcast takes you on a different tangent of pork-related cuisine, pork-related careers and businesses, or just the greater trend of butchery in the Midwest. Dating back to its conception in 2008, these infectious podcasts include interviews, restaurant reviews, chef profiles, food reports, and much, much more for the hungry pork-ophile (or Chicagoan) inside each of us.
- Television Program, in Studio or Fixed Location: “Simply Ming”
Host Ming Tsai teaches East-meets-West cuisine in this PBS cooking show. During each episode, Tsai introduces various recipes and illustrates new techniques to complete those recipes. You’ll also get culinary inspiration from the show’s colorful line of guest chefs, bakers, food experts, and restaurateurs.
- Television Program, On Location: “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern”
Food journalist Andrew Zimmern travels the world in search of bizarre and quirky foods we like to eat. Whether cultural or political, nourishing or purely indulgent, Zimmern explores the many delicious—and oftentimes strange—things we eat in our daily lives around the world.
(This quiz provides only a partial list of all of the nominees for the JBF Broadcast Media Awards. Find the full list of nominees on page three of this PDF.)
Image courtesy James Beard Foundation