Re. Cooking shows - I first started watching Food TV waaay back in 1996 - 97. It was fascinating watching superstars like Batali, Michael Rosengarten, John Ash, Mary-Sue Milliken,Emeril Lagasse, Michael Lamonoco - and even Bobby Flay
making new, exciting dishes.
These days, it all seems to be based on stupid competitions, challenging a famous chef, or trying to make an impossible 3 course meal in 30 minutes. "Buddy vs Drew - a total joke, because who on earth is going to make a full-sized Dinosaur cake for their kid´s birthday??
As for
Marketing, you can blame that for every culinary mishap and misunderstanding in the last 20 years. As the Late Night Gourmet so rightly points out, it´s often big corporations twisting the language to sell their product. Things like
Cheez Whiz - with real cheese! and
Lo-fat, lo-sodium Ranch Salad dressing really get under my skin. I don´t doubt their claims are politically correct, but when you look at the ingredients list, it´s a whole load of processed stuff with added chemicals to boot.
What really gets my gander is restaurant dishes like
Chicken Fettucine Alfredo with wild mushrooms or
Authentic Caesar Salad with smoked turkey, bacon and oven-roasted artichokes. Neither one is Fettucine Alfredo nor Caesar Salad