Jeff Smith, 1939-2004: The ‘Frugal Gourmet’ was TV’s original celebrity chef
Jeff was a major influence in my life. In my early teens, when I was just
learning to cook, I would watch Jeff Smith’s Frugal Gourmet religiously. It was
the first cookery show I learnt from, even before learning to mince garlic from
Martin Yan. His obvious love for cooking was infectious. It inspired me to take
up cooking seriously and have fun doing it. His show also taught me some
important basic principles of cooking including one that I continue to preach to
all my friends and family: "Hot wok, cold oil; food won’t stick." It
is these principles that mark the difference between a good cook and a great
one. Jeff’s smooth-talking style made cooking look not like a chore but an
extremely rewarding experience. Wannabes like Sanjeev Kapoor can’t come anywhere
near him.
Today, I’m the chef and owner of a fine dining South-east Asian restaurant in
Bangalore. Jeff, you played a big part in shaping my future. For that, I will
always be grateful.
May The Force be with you.
hiya madhu,
me dropped in to take a look at what the madman does besides cooking mindblowingly…
i enjoyed the sunday night tremendously…forgive my half drunkenness..please
love
lavannya
Well I guess I missed his shows.. 🙁 though I used to love Martin Yan’s shows… loved the way Yan used to go chop chop chop.. amazing !!
Hey Madhu, I should try this hot wok, cold oil trick. i am nowhere close to evenbeing a good cook, but food sticking to the pan was a problem I always had. Will keep you posted.
I love it when people get their mind blown at my restaurant. 😉
I’ll give you lighter cocktails next time. Hehe.
Hey Madhu! Long time no see. Congratulations on the restaurant!! That’s wonderful. I’m looking forward to reading more about it.
My brother and I were also JS fans, we would (OMG, how dorky) videotape it often and made many of the recipes.
It still looks bran’ spankin’ new. I wish there was an unmanned method of bringing it back to earth at the end of its life, instead of having it burn up. Is there any robotic satellite retrieval system http://wiwapia.com/en/Information_Retrieval out there?
Really nice site. I found it when looking for restaurant options when in Bangalore during an upcoming trip. Rob