image courtesy Clarkson Potter
Mention the state of things at the Food Network and its spinoff, The Cooking Channel and you’re bound to get an opinion. When I was in Pastry School 4 years ago, I found it had a lot to do with what generation you belonged to. Those of us with an interest in the food world can not have escaped the road taken since their inception. But, that is all besides the point here. This post is about Ina.
Each year the Food Network stages a contest to find their newest Star. Say what you will about this collection of shows and their outcome. They are someone’s idea of entertainment. But, in my mind, and because she happens to air there, here’s my assessment: it would clearly be inappropriate and such an understatement to classify Ina Garten as only the Ultimate Food Network Star, especially since this came later……. In my own humble opinion, while this is one element of her vibrant and shining career, her sphere of influence and success has and will extend far beyond.
I have been watching Ina Garten for many years, probably from the beginning of her show in 2002. I visited her shop in East Hampton before it sadly closed. I met her at the Williams Sonoma in Short Hills when she came to do a book signing, getting to chat for a few moments while she signed my books. I have always been a huge fan. To this day, I try to watch her show whenever I’m at home and it is on. Even though I have seen most of her episodes, many multiple times, I find her always to be inspiring and uplifting. She may be, more than any present day personality, my most-valued example of a businesswoman and creative force.
Food personalities come and go, especially these days. The world of ubiquitous media has blown up and blown out plenty of careers. For me, Ina Garten is the ultimate in current and enduring food treasures, someone to respect, and learn from, her opinion and value somehow timeless in a maze of otherwise evolutionary and revolutionary food personalities who seek to push the envelope. In this, I find her steadfast style, method and sensibility a comfort. My standard for food treasure is pretty high – and I’ll tell you why she meets it.
1. Ina “teaches” cooking, entertaining, decorating without ever being condescending or off-putting
2. She has kept her standards high
3. She has not allowed herself to become overexposed and has clearly set her own limits
4. She shares her home, garden and personal life with ease, aplomb and graciousness
5. She inspires by offering her ideas and allowing for variations
6. She is consistent but never boring, keeping her ideas and recipes fresh
7. Her recipes are really foolproof
8. She is a great example by how hard she works
9. She has an excellent eye and pleasing, non-stuffy sensibility
10. Her exuberance shines through in everything she does
11. She continues to be in awe of other food icons and maintains a humble but noticeable level of naivety and innocence
12. She is a self-taught cook, relying on her impeccable instinct and own senses in her endeavors and yet never ceases to be a student, as well
Honestly, I am impressed with Ina for so much more than just her recipes. However, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention them as part of her achievements.
I have made countless of her recipes over the years and often I consult her books, website and other social media as a reference. My favorite recipes of hers, – the ones I have continued to make for years and years, include her Rack of Lamb from Parties, Boeuf Bourguignon, Chicken Chili, her Blueberry Crumb Cake, Corn Muffins and her basic Pesto recipe. But, I never hesitate to choose any of her recipes on spur of the moment. She’s also been an inspiration for me in my own confidence in recipe creation. Here, for example, I simply adapted her Rack of Lamb recipe for a butterflied leg of lamb on the grill – all I really did was add more olive oil. This allows me to use this recipe all year long. Honestly, I don’t order rack of lamb out because it’s never as good as this.
perfect every time
Ina’s approach to recipe development has always been centered on ease, timing, and flavor enhancement. She doesn’t look for hard to find ingredients, her plating is straightforward and nothing she presents is intimidating. She doesn’t hesitate to offer store bought items to add to her repertoire and to be used as adjunct dishes to allow for a workable plan.
I’m always in awe of people who have been in the catering business and who have succeeded in doing large-batch, on-demand creating and supplying. This is a juggling act for people with nerves of steel. While this mode of operation gives me instant anxiety, like messing up someone’s birthday cake, she has made it all look easy through years of experimentation, dutiful testing and constant sharing.
One thing that I continue to respect about Ina is her drive to work. Now, at a time when she clearly doesn’t have to, and could step back and retire, she presses on, in the spirit of the creative joyfulness she has so clearly self-defined. While she stays centered in her general genré, she doesn’t hesitate to venture out for sources of new inspiration.
Of course, one of the most alluring elements of Ina-style is the evolution of her home and garden, which is not only modest by East Hampton standards, but so pleasingly reveals and compliments her self-restraint and tasteful parameters. Over the years we have watched her grow – her home, her yard, her barn. As far as we can see, she hasn’t ventured past where she, herself has been comfortable and content, showing a deep degree of self-knowledge and understanding. Clearly, however, she is an open-minded and and offering person, who extends herself within her community. At the same time that she entertains friends at the top of their respective vocations, she supports her own basic community, from the Fire Department to the Historical Society to the youngest of local farming entrepreneurs.
It would seem to me that while business is and has been important to Ina, and she is obviously a shrewd person, she remains benevolent and unspoiled in her sensibility toward all life. Whether at Town Line Barbecue, Rao’s or in Napa or Paris, her good-natured exuberance shines through.
In this time of tremendous numbers of offerings in the culinary/lifestyle space, we can depend on Ina to be one class act. I love how she began on a whim of her own, notably spurned from her own Mother’s kitchen, to explore, engage and embellish, into her own indulgence of her own evolving passions. This to me is a true and good story.
If I had to pick one word that best describes all about Ina, it would be refreshing. While some may find this an understatement, I say it is the ultimate in compliments as it reflects a person-centered standard so uncommon in our time. And, considering her amount of success, this, for me is uniquely inspiring.