349506 Fri Dec 08 19:57:13 -0800 2006 33 33 Food Media and News 0 2082613 I learned a lot from him including the basics of cooking-anyone else remember the show?? Fri Dec 08 19:57:13 -0800 2006 55914 marlie202 1 2082636 Loved it. I used to watch it with pleasure and fascination before the concept of 'chowhound' or 'foodie' crossed my young mind. He made the process so joyful and fun. (He's ramped back a lot in the past few decades, discovering his own alcoholism and adjusting for his wife's heart disease.) Fri Dec 08 20:02:06 -0800 2006 2082613 54251 rcallner 1 2083026 He was the impetus for me to cook and learn about food. I had reconstructive surgery on my knee after frshman year in college. In a toe to hip cast for 16 weeks and watched him every day during the summer of '75. Stood on crutches in front of the stove and cooked away. I still have my original set of spurtles. Fri Dec 08 21:39:17 -0800 2006 2082613 11290 jfood 1 2083037 he would always take 'a short slurp' of wine. I was sorry to read that it became a problem. He also would make the ladies laugh by saying "First you take a leek-- " Fri Dec 08 21:41:30 -0800 2006 2082613 50913 syberyenta 1 2083151 There's some good stuff on Graham Kerr, and how he got no respect from the food establishment at the time, in David Kamp's recent book "The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation." Fri Dec 08 22:08:12 -0800 2006 2082613 17813 Bill on Capitol Hill 2 2084640 I was fascinated by the background on Kerr and others. Being born in the early 60s I wasn't there for the initial revolution. This book rocks! Sat Dec 09 15:42:34 -0800 2006 2083151 11176 ciaogina 3 2103688 I was born in the early 60s too, but I remember watching the GG with my grandmother... Fri Dec 15 21:27:55 -0800 2006 2084640 18154 prunefeet 4 2119678 I was born in the early 60s and watched "Galloping Gourmet" religiously. It aired 1969-1971. Thu Dec 21 16:46:49 -0800 2006 2103688 10658 Atomica 1 2083154 He was fun to watch, so animated in the kitchen. I wasn't aware of his personal life but the "Galloping Gourmet" definately gave home cooks confidence to create kitchen magic back in the day! Fri Dec 08 22:08:59 -0800 2006 2082613 36312 HillJ 1 2083540 His show was on at 4:00 weekdays on CBC in Montreal. I watched it every day after school. I guess this was in my late elementary school and high school years in the late 60's/early-to-mid 70's. It took me ages until I understood what "clarified butter" was; he used it in everything! Sat Dec 09 00:30:04 -0800 2006 2082613 48352 FlavoursGal 1 2083774 Yes! he was a pioneer back when i was in high school and the only other chef on TV - PBS - was Julia. I remember thinking he was an alkie (I could tell all the signs from my father). But HE was funny. Which is more than I could say for my dad. Then, oddly enough, or predictably enough, he (Graham Kerr, not my dad) went through a born again Christian metamortphosis. His cooking style also went through a bizarre turn around. At first, during the alkie stage, he was drenching everything in butter and cream, then after he got religion it was all low cal and self denial type recipes. VERY INTERESTING.... Sat Dec 09 01:58:01 -0800 2006 2082613 23824 niki rothman 2 2084102 Niki you hit the nail (in his career's coffin) right on the head. He was a kick to watch way back when. I forgot all about his religious rebirth and never connected it with his low-fat philosophy-until now. Duh! Thanks for the rehash. Sat Dec 09 05:08:52 -0800 2006 2083774 17672 kelvin8r 3 2084256 Well, he nearly lost his wife to heart disease too, so changed his high-fat habits... Sat Dec 09 07:11:50 -0800 2006 2084102 54251 rcallner 4 2085205 Oh sure, go ahead and throw that fly right in the ointment! I favor the religious refomation connection. There's nothing more fervent than a reformed abuser. And I've got the ex-junkie aquaintances to prove it! Take away the vice and they become a real handful! Anyway, it's not as if his wife was eating leftovers from the original show or anything. And although the GG show was like back in the dark ages, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that not only does hi-fat food cause heart disease, even worse-it makes you pack on the pounds. Never safe for a celebrity spouse. Don't go blaming the food when it's the forks fault! Sat Dec 09 20:55:16 -0800 2006 2084256 17672 kelvin8r 1 2084583 calm down folks, the man is only human-yes he got sloshed but today it seems getting sloshed makes you a media star- Sat Dec 09 15:05:44 -0800 2006 2082613 55914 marlie202 2 2084834 He was very witty, and at the time he was drinking wine and cooking too, it was very acceptable. Drinking and smoking were all over the TV shows then. I used to watch Johnny Carson and his guests drink and smoke back then too, and thought the same, just funny stuff on TV. Sat Dec 09 17:24:10 -0800 2006 2084583 15691 mcel215 2 2085220 You sure he was human? He drank like a fish! But he was a great drunk and an extremely entertaing educator. Does anyone know what he's been up to recently? Sat Dec 09 21:01:42 -0800 2006 2084583 17672 kelvin8r 3 2095636 Funny you should ask. I spent an afternoon with him recently and wrote a column about it for The Charlotte (NC) Observer. He and his wife, Trina, are touring the country in a luxury RV, staying in KOAs and preaching healthful food habits to people they meet in the campgrounds. He's as elegant and erudite as ever, and has an idea for a new version of a meal-assembly business that would allow people to tailor their meals for their health needs, such as diabetes. His idea is that for every X number of franchises sold, they'd open one in a low-income neighborhood. He's also pushing a set of videos on cooking for health issues, and he's hot on the idea that we need to take a stand against food marketing that tries to convince us we need to buy more than we really need. It was an interesting afternoon. They're both charming and almost childlike in their devotion to one another and to the idea of spreading healthful messages. He hates his old Galloping Gourmet image of excess and gets very funny whenever the subject comes up. Wed Dec 13 13:40:15 -0800 2006 2085220 18067 kathleen purvis 4 2107327 Thanks for your interesting observations, Kathleen. Great to hear he's still up and galloping, albeit at a slower pace. KOA's! Talk about narrow-casting! He still sounds like a class act though! Sun Dec 17 17:49:40 -0800 2006 2095636 17672 kelvin8r 5 2125850 I WANT my tv cooks to rage like pirates, drinking and carousing all over the place... I'm sick of healthy celebrities, let's bring back and era of men who are men and women who are women... I want 'em drunk and eating large quantities of fat! Sun Dec 24 03:28:26 -0800 2006 2107327 20664 therealbigtasty 6 2139055 Then let's hope Batali gets more airtime. "Heat" could be a great TV series. Sat Dec 30 06:56:09 -0800 2006 2125850 43540 orezscu 7 2141964 It would never happen--too good of an idea! Sun Dec 31 19:28:24 -0800 2006 2139055 20664 therealbigtasty 8 2142299 Batali has nuttin to do with the Galloping Gourmet Sun Dec 31 22:15:34 -0800 2006 2141964 55914 marlie202 1 2085372 http://www.grahamkerr.com/ This thread got me reading... Sat Dec 09 22:11:44 -0800 2006 2082613 36312 HillJ 1 2085815 When I was in first and second grades, there was a big TV set in the lunchroom of my local public elementary school in New York. The Galloping Gourmet came on during our lunchtime, and believe me, he had many fans among the kids and food-service workers at my school. I enjoyed his show because he was entertaining and the show was exciting. What's more fun for a kid than someone who loves to set fire to his food? Sun Dec 10 02:34:45 -0800 2006 2082613 17058 Pan 1 2094679 I used to pretend to be sick so I could stay home and watch The Galloping Gourmet. I loved him. All that eye rolling when he tasted these incredibly heavy, caloric dishes. He was such fun to watch. Other kids had their favorite Beatle. I had Graham. Wed Dec 13 01:55:46 -0800 2006 2082613 11497 Claire 1 2094692 One thing Graham taught me, and it's connected to his low-fat-for-the-wife change:cooking with love. He insisted you didn't cook seperately for the "dieting" family members, because that's not how a family should eat, that you tasted everything and fed the best to those you love. Wed Dec 13 01:59:48 -0800 2006 2082613 54491 SusanSDG 1 2095045 I watched The Galloping Gourmet when I was a kid. It is the show that sparked my inner-houndiness. He was funny also. Wed Dec 13 04:08:41 -0800 2006 2082613 22801 bkhuna 1 2097372 I've often thought that Rachel Ray might be his illicet daughter... Wed Dec 13 21:37:52 -0800 2006 2082613 56306 Glassman 2 2105047 How could you suggest such a thing? Kerr is all class, Ray is all crass. Sat Dec 16 13:26:36 -0800 2006 2097372 11497 Claire 1 2103700 Didn't anyone see his more recent show? The heart healthy one? Sounds dull, but hey, it's still Graham Kerr. I can't remember the name of it, but it was still very entertaining and he had lots of good ideas for cutting out fat. I don't know when it went off the air, but I watched it around 1996 I think... Fri Dec 15 21:31:14 -0800 2006 2082613 18154 prunefeet 2 2114152 I used to watch that show (and The Galloping Gourmet, when I was a tyke), and I loved it. I don't know what it was called either, but it was based on a concept he dubbed "minimax," as in minimum of bad stuff (e.g., fat), maximum flavor. The recipes seemed fabulous. Tue Dec 19 22:11:28 -0800 2006 2103700 27312 lvecch 1 2115581 There was recently a fascinating documentary series on BBC4 called "The Way We Cooked". In episode two of the series, it covered Graham Kerr, from his beginnings to current day. You can find the show on some P2P sites. Wed Dec 20 08:26:16 -0800 2006 2082613 16692 peekpoke 1 2121252 In Graham Kerr's "minimax" cooking show he showed an original full fat recipe and remade it with the "minimax" version and compared the two ie.cholesterol,fat,calories,etc. Fri Dec 22 00:29:31 -0800 2006 2082613 55914 marlie202