The Common Culinarian

Have you ever wondered how internet marketing works? Let me break it down for you like this: there are companies that use computer programs to trawl the internets to see if people are mentioning certain things. On this blog, I’ve seen bots that have come here when I mentioned certain things. I never thought much of it, and realized that this is just a web marketers way of seeing what kind of buzz a product is generating. Fair enough.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I got an email this morning from the kindly folks at VMWare for mentioning their product in my post last night. After reading how I decided to use it, they emailed me to see how I liked it and how exactly I planed on using Fusion. It seems they liked how an “average joe” could find use in software that, at one time, used to be the realm of program testers and computer geeks in general.

So, do you know what they did? They posted about it!

Yes, folks, that’s right. CommonCulinarian.com has now been mentioned on Just Baking, The Cook’s Kitchen, Well Fed, and now… VMWare

So, if you’re coming here from VMWare, welcome! I promise, I really am just a real person, using real software. If you want to see, you can click on the thumbnail for a larger picture This is what it looks like–Quicken 2008, in Unity mode–you can see, it looks almost like a Mac program, except for that pesky Windows styling. Pretty neat, huh? (Okay, I promise, after this I’ll get back to really writing about food ).

 You can click here to see a larger image.

One of my friends over on another blog hosting service has posted twice in as many days about how Paula Deen is evil incarnate. Here’s what he posted, so you can make your own call:

Velveeta Fudge on Ellen (Source)

(Source; original image)

I was actually surprised to see this. Now, I’m trying to figure this out. I guess the reason I was surprised is because I actually like Paula Deen. I find her charming and matronly (and those who know me know why that might appeal to me). I also like her recipes because they look tasty. And they should–she uses an obscene amount of lard and/or butter in most of her recipes, and I read that when confronted with this fact, she said, “I’m a cook, not a doctor.”

I knew this wasn’t an isolated phenomenon, so I Googled around to see if I could find anything out about why Paula is so loathed. I came across this site that seemed to be right on point. And I can see the point. Here it is (or, rather, here they are): (1) she’s a sell-out, and (2) her cooking is an abomination to classical cuisine, common sense or both. It also turned
out that people hate Rachel Ray nearly as much, for the same reasons
and then some.

After all, who really wants to make money, or uses a half-pound of butter in each recipe?

So, let’s address these issues, at least as I see them.

1. She’s making money. A lot of it. Because she’s a good chef? No, not really. It’s because she’s a good salesperson. I acknowledge that, and I have no problem with it. Perhaps it’s because I’m a business person by trade and training. What she (and Rachel) is doing is capitalizing on her brand–a traditional, likable southern lady who makes really tasty food and has no qualms about full fat/full flavor food in this age of healthful eating. She’s sees an opportunity to maximize the return on her brand, she takes it, and she makes money. Good for her! (I hesitate to say that she exploits her brand, because that seems to imply that she’s doing it to the detriment of something/someone else, when that’s really the definition of marketing).

   I’ll also say the same thing about Rachel, here. A lot of people think she’s over exposing herself (the post referenced above equates her to the Oprah of the food media world). I have to say that she’s really pretty darn savvy to diversify the way she has. Both of these women will one day become irrelevant. It’s not a matter of if, but when. That’s just the business cycle. Good for them for finding ways to stay relevant.

2. It may not be conventional, but I also say “kudos” for thinking creatively and coming up with interesting and unique food combinations, a la Velveeta Fudge. I probably never would have though to combine the two. And, it might even taste good! Just because it’s not haute cuisine doesn’t mean that it’s not tasty.
3. Rachel Ray has another issue I think people find particularly grating–her personality. I have to admit, sometimes it’s just a little too sugar and roses (C’mon? ‘”Yum-O!” “Sammies,” and “Stoup–thicker than a soup, thinner than a stew.” Sometimes it’s a little too syrupy for me–and I like corn, cheese, sap, and any other adjective for laying it on a little too thick). But, people relate to that somehow. It’s her image, and it sells. I can only take so much, but more power to her if that’s what makes her money.

And that’s my opinion on food celebrities (or, really, celebrities in general). If I could do the same thing, I probably would. But, that’s just me.

So, are you with me? Is there a food celebrity you just loathe? Or, are we too hard on them, like we are on Britney?

---

What’s not my original content: The image of Paula Deen in Wal-Mart is from here. The use of this image is governed by creative commons. The image of Rachel Ray is from an interview she had with Elizabeth Edwards; the original is here (I cropped it, which I can do according to this image’s creative commons license, but I have to let you know that you are free to do the same with my altered version of the image–just don’t steal my bandwidth!)