From Scratch: The Uncensored History of the Food Network

by Allen Salkin

Overview

Twenty Years of Dish from Flay and Fieri to Deen and DeLaurentiis...

Includes a New Afterword!

“I don’t want this shown. I want the tapes of this whole series destroyed.”—Martha Stewart

“In those days, the main requirement to be on the Food Network was being able to get there by subway.”—Bobby Flay

“She seems to suggest that you can make good food easily, in minutes, using Cheez Whiz and chopped-up Pringles and packaged chili mix.”—Anthony Bourdain

This is the definitive history of The Food Network from its earliest days as a long-shot business gamble to its current status as a cable obsession for millions, home along the way to such icons as Emeril Lagasse, Rachael Ray, Mario Batali, Alton Brown, and countless other celebrity chefs. Using extensive inside access and interviews with hundreds of executives, stars, and employees, From Scratch is a tantalizing, delicious look at the intersection of business, pop culture, and food.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425272862
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Pages:	528
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Allen Salkin has been a journalist for such publications as New York, the Village Voice, and Details. As a staff reporter for the New York Times, he wrote nearly two hundred features about food, culture, and media—for one of them, the legendary chefs Ferran Adrià and José Andrés cooked him lunch in his apartment. As an investigative reporter for the New York Post, Salkin wrote hundreds of articles—on corrupt judges, emergency room ethics, and troubled cults, among others. He has also produced video interviews with culinary stars for many food websites. Salkin’s journalism has taken him to more than forty countries, from the Beijing Olympics to the snorkel wakes of “Doom Tourists” in the Galápagos. He lives in New York City.

Read an Excerpt

 PROLOGUE
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "From Scratch"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Allen Salkin.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Preface: Roll Over ix

Prologue: A Final Toast to Emeril Live 1

1 Starting from Scratch 11

2 CNN with Stoves 46

3 "Chefs Are the New Rock Stars" 79

4 Bobby, Sara, Mario, and the Too Hot Tamales 108

5 BAM! 147

6 Changing the Recipe 168

7 New Owners Again!?! 194

8 "Allez Cuisine!" 219

9 You Reap What You Sow 253

10 Comfort Food 286

11 Noodle Roni with Blue Eyes: A New Kind of Star 323

12 Competitors Sharpen Their Knives 361

13 Channeling the Soul of a Chef 399

14 A Ten-Billion-Dollar Prize 428

Epilogue 471

Afterword 473

Acknowledgments 481

Index 487

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A detailed look at the network from start-up phase to the present…juicy stories about the network’s most polarizing figures—Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Anthony Bourdain, and, of course, Paula Deen y’all.”—The Atlantic Wire

“Dishy…Hard to resist.”—The New York Times Book Review

“One part steamy exposé, one part deep-fried human interest, and one part television history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Details the egos and feuds of the people that made a fledgling upstart a cable TV empire.”—The Daily Beast

“For a full account of the network and its evolution, it’s worth reading Allen Salkin’s excellent, informative new tome.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Salkin brings a pop journalist’s eye to the development of the network that would provide the ultimate exploitation of food and cooking…There’s plenty of good gossip to be had—the rise and fall of Emeril Lagasse is practically Shakespearean…Salkin seems to have interviewed almost everyone connected with the channel, and he’s good on behind-the-scenes business machinations.”—Los Angeles Times

Editorial Reviews

A detailed look at the network from start-up phase to the present…juicy stories about the network’s most polarizing figures—Guy Fieri, Bobby Flay, Anthony Bourdain, and, of course, Paula Deen y’all.”—The Atlantic Wire

“Dishy…Hard to resist.”—The New York Times Book Review

“One part steamy exposé, one part deep-fried human interest, and one part television history.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Details the egos and feuds of the people that made a fledgling upstart a cable TV empire.”—The Daily Beast

“For a full account of the network and its evolution, it’s worth reading Allen Salkin’s excellent, informative new tome.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Salkin brings a pop journalist’s eye to the development of the network that would provide the ultimate exploitation of food and cooking…There’s plenty of good gossip to be had—the rise and fall of Emeril Lagasse is practically Shakespearean…Salkin seems to have interviewed almost everyone connected with the channel, and he’s good on behind-the-scenes business machinations.”—Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher