My half hour watching Emeril Green

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of this new show that Emeril Lagasse has on the Planet Green network called Emeril Green. I like this show because Emeril dials down a lot of his schtick that made me avoid him while he was on the Food Network. It’s pretty informative; the premise is that he helps out Average Joes and Janes with cooking. All while talking about how to be healthy, sustainable, and being mindful of the planet. It is on the Planet Green channel after all.

But what is also fun about this show is Emeril and his tendencies. The man definitely knows his food, but he sure doesn’t know his way around the English language. I chalk this up to growing up in Massachusetts (updated – thanks Susanna!) and being so entwined with New Orleans. Emeril butchers a lot of words; Syraz (was he trying to say Syrah? Or Shiraz?) Vagan (Vegan?), kind of a fun little game during the show. Not really enough to make a drinking game, but often enough to keep things interesting.

Another part of the show that keeps things interesting are the regular folks that Emeril helps cook. Some know absolutely nothing. Some are relatively skilled. Some are absolutely annoying and makes you wonder how they got past the screening process. Others won’t let Emeril get in many words. The show is called ‘Emeril Green’, not ‘Some Dude Green’. Bill Simmons talks about something called ‘The Table Test“; he talks about what people bring to the table. That is whether they add to the conversation positively. Some people talk “things” off the table and actually negatively move the conversation along. Other people simply leave the table alone. Watching Emeril Green, you’ll see all three types.

He does have a lot of interesting recipes and techniques that he teaches on the episode. And they shoot the episodes exclusively at Whole Foods, so they do have access to some high quality ingredients. I like this show more than most of the cooking shows on the Food Network because Emeril at least knows his way around the kitchen. He’s led a few successful restaurants, while a lot of folks on the Food Network don’t quite have the same resume. You’ll have to swim through a bit of his catchphrases, but at least he knows what he’s talking about.

So yeah, another thing to watch on television. Especially when you’re stuck home from massive amounts of snow and ice.