Giada De Laurentiis, the Food Network super star, was profiled recently in the New York Post. One would think that there could be nothing controversial about an attractive woman who cooks Italian food on television. But the New York Post managed to find something.
“Porn?” she exclaimed. “I’m not doing porn! What the hell are people talking about?”
One would think that the Post’s interviewer would have been too polite to ask such a question. True, Giada De Laurentis is a babe and she does wear outfits that show her cleavage to advantage while whipping up panini and fettuccini alfredo. And apparently her viewing demographic extends beyond stay at home housewives, as her praises being sung in men’s magazines such as Esquire (and I have to admit, I’m a fan too.)
But, really, food porn? That’s a calumny. Giada De Laurentiis never comes across as anyone less than a lady, in all the best senses of the word. I can now better understand why Zell Miller wanted to meet the MSNBC yeller/host Chris Matthews for pistols for two for his maltreatment of Michelle Malkin during the 2004 presidential campaign.
But being a modern lady, Giada De Laurentiis can also defend her own honor. She said in the Post interview: “‘Granted, I don’t wear the highest [necklines]….’ Giada nods to her fan-favorite cleavage as she says this. And it’s not just her bare flesh that’s so suggestive-it’s her food, too. ‘The way we shot close-ups, I just wanted the food to look beautiful. I thought that’s what Americans loved about Italy-that it is so sensual and romantic. [It’s not] PBS-style cooking. Lidia Bastianich, sorry, but [she’s] kind of boring. I mean, I love Lidia, but you can fall asleep watching her. And Mario Batali? I love Mario to death…but he’s not romantic or sensual. Those are the things I bring to the table.’ ”
Mario Batali might disagree with that last sentiment, but as for the rest, yea verily yea.
Harry Flashman, the fictional character popularized in the novels by the late George MacDonald Fraser, once suggested that the best way to learn a foreign language was in the tutelage of an attractive woman. I can attrest to this, as whatever college French I retain (which is not much) was imparted from an attractive, twenty seven year old lady from the Loire Valley. Geraldine was a great relief from the snooty, dyspeptic frogs who tried to hammer verb conjugations into my thick head.
As with language, so with food. Mind, not all the good looks in the world would not suffice if the teacher didn’t know her subject. And in this Giada De Laurentiis shines as well. I can attrest to this, because nearly every dish of hers I’ve tried has been a hit, especially with my wife, whose people hail from Sicily.
Not food porn, but food instruction, with one of the finest teachers on the airwaves.
Source: The Sizzler: Giada De Laurentiis, Amy Spencer, New York Post, September 28th, 2008
