Rachael Ray

Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968 on Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is an Emmy-winning television personality and author who hosts at least four different programs on cable television's Food Network: 30 Minute Meals, a Day" target="_blank" >^*, Inside Dish, and Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels. She has authored a series of cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept. She will also host a syndicated TV talk show starting Monday, September 18, 2006.

History

Ray's family is Italian-American, originally from Sicily. The family owned a restaurant in Massachusetts, and her mother managed restaurants in upstate New York. Rachael started working at the candy counter at Macy's in New York City. She helped open Agata & Valentina, a New York City market. Moving upstate, she worked as buyer and chef at the Cowan & Lobel market in Albany, New York. Ray credits the concept of "30 Minute Meals" to her experience working at a gourmet food store where people were reluctant to cook. She began teaching a cooking course showing people how to make meals in thirty minutes or less. With the success of her "30 Minute Meals" classes, Schenectady, New York TV station WRGB asked her to continue on their newscasts. This, along with a public radio appearance and the publication of her first book, led to a Today Show spot and her first Food Network contract.

Cooking

Ray teaches simple recipes that she claims can be prepared in thirty minutes or less. Like many cooks, she uses garlic and chicken stock as simple ways to boost flavors. She emphasizes using fresh herbs whenever possible. She states that measuring "takes away from the creative, hands-on process of cooking" and instead favors approximations such as "half a palmful" and "eyeball it". On her television programs, she has popularized catchphrases such as "E.V.O.O." (extra-virgin olive oil), "Yum-O!", "So delish!", "G.B." (garbage bowl)," and "How good is THAT?". She often refers to sandwiches as "sammies".

She claims to dislike baking desserts and to be notorious for burning bread under the broiler. Ray says her Sicilian maternal grandfather, Emmanuel Scuderi, served as a strong influence on her cooking. To critics of her shortcut techniques, Ray responds, "I have no formal anything. I'm completely unqualified for any job I've ever had." ^*

Media

Ray launched her own magazine, Everyday with Rachael Ray in conjunction with Reader's Digest. The magazine premiered on October 25, 2005 and plans bi-monthly issues in 2006.

In addition to her television hosting and cookbooks, Ray has endorsed products for Price Chopper supermarkets and Burger King, and has developed her own line of cookware and cutlery. When she endorsed Wüsthof's, sales rose dramatically, and she now endorses her own line of santoku knives. In 2003, she posed for the men's magazine FHM. The New York Times wrote, "The shots feature Ms. Ray in short-shorts with an exposed midriff, licking chocolate off a big wooden spoon, eating a strawberry and sitting in a sink, laughing as suds cascade down her curvaceous thighs." A year later, she was named number 92 on "FHM-US's 100 Sexiest Women 2004". Most recently, she was featured as #71 in "FHM-US's 100 Sexiest Women 2006".

In late 2005, Ray signed a deal with Oprah Winfrey and King World Productions to host a syndicated daytime TV talk show. The show, "Rachael Ray" will premiere on September 18, 2006. Recurrent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show will be used to fuel the launch, much like Dr. Phil's show was spun off based on his own frequent visits to Oprah. The show will tape in New York City, and Ray will continue to appear on the Food Network. Ray said, in coordination with the syndication announcement, "People know me for my love of food, but I have so much more I want to share."

In addition to Oprah, Ray has appeared on The View, The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

In 2006, Ray's 30 Minute Meals received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Show. Ray was also nominated for Outstanding Service Show Host, but lost to Suze Orman.

Ray was also named one of Time magazine's most influental people of 2006. She was nominated by fellow Food Network star, Mario Batali. ^*

According to Forbes magazine, Ray earns about $6 million a year from her books and television shows.

Criticisms

Ray has received much criticism, most intensely from longtime viewers of the Food Network, many of whom expressed disappointment with the choice and support of the largely untrained television chef. These perspectives are mostly expressed in blogs, along with groups founded for the purpose of commenting upon Ray's antics and appearance. The most widespread online criticisms of Ray herself are of the chef's exaggerations of hand gestures, her regional accent and other colloquialisms, along with excessive energy and other qualities, including her voice.

Another issue regarding her voice, has been the gradual raspiness that has crept into her voice which is especially noticeable when comparing current episodes of her show with earlier ones. This might be attributed to the fact that she is a smoker per postings on Willamette (OR) Week Online and Gawker.

In a Slate article defending Ray, Jill Hunter Pellettieri summed other criticisms by writing:

Ray's ditzy demeanor also makes her easy to dismiss. She giggles off-cue and constantly praises her own cooking. "Smells awesome already!" she says, making her Snapper in a Snap. "I am so psyched about that." She employs kitschy abbreviations—EVOO means "extra virgin olive oil"—and gives her menus corny nicknames like You-Won't-Be-Single-for-Long Vodka Cream Pasta. The acknowledgments in her $40 a Day cookbook read like a high-school yearbook: "Don …You are the tallest man we've ever had on crew, and yet you pack the smallest bag—ever! Cool." And it didn't boost her credibility when she posed for pinup shots in FHM. (One featured Ray licking chocolate off a spoon.) When the magazine hit newsstands, she said, "I think it is kinda cool for someone who is goofy, and a cook, just a normal person to be thought of in that way.

Ray's food is criticized for often being redundantly similar with few variations between her assortments of recipes and unappealing in appearance as well as taste. Some have noted that many of her recipes can, in fact, be found "on the back of cans of tomato sauce." The "30 Minute Meals" concept, in particular, has been under strong attack, mostly due to the fact that Ray doesn't account for preparation times in the signature half-hour cooking time and opinions that the results are too unsatisfying to constitute meals. In fact, in the same Slate article that defended her, author Pellettieri went through one of Ray's "30 Minute Meals" cookbooks and, ironically, was unable to complete any of her dishes in under an hour. Apparently, neither Ray herself nor any parties related to or representing the chef have responded to such claims.

In addition to the forementioned, Ray has claimed that some of her meals are vegetarian, although they are not. In the episode "Summer Cooldown" of 30 Minute Meals, Ray stated that a Caesar salad containing anchovy paste was suitable for vegetarians. ^* Although people who abstain solely from eating red meat sometimes claim to be vegetarians, a true vegetarian does not eat fish either.

Another criticism is that Ray's "30 Minute Meals" are not healthy as she commonly claims at the beginning of nearly every episode. Ray relies heavily on hamburgers, cheese, bacon, ice cream and other obviously unhealthy "go-to" items. Ray rarely includes fruits or vegetables that are not smothered in some source of sugar or fat.

Personal

Ray owns homes in Lake Luzerne, New York and Manhattan's Greenwich Village. On September 24, 2005 in Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy, Ray married John Cusimano, a lawyer and member of the band The Cringe.

Bibliography

30 Minute Meals (1999)
Rachael Ray's Open House Cookbook (2000)
Comfort Foods (2001)
Veggie Meals (2001)
30-Minute Meals 2 (2003)
Get Togethers: Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals (2003)
$40 a Day: Best Eats in Town (2004)
Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals: Cooking 'Round the Clock (2004)
Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals for Kids: Cooking Rocks! (2004)
Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Get Real Meals : Eat Healthy Without Going to Extremes (2005)
Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners (2005)
Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals: What to Keep on Hand, what to Buy Fresh for the easiest ever 30 Minute Meals (2006)
Rachael Ray 2-4-6-8: Cooking for Couples or Crowds (a 30 Minute Meal Cookbook) (2006)

References

External links

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