Prospectus

Issue date: 9/2/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Anthony Burkert

Starting this fall, I will have my very own cooking show on Parkland's TV station. This is not something that I had ever expected to do. The first cooking show that I remember watching is Yan Can Cook on PBS. I was maybe six or seven. It must have been during the summer, because that was back when cooking shows only came on in the afternoon, competing with talk shows and soap operas for housewifely attention. I enjoyed the show. Martin Yan wore shirts that read "Wok with Yan" or "Wok and Roll" and made dishes like "Ba-na-na-nana Rolls"-much more fun than most grown-up programs. I looked forward to watching his show when I could, but I didn't start daydreaming about being the next Martin Yan. The deliberate pursuit of a career as a TV chef is a very recent phenomenon.

Somehow, cooking shows have gone from low-budget educational programming for home cooks, to the substance of an entire network that has become a showcase for glamorous celebrity chefs. In our national perception, cooking and the chef have been elevated from a household chore and a low-status job to an esteemed art and a highly-skilled professional. Do not misunderstand my perception of cooking; I am a huge fan of the home-cooked meal. I come from the South, where "tastes like homemade" is much higher praise than "restaurant quality". My only cooking-related aspirations have been to have the skills to put a meal in front of anybody that shows up for dinner and to feed them something good enough to tempt everyone into a second helping. So, why am I making a cooking show?

I have never had any desire to be on TV, but I do love giving cooking demonstrations. When I am up in Chicago for culinary classes, I get to volunteer with an organization called Operation Frontline (OFL). OFL is part of Share Our Strength, a national organization dedicated to eradicating childhood hunger (http://www.strength.org/). I conduct cooking demonstrations as part of their nutrition-education program that teaches individuals, parents, and children how to prepare healthy, tasty meals on a limited budget. Currently, we do not have an OFL program here in Champaign, but we do have a TV station (PCTV). I saw an opportunity to create a TV series that would allow me to share similar ideas for healthy and inexpensive meals. With the involvement of Jane Valentine, Dietetic Technician Program Director, and the staff at PCTV, that opportunity has developed into a series of TV shows called What's in Your Pantry? The series illustrates ideas and techniques for creating meals out of simple and inexpensive pantry staples.

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