On Ina Garten (a few thoughts)

Ina Garten has a new memoir out that’s generating much publicity. Sometimes when I think of her, Martha Stewart comes to mind. For starters, both women have a large following and their earlier career was in something other than food.

But this line from a review of her Memoir got me thinking of how they differ:

I also distinctly remember how different the book (her first cookbook) felt from Martha Stewart and Gourmet magazine and other big food names of that era — Ina’s food was messy and real, without making any sacrifices in quality.

I think that’s part of Ina’s unique appeal. As wikipedia describes her first cookbook, the Barefoot Contessa:

Garten deconstructs simple French recipes like boeuf bourguignon or Baba au Rhum cake. She focuses on preparing foods efficiently, allowing more time to eat and spend with guests.

Post World War II, North American cooking went away from traditional home-cooking and towards French cuisine. (See Julia Child.) later in the 80s it aspired to be broader than that, bringing in flavours from around the Mediterranean, from Asia and elsewhere. Despite this expansion, the cooking aspired to be excellent and involve much effort (See Martha Stewart and Gourmet magazine.) Ina and others who followed wanted to change that: they still wanted their food to be excellent, but without all the fuss.

P.S. to see what I mean, here’s Ina Garten’s take on Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon recipe which is naturally streamlined.