Why do TV chefs never seem to wash their vegetables before cooking?

Question

They even cook it straight from the bag. I scrub everything thats big enough before cooking.

Answer 1

You'll probably find the little people behind the scenes do it all before filming starts or they've bought pre washed.

Answer 2

In the cooking show industry, there is a team of cooks who not only do the prep but also do the cooking.

As a show is planned, it is the standard operating procedure to have a team that does the shopping, cooking and cleaning.

The team first shops then they make the recipe to find out if the recipe actually works. If adjustments are needed, now is the time to do it.

Then the recipe is broken down into segments to allow for commercials. Preps are done to the ingredients. The items are measured. Put in a handy place. Did you really think Rachel Ray has everything in that one little shelf and never has to dig in the back for anything?

Generally there are 3 sets of the recipe made for each step and 3 copies made of the finished product.

3 of the product as it is in the "first stage"
3 of the product as it is in the "second stage"
3 of the finished product

#2 and #3 are used as back ups if something happens to the #1. Like burning to the pan, dropping egg shells in the batter, simply dropping the bowl on the floor. Anything can happen and since the host is talking and trying to cook at the same time, it does quite often.

Answer 3

First, you have to understand this is TV.........and NOT real life.
Chances are that if washing has been done, it's been done prior to taping, because of time contraints. Many TV shows do not have real people actually eating the food either. (such a waste when there are so many hungry people in the same cities they tape). Those that do have real people eating the food probably have all the safety concerns handled before taping.
As far as hairnets and hair pulled back........most shows with women that have long hair serve food to family and friends, (for the show) but if they worked in a real kitchen in REAL life, would have to follow the same health guidelins as anyone else. They probably have hair in the food at home, too, just like a million other home cooks.
The ones that drive me nuts are the ones that don't wash their hands.........even after touching goopy, gloppy batters, raw seafood/meat/poultry, or lick their fingers. Wiping fingers on a towel annoys me, especially when they go right on to touch other foods. I'm hoping the producers just cut the washing for TV time.
I think there's alot more happening behind the scenes than the general public will ever know about, but I also think the TV chefs are putting on a show, giving the viewing audience recipes or better yet........ideas.........and I'm not complaining......since not one TV chef has ever handed me a dish through the TV screen, but I have gotten some wonderful ideas to try in my kitchen. (Yes, I wash my veggies/fruits and my hands, and usually even pull my hair back.)

I'd love to be a prep cook for a TV chef, but PLEASE, don't make me clean the kitchen or wash the dishes, LOL

Answer 4

I am married to a chef and I am a professional baker. Most of us who work in food service have learned to order everything we can, produce mainly, ready to do - pre-washed stuff. The reason for this is two-fold. One is time and the other is safety. Dripping water all over is a safety hazzard.

We still wash most things, but know that most of it is pre-washed. Anything that comes packed and sealed in a bag is clean enough to go to the table as a GENERAL rule. Anything loose, packed in an open bag (like celery) or dirty is washed.

Many times, television shows have at least one - usually two or three - people doing all kinds of prep work. I would bet that most times, the veggies are repackaged for the shows to be the right amount. If you watch Rachel Ray, you will notice that all of her packaging is made with labels someone on her staff makes. Most times, they package veggies in the portion needed.

Washing veggies is important - but please remember that in restaurant, we order things pre-washed as an extra safety precaution. Lettuce mix is at least washed three times before it is packaged.

Sometime, things do happen, tho. E Coli in spinach for example came from the washing process. The spinach was washed (and watered) with water contaminated with cow poop from a neighboring farm.

The lesson for us was to always know where our food was grown and processed. Most of our suppliers provided us with all of that information and the one that didn't got cut from our line-up.

Bottom line, washing veggies is up to you - but pre-washed and bagged do not need to be washed. Even if you had washed the spinach with e.coli, you would not have removed the bacteria if you didn't cook the spinach.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

They don't do anything but cook into the camera. They have assistants and prep cooks doing all the "dirty" work for them. Even if they claim they washed them earlier, yeah right the star cook washed them themselves.

But I'd take a job being their prep cook!

Answer 6

A very good point.

I have also noticed TV chefs not wash their hand before and after handling raw chicken, and even after chopping onions. They sometimes chop onions and then chop other veg of meat with the same knife.

Vegetables should be washed before any form of prep - scraping, peeling or whatever. Hands should be washed before and after veg prep. Fresh veg may still have some earth on it or within the leaves - do we really wish to eat soil?

Onions. The smell of the allium family is so strong that it will transfer to anything else that the hands or tool touches. Once onion is cooked, the transfer of flavour is slower than when it is raw, but chopping onions and then handling other ingredients is sloppy and very bad practice. Raw onion transferred from hand or knife to other foods under prep can destroy flavour and texture. Food should only be exposed to onion/garlic/leek when it is ready for such exposure, and this often requires pre-cooking of the onion and the other ingredients, separately, before the flavours and textures are ready to merge.

Meats. I scream at TV chefs who do not visibly wash after prepping meat.

I am also appalled that these TV chefs cook in everyday clothing without wearing whites, and even more important, the tocque ( chefs hat). I keep 5 sets of whites, 5 bib and brace aprons, 5 tocques in a clean state, and a similar number in my partner's cleaning emporium. When one trains in cooking, the awarding of your first set of whites is a rite of passage that is very important, as it marks you as being one of the gang, or Brigade - even if you are just a commis prepping veg. The Tocque is vital - it keeps the bonce cool, and stops sweat and dandruff from falling from the forehead into the food. Celebrity chefs who cook on TV without wearing thbe gear that us juniors expend so much sweat to acquire, literally let down their fellow chefs and present a bad example to potential chefs and domestic cooks.

I will give you an example, from my own experience, of what can happen to cooks and chefs who do not wash their hands at every opportunity. It was my day off, and I was making a curry for my girlfriend - I'd only just started cooking seriously, and I was anxius to impress this girl with my culinary skills. I had had a couple nof beers before starting to cook the curry, and I was drinking beer as I did the prep for the dish - a dish that involved chopped, raw, chillies. I had chopped the chillies, mixed them with the onions and garlic, sifting by hand, and was about to cook off these ingredients when the beer hit me and required a visit to the toilet. I did not wash my hands before using the loo. I'd been handling raw chillies.

Picture a chef, trying his utmost to stuff his willy into a brandy glass full of lime juice to cool off the afflicted organ! The meal was lovely, but any form of sexual activity was definitely out!

Answer 7

Everything is done for them beforehand. It's all very well orchestrated. Check out when they do a "behind the scenes" show. It reveals a lot, sometimes more than I want to know, but it does give credit to the people that work so hard to make one person look really good.

Answer 8

Cause their behind the scenes cooking slaves pre-wash them, so they are ready for use. Just like they dont wash dishes when they're done. Actually, I wonder why they are paid so much - all they do is read a small tv with words on it and mix stuff together. DUH!

Answer 9

Because the sous chef or assistant took care of it beforehand (even if it's coming out of the bag).

Answer 10

fruit grows on shrub or vines and fresh vegetables grow in the floor.