Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Ingrid, Step One - Figure Out Where You Come From And Stick With That

I guess it's good that I missed Ingrid Hoffman on The View the first time it was on. It originally aired just before her show premiered on the Food Network. If I had seen it, I would have gone in thinking she was an idiot. This way, I had to watch her first to decide that.

Thank goodness, Joy Behar was interviewing her. She said, "What's with your name? Are you Spanish?" Ingrid said, "Yes." Joy said, "Really?" She said, "Yeah" then paused and said, "Colombian." INGRID, THAT'S NOT THE SAME THING!

She was doing that dumb unauthentic ceviche with the raisins that she did on her third Simply Delicioso show. She says to Joy, "I have a Chica Tip for the onions." THANK YOU, JOY BEHAR, FOR NOT BITING...not even a little nibble. The Chica Tip was to put the onion in the freezer for 30 minutes before chopping and you won't cry. Gee, Ingrid, why do you think that people in the know store their onions in the fridge? (It doesn't always work, but it does help.)

Then Ingrid made some dumb drink in the blender and couldn't even answer why it was frothy. Maybe because the blender was whipping air into the drink...

Anyway, it wasn't a good appearance. It wasn't that she wasn't polished or that she was uncomfortable on television. There was just too much that was flimsy and frippery about her, which basically describes her show.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't even tell you how irritated I get with Ingrid's dumb-ness and over the top personality. I didn't watch her on The View but her show is so stupid. Her recipes are terrible, her chica tips....stop with the chica thing already!! She seems so fake.

Anonymous said...

Ingrid and her Simply horrible show drive me nuts. She showed that awful ceviche recipe on The View? what? who is advising this chica? That recipe still makes me want to scream. And why isn't she cooking some real Latino dishes, she only has South and Central America to choose from, what is that like 20 countries? (I gotta check the map) :) Maybe if she follows recipes and doesn't add any of her crazy touches...
There's no hope! We have another Rachael with Giada's body cooking like Sandra Lee.

Sue said...

Anon and Kath,

I'm with you. It's hard to believe the FN hired her with her combination of horrible cooking and annoying personality. Or maybe it's not...

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

I have yet to watch this show. I'm usually out of the house on Saturday when it's on. The more I hear about it, the more I want to watch it - just once - to revel in the snark factor a little. It sounds just awful.

From what I've read on this blog and a few others, as well as what I've seen on the FN website, I don't think she has a single recipe that appeals to me. Scratch that. I did see one recipe that looked promising, but it got horrible reviews. Can this woman cook at all?

Thank goodness I have a wannabe-chef sister-in-law who can make REAL Colombian food.

Sue said...

S(d)OC,

You have GOT to watch Simply Delicioso with your sister-in-law and report back on just how inauthentic the recipes are. Raisins in Ceviche??!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't think the recipes are authentic at all. It's like calling Taco Bell authentic Mexican. I think the worst part for me is her annoying personality. It's like a Bratz doll in the kitchen. Her recipes don't appeal to me either. I like cilantro and lemon/lime but she puts it on everything and calls it delicioso....Latino.

Jennifer said...

More than likely she was hired for the sex factor- the attractiveness quota they needed to fill or something. I am not too happy with FN these days, to tell you the truth.

Sue said...

Anon,
Yup.

Jenn,
After reading your last post, I can see why.

Anonymous said...

I used to go out with her roomate 6 years ago... ingrid is so hot and fun who cares if she can't cook. She has actually really worked it to get to where she is - and does NOT need the money from the show at all - would any of you do the same? - I love this chick with all of my heart,,what's up chica - wish that I had taken the opportunity.....

Sue said...

HEY Anon!!! (That's an Ingrid style greeting),

Thanks for your comments. So interesting. If you read my very first post about Ingrid, you would have seen this: "(It's) kind of a pity. She’s certainly accomplished a lot in various businesses and she seems cute and very likable (at least 50% of the time), plus real Latin recipes are always exciting. Whether this is her or what the FN folks wanted her to be, it’s a shame."

I KNOW she's incredibly successful, that's why I can't understand why her show is so low-quality. But having a show on the Food Network is not a philanthropic endeavor. She's gaining a huge audience, who loves to buy stuff from its favorite stars. So she's certainly not doing this out of the goodness of her heart.

I agree she seems like a really fun person, so get her a talk show or a "lifestyle" show, just get her out of the kitchen.

And to be fair, her newest episode was less awful than the previous ones.

Anonymous said...

I find her to be extremely over-the-top and annoying. I think the recipes need to be refined and the intensity needs to be toned down a little.

Sue said...

Anon,

I hear ya.