Celeb Chefs and Cleanliness

[vivmom]

Saw in another topic about favorite female celebrity chefs. There was some discussion about one of the Two Fat Ladies wearing rings while handling food, which personally I don't think is that heinous. What I just cannot abide is how none of the women chefs tie back their hair!!

Rachael Ray with that long brown hair - well, too many examples to name - all of them cook with hair flopping around and it literally turns my stomach. I'm in my kitchen constantly and when I work with food, my hair is tied back or put up, and I usually anchor it in place with a head band to boot.

I also think it's strange that none of them wear aprons, while they're frying bacon, searing meat, chopping juicy produce, etc.

But the hair thing - does it bother anyone else?!

[Zurie]

Yes, funny you should mention it ... I've often wondered about that, and it DOES bother me too!!

All I can think is that the producers want "glamour", and long, loose hair probably looks sexier than tied-back hair! Nigella Lawson has loooong black hair, forever swinging around -- and so do many others!!

As to aprons, that's also strange, because a clean apron DOES look good!!

But I've seen worse, especially in the Masterchef series ...

The male contestants get all nervous and very, very sweaty ... and those drops go to the points of their noses and their chins ... and often drops into (I'm sure) the food in front of them. Yuck, yuck, yuck. My heart aches for the poor Masterchef judges who then has to taste those efforts!!

I am sure the perspiration thing also happens in all hot, rushed restaurant kitchens ...

[Chocolatl]

The other thing about long hair is that if it gets too near the burner it can catch fire--not so good!

The lack of aprons doesn't bother me--it's not my clothes they're ruining! A few years ago one of the contestants on The Next Food Network Star, who was not wearing an apron, spilled something on her expensive blouse and got all whiny about it. Just amazing.

Zurie, I know you don't like Gordon Ramsay, but he did take two of the Hell's Kitchen contestants to task this week for unsanitary practices--one for wiping a plate with a dirty napkin, and one for touching a knife to her mouth and chin and then touching the meat with it. I'm very glad he noticed those things; they are definite no-nos!

[CookieWeasel]

The hair thing drives me CRAZY! I remember when you had to tie your hair back AND wear a hairnet. That's how it should be. Nowadays it's all about the sex appeal of female food TV celebs. I wouldn't dream of cooking with my hair all hanging down like that. I always tie it up in the kitchen!

[Zurie]

I agree!! My hair is short and cannot be tied back -- but I am hygienic in my kitchen

I also cannot abide certain chefs (I can think of 2 Italians!) with long, greasy-looking, stringy hair ... never tied back. At least the women have clean hair. It's those oily strings which give me the creeps!