Barefoot Contessa
Encyclopedia
Barefoot Contessa is a cooking show
that premiered November 30, 2002 on Food Network
. This popular show is hosted by celebrity chef Ina Garten
. Each episode features Garten assembling dishes of varying complexity. Though her speciality is French cuisine, she occasionally prepares American, Asian, British and Italian foods. Her show also gives tips on decorating and entertaining.
of the same name. She sold the store prior to its closure. The show is recorded in Garten's home in East Hampton
, New York
.
. Her recipes often include fresh herbs, which she hand-harvests from her backyard garden. Table settings include both simple and elegant dishes, and are often accompanied by her own flowers or those brought in by Michael Grim, a friend and local florist who is frequently on the show.
Garten deconstructs complex French recipes like boeuf bourguignon or Baba au Rhum cake. She focuses on preparing foods efficiently, allowing more time to spend with guests.
The show is taped mostly in her own kitchen and features fast-moving camera shots and closeups (e.g., perfectly-ripened fruits, eggs falling from the shells, or caramel sauce melting and sizzling in a shining steel pan).
The show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award
in 2005 in the category Best Service Show; in the year 2009, it was once again nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the categories of Best Culinary Program and Best Culinary Host; Garten won her first Emmy in the latter category.
Ina Garten faced backlash when she twice refused to meet with Enzo Pereda, a six year old diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, through a request made by the Make A Wish Foundation. Enzo had become a fan of the Barefoot Contessa after watching her show while bedridden. After a public outcry, she made formal request for the boy to visit her show. However, the family refused stating that the boy would instead be granted his second wish of swimming with a dolphin.
Barefoot Contessa airs in Australia
on the Lifestyle Food
Channel, in the UK on the channels Good Food and Food Network UK, in Poland on the channel Kuchnia.tv, and in the Middle East
on the Fatafeat
Channel.
Cooking show
A TV cooking show is a television program that presents the preparation of food, in a kitchen on the studio set. The host of the show, often a celebrity chef, prepares one or more dishes over the course of the show, taking the viewing audience through the food's preparation showing all...
that premiered November 30, 2002 on Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
. This popular show is hosted by celebrity chef Ina Garten
Ina Garten
Ina Rosenberg Garten is an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and former White House nuclear policy analyst...
. Each episode features Garten assembling dishes of varying complexity. Though her speciality is French cuisine, she occasionally prepares American, Asian, British and Italian foods. Her show also gives tips on decorating and entertaining.
Title
The "Barefoot Contessa" name comes from Garten's best-selling cookbook, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, which in turn was named after her specialty food store which she bought in 1978. The store, which is no longer in operation, opened in 1975 and was named after the 1954 filmThe Barefoot Contessa
The Barefoot Contessa is a 1954 film about the life and loves of fictional Spanish sex symbol Maria Vargas. It was written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz and stars Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner and Edmond O'Brien....
of the same name. She sold the store prior to its closure. The show is recorded in Garten's home in East Hampton
East Hampton (village), New York
The Village of East Hampton is a village in Town of East Hampton, New York. It is located in Suffolk County, on the South Fork of eastern Long Island...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
Contents
Garten's show features the preparation of a multi-course meal, usually for her close friends, colleagues or husband, JeffreyJeffrey Garten
Jeffrey Elliot Garten was the Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade under the Clinton administration and former Dean of the Yale School of Management...
. Her recipes often include fresh herbs, which she hand-harvests from her backyard garden. Table settings include both simple and elegant dishes, and are often accompanied by her own flowers or those brought in by Michael Grim, a friend and local florist who is frequently on the show.
Garten deconstructs complex French recipes like boeuf bourguignon or Baba au Rhum cake. She focuses on preparing foods efficiently, allowing more time to spend with guests.
The show is taped mostly in her own kitchen and features fast-moving camera shots and closeups (e.g., perfectly-ripened fruits, eggs falling from the shells, or caramel sauce melting and sizzling in a shining steel pan).
The show was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
in 2005 in the category Best Service Show; in the year 2009, it was once again nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the categories of Best Culinary Program and Best Culinary Host; Garten won her first Emmy in the latter category.
Ina Garten faced backlash when she twice refused to meet with Enzo Pereda, a six year old diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, through a request made by the Make A Wish Foundation. Enzo had become a fan of the Barefoot Contessa after watching her show while bedridden. After a public outcry, she made formal request for the boy to visit her show. However, the family refused stating that the boy would instead be granted his second wish of swimming with a dolphin.
Barefoot Contessa airs in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on the Lifestyle Food
LifeStyle Food
LifeStyle Food is an Australian food channel, solely dedicated to food, wine and restaurant society. The channel is a subsidiary of The LifeStyle Channel, which runs 24 hours a day on the Foxtel and Austar.-Programming:******-External links:****...
Channel, in the UK on the channels Good Food and Food Network UK, in Poland on the channel Kuchnia.tv, and in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
on the Fatafeat
Fatafeat
Fatafeat is the first 24-hour free-to-air cuisine television channel based in Dubai and broadcasting to 21 Arabic-speaking countries. It is a subsidiary of Takhayal Entertainment, and provides programming based on passion for food and the culinary arts...
Channel.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Association | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Service Show | |
| 2007 | Outstanding Lifestyle Program | ||
| 2008 | Outstanding Lifestyle Host — Ina Garten Ina Garten Ina Rosenberg Garten is an American author, host of the Food Network program Barefoot Contessa, and former White House nuclear policy analyst... |
||
| 2009 | Outstanding Culinary Program | ||
| Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host — Ina Garten | |||
| 2010 | Outstanding Lifestyle/Culinary Host — Ina Garten | ||