Are food media supposed to be a form of entertaining education? Or are they educational entertainment? Each channel, radio broadcast, podcast, magazine, site, etc., might choose to place its emphasis on one aspect or the other to varying degrees along the spectrum.
But regardless of whether their producers choose to be entertainers, educators, or a mishmash-up of both, it irritates me beyond my usually verbose ability to spew words that, much of the time, they disseminate misinformation. (Food Network, my gaze is particularly focused upon you.)
For example, let’s address the issue of mascarpone, a soft Italian cream cheese. The vast majority of the time, I hear it pronounced mars-kah-POHN.
Now, let me ask: Do you see an r in the first syllable of mascarpone? No? I didn’t think you would. I don’t see one either.
And yet, the r has been transposed from the second syllable to the first by so many people in various food media outlets that I’ve lost count; it’s like trying to keep track of the infinite digits of pi.
They’re supposed to be professionals and experts. But instead of utilizing their platforms to offer the correct pronunciation – mahs-kar-POH-nay – or even an Anglicized mahs-kar-POHN that I still wouldn’t approve of but could possibly grow to tolerate, they teach millions who trust them to say things incorrectly.
They breed ignorance rather than sharing knowledge. And I’m almost afraid I’m going to start saying the word incorrectly, too, because I’ve now heard it that way so very many times.
Another pet peeve (a term that is actually woefully inadequate to this challenge) is the macaroon vs. macaron debate, with the latter being prepared very often but almost always called by the former’s name as though they are identical twins that people can’t tell apart.
Macaroons are egg white-based treats made with coconut and/or almonds. They look like mini snow balls, usually, with a touch of golden toasting. Macarons are the trend-of-the-moment sandwich cookies: smooth, crisp, seemingly lighter-than-air rounds held together with a creamy filling.
So why do even professionals – baker and Great British Bake-Off judge Paul Hollywood among them, I’m sad to say – call macarons by the wrong name? Why, when Chopped contestants are given trees full of macarons to use as an ingredients in the entrée round, do they refer to them as macaroons?
A macaroon is not a variant of a macaron, it’s an entirely different food. Using the word macaroon indiscriminately in this way would be like calling a trifle a truffle. Yes, the names are similar, and I would happily eat both without playing favorites. But the layered cake, fruit, custard, and cream dessert is not, by anyone’s standards, the same as a rich tidbit of decadent chocolate.
If you’ve read this far in my little rant, then I will acknowledge what you’re undoubtedly thinking: You need to have some sympathy for my boyfriend Craig, who watches these shows with me and endures my reactions to the never-ending stream of mistakes — which, much like sports fans’, range from groans to yelling at the TV (I have yet to throw any spatulas at the screen) — with great patience and humor.
I may have to contend with his picky eating, which has improved greatly (give credit where it’s due); but he has to listen to my tirades about the particulars of Italian and French grammar, spelling, and pronunciation as I explain and rationalize my irritation.
I realize that he may be the more sympathetic one, now.
Contact Mary Bilyeu at 419-724-6155 or mbilyeu@theblade.com, and follow her at facebook.com/thebladefoodpage.
First Published May 8, 2019, 12:15 a.m.
