Shame on Them

Posted on July 26, 2008

Hey America’s Test Kitchen/The Cook’s Country/Cook’s Illustrated, listen up. Are you listening yet? I read all about the recipe fracas on Alosha’s Kitchen. First I was hurt, then disappointed, then shocked. How could you allow an employee to act like that?

Shame on you!

Shame, for insinuating that your recipes are perfect for everyone exactly as they are written. They aren’t. Frankly, my friends and I have -GASP!- modified them when they got too fussy or were lacking a bit . . . and they were better for it. In our opinions, at least. And when it comes to eating, it’s my opinion, not some holier-than-thou test kitchen’s, that matters.

Shame, for thinking that once a cook has made four major changes to a recipe, it’s still yours. It isn’t. It’s hers then.

Shame, for letting a PR person utter the phrase “we do not allow our recipes to be modified (in print).” Do. Not. Allow. Uh, right. Well, I do not allow arrogant PR people to send anything to my email inbox . . .

Shame, for taking a chance at good PR — good BUZZ — and twisting it into negativity and anger. You, the trifeca of perfectionism, have alienated a community of food- and cooking-loving people. People who probably were subscribers, at least some of them. Do you really think they will renew? Can your bottom line take a loss of subscriptions in the thousands?

But most of all, shame on you for turning your back on the blogging community.

It’s disgraceful.