Rachael Ray Has the Best Response for All Her Haters
The one and only Rachael Ray is one of the most popular Food Network hosts around. But even though so many people love her quirky personality and unique approach to cooking, she also has plenty of haters who think she’s nothing more than a fraud.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what her critics think because she’s the one with a multi-million dollar food empire and international name recognition. However, for those who do question her success, she has a truly epic response: total, unabashed honesty.
Rachael Ray got famous by accident
The 30 Minute Meals author didn’t expect to become a television entertainer and fell into the career quite by accident. She was working in the food industry teaching busy people how to prepare meals quicker when a local CBS affiliate in Albany invited her to do weekly segment. That led to a spot on the Today show and eventually to a contract with Food Network in 2001.
Ray never claimed to be an expert and still doesn’t call herself a chef, because she isn’t. But she does argue that her honesty about her credentials is exactly why the haters need to calm down.
She has no professional culinary training
One of the biggest complaints people have about Ray is that she’s not a true culinary professional. When you’re watching her prepare meals, it probably looks very familiar and not fancy, especially compared to professional chefs like Bobby Flay and Alton Brown. Ray is a regular person who just happens to have some fun tricks and tips for making meal prep easier.
“I have no formal anything,” she said during an interview with The New York Times. “I’m completely unqualified for any job I’ve ever had.” But Ray doesn’t pretend to be anything she’s not, so she can’t understand why so many people have an issue with her.
“I never said I was the greatest thing ever,” she said. “I just think people should be able to cook even if they don’t have a bunch of time or money.”
Ray is very practical when it comes to ignoring haters
People despise Ray for so many reasons, from her glossary of cheesy catchphrases to her irreverent, unpolished presentation when she’s cooking. She knows she’s not for everyone and that’s fine with her.
“Not everybody’s going to like it, just like not everybody likes everybody on the playground,” she told ABC News. “I mean, that’s life.”
She said the one thing that saves her from getting discouraged, besides counting on her devoted fans, is staying practical about it. She joked to Good Housekeeping, “What am I going to do? Call them up and scream, ‘You have to like me’? It’s like trying to get the class bully to be your buddy — a waste of time.”
She’s learned to let go of hate
Whether it’s people mocking her recipes or her unique approach, Ray has been around long enough to know that most of their animosity is spurred from jealousy. She’s wise enough not to engage with those sorts.
“I’m not a chef,” she said. “I haven’t created any new technique in the kitchen. I’m not a rocket scientist. I think I’m good at writing accessible, fun, and affordable meals for the average American family. That’s what I think I’m good at.”
That sounds about right!
