Food Network, Cooking Channel, and, now, Univision television chef, Ingrid Hoffmann, sat down with us to talk about her most recent endeavors. Her show, Delicioso, premieres tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Univision. It will be the first cooking show broadcast weekly on national television, regardless of the language.
Each of Hoffmann's Delicioso episodes share ideas for cooking (primarily Latin cuisine), entertaining, and crafts.
Tomorrow is "Un Toque Mexicano" ("A Touch of Mexico"). That's right, and let's hope there will be piñatas.
She's not what you would expect from a star. During our chat, Hoffmann was a hot mess. Decked out in comfy clothes and flip-flops, she sipped a cafecito. She admitted she had actually wanted to cancel our meeting because her hair looked like she had just rolled out of bed. We found it all completely human and charming.
New Times: In the grand scheme of things, how do you see your new launch?
Ingrid Hoffmann: In the food category, we didn't have a Hispanic cooking channel... there were no Latin cooking shows on TV except mine, you know, and I have the way of being the first. I'm way ahead of the pack [...] and I've been at this for 15 years. I think it's a unique time and a unique opportunity. And I think that the market is ready now, you know, for that type of show on open broadcast.
How did you start with the Food Network?
I aired for ten years on Latin TV before coming to the Food Network... go figure. Nobody here wanted me [...] nobody wanted a Latin cooking show back then, so I basically took a 13-year hike [with other networks] to end up where I needed to start in the first place.
Do you watch your own shows?
Lately I am forced to because I need to see [what I'm doing] when the data comes in from the ratings. But I hated it at points, I could never sit through my shows because I hate seeing me and I hate the sound of my voice and my mannerisms. Now I have to but it's hard for me. I'm very critical.
How have others criticized you?
Oh my God, please! You know, there's a lot of lonely, hateful, angry people behind computers. The most humiliating one was from a writer who reviewed the Food Network show for the New York Times. The only part that really insulted me was that she spoke about the recipes, but she didn't even make them. The good thing was that the article was so nasty and kind of personal that [the writer's] criticism of my hair, my clothing, how I walked, completely invalidated the review.
She went for the jugular?
She compared me to a modern-day Charo, you know, who should be cooking for Playboy. But you move past it and you grow and learn.
So it doesn't even matter now.
My brand is not for The New York Times reader anyway. I'm not a Michelin-starred chef cooking for people like that. I'm Susie homemaker, stupid little cook who's cooking for normal people that don't have the time and just want tips and tricks. So, yeah, I don't care what she thought of my food.
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