What Ina Garten Says to Critics of Her ‘Too Heavy’ Dishes: ‘My Food Is Real’
TL;DR:
- Ina Garten responded to critics who say her food is “too heavy” during a Jan. 2023 episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace.
- “I think if you cook and serve real food, I think you’re better off,” Ina Garten said in response to the claim from critics.
- Previously, the cookbook author said she doesn’t eat “fast food” except for In-N-Out Burger.
Ina Garten is clapping back at critics. Asked about her dishes being dubbed “too heavy,” the longtime Barefoot Contessa host explained why she thinks there’s a certain element of her food that’s “good for people.”
Chris Wallace asked Ina Garten about critics saying she makes food that’s ‘too heavy’ in a 2023 interview
In a wide-ranging interview on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace, available on HBO Max and CNN, Garten discussed everything from Barefoot Contessa’s premiere and her husband, Jeffrey Garten, to leaving a job at the White House. Not only that but Garten addressed another topic, criticism.
“Anyone who’s as beloved and popular and successful as you are is going to have critics,” host Chris Wallace told Garten in the Jan. 15 episode. “And one of the things that critics say — she’s steeling herself here — is that your food is too heavy.”
“You … I’m sure you’ve heard that,” Wallace continued. “It’s got too much meat in it, too much dairy products, too high fat.”
Ina Garten’s response to critics: ‘My food’s real and I think that’s good for people’
Garten responded to Wallace, saying the American Medical Association may not give her top marks but her food’s “real.”
“I think the AMA rates me, at a D, D minus. I don’t know something like that,” she began. “OK, but you know what, my food is real. And I think if you cook and serve real food, I think, I think you’re better, you’re better off. I think it’s healthier.”
The Be My Guest host continued, saying choice is a big part of it. “So everybody chooses how, what they like to eat,” she said. “Whether they want to eat fish and vegetables, that they want to eat hamburgers and, and baked potatoes. I think that my food’s real and I think that’s good for people.”
“You also have a choice, and you can eat one kind of meal one day and another half,” Wallace added, to which Garten replied, “Grilled salmon and a pie for dessert. You know, everybody makes their own choices.”
The only ‘fast food’ the Barefoot Contessa eats is In-N-Out Burger
Despite making dishes may some call “too heavy,” Garten’s eating habits don’t involve eating rich food all the time. The Go-To Dinners author once revealed she very rarely eats “fast food.” When she does, Garten opts for burgers. But not just any burgers. The ones from In-N-Out Burger.
“I have to say, I don’t eat fast food at all, with one exception,” she told Today Food in 2018. “When we’re in California doing book tours, we always have to go to In-N-Out Burger. It’s so good. And I know it was Julia Child’s favorite too, so it’s OK [sic].”
Garten’s also been known to have oatmeal for breakfast — always with a pinch of salt — every morning. Additionally, she avoids Chinese takeout because she “almost died” eating “bad” takeout.
