Reader Mrs. Charles Lowery of Homewood wrote me recently asking about a popular television syndicated food segment I hadn’t thought about in some time.
This reader was looking for Mr. Food or, as she described him, “the new Mr. Food.”
Like this reader, I’m aware that the man behind the original identity of “Mr. Food,” Art Ginsburg, the bearded, apron-wrapped personality, died at age 81 nearly 15 years ago.
I used to watch his “just more than a minute” syndicated Mr. Food TV segments when these slapdash recipe demos were sandwiched in with the midday newscast for Chicago affiliate ABC-WLS Channel 7.
Alas, Chicago ABC-WLS Channel 7 stopped airing the segments after Ginsburg’s death in November 2012 at his home in Weston, Florida. He had fought a cancer diagnosis that began a year earlier, followed by a remission after treatments and surgery.
He stuck to basic, few-ingredient recipes and ended every segment with his nationally registered and protected licensed tagline: “Ooh! It’s so good!”
Launched as a local segment for East Coast television stations in 1975, his formula for 90-second syndicated segments became a contracted programming opportunity for distribution via King World (which also represented “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Wheel of Fortune” and “Rachael Ray”) to be distributed to more than 168 local television stations around the country at the height of his brand.
More Top Picks Best Calming Jars For Anxiety
His culinary experience was derived from his earlier career as a trained butcher in New York, where he grew up with parents who owned several butcher shops. Spending time in the kitchen with his mom and aunt, he learned many of the family’s favorite Jewish recipes.
As companion sales opportunities, Ginsburg published 52 Mr. Food cookbooks, selling more than 8 million copies. Married to his wife Ethel since 1955 and sharing three children, he always said he preferred not to become too much of “a household name.”
“Those on the Food Network. They’re getting a lot of national publicity. And they’re getting big money,” he said of national food celebrities during a 2010 interview with The Associated Press.
“I was always the hometown guy. I don’t want to be the super celebrity. When you need bodyguards, that’s not my deal.”
During my career, other than watching him on television, I’d never met or interviewed Ginsburg. However, my longtime newsroom colleague Eloise Valadez, who devoted decades to writing for the food and entertainment sections of The Daily Southtown, said Mr. Food ranked as a favorite, flavorful name to interview. He even came to the Southtown newsroom to demo and sample recipes and chat for interviews.
Sharing the same age as my mom Peggy (Mom’s birthday is Aug. 17), Ginsburg would have celebrated his 95th birthday this month on July 29.
In his final years, Ginsburg eased his on-camera involvement in the day-to-day operations of Ginsburg Enterprises Incorporated, the company he founded with his son Steve to produce the television segments and oversee other ventures, such as publishing and even a line of houseware products.
The company also started producing a sister recipe demo television segment that did not star Ginsburg, but instead featured his producer Howard Rosenthal, with his wife Patty Rosenthal as test kitchen director and Kelly Rusin as assistant and food stylist, with this spin-off 90-second series billed as the “Mr. Food Test Kitchen.”
Imagine my surprise earlier this month when I was in the kitchen at my mom and dad’s home and I heard that familiar stock phrase, or at least a variation of it, touting: “Ooh! It’s so good!”
It was Howard Rosenthal, now age 65, doing the “Mr. Food Test Kitchen” segment following the South Bend WSBT CBS-TV affiliate Channel 22 midday newscast before the weekday airing of my mom’s CBS soap operas.
According to the segment’s home website, it is in syndication on more than 120 television stations across the country and distributed globally via CBS Syndication, reaching an audience of more than 2 million daily viewers. Because the show is syndicated, broadcast times vary by network and location. For exact listings and times for reader Mrs. Lowery and others, visit the local television market grid using your zip code at www.MrFood.com.
One of the easy and delectable recipes Howard whipped up earlier this month was for a scrumptious “Deviled Egg Macaroni Salad,” which I’m sharing this week in homage to both the Mr. Food brand of yesterday and today.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected], or mail questions to: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Mr. Food’s Deviled Egg Macaroni Salad
Makes 10 servings
Ingredients
1 pound elbow macaroni
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup sweet pickle relish, drained well
2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Paprika for sprinkling
Directions
More Top Picks Best Lighted Magnifying Glasses For Hobbies
1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook macaroni 7 to 9 minutes, or just until tender. Drain, rinse, and let cool.
2. In a large bowl, combine macaroni with remaining ingredients except paprika; mix well.
3. Sprinkle with paprika and cover.
4. Refrigerate 1 hour or until ready to serve.