21% Of People Think Ina Garten Can't Cook, According To A Recent Poll

Ina Garten is arguably best known for her show "Barefoot Contessa" on the Food Network, but we'd like to think of her as America's fun aunt or grandma who always brings the life to the party. She even kept us smiling throughout the pandemic when she posted a video to her Instagram page, showing everyone how to make a giant Cosmopolitan suitable for drinking at any hour of the day. See — American treasure.

According to her bio on Food Network's official website, Garten got her start in the food industry in 1978 when she left her job at the White House as a nuclear energy policy analyst and bought a specialty food store in the Hamptons, naming it — of course — Barefoot Contessa. It sold breads, salads, dinners, and baked goods. Garten then wrote her first cookbook in 1999, also called "The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook," that shared recipes from the store. It went on to be one of the best-selling cookbooks that year.

That same book also caught the eye of Food Network executives, though according to Insider, Garten initially refused their offer to host her own TV show because she didn't think she could do it. When they kept coming back with better offers, the star eventually caved, and she's been on the Food Network ever since — for almost 20 years now!

Garten's friendly nature may make her appear less serious than the other hyper-competitive chefs on the network, like Bobby Flay, but if she couldn't cook, Food Network wouldn't have literally begged her to have a show. Still, that hasn't stopped a good chunk of people from thinking otherwise, according to a recent poll.

Ina Garten is known for her foolproof recipes, and she goes to great lengths to ensure they live up to that standard. According to Insider, when Garten was writing her first cookbook, she discovered her passion for testing recipes and making them accessible for any culinary skill level. In fact, once she finishes a recipe, she has a novice, intermediate, and experienced cook all test it out, and Garten is then able to observe any problems they encounter along the way. Despite all the work the "Barefoot Contessa" puts into her recipes, there's still haters out there.

BuzzFeed recently conducted a poll, asking if 15 celebrity chefs were "actually good at cooking," and the results may surprise you. At the time of publication? 21% of people answered that they don't think Garten is actually good at her trade. If we had to guess, this is probably because her recipes value substance over flash and anyone can make them, as long as you have "good vanilla" in your pantry. She's a precise queen who doesn't need to constantly compete to prove she's a good chef, all she needs is a smile from her hubby, Jeffrey. The same poll also noted that 37% think Giada De Laurentiis can't cook — so really, what do they know?