Can you remember when the only tv chef on the box was good old Delia telling us how to poach an egg or bake the perfect pastry. The explosion of tv chefs and cooking programs over the last 10 years has catapulted peoples' taste buds and knowledge of food through the roof.
Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver, James Martin, Heston Belumenthal, Nigella Lawson, Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux Jnr are all household names with regular tv shows and a plethora of cook books in the shops.
But what did we do before Jamie was telling us what chickens to eat or Heston was opening our eyes to snail porridge? What millions of us had done for years, we cooked and ate the food of our parents, learned from our eating experiences and had fun trying.I remember starting college in Edinburgh back in the 1990's, I had never tried Thai, Mexican or Moroccan before then - but what I can remember of the time (they were generally BYOB places) was that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
I suppose I am going slightly off on a tangent but I'm just trying to convey that I learned to cook through trial and error and from family and experiences, not from what I watched on the tv. Don't get me wrong I think the food programs have made a difference especially when it comes to sustanability, knowing your food sources and just generally being aware of food of the different seasons.
But what I suppose is trying to say is where do we draw the line.... when will the celeb chef fall out fashion and people will go back to the traditional ways of learning to cook? When will chefs just now be chefs rather than celebrities.......When Delia won't be remembered for her "lets be 'aving you", James Martin for Strictly come dancing, AWT for his rant in the jungle, Tania for dancing on ice?
Oh one last thing can we have bagpuss back on BBC1 on Saturday mornings.
No comments:
Post a Comment