Confessions of a TV Cooking Show Junkie
Jan Dash
I confess to loving cooking shows. With my hand on the button I flick through the channels and juggle more than one show at a time if necessary. ABC and SBS cooking shows are the most up-market, and present themselves as a mixture of travel documentary, culinary procurement and cooking. Rick Stein's "Sea Odyssey", "Ainslie's Big Cookou,", "The Two Fat Ladies", Dorinda Hafner's peregrinations, "Aria and Pasta" and "Gondola On the Murray" all fit this category. They are not "how to cook" shows, but instead try to engage viewers interested in food, wine, music and travel. Watching Ainslie Harriot sitting on top of a mountain in a gale, preparing a dish on a tiny cutting board, would reassure any viewer that they are not intended to copy his method. Rick Steins' cooking set-ups are often not ideal for the home-cook either, as on the occasion when the camera panned to his soaking legs to show that the tide had come in while he was cooking alfresco on the beach.
These shows are my favourites, although I do not learn cooking technique from them. For instruction, Delia Smith's Cooking Series and Korma's Vegetarian Cooking are best, but these tend to be low on charisma. As with most of the above shows, these both have published books to accompany the series.
Combining both instruction and personality are: Iain Hewetson's "Huey's Cooking Adventures", "Lydia's Italian Table" and Ian Parmenter's "Consuming Passions". The ingredients used in these are neither too exotic or numerous, and the instructions are easy to follow. These chefs have electronic back-up so you can source the ingredients and recipes after the show.
Lydia's program is the hardest to catch, as it appears at random times on the Lifestyle channel during weekends. Lydia is the most unpretentious of cooks. She works from her own kitchen, and solves problems on camera while telling the viewer what to do in a similar situation. Lydia does some chopping and preparation in real time so the audience can learn, but eliminates the tedium of watching the entire thing. (In contrast, Iain Hewetson dollops out all the required tablespoons of an ingredient, which provides a good opportunity to switch channels.) Lydia discusses learning to cook with her aunt in Trieste, and reminisces about their trips to the food markets. She also shows how to eat something difficult, and once sang a relevant Italian song. I give Lydia full marks, and wish she were more readily available.
"Consuming Passions" ranks next on my list and is valuable for its hints about which wine to serve with each dish. It would be better, however, if Ian stopped trying quite so hard, as he often appears unnatural. Much more at ease is Gary Rhodes in "Rhodes around Britain". I get the impression that he is enthusiastic about food both on and off the camera. He is fun to watch because he is zany and energetic, although I often feel exhausted just watching him.
Hewetson, while not an adventurous cook, despite the show's title, presents a good program. There is nothing brave on the menu; rather there are realistic and wholesome recipes that appear to be fail-proof. "Huey's Adventures" also has the advantage of being on several times a day on different channels.
"Big Kevin-Little Kevin" appears to be a clone of the Two Fat Ladies, but is quite enjoyable so far. The River Café is an interesting show, originating from an Italian restaurant by the same name in London. Other shows, which try hard for entertainment value and are based on food are: "What's for dinner?" "Can't Cook-Won't Cook", "Home on the Range" and others of similar ilk. While these shows are not to my taste, some people must enjoy them as there are so many produced.
A summary of the others: "The Urban Peasant" and the "Frugal Gourmet", lacking in personality; "Regina's Vegetarian Table", instructional; "Yan Can Cook", he is as hyper as Gary Rhodes but far less enjoyable and cannot make his adjectives and nouns agree; "Fork to Fork", a good show that has not exported well. It is based on cooking from a kitchen garden, only the garden is in England and the information does not translate to our climate or soil. I would not be impressed if that man prepared vegies in my kitchen – he leaves the water running while he peels a dozen parsnips.
That concludes my round-up. There are a few I have missed because I have never watched them in their entirety, or they are currently off the air. The Lifestyle channel is appealing to viewers to express their opinions, so if you have cable it may be worthwhile sending them an email with your preferences. I would like to think that the other channels would also respond to our views if we wrote to them, but this may be optimistic.
Now, where is my channel changer?
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