Substitute you for my......

[oldjerry]

A chance remark I heard on the radio got me thinking,can't do much else at present.

Some pundit,I forget whom,said that while Cookery type progammes were gradually taking over the airwaves,the amount of homecooking was, if anything going down.The inference being that in some way rather than ,as you might suppose,viewers having watched Nigella in action, being encouraged to head for their kitchens and rustle up some mouthwatering spectacle,they shoved something they'd bought (or at least aquired!) from Waitrose in the microwave.
Similarly,I wonder how many would be Titmarshes religeously watch Monty whilst clutching their Werthers every Friday ,when a glance through the living room window would reveal 100 sq.yards of grass ,and a bit of crazy paving?

Maybe it's something to do with they way television,through the use of gimmicks,jeopardy elements,celebrity etc.,strives to make simple 'how to do' programmes entertainment.However nauseating it might be to an old fart like me,it's really quite smart.

[Green Aura]

Don't know about cookery programmes, but these highly dramatised "will they successfully do ........." drive me up the wall. You know the ones - Jeremy is going to make scrambled eggs on toast, it's a tricky procedure, wait and see if he succeeds (apologies to any Jeremy around ). With tantalising shots of said man walking towards the camera with a plate covered in a silver dome.

Who cares - if he's got to 40ish without being able to make scrambled eggs/change lightbulb or whatever other ludicrous task they've set him then he should be ashamed, not pursuing his 15 minutes because of it. And this style of inane docudrama presentation is more likely to make me switch off the TV/radio rather than "wait and see"

Rant over

[demi]

i like watching cooking programs and i always think 'oh that looks nice, ill make that next time' but i hardly ever do.
i allso have an abundance of jamie oliver and river cottage books but iv only made a couple of things out each one.
i tend to stick to what i already know. but when i do make something new and it turns out well then it becomes another dish that i know. i think im progressing at a rate of about 1 recipe every 6 months.

[trinder]

I spend far too much time visiting this site and the only time I pick up a spade is to pick up horse and dog poo. I'm no gardener and embarrassed to admit ( have gardeners in)
I do get involved in many other aspects of self sufficient ish and read with fascination many other areas wood burners- solar - I even visit the material / cloth making area and don't sew either

[Susie]

I do think cookery programmes put people off cooking. I know with my mother, for example: she moved inexorably towards ready meals at one point, and I think that was partly because she felt her type of cooking (i.e. pastry and potato based) wasn't really good enough and she ought to be doing something witty with lemongrass (I mean, that wasn't the only reason, but I do think there was a cultural shift on TV where plain cooking was a bit sneered at). Also I think a lot of cookery programmes show things that are just not practical for whatever reason and it has an enervating effect: the ingredients are too expensive or out of season, or you have to spend a fortune on one particular thing that you will then NEVER USE AGAIN (Nigella is a sod for this).

I also think cookery programmes contributed to the idea that non-supermarket food is elitist, because you only ever see Rick Stein pratting about down a country lane in a range rover hyperventilating over some artisan cheese, no-one ever just says, if you get your eggs off the market and not T***o they will be 40p cheaper and 10 days fresher.

Sorry, wrote an essay.

[oldjerry]

A - ( Especially agree about Rick I really hate him (but then I'm from the SOUTH coast of Cornwall,that's nothing to what they think of him on the north coast).

Seriously I think the bloke I heard on the radio believed what he was saying,watching the stuff on telly psychologially serves as a substitute for actually doing it,it sounds far fetched, but I'm not so sure...

[Thomzo]

i like watching cooking programs and i always think 'oh that looks nice, ill make that next time' but i hardly ever do.
i allso have an abundance of jamie oliver and river cottage books but iv only made a couple of things out each one.
i tend to stick to what i already know. but when i do make something new and it turns out well then it becomes another dish that i know. i think im progressing at a rate of about 1 recipe every 6 months.

I'm exactly the same, except that for every new recipe I learn, I forget one. So I still only know 4 recipes off by heart.

Zoe

[Rosendula]

I also think cookery programmes contributed to the idea that non-supermarket food is elitist, because you only ever see Rick Stein pratting about down a country lane in a range rover hyperventilating over some artisan cheese, no-one ever just says, if you get your eggs off the market and not T***o they will be 40p cheaper and 10 days fresher.

I agree with most of this, except round here 'normal' markets only tend to sell tat, not food and farmer's markets only happen outside of town, once a month and everything costs a lot more than in stupormarkets. So people go to Te$co and the like, and while they're there stock up on junk. My eldest daughter is slowly coming round to making her own food, and is getting quite good at going round the store with a list and not deviating from it, yet she still always seems to have a lot of colourful cardboard boxes in the freezer. But she's better than I was at her age and has "booked" a couple of leeks from me for next time she wants to make leek and potato soup (which apparently is awful from a tin).

It's different with my 5YO, because she hasn't been brought up on the rubbish I used to serve when my eldest were younger. I'm hoping that by the time she is buying for herself and realises there are cheap, pre-made meals out there, she will already be able to cook well and if she tries them they will taste so bad to her she won't ever try them again. Will report back in 20 years or so

[Zech]

Seriously I think the bloke I heard on the radio believed what he was saying,watching the stuff on telly psychologially serves as a substitute for actually doing it,it sounds far fetched, but I'm not so sure...

Interesting idea, but I find Susie's theory more convincing. I'm not sure watching Delia was a substitute for cooking - I think she taught people to cook, whereas Nigella shows fantasy cooking (not to mention various other fantasies). This makes cooking look like something that belongs to another world, another life - not something you'd actually do in your own kitchen.

[Thomzo]

I think it's a lot simpler than that. Most people I know don't have time to cook fancy meals. Even the meals-in-minutes meals take longer than bunging a ready meal in the microwave. On the days that I work, I find it very difficult to cook a meal when I get home so I tend to make do with beans on toast or a simple pasta dish. When I was working full-time it was far worse.

Zoe

[baldybloke]

I cook bulk qualities and then freeze as individual portions. It can also work out cheaper. For instance, tonight I did a beef stew in the pressure cooker with lots of root vegetables to pack it out. It took me about 45 minutes including prep time. I have probably got 4 - 5 meals worth there. The other day I did a chicken curry with coconut milk, packed out with various veggies, that will do another 3 - 4 meals.
If you get into the habit of cooking a bulk meal 2 -3 times a week, then you free up time for the rest of the week.

As for TV cookery programmes, there are a couple that are reasonably entertaining, and I have been known to watch them occasionally. But I do believe that TV is a terrible thief of time and try to limit the amount that I watch.

[Dr.Syn]

A - ( Especially agree about Rick I really hate him (but then I'm from the SOUTH coast of Cornwall,that's nothing to what they think of him on the north coast)..

I was born in Padstow as was my mother, I wanted to retire back there. Because of HIM and his yuppie friends/followers the cost of property is out of the question

[Green Aura]

I think it's a lot simpler than that. Most people I know don't have time to cook fancy meals. Even the meals-in-minutes meals take longer than bunging a ready meal in the microwave. On the days that I work, I find it very difficult to cook a meal when I get home so I tend to make do with beans on toast or a simple pasta dish. When I was working full-time it was far worse.

Zoe

I can understand that when folks get in from work they're tired and can't be bothered to cook but don't have time? Maybe it's just me that doesn't have a social life

I think a lot of it boils down to how you view cooking - being someone of the "live to eat" type, coming home from work and chopping a few veg helped get rid of the days stresses. There were days when a takeaway seemed preferable, though, I grant you.

I suppose for the "eat to live" people just shoving something in the microwave gets the ordeal out of the way quicker.

[okra]

Cooking from scratch is gradually declining. A visit to any supermarket reveals this. It doesn't seem that long ago when the ready meals section was a couple of cabinets rather than a couple of aisles and the increasing number of ready made sauces shows what the public wants.

[boboff]

I don't know why I come here really as I never agree with anything!

Anyway, I think you are all wrong. When I was growing up in the 70's & 80's men didn't ever cook at home, they only criticised what was cooked at home.

The Advent of Bejams, Freezers and the microwaves led the way to quick and easy meals, then the growth of Supermarkets which again led to making shopping so much easier, then competition made ready meals a real " magic" Add to that the fact that food in real terms has decreased in price and ( I can remember in the early 80's my mother complaining Potatoes were up to £6 a sack from £4, last week they were £4.50) generally everyone is allot more aware of health concerns, and eat better, the amount of decent home cooking I reckon has increased exponentially over the last 10 years.

When I started cooking many male friends would look at me as if to question my sexuality, where as now, the fact I am a good cook, is something I am proud of, and friends envious of.

Who the hell should care what people watch, and what gives us the moral high ground to question there enjoyment of these programs?
"These people they watch TV programs and don't always cook from scratch, watch DIY stuff and get a man in, and heaven Forbid watch Gardeners World and only have a 100ft of Grass" PLEASE THINK about what you are saying?

You can't bandy around opinions as if they are facts, cooking from scratch, gardening, allotments, farmers markets etc etc are all having a MASSIVE INCREASE. You can't keep harping on as if nothing has changed in the last 20 years, you are not the few anymore, lots of normal people are making an effort, and want to make an effort.

And the fact Rick Stien has turned a dirty smelly crime ridden back water into a prosperous economic miracle which has meant the people who owned houses there (LOCALS) have all made an absolute killing is no bad thing. I spent time with my Dad in the 70's picking up and collecting from various Cornish Sea Ports, and they were not nice places.

So stop listening to Radio 2, get a dose of optimism and stop looking down on people for enjoying aspirational TV, and as for Nigella, well as for marks out of 10, I'd definately give her one.