SO last week saw the final of the Great British Bake Off and more episodes of MasterChef: The Professionals with the judges whittling down contestants in preparation for the semi-finals.
It’s difficult to scroll through today’s television schedules without encountering some kind of culinary-based offering such as Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares – which follows the by now very familiar format of Gordon stepping in to help whatever ailing establishment has called in a ‘Chef Ramsay’ rescue after he’s already declared its food disgusting.
Or perhaps you may discover the more sedate and cuddly Mary Berry, the granny of gastronomy, who is currently promoting her latest offering ‘Mary’s Foolproof Dinners’. In this latest series Mary helps some of her celebrity friends prepare a simple recipe while casually imparting many of her top tried and tested tips.
There are also the taste-tourist type shows favoured by the likes of the Hairy Bikers, though sadly Si is now riding solo following the loss of his beloved biker companion Dave Myers who passed away earlier this year.
Weekend viewing includes an extensive menu of cookery shows such as Saturday Kitchen, James Martin’s Saturday Morning, John and Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen, Ainsley’s Caribbean Kitchen, Sunday Brunch – the list goes on, and they are difficult to avoid completely.
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It won’t be too long before Jamie is demonstrating how to stuff a clove-studded mandarin into the cavity of a turkey or smear it with a sage-infused butter. We will then be subjected to further examples of what we can do with those leftovers – sprout fritters anyone? - bish bash bosh…
The fragrant Nigella will no doubt be wafting around in her silk kimono sneaking a naughty nighttime nibble of her irresistible figgy pudding while sitting on the plush carpeted stairs of her palatial pied-à-terre. In the real world we are more likely to be wearing novelty Christmas pyjamas while consuming the remainder of the trifle straight from the fridge while feeling a bit squiffy following an overindulgence of mulled wine and/or Irish cream liqueur.
But I wonder how many people actually view these shows in order to improve their cooking skills or extend their repertoire?
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My Dad does most of the cooking at home and he adores these shows, although he much prefers the late Keith Floyd’s style of epicurean effort - bung it all in with a glass of wine in hand and give it a bit of a stir. He is definitely more about flavour than presentation but to be fair his food always looks good and tastes great. My Mum met Keith Floyd at his pub in Devon in the early 90s and said he did not disappoint – charming, well-attired (complete with the obligatory dickie bow) and several gin and tonics in – it was 11.30am…
Sometimes Dad might pick up a handy hack or recipe revelation from these shows but he mostly watches because he enjoys them - although he curses the fact that he has to retreat to the kitchen to make a sandwich halfway through as they seem to trigger some serious hunger pangs.
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So even though Dad cooks a delicious full traditional Christmas dinner every year I know there will still be extensive discussions around how to cook the sprouts (roast them with chestnuts, stir fry with pancetta or how about a sprout gratin?) and how long/how best to cook the turkey.
I think what I am trying to say is, particularly when it comes to Christmas dinner, ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, - if you do the same thing every year and it works well then I don’t think there is any need to subject yourself to the cacophony of ‘expert’ advice on offer – simply go with what you know.
