Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Grub on the Gogglebox


When I was a kid, there was very little evidence of food on TV - Delia Smith was about as good as it got.  Fanny Craddock was, quite frankly, terrifying and our family was posh enough to possess a set of Robert Carrier cookery cards (complete with white plastic holder!) which were hauled out for my parent's dinner parties.  We even had a Hostess Trolley which was used for these occasions and muggins here was bribed to wash up those gargantuan glass serving dishes.  The dessert speciality was Ginger Log - nothing more fancy than a packet of Ginger Nuts, a lot of sherry, a vat of whipped cream and a couple of Flakes.  It was the height of sophistication back in the early '80's but you'd probably pass out now if presented with this stodgy goo!!!

Image copyright Daily Mail

Thankfully things have changed and we've gone from famine to feast.  I love cookery and food programmes, and The Hubs nearly cried on the day that Food Network started on Sky... he knew I'd be obsessed and he was right!  I have a huge love of Ina Garten aka the Barefoot Contessa.  She is casual but precise and has a lovely manner when explaining how to cook dishes.  I would KILL for her house and especially her kitchen and all her equipment - it's top of my Lotto Wish List.

The much maligned Jamie Oliver is also top of my viewing list.  He's done so much to revolutionise how people think about food and his recent Food Revolution show was both frightening and inspiring.  It's crazy that some people in the US consider chips/fries as a healthy vegetable.  Holy Mother of God.  I have most of his books and I love his recipes.

I've just finished watching Masterchef New Zealand, something I originally obtained for my friend Chris who is married to a Kiwi and I reckoned they'd love it as a reminder of home for him.  Then I started to watch it - utterly addictive and the finale was so pressurised for the final two contestants.  The poor sods were put through 4 different challenges... I don't know how they did it!

Another firm favourite in our house is the homegrown The Restaurant.  Tom Doorley would have you believe that we watch it strictly because of himself & Paolo Tullio, but that's a lie!  We love the innate snobbery of all the public diners who claim to know everything about food but just make eejits out of themselves with their comments!!

So that's just a very small sample of my TV food guilty pleasures - I'd love to hear about yours...

7 comments:

  1. I love, love , love Ina Garten. Her house, her garden, the gorgeous food shops she visits and of course her scrummy food. I have recently developed a deep girl crush on Rachel Ray, love her simple no nonsense approach to meals. Then there is the gorgeous (and frankly too thin to possibly eat the food she cooks) Giada di Laurentiis. Ace of Cakes never ceases ot amaze me. Market Kitchen, Saturday Kitchen, Jamie in small doses, Rachel Allen, Delia Smith, Jenny Bristow and I do like a bit of Keith Floyd. The Restaurant is another one I really enjoy and the F Word and recently Martins Mad About Fish. I also LOVE the car crash tv that is Come Dine With Me. I watch to much tv, but more than that I watch to much foodie tv.

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  2. ha ha...lovely write up! god, yes we must have been posh too then with the old robert carrier recipe binders!

    sorry to break it to you, but I've spent a couple of months in the palms of barefoot contessas hands in her enviable hamptons pad, working on two of her series....and the ticket is all booked for another trip in september....wanna come in my case?!

    my latest foodie guilty pleasure was more of the edible variety when i scoffed a whole mellas fudge bar on my own at the desk yesterday! wowwa, sugar crash...

    sharon x

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  3. Sharon, I hate you. Can we take a raincheck till Sept 2011 because we're off to France this Sept...

    LikeMam - I had to stop because my head was whirling with all the shows/people I love...

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  4. Ah love this post. You were obviously very posh... dinner parties were unheard of in our house. Our posh-grub was sunday evening tea and cakes.

    Love Ina Garten - she is so warm and happy. Very envious of you Sharon!

    Another of my faves is Tamasin Day Lewis - used to watch her for a laugh at first but then really began to like her but I know her flowin hair drives loads of people mad. I love Nigella and another of my favorites is Nigel Slater - his writing is so evocative and I love listening to him. I definitely favour the food writers more than actual chefs.

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  5. I ADORE Nigel Slater - he has such a lovely way about him and he has an utter passion for food. Tamasin's hair wrecks my head... she needs serum stat!!!

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  6. Sharon,
    I am free to take Babas place in September. I LOVE her. Is she as nice off camera as she is on camera or does she turn into a mega diva as soon as they yell cut? hehehe Will you pass on the love of the Irish Food Blogging community to her. Also if she gets lonely knocking about that big old house on her own while Jeffrey is out of town I would be happy to be a house guest and keep her company.

    I can't believe I forgot about Nigella, I heart Nigella. Also that Australian one were the 3 of them cook there own version of the same thing.

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  7. I love that Robert Carrier cooking card - that's class, that is! Reminds me of all the cordon bleu cookery book my Mum used to have. As for the tellybox, I just wish I had more time to actually sit and watch the likes of Nigella and Nigel - I quite fancy doing that and nothing else...

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