Economy Gastronomy - new budget cookery programme; BBC

thriftlady_2

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

Thanks for the heads up on the chefs, but still don't think that any of them live on £14,000 a year.
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Nor do I, it doesn't mean I haven't got anything useful to say about economical cooking;)

BigMummaF

foxgloves wrote: »

I'm definitely going to give this programme a go. Am hoping it will be a 'cook your own' type of programme and that it shows ordinary families doing it. ..me too! When I learned to cook at school, we learned how to make proper meals, what to do with leftovers, cooking on a budget, etc, and this seemd to change more recently into food technology rather than cookery with kids learning how to make a sandwich and design the packaging then who they'd market it to, instead of how to cook which is a lifeskill they'd have with them for ever. A friend's 12 year old daughter was recently told to take a breadroll, a cheese slice and some tomato ketchup into school because they were going to 'make pizza'. ..we had to take in a packet of dried curry to 'cook' once.Why couldn't they learn how to make a proper pizza? At the same age, we were learning how to bake and how to cook proper meals..can recall doing bread rolls & chelsea buns, & must of made something meal-wise. :rolleyes:They had a 'flat'--a glorified storage room!--that we had to make up a single bed, lay the table, polish the silver etc....and in case you're all thinking I must be about 105..I just feel that way most of the time:laugh:, I'm really not! My Mum didn't cook at all if she could possibly avoid it, so it was ready meals most of the time at home when we were kids. My cooking skills all came from school and then having a go at home. In practical terms, it's by far the most useful skill I learned at school and it really does need to be back on the curriculum for everyone, so that people have these simple lifeskills. Am hoping this programme will be the start of many similar ones. There used to be several good money programmes such as 'Spendaholics', 'Bank of Mum & Dad'..me too! although the revised 'budgets' they were given for 'eating out' & 'clothes' were still far more than I spend in a year...I strap my lot down & force them to watch now:rotfl:, 'Your money or your wife', etc, and it's odd that now we are genuinely in hard times, they all seem to have disappeared! Rant over....I'm off to make some BBQ sauce now as planning family BBQ tomorrow if not chucking it down with rain.

I remember having to take some clothes in to school 'learn' how to use the twin tub washing machine, because it was Domestic Science when I were a lass
I was disappointed with What To Eat Now, because 99.9% of what he did we wouldn't eat ever & likewise the Grow Your Own Drugs got a bit expensive with the bits you had to add to them. If I had their homes, kitchens & obviously copious amounts of money for electricity & equipment, things may have been a bit more interesting...& green fingers would be top of my wish list too
I'm of the same thinking as many of yooze about just how much I will get from this new programme, but then looking back at what I've said about Spendaholics etc, if it's going to help those who haven't yet found The Church of Old Style then it will serve a purpose. My three have been brought up "in the faith" but a lot of their pals have permanent passes to Cloud Cookoo Land, even those who have homes &/or children of their own :undecided After all, I know how to change channels if it doesn't appeal...

Primrose

One of the things which saddens me about the BBC is that we pay a licence fee and it is meant to be educational as as well as entertainment. With the exception of few programmes, it is neither. I partly blame this on the mangement who dictate what kind of programmes are to be broadcast, but I also blame those in the lower regions who have got into the business of third rate "Media Studies" degrees and who are programme producers who think they have a remit to dictate their own low standards to those of us who are looking for quality viewing, whether educational or entertainment. I will probably watch to see what is on offer, but with my finger on the "Off" button on the remote if it doesn't come up to expectations. Sadly there's little point in sending criticisms to BBC management. They're all far too wrapped up in protective bubble wrap in 'cloud cuckoo land' to take on board what the licence paying public really think.

Butterfly_Brain

Saw the advert for the show tonight and must admit the food they showed looked ok but the chefs seem a little high and mighty

[Deleted User]

I hadn't watched Ready ,Steady Cook for ages ,not since it was on late afternoon.I saw it on Saturday and it seems the price of the meal has gone up It used to be what you could cook for a fiver .Now it seems its what you can cook for a tenner.I can cook at least 5-6 meals for a tenner and have change left over .When did the cost go up?. I know I don't usually watch t.v. cookery programmes much but even when it was a fiver it seemed a bit excessive just for one meal.I guess I must be getting old
I certainly don't live on £14k a year as I am a pensioner but I still manage to eat well and have cash left over.But I have always cooked from scratch as I like to know what I'm eating. I can't comment on ready meals as I have never tried them or even wanted to as I see the price and think 'I could do twice as much for half the money . I was lucky that I was brought up by a canny wee Scots lady who wouldn't waste a penny
The Leon restraunt I tried last week when I went to Bluewater with my DD and I must admit the food was excellent ,well presented, and hot and plenty of it.We had lunch for two of us for around £12.00 which for Bluewater was quite good .It was nice that there was a place that served well cooked food that wasn't just 'Burger type'
I look forward to watching next weeks programme

kunekune

There are some recipes up on the Guardian website now. It's not 'budget' in the sense that the set of recipes involve a whole salmon. But, it is OS in the other sense, in that it is a whole salmon used to make (at least) four meals for four, and every scrap is used, eg, the head goes into stock. The store cupboard expected is large. I think I would describe the approach as an economical and sensible approach to making restaurant style food - with very clear instructions.

While I appreciate that some here are a bit miffed that "economy" doesn't mean cheap and the ideas are still out of many people's everyday budget, I still think that it is an improvement on much food cooking we see on tv. Maybe there is room for something aimed at those living on a real tight budget, but it doesn't mean that the BBC should be banned from producing programmes for those who can spend (at a guess) £30-40 on some fancy ingredients and show that the salmon lasts more than one night! And Allegra is interesting anyway - try her clickalong lessons on the Guardian food section.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Oh my good grief! I just caught a glimpse of the trailer for this. It seems to be set in a designer show home, everyone sounds so terribly posh and they were carving something resembling half a friesan for dinner!

Primrose

Jojo - Well that should give all of us a jolly good laugh then, shouldn't it ? Pity they couldn't hire Hyacynth Bouquet for the series. :rotfl:You can bet your life that with all the poncy BBC producers they have these days it will be fully orchestrated with totally unsuitable background music, and participants who have all been subject to a makeover by a fashioner designer beforehand. (Remember all those wierd outfits worn by Alys in Gardners World?). The food will be the last thing of importance on the programme and will barely get a mention. I'm beginning to feel a great deal of sympathy with those who say that the BBC is no longer providing what the viewers expect from their increasinlgy expensive licence fee.

thriftmonster

There's an advert for it in this month's "Country Kitchen" and it says the basic principles are:
Find out how much you really do spend
Plan what you're going to eat for one week ahead at a time
Make a list of what you need and stick to it
Invest in good ingredients to make Bedrock Recipes These are complete family dishes that also appear later on the weekly meal plan as money-saving and delicious spin off dinners called Tumbledowns.
Waste nothing.

As principles those seem fine to me, so I'll give it a go. There are some of us who are OS not for financial reasons but (in my case) because it's the way I was brought up and for ethical reasons and as far as I know OS isn't just about "how little can you spend" - it's about home cooking and not wasting anything. I know some people have very low budgets and I admire them for sticking to it and feeding their families good food - but there is a range on OS.

Hope the info from Country Kitchen helps.

tara747

:rotfl: at Idiophreak!

Loving this thread, y'all should be on the stage!