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TV Cookery Programmes.. are they out of touch with the real world?

We seem to have so many cookery programmes available these days, but does anyone else find them to be out of touch with the real world? I'm thinking particularly of these Master Baker type programmes with fantastic celebration cakes and posh dinners. Can anyone remember Shirley Goode on Pebble Mill and Dorothy Sleightholme on Farmhouse Kitchen showing budget style meals to feed the family at a reasonable cost? I'm sure that type of programme would be welcomed again or can anyone recommend some that I'm missing please?
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Comments

  • I find some of them too out of touch really I enjoy Jamie's 30 minute meals, I think it buys into the busy family however it does use jars, pre-chopped veg etc which takes time to prepare so it really is 30 minutes to cook the meal ;)

    I find cookery programmes are good for idea's but to adapt them to your own needs and family is better than relying on a good programme (mainly because I haven't found one :o).
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  • Nigel Slaters Simple suppers is my favourite.
    I nearly wet myself when he urged his viewers to save the parmesan rind, like everyone who watches doesnt buy is in a plastic tub....
  • JBD
    JBD Posts: 3,069 Forumite
    Yes, a lot of them are. I find a lot of tv chefs use too many ingredients, especially people like Jamie Oliver. He uses things like different types of fish and strange coloured tomatoes which simply are not available in the places I shop. Plus, cooking meals for under £5, I think most of us already do that.
    In any case there is a big difference in cooking for a dinner party or a restaurant and cooking for your own family. I think TV cookery programmes are more about entertainment and the whole lifestyle of the presenter.
  • mummybearx
    mummybearx Posts: 1,921 Forumite
    Nigel Slater, yes yes YES!!:T

    The man is a master of simple easy and relatively cheap cooking. His programme Simple Suppers is just that, simple easy cooking. Ive taken lots of his ideas on board, one of my favourites being boiled potatoes, beans and a dressing. Think he used like yoghurt, mint etc.

    That's about the only one I watch, love things like Masterchef, but that's not really a cookery programme as such x
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  • easy
    easy Posts: 2,532 Forumite
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    DominicJ wrote: »
    Nigel Slaters Simple suppers is my favourite.
    I nearly wet myself when he urged his viewers to save the parmesan rind, like everyone who watches doesnt buy is in a plastic tub....


    I don't buy parmesan in a plastic tub - it's vile like that, all dry, might as well spinkle salted sawdust into your food.

    OK I don't buy big chunks at a time, but buying 'real' parmesan is much nicer, it keeps for ages if you wrap it properly in the fridge and use as much as you need in each dish. Not cheaper, but better Value For Money.
    I try not to get too stressed out on the forum. I won't argue, i'll just leave a thread if you don't like what I say. :)
  • CH27
    CH27 Posts: 5,531 Forumite
    I like some of Nigel Slater's food but I only buy what I need & therefore don't have leftovers in the quantity I would need to feed three.
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  • Seanymph
    Seanymph Posts: 2,882 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I thoroughly enjoyed Hugh FW's vegetable series. We now regularly have beetroot as a vegetable (roasted, with garlic and rosemary in a bit of olive oil, use foil for lid - take off foil after about 40 minutes - an hour, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar, pop back in for another 40 minutes or so) - we never did before, and it's a really cheap vegetable, nearly always available locally grown in farm shops. I throw it in with every roast now. And everyone eats it, even the kids.

    He also has provided several vegetarian dinners we've had, which have been cheaper than meat.

    Generally I like how he cooks, because he will do baked spuds with a bit of extra, which helps to think of different slants on things - he did his own pot noodles which were super.

    So, Hugh for me. Only Hugh mind you, I'm not that fond of any of the others.
  • angeltreats
    angeltreats Posts: 2,286 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    JBD wrote: »
    Yes, a lot of them are. I find a lot of tv chefs use too many ingredients, especially people like Jamie Oliver. He uses things like different types of fish and strange coloured tomatoes which simply are not available in the places I shop.

    You don't have to use the same tomatoes as Jamie though, a tomato is a tomato even if it's a boring red one :D And you could certainly substitute a different fish.

    I think there's an awful lot of expensive ingredients in most cookery programmes. Jamie's 30 Minute Meals might have been quick but it certainly wasn't cheap (although of course cheap food wasn't the point of the show). Still if it gives people a few new ideas it can't be bad.

    Lorraine Pascale had the balance right with Baking Made Easy (although I didn't see her other show), she made things that weren't overly complicated, didn't cost the earth and used (mostly) easy to find ingredients, but that you'd actually want to make.
  • I think there's the full range and certainly plenty of budget family recipes on TV. Master Chef isn't even that type of cooking show it doesn't show you how to cook it a competition and for our entertainment not education. I certainly like the range of different types of cooking shows.
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  • easy wrote: »
    I don't buy parmesan in a plastic tub - it's vile like that, all dry, might as well spinkle salted sawdust into your food.

    OK I don't buy big chunks at a time, but buying 'real' parmesan is much nicer, it keeps for ages if you wrap it properly in the fridge and use as much as you need in each dish. Not cheaper, but better Value For Money.


    Is the right answer, fresh parmesan is sooo much better its definately worth a little extra.

    Oh and different cookery programmes obviously cater to different audiences, some are not about teaching people how to cook.
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