BS: Culinary Pornography

Subject: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy ?
From: GUEST,Oldtimer
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 03:47 PM

Does anyone feel that some of those Cheffy TV programmes are o-t-t.?Methinks all that is really needed is a good balance of carbos, proteins , veggies& fruit , whiskey/ ale etc.This epicurain erotica stuff emerging from some of the TV competive channels has more to do with erotical plate art & disgustion. The real desire to just munch some good old-time food like Mamma used to make is under threat ?
All comments & tyre kickers welcome to comment

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 03:57 PM

There are all kinds Oldtimer and they are all okay by me. If your Moma's meals are under threat it is because of fast food not Gordon Ramsay or Bobby Flay.


Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: GUEST,999
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:00 PM

Oldtimer, I'm with you. This kinda stuff makes me go strange. Put the damned meat on the plate, some whatevers that go with it and omit the art, svp. I like tea and coffee in a mug, beer out the can and wine from a decent glass.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: Rapparee
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:04 PM

Don't drink from a Klein bottle, huh?

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: GUEST,Oldtimer
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:20 PM

Yeah , why complicate the few simple things that are still extant in our lifestyle .There are a small number of survival skills left within our grasp that cannot be improved upon,-- such as good ale , brandy sniffin , Mammas cookin, roast beef , potatoes , boiled eggs , fresh fish , organic conseusal sex , freely breaking wind ,wild flatulence release , etc that do not offend the standard norms .So why all this, trying to impress complex ?

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:44 PM

Erk, my 'mamma' made boiled potatoes peas and sausages or boiled potatoes peas and fishfingers or boiled potatoes peas and cod portions or boiled potatoes peas and pork strips. Not that I go for fancy stuff at home - we're veggie these days and it's uncomplicated but tasty and wholesome, I go in for a lot of whole grains, legumes and vegetables - but mammas meals (sorry mum!) really aren't missed ..and nor is the cholesterol and heart disease!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:49 PM

hmm. reverse gustatory snobbery?

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: GUEST,999
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 04:59 PM

That would be yrebbons yrotatsug, no?

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornoghraphy
From: Bill D
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 06:48 PM

I read a couple articles about how they shoot photos for Gourmet magazine. Lots of plastic and gelatin injections and added color...etc. NO ONE could eat those 'perfect' meals..... but still, why bother to take pics of the usual way some of us pile stuff on our plates?

....so... 'scuse me, I gotta go eat my hamburger helper (beef pasta with added peas)

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 07:16 PM

My mother was a dreadful cook, and I learned everything I know from Fannie Farmer, The Joy of Cooking, Julia Child and "The Galloping Gourmet".

Most of what they do on TV these days is entertainment that happens to be about food. If you cooked like that all the time, you would need a family of six to eat your output, and at least two hours a day to spend at the gym.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: catspaw49
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 09:03 PM

There is much to be learned from these shows if just in ideas and useful tips. I love down home but it gets boring as hell as far as I'm concerned. It takes only a bit more to come up with a fine tasting and appearing Tomato Basil Soup than it does to boil up some Campbell's.

There is also the satisfaction of being able to come up with a varied menu when your budget and health needs narrow the choices. How about a very low calorie and low fat Manicotti with true Italian taste and better than you will probably get in even the best Italian restaurants? Sound good?

Another great satisfaction is receiving the sincere compliments from those who eat your cooking. The husband of one of Karen's co-workers thinks I should sell my French Onion soup....LOL....So I send him some every time I make it. Last week I sent a small container of leftover Orange-Ginger-Honey-Glazed carrots and parsnips......Now he wants to know when I'll be sending more.....LOL.....

I have no objection to Pot Roast but why not slow cook it in beer and wine with garlic, Bay, Thyme, and Savory? Have you ever poached eggs in Riesling and served them over sourdough toast with a few sprinkles of Chives and Parmesan?

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 09:34 PM

Whoa, Spaw. Invite me over, OK?

'mamma' made boiled potatoes peas and sausages or boiled potatoes peas and fishfingers or boiled potatoes peas and cod portions or boiled potatoes peas and pork strips." Guest/cs

Substitute 'creamed' for 'boiled' in my mother's case and you would be pretty much on the mark.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: michaelr
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 11:54 PM

Guest, Oldtimer -- please define the word "disgustion", from your original post.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 12:10 AM

I am exercised, as always, by the tendency of members of this forum to watch programmes, read books, &c, of a type which they know in advance from experience that they do not enjoy, and then take the trouble to come on here to solicit support in denouncing them. If you dislike cookery progs so much, Oldtimer, what the hell do you watch them for?

Puzzled -- as ever.

Oh well: pay no mind to the grumpy animadversions of

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: catspaw49
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 06:52 AM

I dunno' Michael.   Then there are the others (me in this case) that try to explain or "sell" why some program or book needs to taken seriously to those who have already decided it blows whales.

T'is a strange crowd we are...........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: gnu
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 07:08 AM

I'm starvin!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 07:30 AM

gnu, see the takeaway thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Megan L
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 08:25 AM

The telly cooks have never been the same since they took grace mulligan and the Farmhouse kitchen of air.
Farmhouse baking

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 08:33 AM

Brave new world.

The last cooking show I ever watched starred some guy named Emeril--I had to google the name to get the spelling right. He used the terms "drizzle" and "kick it up a notch", both of which confused me because 'put a little' would have worked for drizzle and I didn't think adding garlic to an Italian dish was much of a notch-kicking.

I don't particularly care that people go to water bars. I find it a bit effete, but how folks spend their cash really ain't my business. Listening to a talking head discuss it like it's news frosts my nuts. It may BE news, but it isn't newsworthy, imo. That's why I turned off my TV many many years ago. I watch ten minutes of this or that every few years only to have my decision not to watch it reinforced.

I think a cooking show that taught people how to cook with inexpensive foods would be good. Anyone can turn filet mignon into tender steak. All ya gotta do is cook it--or not. Instead, show people how to take the toughest part of Bossy the Cow and turn that into something that can be chewed without running up a gas or electric bill by having a burner on for six hours and you'll have done a public service.

Cooking shows, unless they have changed in 25 years, assume you'll have various spices to hand, cooking wine in the cupboard, salmon fresh from the market, etc. For most folks that isn't the reality.

As many have mentioned, maybe Ma's cookin' wasn't cordon blue. In fact, maybe it was bloody horrid. But asking a labourer who's done a hard day's work to have this for supper just ain't gonna cut it. He or she will likely eat it, but within an hour s/he'll drift on down to the takeaway to have something substantial.

People who have the luxury of eating what they choose are fortunate. These days, a leg of lamb bone in runs about $8 to $10 per pound. Fact is, for the cost of one pound of lamb meat I could feed four people very well. In fact, they would think they dined. I do understand where the OP is coming from, but I'm not looking to argue with anyone about it. Our mileages vary as do our pocketbooks. It would be a boring world (as Spaw alluded to) if everyone had the same opinion. Bon appetit.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 09:03 AM

As usual, our friend 9 has a good point.

Cooking shows are most helpful to people who already know how to cook and are just looking for new ideas. (They remind me of gym class when I was in high school -- great for athletes but dreadful for the rest of us.) Today's real knowledge gap is in the area of "good, plain" cookery, the business of cranking out three nourishing, healthy and delicious squares a day for the family without straining the household budget.

Not for the first time, I note that an activity becomes officially "interesting" when it is converted from domestic work done by women for no pay into a trade practised by men in public spaces for high wages and a cut of the profits. Home cooking is boring until you do it like Gordon Ramsay. Sewing is ho-hum unless you can aspire to "designer" status.

So I'm waiting for the Nigella Lawson of scrubbing the bathroom!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: gnomad
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 09:09 AM

I find the selection of such programmes available here (UK) varies widely, from restaurant-style food with frightening numbers of expensive ingredients and complex methods that few will be able to copy with any degree of success, all the way to a 'This is how to open a can of pet food, slap some bought-in mash on top, and call it shepherd's pie.' approach. I am unsure which is more depressing, but both are bad for my blood pressure and the first time I find myself hurling abuse at the screen then that series gets banned.

Luckily there are some in between these two extremes, where an average cook can pick up the odd idea or bit of inspiration. I see no harm in this practice. I suspect that the proliferation of shows is due mainly to their having relatively low production costs.

The pornographic element to all these shows has to be admitted, in that they are designed to excite a desire without fulfilling it. Unlike some other forms of porn there isn't the degree of coerced participation, making them relatively benign from that angle. I dislike their pandering to the cult of personality but we, the public, are to blame for that. If we stop worshipping idols there will soon be far fewer getting erected.

The celebrity chefs are simply catering (excuse pun) to what the public seems to want, I am sure that many here (me included) would be willing to adopt a silly hairstyle, aggressive personality, excessive mateyness or whatever other quirk seems to work in order to put on the performance that pays so well. Also in favour of some of them is that they manage to provide employment to substantial numbers of people, not a bad thing IMO.

The non-pro "Look how wacky I am, and what a misery I can inflict on a bunch of other deficient personalities." competitive dining with strangers style of programme needs to be ended, and its promoters could usefully be set to something menial.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 10:49 AM

I don't understand what is considered objectionable about beauty. If a cook show (or a magazine or a restaurant) wants to present its offering in an artistic way, so much the better, say I! The gorgeous presentation at least suggests that the cook took extra pains to make the other sensory aspects (texture, aroma, taste and maybe even the nutritional value) of the dish desirable.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: EBarnacle
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 11:38 AM

As Spaw says, the point is to get IDEAS from what you see. That way, when your co-op sends you tomatillos, you don't stand there with your mouth open, mumbling "Wuttle I do with this?"

Cranberry Tomatillo salsa

Like many, I have grown bored with the traditional Thanksgiving cranberry sauce. When our co-op sent us some tomatillos, I came up with this.

6 crisp, firm tomatillos
an equal weight of jicama
half a package of cranberries, as fresh as possible
1 Jalapeno pepper
molasses
honey
turbinado sugar

Start the cranberries in a large saucepan and cook until ready to use, as shown by the shells bursting
Add enough molasses, honey and sugar to leave a little tartness in the cranberries but just enough to let you know the tartness is there.
Coarsely chop the tomatillos [remember to remove the parchament and stem] and jicama.
Cut the jalapeno open, remove the seeds, white veins and stem. Chop it finely.
Mix it all together and let it stand overnight so that the flavors will marry and mellow.

When I served this at Thanksgiving, it was a hit. I kept the remainder and found it went well with other fowl, such as duck, and really went well with vegetables, such as asparagus. As it ages, the flavor loses sharpness and get richer.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 12:46 PM

Nigella Lawson: I'd never heard of her before, Charmion. Watched part of a show she did (YouTube). I had to chuckle when she went to her pantry to get a few things. Check out the pantry at 2:12 in the video.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 12:49 PM

Before I pee everyone off, I'm leavin' this thread. But what made me chuckle about that pantry of hers is the fact I've lived much of my life in places where that would be called a general store. Have a good day, all.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 01:12 PM

Between the Maple syrup, the fresh blueberries, the butter, the milk and the flour...etc., I figure that would cost me $5-6 to make a few pancakes. I know some folks consider that cheap... but it feels like a once a year treat.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 01:24 PM

Holy cats, 9; that's the most irritating video I've seen this week!

I learned to make pancakes just like that, including the made-ahead mix, when I was 11. It was the first thing they taught in cooking class at Glashan Public School in 1965; having mastered the mysteries of baking powder, egg and frying pan, one moved on to muffins and soda bread. By the end of Grade 7, an attentive pupil could produce a three-course family meal from raw ingredients.

Good thing for me, 'cos I wasn't learning any of that stuff at home!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography ?
From: GUEST,Oldtimer
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 03:59 PM

Thanks for your query MICHALER .As far as I can trace the word "disgustion " is a dirivative of middle English i.e.disgust -noun ,
digusted , disgustful & disgusting -adj,.The word is still spontainiously used in South Wexford Ireland and is alleged to decend from the Yola languange which was commonly spoke in that region of Irl up to the late 1800s & to a lesser extent in current use. Yola , according to eminent students of the subject originated from Chaucerian (Geoffrey) 1340?-1400 or his poetry writings.Refer to Canterbury Tales for fourther reading .
Oh my .! --it was not intended to start a recipe swapping thread , there are other sites for that .I just meant to invite some subjective opinions on the topic.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: gnu
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 04:41 PM

Re the vid... yes! Her pantry is bout the floor space of my kitchen. I too would have found the video irritating if she wasn't drop dead gorgeous! And that sexy accent aches my loins.

I can buy pancake mix at the Bulk Barn on sale with the $3 off on a $10 purchase that only requires the addition of water. It's cheaper than buying the ingredients and it's "easier".

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 07:46 PM

Thanks for the explanation, Oldtimer. I had thought it might be a mash-up of degustation and disgust.

Re: Nigella Lawson, here's some food porn: Nigella Talks Dirty .

Re: food shows on TV - I like the ones that I can learn from, most notably Alton Brown's Good Eats, which reveals the science behind both food products and cooking processes. Sadly, most of the fare on both The Food Channel and The Cooking Channel these days involves either competitions or travelogues. And don't get me started on Gordon Ramsay...

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 09:05 PM

I usually find cooking shows to be mildly interesting. However, Posh Nosh is downright hilarious. It was a short-lived series produced in the UK. The characters are too funny (annoying to some, I'm sure), and I love expressions like "humiliate an onion" and "torture an orange." Each episode is less than 10 minutes long. Here in the US (at least on local public television) it is used to complete the hour when another program is shorter than the hour. Here's the first episode. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzjR0yL4f0Y

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 22 Feb 13 - 10:53 PM

Just when ya think times are tough . . .

For those who open the link, please be sure to go to the page bottom and click NEXT. It's well worth the reminder of how spoiled we've become as societies--and maybe how little we've appreciated our good fortune or maybe just come to expect it as our due.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Wolfhound person
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 06:07 AM

And apparently, 9, those rations represented a vast improvement in the diet for some folk (so I am told, I wasn't there).
Mind you there was a thriving grey market.

I had a family of elderly spinster great-aunts who had retired from their family (country town) ironmongery business. They never went short of butter, eggs or milk due to ex-customers passing on their surpluses.

Paws

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 06:18 PM

Posh Nosh is wonderful! I laughed myself sick!

Thanks for the lnk, ChanteyLass. Now I have to hunt the rest of them out of You Tube.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Feb 13 - 06:38 PM

I'd never seen Posh Nosh before - thanks. I love the inappropriately creative verbs.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 01:30 PM

Glad you liked it, Charmion and Jeri! I also like the deadpan delivery of the lines. And then there's the over-the-top performance of the theme song which (of course) I prefer to hear sung in a folk style.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,Oldtimer
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 01:58 PM

As we( en famille) gorge on our camel & zebra burgers I really am bewildered by ,& thank you all for your contributions to this enigmatic topic .
OT

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 24 Feb 13 - 05:02 PM

No equine dining at Rocksalt, Folkestone, run by the excellent Mark Sargeant, one of my favourite nephews, whoops, chefs. And as for that gifted and sexy guitarist who recorded the tribute on Youtube.....

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,CS
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 05:30 AM

Just looked at the ration page 999 linked to and am quite amazed at how high the allocation for milk, fat and sugar is per week per adult!

There's no way I could get through Half a Pound of Sugar, Three Pints of Milk and TEN ounces of fat (4oz marge, 4oz lard and 2oz butter) per person every week. And I bake our own cakes and biscuits, maybe a sweet treat once a fortnight at the weekend. I use One Pint of (soya) Milk on my cereal a week, I wouldn't know what to do with all the rest as I'm not a tea drinker.

One Egg and Two Ounces of Cheese however, would feel rather skimpy - between us we get through One Dozen Eggs and up to One Pound of Cheddar, every fortnight.

The bacon and meat ration wouldn't affect us of course, I'd trade it in for more eggs and cheese!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 04:22 PM

Great links! Laughed so much I had to pause! 9... quite the link!

Thanks all.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 25 Feb 13 - 11:08 PM

When I read about the dairy ration, I thought wondered how any adult could avoid osteoporosis.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 26 Feb 13 - 01:36 AM

I read a few years back that the five countries with the highest incidences of osteoporosis were also the five countries with the highest per capita consumption of dairy products.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 26 Feb 13 - 08:55 PM

That's interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 26 Feb 13 - 09:42 PM

This may have been the article, CL. I'm not sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 27 Feb 13 - 03:40 AM

Off topic somewhat.
In the 1970s I was looking for a copy of volume 2 of bawdry and erotica folklorist Gershon Legman's 'The Rationale of the Dirty Joke' (vol 2 was entitled 'No Laughing Matter' and contained the unprintable ones) it was then virtually unobtainable in Britain.
I couldn't find one for sale in Britain, so I contacted the author direct and he gave me the address of his outlet in London; a tiny office in Soho, the heart of London's porn industry.
The room was filled with soft porn books and magazines, including two recently produced books entitled 'Rude Food' and 'Rude Wine' which featured photos of various dishes and wines perched on various parts of the naked female body.
Thought that this was what this thread was about - sorry for the interruption.
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 27 Feb 13 - 05:54 AM

Whoops - wrong thread
Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 27 Feb 13 - 08:47 PM

Again, after reading the article, I can only say, "That's interesting!" It certainly is news to me! Thank you for digging it out for me!

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Feb 13 - 08:46 AM

I believe -- I could o a bunch f research and hunt down the links but I'm in a bit f a rush -- that the apparent connection of osteoporosis and consumption f dairy products is coincidental. The culprit is not dairy foods, but Vitamin D deficiency -- the countries with hgh dairy consumption are also countries with long winters. In Canada, the addition of Vitamin A and Vitamin D has pretty well extirpated rickets and other deficiency diseases in children, but many adults -- especially women -- drastically reduce their consumption of milk and thus lose this benefit. In combination with a sedentary, indoor lifestyle, the net result in middle age (after menopause) is bone loss.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: GUEST,999
Date: 28 Feb 13 - 10:07 AM

Good to know that, Charmion. Many thanks.

CL, I was out to lunch. Sorry.

Subject: RE: BS: Culinary Pornography
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 28 Feb 13 - 11:20 PM

Health is soooo confusing! And ideas about it change so often! Who can keep up? Not me! I wasn't going to give up dairy products, anyway!