Cooking shows have sprung up like so much unpleasant fungus in the past decade. Thank you, Food Network. Some are truly instructive, even mildly entertaining, but few are actually really interesting. A recipe here, a perky, annoying host there. Thirty minutes and several jarring jump cuts later, you've got two to three dishes presented that you're, more likely than not, never going to make yourself.
Oh, how I miss Julia Child.
Where is the drama? Well, there's The Next Food Network Star, Top Chef, or Iron Chef, but I regard them as mere stress-related entertainments. I want real conflict. I want character-driven tension. With the exception of perhaps
watching Jacques and Claudine Pépin, I find the cooking world an emotional wasteland. At least with them, I get to witness some fascinating inter-family dynamics. Claudine can never quite live up to her father's expectations, and it shows. One gets the feeling he has never let her win at anything, but I still keep rooting for her just the same. It makes me cringe, but I keep watching because, one day, I hope she'll have a breakdown on camera and finally tell him what he can do with his
aubergine farci.
So where do I turn for food-related drama?
Posh Nosh.
Posh Nosh gives us a peak into the kitchen (and marriage) of Simon and Minty Marchmont, to describe much more would be giving too much away, so I will just have to let you judge for yourselves. It's good, I swear. It is razor sharp, capturing the pretense, the absurdity of "lifestyle" cooking shows everywhere. Do watch. And when you're done with
this one, watch
some more. It's not as though you're actually getting any work done.
Go ahead, worry and alienate my links above.
Apologies for serving up an episode here on a nice, embedded platter.
foodexaminer@gmail.com
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