Dear LPG,

I wonder how many readers agree with me when I mention that watching other people cook has become a bit of a spectator sport over the years.

Do you remember when Fanny and Johnny Cradock taught us how to make new interesting things to eat.  In her day she and her somewhat hen-pecked husband, told us that it was all about the recipes which were new ideas for the housewife to try out on their husbands.

Then we had Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet who introduced us to the cooking show.  He raced around the stage, briefly explaining what he was cooking while telling his anecdotes and then inviting members of the audience to taste the end product.  His was a really entertaining show, but I am not sure that I ever really learned a lot about what he was cooking because he did everything so quickly that the food was the aspect of the show that often got missed. 

After that we went back to the cooking shows that were serious and practical for a while, with people like Delia Smith showing us the realisms of good old fashioned home cooking, Nigella Lawson who was all about the effect on your taste buds   and Jamie Oliver focussing in on making cheap nourishing meals in minutes.  Thus the era of the real celebrity chefs kicked in. There was Keith Floyd who introduced us to the travelling cookery show as he cooked and travelled at the same time.  Now all the chefs are doing that either in teams of three, two, or on their own.  Teaming up has been a feature with the hairy bikers and two fat ladies working in tandem.  The cooking segment of the magazine shows was born at the same time as breakfast television and the mid-morning recipe that would be featured.  Rusty Lee was quickly followed by others like Brian Turner, Phil Vickery, Gok Wan and, of course Gino D'Acampo.

The cooking competition shows have been the most recent addition to cookery themed television.  We have witnessed everything from the ignorant cooks to the really accomplished ones, and most recently the celebrities are getting in on the act too. I am sure there are a few ‘Come dine with me’ addicts amongst LPG web visitors, while Gordon Ramsey will always be remembered for taking cooking to hell and back with his somewhat colourful descriptive language.

We have watched them all over the years and I think that there is a really big sporting element involved although, unlike other sports, very few people can only claim to watch because eating is a sport we all have to indulge in and a good proportion of us still do the cooking that facilitates that for ourselves.

BC, Crofton Park

BC links us to a few ’ cookery show’ memories…

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