Rachel Allen on RTÉ
After all the debate about Rachel Allen, I felt that I just had to watch her show! Last night I was home alone at my lovely friends’ house (being a bag lady makes you realise how good your friends are) and I decided I was going to take the plunge and actually turn on the television for myself.
I tuned in to the programme slightly later than the 7.30pm start time so missed the starter for the Sunday lunch that she was cooking. I have to say that I was delighted to see that she has her mother-in-law‘s liberal hand with butter, cream and salt but I can see why my mother described her as “very milk and water”. She’s a bit colourless – no competition for Nigella, so! – but it’s great to see an Irish TV show with plenty of cookable dishes. I do wish that she would make more of Irish ingredients though, and what is the point of all the shaky camera work?
And don’t forget the intermittent porn movie music!She does her best but the director should be shot.I still watch it every week tho.
For some reason, Conor, the porn movie music didn’t catch my attention! I’ll watch out for it in future though. Are you a fan of any other TV chefs? Do you remember the lovely Darina and all the hoo-haa there was over her liberal use of butter in a country which had gone mad for Flora (or spreadable sh*te, as I call it)?
Not, of course, that I would know what such music would sound like. But you’ll know what I mean when you suddenly notice it.I watched Darina years ago and just thought she was mental. Now, I would go out of my way to catch anything she is on. My mother has always been a huge fan of hers.It is actually shocking how butter has been demonised. You see heavy drinkers and smokers avoiding it! I think a lot of the move away from butter was led by the food companies themselves as it allows them to sell cheaper nastier spreads which sell for more money and create “branded goods”.I spend half my TV watching time on UKTV Food. I always hated Jamie until he did Fifteen and School Dinners and now I think he is god. Keith Floyd is great – especially the ancient ones. I find Gary Rhodes unbearable to watch – even dish has to have 400 steps to it – and just a drizzle of olive oil. And some day I am going to Padstow to eat at Rick’s.
You’re right about the butter, Conor – isn’t it ridiculous how people go for the marg spreads instead of the real stuff? Someone told me that it was because butter doesn’t spread so easily but that’s not a problem if you keep the butter dish out of the fridge! Besides, I can easily trade a little inconvenience for the taste of butter.
At one stage, while in NZ, we had a video recorder and the extensive local library loaned lots of old videos for free. That’s the first time I ever got to see the early series’ of Nigella or Jamie or the Fat Ladies. I found myself taking loads of notes during the Nigella show, was impressed at how Jamie made food accessible to people who may have cooked before and had a good laugh at the Fat Ladies. I also, after hearing LOADS about it, caught one of the Jamie’s Dinners programmes while I was over there. I thought he did a great job in that programme. Never seen Rick or Gary on TV but loved Mr Floyd as a child – used to always watch it with my dad. While staying with friends over the weekend I discovered that there’s a Saturday morning cook-in on some English channel and Rachel Allen popped up there too. My friend considers her “a hottie” so he didn’t have any problem in watching that segment of the programme!