Is Food the Latest Fashion

This morning I was listening to a radio interview with Simon Wilson, editor of Cuisine  magazine, when he said " recently  cooking has replaced gardening as the latest trend."  I'm sure the many of us who left home in the seventies to go flatting or get married will disagree. 

Personally I think the interest in food and cooking  began in the late sixties with home cooks copying the restaurant meals of the day.  Who remembers dinner parties that took all day to prepare and included any of the following - Garlic Prawns, Shrimp Cocktail, Salmon Mousse, Steak Diane, Lobster Thermidor, Beef Wellington, Veal Marsala, foil baked potatoes with  sour cream and chives, salad with proper vinaigrette dressing,  Brandy Snaps?

We experimented with Asian cuisine  with the help of  Charmaine Solomon  and her books.  We served pumpkin seeds with drinks just like the Greek restaurants did back then. Everyone had their own special way of making  Spaghetti Bolognaise and Minestrone Soup.

And don't forget the hippies with their lentils and mung beans.

We drank aperitifs before dinner and liqueurs after dinner ,  Mateus Rosé, Blue Nun  and Tyrells Long Flat Red during dinner.  And someone always took the Mateus bottle home to make a lamp stand or stick a candle in the top.

It is obvious from the number of food blogs there is a new generation of young people discovering the delights of food and cooking.  I see it as a continuing trend, not the latest fad.

Comments

[Bruno]

Hi Barbara, I just had flashbacks to the dinner parties my parents would have back in the 60's, 70's and beyond!! I agree w/ you that preparing gourmet food has always been popular to those that cook and eat because they love food, as opposed to those who eat whatever is quick and easy just because their stomach is growling!

I think a lot of kids are going to culinary school today for the wrong reasons... they want to become the next star chef on the Food Network instead of going to culinary school because they are passionate about food! This is in part what has fueled the recent food craze. Reality will smack them in the face when they finish school and start sweating it out in a restaurant kitchen and say to themselves "This isn't what it looked like on T.V."!!

I drank my share of Mateus and Blue Nun and used to think I was drinking sophisticated stuff! (Before that, Boones Farm and other swill that was passed off as wine!!) It's funny how my wine taste has evolved since then, but I still love those wine bottle candlestick holders!!

Cheers...

Bruno

[Judy]

Barbara and Bruno. let's just drag out the flares and platform shoes and REALLY reminisce.

Barb, I was a bit taken aback by the title of this entry, until I realised you were disagreeing with Mr Wilson. I think that people who love food and cooking have always been around, it's just that the media, retailers, publishers etc have caught up.

I'll bet that even during times of rationing, keen cooks would have sought ways of making their food tasty and interesting.

Bruno, do you think that if every young person who aspired to be a Jamie or a Curtis was made to read Anthony Bourdain they might not view the industry with rose coloured glasses? Or are there any other food writers who might have the same effect?

[Bruno]

You have a good point there Judy. Having Kitchen Confidential as required reading for aspiring chefs might be excellent reality/aversion therapy. Then again, I read the book prior to attending culinary school and it peaked my interest in the seedy side of the commercial kitchen!

[barbara]

I think The Perfectionist is a great read for an aspiring chef. I will never complain about the cost of restauarnt food again after reading about the long hours the chefs work.

[Mary]

Hi Barbara, great post! I'll second that recommended read of "The Perfectionist". The immense pressure of having something so personal, the expression of food, like a painting or diary, put out as fodder for the 'critics' must have been excruciating. Not what the armies of student are thinking when they are entering culinary institutions. Definitely a perspective to consider.
I do remember when Julia's was the cookbook du jour (I'd dare say it still is) and Wok with Yan was the only cooking show on 70s CBC but wasn't so fortunate to have had any Blue Nun experiences. I think they were very interesting times.
And no matter what happens to the popularity of 'Italian' cuisine, I'll still be cooking the food that makes me and hubby happy hopefully well into when we reminisce about the good old days..
It all stems from where you draw your inspiration, and those olive photos are certainly in that class.
Here's to better health for next years harvest.

[Caroline@Bibliocook.com]

I don't think that food and cooking is just a new here-today-gone-tomorrow fashion but it certainly seems to have a greater profile these days. And New Zealand does that very, VERY well. I was showing a friend my last edition of Cuisine last night and we counted 4-5 high-gloss adverts for things like cars and make-up in the front of the magazine before you ever get to the index pages. Ireland's Food & Wine Magazine just doesn't get such advertising bucks - and it shows.

[barbara]

Thank you all for your interesting comments.