Food Fads: Enough Already!

[frigilux]

I've embarked on a project the past few weeks. I have a file cabinet drawer full of magazine-style recipe books that look great while in line at the grocery store, only to languish in a pile once they're home.

I use a recipe app (on the iPad) called Pepperplate which automatically imports and formats recipes from certain sites---Taste Of Home, AllRecipes, The Food Network, etc. All one has to do is pull up the recipe, copy the URL, then paste it into Pepperplate. Takes about 45 seconds---much quicker than typing a recipe manually.

Nearly every morning I spend 20-30 minutes over coffee marking recipes I want on file from a book/magazine, then I import them from the corresponding website. The recipe book is then passed on to a friend.

Here's my quibble: If I see one more 'Southwestern' casserole recipe that calls for a can of corn and a cup of salsa I'm going to...bitch about it at AW, LOL!

We've all seen these trends come-and-go over the years. What food fad (past or present) drives you up the wall?[this post was last edited: 2/5/2013-07:51]

 

[appnut]

Well, given I live in Texas, I've seen the combination of corn and salsa in recipes for over a decade, this isn't a "food fad" phenomenon around here, it's a way of life.   Add cheese for near completion of  dish lol. 

 

[aquarius1984]

Celebrity Chefs and Olive Oil

almost EVERY recipe on shown by TV cooks has been marinated in OO, Cooked in Olive oil, and Drizzled with Olive oil when served up.

Personally gag at the thought of a tomato soup drizzled with OO - cant we just have the creme fraiche?

Im not dissing its one of the healthiest oils out there and once in a while a drizzle can be nice but if one was to solely eat Jamie Olivers salads for a week I dread to think the Olive oil consumption per person would probably be 3 times the amount of fat I normally eat!!!!

I cant stand the greasiness of some foods and TBH when I serve a salad its normally to contrast with the other dish Im serving and balance the dish out not add to its fattyness.

Also think Salt in any form is overrated. Table, Sea, Rock, Cooking, - same with OO I rarely use salt to cook with and use it even less at the table. I fail to see why sprinkling grains of Maldon all over everything is making us any healthier or some meals any more tastier.

 

[frigilux]

Bob-- Looking back through older recipe books/magazines, southwestern casseroles usually had Rotel tomatoes or a little can of chopped chilis; it's the obligatory can of corn that I've noticed creeping into so many recipes the past couple of years. It seems almost as ubiquitous as the "can of cream of mushroom soup" in a million casserole recipes from here in the upper-midwest. But that's not a fad either; more like a long-standing (if overused) tradition. Maybe "fad" was the wrong word to use for this thread.

 

[danemodsandy]

It's Not Working!

Fad it may be, but I'm not subscribing to it.

Any day you see me eating canned corn, it's because some evil person has a pair of vise-grips on my cojones and is squeezing HARD.

 

[lavamat_jon]

Not a food fad per se, but it really grates on me when you see every Tom Dick and Delia of the culinary world slapping their names on cheap kitchen appliances/gadgets with a higher price tag just because it has their signature on it...

 

The worst thing is, WHY would Anthony Worral Thompson's or Gino De Campo's (however you spell it) signature make me want to pay twice as much for something that sells for half the price just with a supermarket own brand on it?

 

Jon

 

[danemodsandy]

Jon:

I agree absolutely!

There is entirely too much product endorsement and branding going on in the food world nowadays.

I remember when Julia Child (America's supposed answer to Fanny Cradock, except that Julia was a kindly person who knew what she was doing) had her staff cover up trademarks on all foodstuffs and appliances seen on her television show and in her books.

Julia wanted to be impartial, and to make her work about the food, not product placement.

For me, the worst has been seeing Rachael Ray's grinning mug on boxes of saltine crackers. What on Earth has that to do with cooking?

And don't get me started about Paula Deen. The woman knows less about food than the McDonald's people do. Deen really is America's answer to Fanny Cradock.

 

[rockland1]

Food Celebrities

You hit a nerve with Paula Deen and Rachel Ray. These are two of the most useless
people on TV. I turn the channel when they appear!

 

[jeffg]

> For me, the worst has been seeing Rachael Ray's grinning mug on boxes of saltine crackers. What on Earth has that to do with cooking? <

Same thing Ray has to do with cooking. Sort of like Martha Stewart and bath towels.

The only food fad that drives me crazy is the relentless downsizing of it. 16 oz. packages became 15, then 14 etc. Last time in the supermarket I actually saw 1 oz. packages of lunch meat. This is straight out of Soylent Green folks.[this post was last edited: 2/5/2013-11:00]

 

[jeffg]

> For me, the worst has been seeing Rachael Ray's grinning mug on boxes of saltine crackers. What on Earth has that to do with cooking? <

The same thing Ray has to do with cooking. Sort of like Martha Stewart and bath towels.

 

[rp2813]

I Have Two Words For You:

Molecular gastronomy.

 

 

[mattl]

Same thing Ray has to do with cooking. Sort of like Martha S

I disagree. I honestly believe Martha takes the time to do the research. She may go off the deep end from time to time, but I believe she is sincere. RR is a huckster, slapping her name everywhere she can. She tries to be the every person as compared to Martha's aloofness, but that is why I don't buy her act.

I rarely buy into food trends so I really can't comment on what annoys me. I do use a lot of olive oil, but then I also use lots of butter. Margarine has not been in my home for well over a decade.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I hate the cheese conspiracy. I don't know if it originated with the government surplus milk program or lobbying from the dairy industry but beginning in the 1970s, the gratuitous additions of cheeses to almost every recipe you see is ridiculous. Fat and calories are just dumped on food by unneeded additions of cheese and I think it is to help use up the cheese that is made because the government pays dairy farmers to produce too much milk so they have to try to sell it and ruin people's health in the process. The dairy industry is as dangerous as the tobacco industry, except its products don't produce the noxious smoke although, if you have to sit next to someone who is lactose intolerant, those SBDs can smell pretty bad, too.

 

[danemodsandy]

For Any Americans Wondering....

....Who on Earth Fanny Cradock was:

She was a British food celebrity, largely seen on the BBC, who worked during the '50s, '60s and '70s. She was an extraordinary personality, with a temper that could have scared hell out of Gordon Ramsay. She wore enough makeup for an entire production of La Cage aux Folles, and drank heavily. Her "creations" were often silly beyond belief; she loved to make food resemble swans and whatnot. She often dyed food green or blue to make it answer to her personal definition of chic.

Her imperiousness and tart tongue caught up with her one day when she was asked to help advise a housewife on a menu during a TV show. The housewife came up with a very nice one, but Cradock savaged it, so nastily that the BBC got all kinds of complaints about it. Cradock apologized, but the Beeb cut her loose two weeks later, and she never got to do a cooking show for them again.

She spent her last years making the rounds of whatever talk shows would have her and upping her alcoholic intake, until she was found disoriented and unable to care for herself, at which time she was put into a nursing home. She died in '94. A photo of her is below, and yes, that's actually a woman.

Anyone who wants to see her career-ending dump on the hapless housewife can see it on YouTube at the link below. As you'll see, Fanny was a piece of work:[this post was last edited: 2/5/2013-14:55]

 

[davey7]

Didn't Fanny shill for British Gas as well? Some of her recipes were, apparently, decent, but mostly over the top.

 

[frigilux]

Wow, Ms. Fanny was a real piece of work! I wasn't familiar with her. Thanks for the info and the video.

Those of us of a certain age will remember when it seemed nearly every recipe for a sweet "salad" or dessert had a can of crushed pineapple in it, and my mom and her friends made every goddamn one of them! To this day, a recipe that calls for a can of crushed pineapple never makes it off the page in my house. Pineapple tidbits on pizza? No problem. Pineapple juice in ham glaze? Delicious! Who doesn't like the lovely rings in a nice pineapple upside-down cake? But crushed pineapple? No way.

 

[vacbear58]

Fear Of Fanny

Dave

You are quite right, she had a long association with the gas board (later British Gas) and was only ever seen using gas cookers (ranges).

Certainly a larger than life charactor, personally I have always had a bit of a soft spot for her. Many recipies were over the top in terms of colouring and decoration although most were fundimentally good, and she certainly helped to shake Britain out of its post war food doldrums - remember food was rationed here from 1939 until 1954, and for a number of years after WW2 the ration was actually lower than during the war.

She was certainly not alone, as there was also Elizabeth David (mostly written works), Margeurite Patten (written, cinema "shorts" and TV) and Rosemary Hulme ("The Constance Spry Cookbook") and of course many more particularly from the mid 1970s onward, when Delia Smith took over the mantle.

By this time food tastes were changing and its hard to say how much longer Fanny would have gone on, as she was, by then, "yesterdays news", But in the 1960s she was THE TV Cook.

Although her relationship with her "husband" Johnnie (they were not actually married until 1977 after her enforced retirement, she changed her name by deed poll back in 1942 when they met) they were devoted to each other and after he died her life pretty much fell apart.

Here she is in 1970, this programme is a favourite of mine

Al

 

[vacbear58]

Part 2

By the way, the cooker over to the rear (not on the island) is an earlier veriosn of the Cannon 150 which Rob posted about in Off Topic

 

[vacbear58]

Part 3

..

 

[vacbear58]

Kitchehn magic

This is about 10 years earlier than the previous, and was produced for cinema - it is kind of scary and certainly colourful

 

[vacbear58]

And ...

Part 2

 

[petek]

That Fanny takes the cake for being an arrogant and pompous beetch.  Wouldn't it have been fun if the poor girl who's winning recipe she cut to shreds had slightly used stronger words. She'd probably be famous herself afterwards. 

 

[danemodsandy]

Actually....

"She'd probably be famous herself afterwards."

Actually, she was for a bit. Gwen Troake, the housewife whose menu was savaged, was defended by other British foodies, and was given a chance to publish a cookbook, which she did. The cookbook (The Country Cookbook, 1977) did well, partly because it was a good cookbook and partly because of the publicity - and widespread public sympathy - Fanny had inadvertently given Troake.

 

[perc-o-prince]

Rachel Ray on Saltines and Celeb Chefs hocking pans

I'm sure I'll catch a load of flack for this, but as someone who does a LOT of cooking, and not always from recipes, Rachel's been a help; at least with her 30-Minute Meals (not the other shows where she visits fru-fru places, International destinations, and the like). She has a good sense of basic cooking and adapting to different situations, and developing/teaching shortcuts.

Where I feel she's gone downhill is pandering to the Food Network's desire to get popular personalities to host multiple shows, some of which have nothing to do with the personalities original show. Well that and whoring herself out to cookware manufacturers. I'll still stand by 30-Minute Meals.

I can't think of any of Martha's shows I'd stand by.

And if we're talking about "celeb" chefs on TV... Sara Moulton? She hosted 'Sara's Secrets,' and her only secret was probably how she got that job! This is the woman who said you should wipe your hands along the side of your chef's knife to remove onion smell (in reference to using the stainless steel block sold for that reason). What about rubbing them on the side of the sink? Maybe, just maybe, much safer than rubbing them on the knife!!!

Guy Fieri? Never learned anything from his cooking, but I've gotten ideas from the places he's visited on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.

No ideas I can remember from Michael Chiarello, Paula Deen (though she's such a Southern mother figure), Ina Garten, and others who have 'successful' shows.

As far as celebs putting names on pans and the like, Puck and others did it before Ray and Emeril. Don't buy them for who's hocking them. Check the reviews! I bought a set of Calphalon Professional nonstick (retail $550) for 1/2 price, and they were the worst pans I ever bought. However, I love my Calphalon tri-ply copper and misc. branded enamel over cast iron from MArshall's and Home Goods!

Chuck

 

[tomturbomatic]

I love Home Goods, too. How many of us have a Home Goods not too far away?

 

[perc-o-prince]

2 Home Goods, 3 Marshall's and 3 TJ Maxx (all the same company) all within about 15-20 minutes. More if I expand to about 25-30 minutes!

Chuck

 

[norgeway]

Food Network...

After seeing Emeril try to make biscuits,,,LOL,,,I was thru!! Paula was ok to start with, but most of her recipes ive tried were nOT all that, I will stick to my old cookbooks,Nancy Welch, Betty Feezor and Julia Child.

 

[norgeway]

As for cookware!!!

If it says CHINA on it I put it back!! But seriously, I never use anything new anyway, more often than not I use either Aristo Craft or Club Aluminum,and also saladmaster.I would not trade one piece of Aristo Craft for all the new cookware on the shelves!!

 

[danemodsandy]

Actually....

It's easier and cheaper to buy decent cookware today than ever before. I spent most of the 1980s in the housewares biz, both on the buying end and teaching cooking. At that time, buying premium cookware was a very expensive proposition.

Today, whatever one's opinion about Chinese manufacture, it must be said that overseas manufacturers have made expensive processes affordable. In the 1970s, Cuisinart came out with its first tri-ply bottom cookware; a heavy aluminum disc was brazed onto the bottom of a stainless utensil, and then another disc of stainless brazed over that. The technique - outlandishly expensive then - gave wealthy consumers performance and easy-clean characteristics. Later, Cuisinart went to a copper ply instead of aluminum. A one-quart saucepan was around $55 back then.

This construction is now very widespread, in both aluminum and copper versions. It has even been improved upon with what is called a "full cap" base, meaning that the outer stainless layer now wraps around the edge of the copper or aluminum one, improving cleanability even more. You can find cookware like this at most discount stores, at very affordable prices.

There are still some things to avoid, though:

1) Non-stick. It's fine on a couple of inexpensive pans you can afford to replace readily. It's silly on expensive cookware, because it doesn't last any longer on an expensive pan than it does on a cheap one.

2) Glass lids. They're touted as "see-through," which they aren't; steam produced in cooking makes the feature fairly useless. They exist for one reason: You will break them sooner or later. When you do, you will almost always find that an exact replacement is no longer available. This makes you a little less happy with your cookware, hastening the day you will buy new cookware, which is what manufacturers want you to do.

Stainless ply-bottomed (or full cap) cookware is an excellent choice for your "base" cookware. You need other types of cookware for certain jobs - perhaps nonstick for eggs, enameled cast iron for slow simmers and braising, that kind of thing.

This is personal preference, but I don't personally recommend anodized cookware like original Calphalon. The anodized layer is prone to wear-through, and there's no way to renew it. Also, it's not happy in dishwashers; it's very resistant to acid so long as the anodized layer is not breached, but it's fairly sensitive to the alkali in dishwasher detergent. Alkali will turn the grey surface whitish, and can make it very prone to sticking. In fairness, I will say that people who understand the characteristics of anodized cookware and are willing to take good care of it can extend its life dramatically.

What do I use personally? Vintage aluminum-clad Farberware. James Beard used to say it was the most cookware for the money, a sentiment I totally agree with - it performed about equally with Cuisinart, at a quarter the price. I don't mind shining the bottom with a bit of Brillo. New Farberware (the "Classic" line) has a full cap base, making that unnecessary.

I am also very fond of Corning Ware - the real Pyroceram stuff.

 

[tomturbomatic]

In the late 70s publication A Cook's Catalog, Beard did indeed give Farberware high marks. The only gripe I have with the cookware is that the bottoms are slightly concave so they flatten out when heated. This works fine in skillets or when a Dutch Oven is heated to temperatures above the boiling point for searing, sauteeing, etc., but when you want to boil water, the base of the pan remains much cooler and does not flatten out to make really good contact with the surface unit.

I have some pieces of the original Cuisinart cookware with the beautiful wood handles. The aluminum bases were much gentler than the newer copper discs in that they put more mass between the heat and the food, but both perform well and are FLAT. I thought the detachable handle for the Au Gratin pans was so neat I had to buy one for the one pan I have.

In the 80s, John's definition of a YUPPIE was someone with a set of Calphalon hanging over a commercial gas range, both unused because they eat every meal out.