Delia vs. Nigella

[luckykaa]

I saw a bit of Delia Smith's new How to Cheat at cooking show.

As far as I can tell, she's trying to be Nigella Lawson.

And failing quite dismally. 

Nigella annoys me.  She's very full of herself and coming from a stupidly rich family, is quite hopeless when she tries to relate to the common person.  And she often doesn't even cook.  But that's not what she's about.  what she does do is come up with some clever ways of saving effort while still giving you a home made feel.  If something is fiddly or complicated she'll tell you to just go out and buy it.  If something's expensive she'll show you how to make something cheap look and taste almost as good.  She rarely makes her own sauces and never does anything fiddly. 

The other thing she does well is using recipes and ingredients in unusual ways.  Ham in coca cola is an example. 

Delia tries to do the same, and fails abysmally.  The segment I saw she was extolling the virtues of ready whipped cream.  Now you can buy it whipped.  Or alternatively you can buy whipping cream and whip it yourself in a minute.  She was also talking about canned meat.  Well, yeah.  I suspect the reason that you don't get canned meat any more is that we haver a better preservative.  It's called refrigeration.  It works pretty well. 

Please Delia.  You don't know how to do this.  You've always had lots of time to cook.  Applied laziness is a trade off between time taken and acceptable quality. 

Comments

[emmzzi.livejournal.com]

*applause and agreement*

[invisigoth51.livejournal.com]

You are so right - this is what's wrong with Delia's approach - using a packet of dried rissoto as i saw her the other night, isn't cooking! Besides how much effort is it to cook rice? F all! If you want to save time a better tip would be, soak it in your stock half an hour before you want to cook and knock 10 mins off the time you have to stand there stiring.

If you don't even have 15 mins to cook dinner of an evening then you're doing something very wrong, and the odd day on which you don't - well that's what frozen pizza and take out is FOR! I think the thing that bothers me is that her 'cheats' are still effort, but effort that produces rubbish food. She says that this is only for occasional use, so what i want to ask her is... whats wrong with a salad, or reheating something you took time over another night?

I actually have the Nigella 'quick' recipe book, and it's not all that good compared to her other ones - but i think this is mostly because she thinks that tinned pulses are the answer, and i find them a bit boring.

Last night i wanted something quick, so i defrosted some home made burgers left over from the other week, wipped up a quick salsa and deep fried some sweet potato... 10 minutes total. Also, she likes football - i don't rate her.

/ rant

[tigerpixie.livejournal.com]

I dislike any and all TV chefs - they make me feel inadequate as a wife and woman, being unable to cook delicious meals that are made from scratch etc etc.

And something that Delia would love...over in the good ol' US of A you can now get frozen porridge. The only thing is, it takes at least twice as long to nuke as if you put oats and milk in the microwave and cooked that.

*rolls eyes heavenward*

[invisigoth51.livejournal.com]

Anyone can cook meals from scratch... delicious is another matter. Just get a recipe book and make everything in it - by the time you're done i guarantee cooking will hold no fear for you.
Although i dislike your first sentiment - being unable to cook has nothing to do with being a wife or a woman - men are equally shit at cooking when they haven't had any practice and are just as capable of learning, in fact the best two cooks i know are men.

Also, i like TV chefs when instead of trying to tell me how to cook on a budget or in 5 seconds or on a camping stove - they show how to cook lovely food out of easy to aquire ingredients, very inspirational, especially when you are hungry.

[raygungothic.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how you cook - but I am damn sure you cook better than Delia Smith. I don't think the woman knows what food or basic cooking skills *are*. Have you seen her "knead" bread?

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Nigella's idea of time saving is using store bought curry paste. Ok, fair enough, nobody wants to grind all that crap up themselves let alone try to find kaffir lime leaves at the Sainsbury's local. But Delia's idea of time saving is to use canned meat that looks like dog food. Erm...no thanks, I can take the extra 5 min to brown normal meat. Her food just doesn't look all that appetizing. It is kind of like American casserole cooking, but horribly done! American short cut casserole cooking would involve using things like frozen veg, canned soup, and minute rice or quick cook pasta. NOT gross stuff like frozen mash potato shaped into hockey pucks and canned meat. Yuck!