Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag

[prasantrin]

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Canadian show "The Shopping Bags" (Anna Wallner and Kristina Matisic have also appeared on one of the American morning shows doing the types of reviews they do on Shipping Bags), but the hosts have another show called "Anna and Kristina's Grocery Bag". They choose a cookbook and make a few recipes out of it. Then a local chef comes over for dinner and rates their cooking (when they do Mangoes and Curry Leaves, Vikram Vij and his wife are the taste testers).

I've been enjoying the show. Neither of them are particularly adept at cooking, but they do an admirable job and show both the successes and the failures (Anna Wallner just blended a silicone spatula into her mole).

Right now they're doing Mexican (Rick Bayless' Mexican Kitchen) and they just did Thai (David Thompson's Thai Food). Lots of bleeping going on.

They also do The French Laundry (which I'm dying to see given their very amateur cooking skills) and other books and styles of cooking.

Season 1 books and their reviews

Season 2 books with their reviews

Edited August 2, 2009 by prasantrin (log)

[prasantrin]

At the end of the Mexican Kitchen review, they asked the chef, "Do you think it's the book or our inexperience?"

And she replied, "I think it's your inexperience."

:lol:

[Beth Wilson]

I just love this show I love the comparisons & testing of products or utensils they do during the show.

I like the fact that they aren't professional chefs and that they are testing out the recipes like anyone who just bought the book off the shelf. . like me.

I enjoy watching the successful recipes almost as much as I love the disasters! They are pretty honest on the prep of the recipes and the final results. The chefs have been even more honest and interesting.

It's try before you buy with imagination!

[prasantrin]

I just love this show    I love the comparisons & testing of products or utensils they do during the show. 

I like the fact that they aren't professional chefs and that they are testing out the recipes like anyone who just bought the book off the shelf. . like me.

I enjoy watching the successful recipes almost as much as I love the disasters!  They are pretty honest on the prep of the recipes and the final results. The chefs have been even more honest and interesting.

It's try before you buy with imagination!

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To add, I like that they don't base their final opinion on their cooking. For Mexican Kitchen, for example, they both recommended the book although none of their dishes turned out very well.

And for Thai Food, most of the dishes didn't turn out very well, one recommended the book and the other didn't, and they're both very clear about their reasons.

I liked the garlic episode when they couldn't put out the sterno. The guest chef said after (I'm paraphrasing), "I could have helped them, but it was just so funny."

[CaliPoutine]

What channel is this show aired on?

I've never heard of it( except someone who mentioned it on another message board).

[prasantrin]

In my area it's on channel 21.

We haven't had full cable in years, so I don't know what the network is. If you do a search for the title, you'll be able to find the channel in your area for your cable provider.

[Pam R]

It's on W and Viva here.

I saw it for the first time yesterday and I like it. Fun watching them try the recipes, showing their screw-ups and all. Getting an expert in to taste test is a great idea, but I don't know that their opinion is taken into consideration when they decide if the books get a pass or a buy. Fun show.

[Darienne]

I am closest to the Toronto area. Is it on the FN coming out of Toronto? I have never encountered it.

[Pam R]

Nope, not on FN. In Winnipeg we get it on W and Viva, both are national networks, I think (I'm guessing here, because they aren't local).

[Darienne]

Nope, not on FN.  In Winnipeg we get it on W and Viva, both are national networks, I think (I'm guessing here, because they aren't local).

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I know we get Viva, but what is "W"? I guess I can find out...

Looked today at the FN line-up. The entire day given off to grilling! Entirely too much grilling going on on FN to begin with! This is TOO much!!

PS. We get W. Just found it. Thanks. I'll try their line-up.

Edited August 3, 2009 by Darienne (log)

[prasantrin]

Anna and Kristina went all the way to Italy to cook from the Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, and Umberto Menghi (popular Italian chef from Vancouver) flew all the way out there to taste the recipes (they did the cooking at his cooking school in Tuscany).

Some comments from Umberto:

After walking into his school's kitchen: Smells good, but what a mess.

re: Homemade Fettuccine w/ Butter Sage Sauce

Umberto: I'm sorry. This is not pasta.

Tuscan Meat Roll with White Wine & Porcini Mushrooms

Umberto: For me it's disgusting.

Kristina's comment: That's the second time a chef has said something we've made is disgusting.

Umberto: You come to Tuscany and you give this food, if I wouldn't be around, they put you in jail!

Zuppa Inglese (Umberto looks at it, puts the plate down, and starts praying in Latin)

Kristina: I wasn't sure if he was praying it would taste good, or if he was saying, "Mamma mia, this looks like crap!"

(He liked it.)

Umberto: You let me come all the way from Vancouver, 18 hours of flight, you gave me bruschetta and zuppa inglese?

This show cracks me up! :lol:

[Pam R]

He seemed kind of sad about the whole thing.

I haven't seen many episodes -- do they ever impress the expert? Or is it usually a lot of misses? I'm beginning to wonder if they just can't cook. But, I think the show is very entertaining.

[prasantrin]

I've only seen a few episodes so far. Generally they've had more misses than hits, for sure, but there have been a few dishes with which the experts have been impressed.

Anna made excellent challah from Arthur Schwartz's book, and although they had a lot of problems with the knish, the expert said it was good (I do think the chef--a guy with a kosher restaurant in NY, I can't remember his name--was a lot kinder than usual, though). He also said their chicken soup was good (but the matzoh balls were "sinkers"), and he said the brisket was really good, too.

Interestingly, although the Schwartz book was the most successful with the chef/critic, Anna didn't recommend it while Kristina did. Books with split votes don't get recommendations.

It's on again tomorrow--9am and double episodes at 7 in Winnipeg! And the 7pm show is on the French Laundry!

[Darienne]

It's on again tomorrow--9am and double episodes at 7 in Winnipeg!  And the 7pm show is on the French Laundry!

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I'll check out the channel tomorrow - Toronto - and also the French Laundry.

Anything would be less irritating than the Chef at Home.

[Darienne]

Just watched the Grocery Bag show last night and now I see that it is the one referred to in the first posting on this thread in 2003: the Mexican cooking show.

They were really out of their depth on that show and the chef made it quite clear. This is a VERY unusual cooking show. It was delightful to watch, but it might wear a bit thin after a while if this is their usual level of expertise.

Still I'll watch again because the entire food network stuff is new to me.

[CaliPoutine]

I dont get the W network( unless I want to pay an additional 6.95 a month)

[Darienne]

I dont get the W network( unless I want to pay an additional 6.95 a month)

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Well, I sure wouldn't pay extra to watch any show I can think of. We get it as part of some package.

[prasantrin]

Just watched the  Grocery Bag show last night and now I see that it is the one referred to in the first posting on this thread in 2003: the Mexican cooking show.

They were really out of their depth on that show and the chef made it quite clear.  This is a VERY unusual cooking show.  It was delightful to watch, but it might wear a bit thin after a while if this is their usual level of expertise. 

Still I'll watch again because the entire food network stuff is new to me.

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It definitely starts to wear thin, but it's still interesting. Much of the time I think they're silly to choose recipes much less cookbooks so far out of their comfort range. That being said, they represent the average home cook fairly well, I think, so if nothing else, they do show that if you can read, you can cook regardless of your starting level. It can be inspiring to people who think they're hopeless in the kitchen, but for anyone who has a fair amount of knowledge, it's frustrating to watch them sometimes.

I do appreciate their comments at the end, though. They state their reasons for liking or disliking the books very clearly, and their final judgments are not based merely on the results of their "cooking day" items or on the comments from the guest chef. Their critiques remind me of the old cookbook reviews Cook's Illustrated and Fine Cooking used to do in every magazine. I wish those magazines still did them.

(An aside, I don't think the show is as old as 2003, and this topic wasn't started until last week.)

[prasantrin]

I dont get the W network( unless I want to pay an additional 6.95 a month)

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$6.95 is actually pretty cheap, unless it's only for that channel. My mother only has the channel for a month as part of a free trial cable upgrade, but if she wants to keep it (and the other channels that go along with the package), it's another $20 a month! She usually just has basic cable which doesn't include W.

But the show itself is not worth $6.95. No way! But the next time you're at someone's house or a hotel, it's worth checking out!

An update, they did surprisingly well with The French Laundry cookbook, even with the pork trotters! I mean with the final result, that is. The actual cooking part was a little painful to watch, but they both gave the book a buy!

[Darienne]

(An aside, I don't think the show is as old as 2003, and this topic wasn't started until last week.)

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You are so correct. I think I am very tired. I was looking at the date that you joined the list, not the date of the thread.

If I currently had the energy, I'd be very embarrassed.

[Beth Wilson]

I have found it really interesting to watch the product testing that they usually try out and they often give some tidbits of information that I find really helpful.

Funny that they always seem to pick recipes that they have never made or eaten sometimes. Makes it interesting to see them struggle to put something together that they have no idea what it is supposed to look like. The Thai cookbook episode had a few of these and the chef was impressed with some of their dishes.

You gotta feel for the chefs trying these ghastly dishes that they declare "disgusting".

I have to agree with the many others on this forum, FN has had some pretty uninspired stuff lately, it seems that the shows really revolve around the personality host and not the food. This show revolves around the recipes from the cookbook, the hosts and guest chefs just give some input.

So far they have done different recipe books every time so I haven't got bored of it yet. It is a refreshing change.

[CaliPoutine]

$6.95 is actually pretty cheap, unless it's only for that channel.

6.95 is for a few channels, but I doubt I'd watch the others. Additionally, when you already pay 120.00 a month for cable/internet each extra package adds up.