Hugh Firmly-Whippingbottom

[offcentre]

I'm a big fan of the hughster and whilst his new show has too much of the reality-show dribble for my liking, I think he's doing something important.

On the first show we saw, albeit only fairly briefly, battery, free-range and organic chicken farming, his own chicken's conditions and a slaughter in some detail. Last night lamb got the same treatment - if you didn't see it you missed a still-jerking lamb having its head cut off and thrown into a box. You also see the reactions of the participants, which helps to drive home the impact of the slaughter.

In addition it is confronting people who don't cook and showing them how simple and economical good home cooking can be. Its a shame we don't get more information on basic cooking techniques, or at least more info on how to cook the few dishes that are shown.

With all the debate on Sir Heston I think HFW deserves a bit of credit.

[ravelda]

I agree offcentre - I think that this is the kind of problem that may actually have some impact on people, and no matter how small the impact, it is still worthwhile. It is a similar approach to that taken by Anthony Bourdain in A Cook's Tour and No Reservation where he shows a number of animals being slaugtered and emphasises the need to waste nothing. and of course Jamie Oliver also gave us the same message in Jamie's Italy.

It certainly makes interesting, if at times, slightly difficult viewing, and most of all it is not dumbed down as so many programmes are.

[Champagne Sadie]

This is one of the best food related programs in years.

He should go to the US and make the same show.

[fisherman]

Hugh is a role model to us all, walking it like he talks it!

Great first episode, I'm going to watch the second one tonight, and I can't wait.

My friends are sick me getting all high and mighty with them about their shopping and eating habits, but the ones who saw the first episode are all thinking about the subject a lot more

[Gary Marshall]

missed the first one caught most of the second and my thoughts mirror those above, a brilliant food programme head and shoulders above anything on at the moment.

i watched 2 mins of hestons black forest gateaux prog before i realised i really couldn't care less and turned over.

[Bapi]

I too think that this programme has been a triumph. Anyone who tries to educate the masses not to eat mass produced rubbish and inhumanely bred food is doing us all a service.

My personal bug bear are brolier chickens, which he focused on programme 1. He is quite right, why should chickens cost just over £3 to buy? This article from the OFM gives food for thought. Pecking Order

[KaffirLime]

Surely the name is huge firmly whippingbottom?

Edited November 13, 2006 by KaffirLime (log)

[BertieWooster]

I do love the man, but perhaps its my cynicism that looks at his multi-million pound pad and goes 'of course you've got the time to do all this..'

I mean those ready meal freaks in last weeks, yes, three hours to make a lasagne--and when, exactly, will they have the time to do this? Its more than a tad unrealistic.

(And Gill seems to do all the REAL work).

[ravelda]

three hours to make a lasagne--and when, exactly, will they have the time to do this? Its more than a tad unrealistic.

I disagree Berite - I work very long hours, but still manage to cook a nice meal (fairly three courses) during the week - it just takes a little planning.

I really admire Hugh and am very pleased that someone is really focussing on getting people to think more about where there food comes from. With any luck this will lead to customers demanding better quality ingredients from their supermarkets and a more diverse range of ingredients - for example, instead of having a super economy chicken, an economy chicken, a free range chicken and an organic chicken, and then the same range for beef, pork, lamb and turkey filling the shelve, we will just have free-range or organic choices and then the shelf space that becomes free can be used for things like venison, veal, more game, etc...

IMHO opinion only of course!

[offcentre]

Lack of time, lack of understanding and the fact that cooking is looked upon as a chore are the main barriers stopping non-cooks from cooking I think.

Hugh needs to show us easy recipes - not necessarily quick. My favourite meal at the moment is Simon Hopkinsons poulet poche a la creme. Throw it all in a pot for an hour, reduce some of the stock, add cream and serve with some veg. Perfect.

Since my daughter came along the time I spend cooking has gone right down - I just don't have the time or energy for it any more. It doesn't mean we eat less well, it just means I choose recipes that can cook away while I do other things or recipes that can be knocked up within half an hour.

Three hours cooking a lasagne - I wouldn't even consider it these days.

[naebody]

Double-edged sword, this one.

I agree entirely with Hugh Fairly-Longname's agenda, and I'd assume the vast majority of his audience share that opinion. Meanwhile, those who don't are more than likely watching some Emmerdale actress eating kangaroo testicles on ITV1. For all his sterling work through the TV programme, the Guardian column and the books, there can't be much doubts that most of Huge Fairy-Christmastree's efforts are spent preaching to the converted. He is, I'm afraid, a bit of a salve for a very specific type of middle class who shop at Lidgate's for their bleeding hearts.

On the larger issue of animal welfare and convenience foods: I'd like to stick by the rule that you shouldn't eat anything that you wouldn't be comfortable killing in the same manner with your own hand. But, when it's gone 3pm and the only thing left in the staff canteen is a BLT of questionable origin, what are the options?

Edited November 14, 2006 by naebody (log)

[Corinna Dunne]

Lack of time, lack of understanding and the fact that cooking is looked upon as a chore are the main barriers stopping non-cooks from cooking I think.

Hugh needs to show us easy recipes - not necessarily quick. My favourite meal at the moment is Simon Hopkinsons poulet poche a la creme. Throw it all in a pot for an hour, reduce some of the stock, add cream and serve with some veg. Perfect.

Since my daughter came along the time I spend cooking has gone right down - I just don't have the time or energy for it any more. It doesn't mean we eat less well, it just means I choose recipes that can cook away while I do other things or recipes that can be knocked up within half an hour.

Three hours cooking a lasagne - I wouldn't even consider it these days.

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I agree and disagree...

If you're goiing through a particularly busy phase in life (eg small children), complicated or long recipes won't be getting much of a look in. But if you already know how to cook, you'll get by on Carbonara and quick dishes, and eventually find your way back to a reasonable level of sanity and some satisfying time in the kitchen.

If you don't know how to cook, and these are the people that are being targeted everywhere, you need to start with the basics and work from there. I think educating people on good food sourcing is a good start, but it appears to me that just about every cookery programme plays out to an audience of either the converted as mentioned by naebody, or those filled with good intentions. None of the audience wants to feel like things are being dumbed down, are too simple and below them. So, for many it's a virtual cooking experience from a diet of TV and 100 cookbooks. And yes, everyone else is not looking anyway.

I really believe that unless you are taught in the home or at schcol, it is hard to get a real feel for cooking later in life when you're having too much fun and later embroiled in domestic chores.

Unfortunately I've managed to miss this programme, which sounds great and I love HFW, but I'm one of the converted anyway.

[BertieWooster]

Yup, one wonders who this programme is actually for. there's a feeling of it being rather smug and superior and 'we' can all join in laughing at the poor working people who don't have time to cook. While anyone that might be influenced watches, as was said, the latest witchety-grub trial.

Am I alone in actually disliking cooking? That's why I go to restaurants...

[pigeonpie]

Okay, I saw the first programme - the chickens - but missed the lamb, so it may be that some of what I'm about to say doesn't hold true for what I missed. However ...

I had a real problem with the chickens episode for one simple reason: in my opinion it missed the point, or what is to me the main point, the single biggest reason for buying 'proper' chickens (or lamb, or beef, or pork ...): Flavour. I'm one of the converted - big time, I buy my meat here and here and here. I stopped buying the supermarket stuff some time ago for the simple reason that it tastes rubbish (when it tastes of anything at all).

All the programme seemed to be trying to do was to make people feel guilty about the choices they made about food and guilt-trip them into making different choices. Educating people about intensive farming is a good thing, but it's only part of the story.

Until a year or two ago, my other half had a 'food-as-fuel, time spent in the kitchen is time wasted, might as well eat a crap ready-meal, attitude to cooking. Unless I was cooking for her, she pretty much always ate rubbish, with KFC, McD's, etc, regulars on the menu. Somehow, even after several years, my enthusiasm and desire for 'proper' food just wasn't wearing off on her - she was perfectly happy to eat what I cooked, but had absolutely zero interest in helping me cook. Now she's as enthusiastic, curious, and hands-on as me and cooking has become something that we truly share. What changed? I started buying really good meat and she noticed the difference. Crucially, here was something that was actually worth spending time and effort over, so she started to do so, and started to understand what it was all about.

The bottom line is that cooking from scratch is always going to take more time and effort and planning than putting a ready-meal in the microwave, unless you live on scrambled eggs (and even that, frankly, requires more washing-up and attention). Unless you can persuade people to want to invest that time and effort for positive reasons, rather than just guilt-induced ones, you have either failed, or succeeded in rather a cheap manner.

If Hugh Goody-Two-Shoes really wants to share his enjoyment of good food, then he should do just that. Holier-than-thou isn't very appealing. His 'Meat' book did a great job on this - and educated me not a little - but I'm not sure this programme is going to do much more than make the converted feel smug and the unconverted reach for the remote.

[Corinna Dunne]

I don't want to knock HFW, I don't think he's a goody-two-shoes and I welcome every TV attempt to educate and improve things, (although I do accept that I haven't seen this series). Even though each programme is obviously not going to catch everyone, I do feel that the general public's knowledge about rearing methods for livestock and poultry is increasing and this is a good thing.

There's a move back to simple cooking in restaurants using well-sourced ingredients. I'm hoping that somehow, people who don't cook at home might just think to themselves, hey, you know, I could cook a steak at home. And this would be progress.

[davebrown]

Meanwhile, those who don't are more than likely watching some Emmerdale actress eating kangaroo testicles on ITV1.

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So how long would we be cooking these testicles for?