From the link in the initial post:
QUOTE
What is missing, she believes, is realism. Nothing against Jamie - 'I absolutely adore Jamie; I think he's a real cook'; and nothing against Nigella -'You're not going to switch that off, are you? You're sitting there absolutely fascinated. You might not want to rush out and do the recipe, no…'
But it is sad, she says, if people are being made to feel that only professional chefs can cook, and that what you do at home can never replicate what you see on television. Most people don't have the time to cook a full, nourishing meal from scratch, and many young people don't know how to cook at all, often falling back on expensive readymades and takeaways, and a surfeit of fat-laden and sugary snack foods that are pushing the nation towards an obesity crisis. But there is a way to enjoy home cooking that is quick and healthy, by using selected ready-prepared ingredients, including frozen products - as Delia has it, a 'whole new approach to cooking and eating'.
She has scoured supermarket and delicatessen shelves to come up with 100 recommended 'hidden servants', as she puts it. Thus a recipe for a meze plate includes branded Odysea aubergine meze and stuffed vine leaves; an 'amazing moussaka' includes tinned minced lamb from Marks & Spencer and frozen chargrilled aubergine slices from Asda. A recipe for 'good old shepherd's pie' stipulates Aunt Bessie's Homestyle frozen mashed potato.
I can sort of see some of her point.
But then again, I do rush out and do Nigella's recipes, so I'm probably not the target market here.
While Kaiserschmarrn from packet pancakes is a step too far for me, as some food is just meant to be slow, some "components" can be really useful.
Take roasted peppers: my grill at home is crap, using my griddle pan to create charred peppers makes for a very smoky kitchen, I could a load in the oven, but then I need to be organised enough to use them up. So when Gordon Ramsey in his latest
F Word book says that the ones out of a jar are ok, I tend to agree with him (the pepper, feta and basil bake is lovely btw).
Virtually everyone uses some form of food helper - whether frozen creamed spinach, tins of cooked beans or pre-made stock.
And that is fine.
But Delia isn't speaking to those that love a frozen pea or several.
Delia is aiming herself at the Bing Generation, who don't cook at all but only reheat while watching others cook on TV.
Maybe such people do not cook for time reasons. Or no family role model taught them how. Perhaps they cannot be bothered?
But Delia's middle-way might get people back into the kitchen.
And could even get them to start modifying the recipes, who knows? It's a nice thought at least.
It's easy for me to be snobby about packet pancakes (because I don't believe they can taste nice and won't suit the dish), but I'm a relatively well-off single person with only my own time to manage and who doesn't have a long commute.
So if I used packet mash, it would be for my own convenience or laziness.
But I shouldn't pretend that it is home cooking either.
