Cooking TV shows: the dos and the don`ts.
By marguicha
@marguicha (230365)
Chile
November 12, 2012 11:04pm CST
Several times a week I watch (ot half watch) cookiing TV shows. Today I was shocked at what I saw in two different shows. First there was this man making a parmesan risotto. I watched while he diced the onion, fried it and then put the rice, wine and broth. So far, so good. I watched while he stired it. But then my heart skipped a beat: he brought about half a pound of butter for what he said it was a kilo of rice (about 4 cups) and placed there to melt. I almost felt my arteries clogging, the cholesterol levels going up. OMG!!! So I stopped watching it and changed the channel. There was another chef making a sort of pasta from Sardinia. I usually buy the pasta, but I was curious. I was in for another shock. This time the chef took something like cornmeal (about a pound, I'd say) and added 10 (ten) eggs to make the dough. No water, just those eggs. I`m sure both dishes might have been yummy. But I think that those poisonous meals should be banned from a genral audience. What do you think? Have you noticed that cooks at TV use a lot more fat and oil as compared to what we use? What would you do? Share
1 person likes this
7 responses
@prashu228 (37518)
• India
13 Nov 12
I agree, they definitely use more than us. We can easily notice the over floating oil on the plate. I sometimes wonder why they add so much and does it add any taste to the dish , i mean the extra oil and cheese.I even noticed the people who come to participate in the shows even add too much of it. And they speak about health haha how funny.
1 person likes this
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
13 Nov 12
I don`t believe in any sort of food literally swimming in fat. I`m sure that the different tastes of the ingredients arre changed with that treatment
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
15 Nov 12
hi friend, sometimes i get the feeling (and i could be wrong), that people tend to over do things in a show because every thing there is free, what I mean is all the stuff are there for the taking, as much as you want
something we will not normally do at home (cause we all have a budget), it's just a hunch, perhaps some people really cook that way, more for taste than health
something we will not normally do at home (cause we all have a budget), it's just a hunch, perhaps some people really cook that way, more for taste than health @marguicha (230365)
• Chile
16 Nov 12
I am a very good cook and I would not be stingy on any ingredient if it was a dish for guest (at they are in TV shows). But any dish with loads of butter or oil will mean that the other ingredients are smothered in fat. The same thing goes for a dish with too much of anything.
@savypat (20216)
• United States
13 Nov 12
My pet peeve is the lack of sanitation. Cooks on TV constantly use bare hands to pick out salt and pepper from open containers to season their dishes. These are shows that many of our new cooks learn from. Bad habits stay with you. I keep a container of course salt near my stove, but it is covered and there is a serving spoon kept within. Many recipies call for a lot of fat, and to us they are very tasteful. We can have these and enjoy them if we are very careful of the serving size. In our house we just avoid them all together. In fact I stopped watching these shows all together.
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
15 Nov 12
I hadn`t thought of it, but when you gave the salt example, I remembered when I changed the spoon from a stainless steel one to a plastic one. The stainless steel spoon suffered from corrotion. And I would not use my hands. I told about risottos, because I make risottos frecuently. But I never add that amount of fat and the recipe doesn`t call for it.
@alottodo (3056)
• Australia
13 Nov 12
I watch cooking shows every day I just love cooking[ I was a cook/catering assistant] I just like to follow what is going on in the world's cuisine...but yes you are right some chef tend to add so much fat or salt in their cooking none of it is necessary really! I like to boost the flavours with fresh herbs and spices you get a lighter meal without the fat or so much salt! I usually make my own recipes or modify recipes to suit my self.
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
15 Nov 12
They add too much of many ingredients, alottodo. It`s salt, lots of pepper, half a bottle of oil... I love salt, pepper and oil. But I dosify them.
@Kalyni2011 (3496)
• India
13 Nov 12
At times i view such shows, but never follow what they show, our indian foods are different and guess much tasty because of the spies we use, earlier i used more oil, spies, chilly etc, but now we can't digest lol
Yes they use more fat, oils in the food they show,
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
15 Nov 12
We must change the way we eat as we get older, sister. I remember the wonderful things I ate when I was young. I bought them in the street when I was at the university. Now I feel sick only to see them and smell them as they are much too greasy.
. I remember the wonderful things I ate when I was young. I bought them in the street when I was at the university. Now I feel sick only to see them and smell them as they are much too greasy.
@doroffee (4222)
• Hungary
13 Nov 12
I think there would be alternatives of cooking shows for people who wanna live healthy. Because eating some heavier sutff now and then wouldn't kill people, I think. Just there should be variety for people living healthy.
Actually, in my country, I have another problem with cooking shows nowadays. Intensive and immense product placement. I wanna see cooking shows which show the ingredients, but not the brands. Now I feel like watching a showreel for certain brands other than cooking.
@marguicha (230365)
• Chile
15 Nov 12
At the cooking shows I see, the chefs cooks from scratch so there`s no brands. But I am worried about the amout of fat their recipes have. I watch but don`t follow them.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
16 Nov 12
This isn't the first time that something like this has happened on a cooking show and I'm sure that it won't be the last time that we see this. Take Paula Deen for example. She is the queen of butter and sugar and earlier this year she came out and said that she is a type 2 diabetic (I can't begin to imagine with the kind of food that she cooks). However, she also said that she isn't going to completely change her diet, she is just going to use diabetic medications and enjoy her own cooking in moderation.
