I like watching cookery programmes, however being a Vegan I often sit thinking when are they going to do something for me? or why don't they do even a vegetarian alternative? Last night when the ratings war was raging between X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing I had one eye on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's New Series of River Cottage.
I like Hugh, he comes across as a pleasant and down to earth guy. He hasn't got the pretence of Heston Blumenthal, or the upper class of Gary Rhodes, and thank goodness he hasn't got Gordon Ramsey's dirty mouth. Hugh is just a nice guy who enjoys cooking and it really comes across. I enjoyed his previous series of River Cottage, where he tried to live off the land by growing crops, raising animals and bartering with local villagers for everyday items. Often selling food in exchange for gas to heat the cottage.
This season (which started this weekend) sees Hugh come to the conclusion that all those on a vegetarian or vegan diet have already come to. That we can't go on eating meat, that there simply isn't the land, or the resources left.. So what is the alternative? In Hugh's words "We eat more veg!" and he's so right. Although he hasn't turned completely vegetarian he made a deal with himself that for the summer he would not eat flesh. To me that is a great starting point, and as he pointed out, so easy in the summer because all the summer fruits and vegetables are in bloom.
Hugh's standpoint is that of a challenge in creating a great new vegetarian dish. How do you create a meal without meat as the focus of the dish?
It's like a front room without the focus being on the fireplace, however over the last 100 years the focus of our front rooms has shifted to the radio and finally to the TV. As TV screens become larger (maybe even projections) I wonder in where in 20 years will the focus of our living room's be?
Equally with food, when all food is based around animal products how do you show that there is another focus? This has previously been done by aping meat based products; vegetarian burgers, nut roasts etc. I'm surprised more chefs don't want to challenge themselves in this way. I thought chefs where creative people. As is shown in the programme, even in Hugh's own Restaurant there is only 1 vegetarian option compared to several meat alternatives. In my experience, unless I'm going to a dedicated vegetarian restaurant or cafe, there is only ever one option. Even worse, the option given feels like a token gesture, an afterthought, a polite attempt to include the awkward person.
Hugh challenged his chefs and himself to create more than just the obvious vegetarian meals and they did so, showing it can be done. What a great program. At the end of the show I was left wondering why no one has made a vegetarian cookery programme yet? There must be such a big untapped audience and market for it. Read more here..
I like Hugh, he comes across as a pleasant and down to earth guy. He hasn't got the pretence of Heston Blumenthal, or the upper class of Gary Rhodes, and thank goodness he hasn't got Gordon Ramsey's dirty mouth. Hugh is just a nice guy who enjoys cooking and it really comes across. I enjoyed his previous series of River Cottage, where he tried to live off the land by growing crops, raising animals and bartering with local villagers for everyday items. Often selling food in exchange for gas to heat the cottage.
This season (which started this weekend) sees Hugh come to the conclusion that all those on a vegetarian or vegan diet have already come to. That we can't go on eating meat, that there simply isn't the land, or the resources left.. So what is the alternative? In Hugh's words "We eat more veg!" and he's so right. Although he hasn't turned completely vegetarian he made a deal with himself that for the summer he would not eat flesh. To me that is a great starting point, and as he pointed out, so easy in the summer because all the summer fruits and vegetables are in bloom.
Hugh's standpoint is that of a challenge in creating a great new vegetarian dish. How do you create a meal without meat as the focus of the dish?
It's like a front room without the focus being on the fireplace, however over the last 100 years the focus of our front rooms has shifted to the radio and finally to the TV. As TV screens become larger (maybe even projections) I wonder in where in 20 years will the focus of our living room's be?
Equally with food, when all food is based around animal products how do you show that there is another focus? This has previously been done by aping meat based products; vegetarian burgers, nut roasts etc. I'm surprised more chefs don't want to challenge themselves in this way. I thought chefs where creative people. As is shown in the programme, even in Hugh's own Restaurant there is only 1 vegetarian option compared to several meat alternatives. In my experience, unless I'm going to a dedicated vegetarian restaurant or cafe, there is only ever one option. Even worse, the option given feels like a token gesture, an afterthought, a polite attempt to include the awkward person.
Hugh challenged his chefs and himself to create more than just the obvious vegetarian meals and they did so, showing it can be done. What a great program. At the end of the show I was left wondering why no one has made a vegetarian cookery programme yet? There must be such a big untapped audience and market for it. Read more here..
You are right, there is a huge gap in the market for veggie programmes, books etc. It's a real dichotemy that we keep being told that meat in our diet is not a sustainable option - and yet there is no real encouragement to get peoples interest in the alternatives.
ReplyDelete