Paul Hollywood eats Mexico

[Stravaig]

Not literally!

I'm not a huge fan of Mr Hollywood but I admire him for his skill so I'm perfectly happy to watch him on the telly or buy his books. (I think I have four of his books so far.) I wasn't that impressed with his latest - "Bake" - so it didn't earn a place in the suitcase.

Rick Stein has also toured Mexico - what a moaning old git he is. (He's probably younger than me so no ageism comments, please.) What a bore.

I didn't really expect to enjoy Paul Hollywood's Mexico prog as much as I did. But some of it is very funny! And if he doesn't like some food he's polite to the host, of course, but he might tell the viewer behind the scenes that he thought it was quite horrible. LOL!

Channel 4 - do give it a watch if you have time.

[Primrose]

I,m not a lover of many of the modern cookery programmes. Just too poncy" and overdressed for today,s austerity climate.
I,d like to see a return to some ingenuous cost effective cookery programmes which help people produce a nourishing meal with low cost or few ingredients and how to make productive meals with leftovers.
Few busy working people have the time or energy for fancy cooking these days, but sadly few people have much idea how to produce a tasty home made soup for pennies either.

It shows my age but I used to enjoy watching Ready, Steady cook where chefs were challenged to produce meals with a random 5 ingredients selected by members of the audience. In my view that requires as much culinary skill and experience as some of the chefs producing the sophisticated meals.

[robo]

There all annoying the way they put or extend the name of certain food the worst for myself is the way they call the common fish called bass for some reason they all call it sea bass it gets right up my snozel

[Westi]

These are all pretty tedious & repetitive but my channel flipping & finding the USA nonsense with immense use of fat & sugars - sugar in coleslaw for example; I came to the conclusion we haven't got it too bad. But it is about time they stopped rolling out the same old presenters, blimey Mary, Jamie & Ainsley need a rest they have made their money - move over for the new blood with 'their' fingers on the pulse of economical living! And don't niche the shows to vegan, vegetarian or meat & whatever the vegetarian thing is where you eat fish is called - just a rounded show to provide options to eat something affordable & if the nice turns out veggie then just perfect for us!

[tigerburnie]

I'm a fisherman as well as a gardener, when I caught a Turbot a while back, it was eaten after grilling with a few curly fries and some salad. No strong flavoured sauces, no salt or pepper or anything added, just a light brushing with Rice Bran oil before cooking. If I gather shell fish or cook a lobster, nothing is added, often eating it just on it's own with maybe a slice of bread. I bet there's not a profesional chef alive who knows what their ingredients actually taste like. It's not like I eat plain food, I like a curry, I add chillies I grow to food, but I get the feeling these chefs are just showing off, I do incidentally have a nephew who is a head chef, so I do have a bit of insider knowledge when making the statement.

[retropants]

my BIL used to be a head chef at very fancy hotels (he burned out - it is a thankless job) but he survived all day long on coca cola and mars bars, much to my sister's dismay.

[Stravaig]

Well, I'm a professional chef, although I've not had a job for several years. I do both simple and fancy - it depends on the situation and my mood. I do a lot of soup! I agree, it's easy to make and it's a nourishing meal for pennies. On the other hand, I have about 300 cookbooks and am always looking to expand my skills and knowledge. (More accurate to say I HAD all these cookbooks. They're in our Kyiv flat so goodness knows if I might ever see any of them again.)

Ready Steady Cook? Oh yes, I used to love that. When I was at catering college in 1997, I arranged for our class Christmas outing to be in the audience! What fun we had.

[Colin2016]

For me Nigella Lawson gives me inspiration, love here calm way of cooking.

I came across "the Doctors Kitchen" Dr Rupy Aujlia a bit time consuming and ingredients difficult to get locally but all healy recipes.

The way I cook is bung it in and hope for the best, lets face after growing it I'm going to eat it.

Example
Monday had Toms, onions, chili, garlic, mushrooms very small potatoes (those that are to small to use normally) olive oil and tin of mussels & pasta.
Tuesday same as Monday but substituted the mussels for French beans, broccoli.

All veg is home grown apart from mushrooms which I not had success in growing them yet.

[Stravaig]

Hi Colin,

Nigella? Are you looking for cooking advice or sex?

Ooh, spatchcock. (Every time my husband sees Nigella on the telly he shouts "spatchcock"!) Yeah, he's probably mad.

Just drizzle this over and give it a bit of a squeeze.

I think Nigella is OK but she's more of a tease than a chef. If you like her that's fine. Just stroke this gently until it becomes more stiff, then rub it up against...

Oh gimme a break. As for for doctors in the kitchen. Yow! How would you like chefs in the medical clinic telling you what's wrong with you and prescribing medicines? Nah. I think it would be better if they buggered off and stuck to what they know about.

[Colin2016]

Nigella is better to look at than the blokes plus no effing & blinding.

Often wonder why people put up with the way Gordon Ramsey talks to his staff.

Don't dismiss what you can learn and from where, it is the reverse of a chef going into hospital to consult on how improve the food.

[Stravaig]

Society//fashions change. 20-odd years ago bullying was the norm in professional kitchens. You had to be pretty tough to survive. I'm ex-army so it didn't freak me out but it wasn't easy. Gordon Ramsay (and all his nastiness) was a role model.

Now it's fashionable and smart to have a calm and relaxed kitchen. How times have changed!

(I only trained as a chef as a hobby, although I did do it professionally. My real career - after leaving the army - was accountancy. Exciting or what?)