Occasionally I stop on cooking channels to drool over good food that I'll never make. I did attempt a chile chocolate soup from the Take Home Chef but using dried jalapenos instead of chiles was a bit of a spicy disaster. Perhaps one day my curiosity will get the best of me and I'll try it again, with the correct ingredients.
The difficulty I have with these shows is the use of gorgeous or beautiful to describe food. While I understand that "gorgeous" can imply magnificence, it's not a term I would use for my food. I might say "this tastes magnificent" but to say "this is gorgeous" sounds peculiar. It's as though the basic adjectives of our youth are no longer mature enough for our food. I still remember the stress involved in language art worksheets. Teacher's tortured us with writing down adjectives and adverbs. Was red an adjective when saying "a red car" and what the heck is an adverb again? I know it describes a verb but I can't even remember what a verb is. It's an action word... think action, think describing it... This is triggering grade school flashbacks so I must retreat from these horrific memories and go back to my present focus.
Why do culinary cuisines require such words? Kraft wouldn't even dare use beautiful to describe their cheesy masterpiece. Why then do cooking shows have to show off by refusing to use "spicy, yummy, or tasty" when referring to their dish that contains ingredients that regular supermarkets wouldn't carry. Thereby making it impossible or frustrating to attempt their divine creations.
Is it just me or are there pretentious adjectives floating around that also irk you?
9 comments:
All I can offer is this: all cooking shows should involve the Swedish chef. If he is unavailable, they ought to at least talk like him. Though we may not understand everything they'll end up saying, we can at least rely on their tonal qualities (loud mumblies = something's prolly on fire or somebody used jalapenos verus chilies, whereas happy singing = he's more'n likely making something real gorgeous). Yes! Gooooorgeous!
I think I know what you mean. Everytime I hear aesthetic-type words used to describe food, I always think it sounds like someone's reading 'Hello!' magazine out loud. Y'know, "...Lady Worthington, pictured here lounging by the pool at her simply sumptuous home in Berkshire,..."
Sumptuous. Horrid.
(And the 'Hello!' magazines I of course buy for my grandma when I visit. Well, maybe I occasionally glance through, but only to see how Fergie and the girls are doing...)
My father-in-law was in the concrete business and we once drove past this gravel pit in Utah. As we were going by, I mean I hadn't even noticed it, he said, "wow, that is a beautiful gravel pit". I just bust up laughing and was saying, "beautiful? Beautiful?" having never heard rocks described as beautiful. He was laughing too, so I'm thinking if you really have an interest in something your adjectives would be different than the next guy.
Or in the case of tv foodies, maybe you are just pretentious?
good point dani. maybe i should start saying after a good therapy session "that was a beautiful session. thank you." it might throw of the boys a bit. oh, and please tell me you weren't really up at 445 am...
marta, you are so busted as a closeted hello reader!
and dainon, the swedish chef trul is a wonder. i have full faith that he would never use the word gorgeous.
Oh yes, thanks to kids with night terrors and such, I get to be awake all hours of the night. And last night I couldn't go back to sleep, so that was fun.
this book should be found in every kitchen, I just hate it when recepice call for things no normal supermarket stocks
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0778801195/ref=sr_11_1/104-3512517-6695110?ie=UTF8
If they are using the word "beautiful" to describe how food looks, then I don't have a problem with it. I better not because I have been known to say it. However, if they are using it to describe the taste then that is just plum crazy.
my son describes worms as 'cutie pies'. Now there's a description/pet name you don't hear often! Mkaz, next time you're up around 5am, give me a call as we can chat it up!
As for the muppets, one time I ordered an episode of the Muppets on Netflix for my kids to watch, thinking they would love it. They didn't really get it, maybe it was a bad episode but I was kind of dissapointed as I LOVED it as a kid. Maybe we'll try again another time. I do have to say they have redeemed themselves by loving Looney Toones
i love that spencie nicknames all sorts of things. he's the cutie pie.
dagga, that book does look handy, especially for someone like me that hardly has ingredients around.
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