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Issue 9 - Fashion Plates |
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Is fashion a part of the food business? You had better believe it.
Just as something stirs in the air that makes certain styles and colours in for the fashionistas, so there are similar trends for food. The main designers are the star chefs, food writers and TV presenters. These key opinion leaders set the pace for whats in and out and open our eyes to new concepts. However it doesnt take long before the cutting edge becomes done to death.
Fashion Plates
Is fashion a part of the food business? You had better believe it.
Just as something stirs in the air that makes certain styles and colours in for the fashionistas, so there are similar trends for food. The main designers are the star chefs, food writers and TV presenters. These key opinion leaders set the pace for whats in and out and open our eyes to new concepts. However it doesnt take long before the cutting edge becomes done to death.
How often do you go out to eat and find menus filled with similar dishes? When did duck confit stop being the new best thing and become ho hum? How many dishes are we seeing with preserved lemons or verjuice? Where did the fashion in restaurants and cafés for placing olive oil in bowls to use with bread come from? Certainly not from Italy where it sits in a cruet set with vinegar for salad purposes.
You cant always blame the food leaders because there will always be those who take things to the extreme just like there are fashion tragics who go beyond the good taste mark.
One of the main changes in food fashion which is to be applauded is the way we eat and prepare food at home. It is completely staggering how foods that were part of the diet in Australia post war and through to the seventies are no longer seriously considered a part of family life. The roast on Sunday, the cold meat on Monday, the mince on Tuesday, the chops on Wednesday, sausages on Thursday - every day of the week had a marker.
There would barely be a home in Australia that runs with this scenario any more.
Now it is likely to be a stir-fry, spaghetti bolognaise, noodles, lasagne, chicken (which used to only be for special occasions) and maybe fish.
If, like me, you are of the older persuasion, you might remember the dinner parties starting with paté, then Boeuf Wellington and then on to cheese and dessert --very often Crème Caramel or similar. The health issues implied in such a menu are staggering and now there would hardly be anyone who would eat such foods together in one meal. This is not even mentioning all the alcohol we drank from the pre-dinner drinks, to the wine and then liqueurs and then into the car to drive home. Well random breath testing put a stop to that very quickly.
Health and fitness concerns have played an enormous role in the types of foods we eat. This coupled with time deprivation has seen a complete lifestyle change. Foods that were once popular are no longer bought and the multicultural society in which we live has introduced us to foods and recipes that are now part of our everyday life.
We have also changed the ways in which we cook. Baking is now, if done at all, a weekend hobby or a special occasion pursuit, frying is less popular as is roasting and pot roasting (goodness what is that?). Woks, grill plates, indoor barbecues are popular as are fish and vegetable steamers.
The best selling cookbooks, often written by the new gods in the kitchen, are focussed on presenting the freshest of ingredients cooked simply and most importantly, quickly. No dish should take more than thirty minutes to prepare, let alone cook.
This came to mind when I went to my shelves to look up some recipes for a lunch I was holding. I had got a bit carried away in the market and had arrived home with bags full of fresh ingredients and a wish to find new ways to prepare my catch. It was then I started to realise how many cookbooks I had and how frequently or indeed infrequently, I used many of them. Many are completely out of context for the way we live now and I dont think that it is likely that they will revive. Whilst there has been a move to comfort food and some of the old recipes that Grandma or Mum used to cook, but no one is prepared to spend the time or indeed use the ingredients that she would have thought essential. So you look for the easy version along with recipes that take little time to prepare but still offer a great tasting meal.
So am I going to discard all my cookbooks? Well yes quite a few. I dont cook like that any more and will never do so again. Nor are they worth leaving to my children as a quaint inheritance of times past.
On the whole, we are eating better and healthier than at any other time in our history and the variety of foods available to us is just staggering. How sad then that the fast food outlets, available on every street corner, should tempt people to take that option. With the great abundance of fresh foods, some already pre prepared, it is so easy to prepare a quick and nutritious meal.
All of us who are interested in eating well should make sure that the food revolution continues and that we become vocal advocates of good fresh food on the plate.
Over to you
The Happy Gourmet
Quote of the month:
In cooking, as in all arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection
Curnonsky
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