The burning question… 12.03.08
I’ve always been a fan of
eating. Okay, maybe not as big a fan as some people I
know, but big enough.
For instance I’ve found over the years that I like to
consume at least enough food to get through the day,
which depending on the day could be quite a little or
indeed quite a lot.
I was thinking about this the other day when I was
making lunch at home, because even though I quite like
eating, I’m not really a huge fan of cooking.
And no, it’s not like I’m one of those guys who just
says he can’t cook and as a result just doesn’t bother.
For instance I’d know I’d be in bother if my kids’
favourite drink was alka seltzer! (But it’s not by the
way!)
Compare that to a pal of mine who I’m pretty certain
either gets his wife to cook everything for him or just
buys takeaway. I’ve come to this conclusion because he
once told me before |
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he’d got married that he’d
bought a cook-book but could not make anything that was
in it.
“Why,” I asked him at the time, “is there too much fancy
cooking in it?” “Yep,” he answered, “every recipe starts
with ‘take a clean dish and…”
Anyway I’m not like that. I’m more like one of those
ones who thinks he might be able to cook…and really
can’t. Well can’t do it well anyway.
You see I’ve always been troubled by how easy those guys
on television make things look. These celebrity chefs
who will say they’re going to cook something quick that
anybody could rustle up in ten minutes when they come in
from work in the evening.
In a half hour show these boys can put together two and
three courses using stuff they expect everyone to have
in their kitchen all the time, but can we believe them?
I mean we’ve all seen the out-takes shows from a whole
range of programmes, so are we to really believe that
these boys never made a complete hamse of something and
then had to bin it?
Are we really to believe that none of the cottage pies
they have made have ever been condemned?
I was wondering that because occasionally I have burned
stuff, which I have to say is really disappointing,
because the stuff I burned was going to taste great.
Now I don’t do it all the time, and my success rate has
risen dramatically over the years, but every now and
then I hear that smoke alarm beep and I just know that
I’ve done it again.
It can be pretty annoying since this usually happens
when you are very hungry and are waiting on this food
with a certain sense of anticipation. Obviously you are
not waiting on it so much that you can’t get distracted
at any stage by something like the telephone or the
television however. |
Indeed I suspect that
television has played a huge role in the spread of
obesity in recent years. I mean with many people now
enjoying the benefit of satellite tv they have something
like 100 channels to choose from so when are they going
to get the time to exercise?
That said, perhaps I’m blaming the television or the
phone when it really is my fault for not paying
attention enough to what I am doing.
Come to think of it, that is why all those years ago I
was refused the job in the orange juice factory just up
the road from me.
They said I wasn’t able to concentrate… |
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A DROP OF
PORTER is
the weekly
column of
Inishowen
Independent
editor,
Liam Porter. |
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