I have a theory. It's not a very popular theory, nor one which is likely to be proven with this audience, but it's a theory nonetheless.
So, what is my scientific observation threatening enough to TV-chefs and cookbook authors that they will scream and yell that we're "Doing it wrong" when they hear of it?
It is thus:
Normal people do not bother to use freerange/organic/fresh ingredients when they don't normally buy such, nor do they kill themselves to find 'unique' products.
What do I mean by that? Well, my mother doesn't like cooking, or food. She likes eating, but doesn't overly care what things taste like. The rice she uses for Risotto? 'White' rice. Not Arborio or any of the others, but standard white rice. Needless to say, her risotto... isn't.
Most of the people I know won't go and try to find fresh jeruselem artichokes, just because a recipe calls for them. They'll substitute sour cream for yoghourt because they've got the former or don't want to buy and then waste the latter. They won't buy something that's only going to be half used, nor will they buy fresh when frozen is WAY cheaper. Spices and herbs get changed at will, marinating times are shortened, no-one goes to a farmers market to get their produce, and the worst offense is usuallly mushrooms. I don't even know where to buy morels, chanterelles, and you should have seen my face light up when I found Porcinis dried.
I think most people find obtaining the more unusual ingredients takes away the fun of cooking. I know that I no longer bother looking for unusual ingredients, because I'm so rarely successful in finding them that I loose too much time I could be working, studying, doing housework, or cooking. So I just don't bother. Saves me time and money, I put more effort into making the food then finding the ingredients, and I don't think my food suffers.
So, how stringent are we in purchasing? Do you go the extra mile to buy a fresh product you're only going to use a quarter of? Do you buy organic products, go hunting for the spices and order exotics from catalogues (Not really an option in Australia, the idea of mail order food not being one that's considered good), or do you swap out for what you can get locally with the minimum of effort?
So, what is my scientific observation threatening enough to TV-chefs and cookbook authors that they will scream and yell that we're "Doing it wrong" when they hear of it?
It is thus:
Normal people do not bother to use freerange/organic/fresh ingredients when they don't normally buy such, nor do they kill themselves to find 'unique' products.
What do I mean by that? Well, my mother doesn't like cooking, or food. She likes eating, but doesn't overly care what things taste like. The rice she uses for Risotto? 'White' rice. Not Arborio or any of the others, but standard white rice. Needless to say, her risotto... isn't.
Most of the people I know won't go and try to find fresh jeruselem artichokes, just because a recipe calls for them. They'll substitute sour cream for yoghourt because they've got the former or don't want to buy and then waste the latter. They won't buy something that's only going to be half used, nor will they buy fresh when frozen is WAY cheaper. Spices and herbs get changed at will, marinating times are shortened, no-one goes to a farmers market to get their produce, and the worst offense is usuallly mushrooms. I don't even know where to buy morels, chanterelles, and you should have seen my face light up when I found Porcinis dried.
I think most people find obtaining the more unusual ingredients takes away the fun of cooking. I know that I no longer bother looking for unusual ingredients, because I'm so rarely successful in finding them that I loose too much time I could be working, studying, doing housework, or cooking. So I just don't bother. Saves me time and money, I put more effort into making the food then finding the ingredients, and I don't think my food suffers.
So, how stringent are we in purchasing? Do you go the extra mile to buy a fresh product you're only going to use a quarter of? Do you buy organic products, go hunting for the spices and order exotics from catalogues (Not really an option in Australia, the idea of mail order food not being one that's considered good), or do you swap out for what you can get locally with the minimum of effort?