The Top Telly Picks for Foodies
By Sam Wass, Medium Well
There’s something so mesmerising about watching the juices drip from a succulent beef joint in HD, and hearing the sizzle of a steak on a griddle pan through surround sound systems. Smellivision hasn’t quite caught on yet, but we’re still pretty happy to pop the telly on and soak up some real culinary beauty without having to slave over a hot stove.
So, here’s a chance for us to gush about one of our favourite TV programmes – the mesmerizingly magnificent masterpiece that is Masterchef. For us, the professionals’ series and the amateur series are both just as good a watch as each other, but for different reasons.
With the amateurs, it’s exciting to see skills develop and watch them get to grips with different types of food (particularly when we see them starting to appreciate quality cuts of meat!), but it shows you don’t need Michelin star status to create amazing food. And with the professionals it’s a candid glimpse into the skill and technique it takes to be a top chef, not to mention the ability to cope when placed under severe stress in a very hot kitchen.
The weekly hour-dosage of foodporn courtesy of the BBC returns to screens in March. There’s quality across the board with the ingredients you see on Masterchef, and viewing always inspires us to experiment and tinker around with a few of our favourite flavours, revisit recipes and get cracking in the kitchen.
Another one of our favourites in the world of foodie TV comprises of 12 contestants in a battle of sugar skills, pastry prowess and tart talent – of course, we mean the new TV listings favourite the Great British Bake Off.
While many watch out of love for the nation’s new TV darlings Hollywood and Berry, we love seeing the full process from sketching and bare ingredients to the final show-stopper. Yes, there’s not a lot of meat in the show, but as butchers who take pride in the skill of their trade, we particularly enjoy the technical challenges where skills and knowledge are truly put to the test.
The show promotes the same messages – experiment. Many of the contestants have never heard of the creations they’re asked to tackle, and some of the braver ones decide to bump traditional tastes and opt for their own concoctions and mixtures of flavours.
We encourage our customers to experiment; to try new cuts of meat, try new types of meat, try grilling what you’d normally fry – mix it up, there’s so much you can do with a dish just by changing your meat or the way you cook it. Of course we will argue that the quality of the meat is the first and most important thing to consider, but take lessons from the contestants in these shows – be brave and try new methods and recipes, you’ll end up an expert of your own craft.