Nigella’s back on our screens on a Thursday night and, as suspected, the programme doesn’t just appeal to the cooking enthusiast. As she flirts down that camera lens you have to hand it to the woman. The opening scene of the first programme of the series set the tone. In it she seductively claimed that she ‘loves’ being in the kitchen. It was said with a sexy, plumy voice and a huge smile as she practically arched her back and spread her arms against the kitchen counters while wearing a top that stretched tightly across her generous proportions. Personally I’m delighted that she laces this Carry On naughtiness through the programme as it means I can watch it in peace and enjoy the cooking elements while my significant other sits quietly and is hugely entertained by the gastro porn in all its senses. Of course he thinks that I’m unaware of his true interest in Nigella’s Kitchen and will always make wild claims that it is the dishes and cooking techniques he is interested in. I was away last week and he even remembered to record it for me; how thoughtful! Maybe I’m being overly cynical and any day now he might put hand to pot and surprise me. If I’m to be perfectly honest I don’t mind cooking as I genuinely enjoy it.
Because I have an interest in cooking I would have a relatively good knowledge of food and nutrition. I’m certainly not an expert and I didn’t grow up on a farm, but there were farms in my extended family. I have always had an appreciation of where food comes from and the connection between the supermarket shelf and the land.
Rural-urban divide
Indeed the supposed rural urban divide has always puzzled me. Obviously I can see that they are different, but one isn’t ‘better’ than the other. A bit like the male female argument, both have different things to offer and are largely interdependent on the other for success. The difficulty today appears to be a growing imbalance and the very odd situation where people don’t seem to connect the bread on the shelf with wheat in a field. As people increasingly move away from the land and into towns and cities, a great deal of simple knowledge about nature is lost. Add to this trade agreements, modern food processes and fast transport and suddenly most foods are available all year round and the natural seasons and what they yield become irrelevant to most families. The old drinking joke about it being “5 O’clock somewhere” can be translated to the world of food by saying it’s always “summer somewhere”. Chefs bang on about ‘fresh’ and ‘in season’ but you can buy a bunch of asparagus at any time of the year these days as it is always ‘in season somewhere’ and shipped here. Many people just don’t know what is “in season” at any given time and therefore cannot operate within nature’s laws even if they wanted to. I sometimes despair when I read cookery books or watch shows that call for only fresh and in season ingredients, but then fail to qualify exactly what that means.
Nature is clever
Each season brings with it a glut of fresh ingredients and if you look closely you will be amazed at just how clever nature is, in that it provides appropriate food for the appropriate time of year, weather and what the human body is up to. Naturally when a product is in abundance and grown locally it should be less expensive and so it makes sound financial sense to eat what’s in season. For example autumn is all about chunky root vegetables and a better choice of Irish apples and pears from local orchards. It’s the time of year that meat displays offer braising and stewing cuts for the colder days. The lighter breakfasts of summer fruit salads, mueslis and yoghurts give way for warm buns and toasted breads and cereals as we head for warm porridge weather. A walk in the country will yield great fruits from the brambles that make excellent jams, preserves and additions to homemade tarts. And if you really know what you are doing, the fields are full of wild mushrooms just crying out to be picked and put in a soup or fried with some good bacon. (Mind you the mushroom picking business is not for everyone; do not chance it unless you know what you’re doing.) If you look at what’s in season from a nutritional point of view you will also marvel at nature’s ability to know exactly what we need. The colourful root vegetables are full of nutrients that are fantastic cold and flu fighters. They also work really well when cooked slowly in stews. Meats suitable for braising and stewing are packed with good fats and proteins that demand long slow cooking to extract them. While apples and pears are full of antioxidants, they are also essential to stabilise the PH balance of the body which impacts the ability of the immune system to fight invasion. Indeed we need apples, pears and other alkali foods to provide a balance today more than ever as many of the processed foods that we consume are very acidic. Autumn is all about gearing the body to cope with the harsher months of winter.
Burnout and stress
Naturally, winter is about hibernation. Shorter days and colder nights call for food that provides inner warmth. This season also gives us a natural yearning for healing and restorative foods. The body is recovering from a spring, summer and autumn of sowing, growing and harvesting and should now be resting in the winter and rejuvenating in anticipation of doing it all over again come the spring. Our modern world has abandoned such idyllic living and jobs continue all year round, but against the traditional backdrop it’s easy to see how modern day burnout and stress would be an alien concept to our ancestors who, classically, abided by nature and avoided such ills.
It’s hard to control the general family stresses of work, school and the economy, but eating incorrectly and storing up trouble on that front is inexcusable. We should never loose sight of our connection with the land and we owe it to our children to teach them where food comes from. The concern I would have is that even the parents of today don’t seem to know. RTE should be encouraged to bring a bit more of Nigella’s naughtiness to Ear to the Ground; sort of Playboy meets Mart and Market, it would certainly do wonders for the ratings.