“It brings me great joy in old age…” proclaimed Lady Mary Berry in the middle of her last cooking show. Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas. What brings you great joy? Looking back at a life full of success? Does she still have a great TV career ahead of her at the age of 88? Well stocked wine cellar? No, it was “put coarsely chopped parsley”.
Some might be disappointed by this almost paw-like observation, but for those of us who appreciate Dame Mary for her no-nonsense hands-on cooking show, this was the tip we were gearing up for: tips collected over a lifetime. As a food editor and teacher, she spoke clearly and sparingly, only occasionally “really delicious” when she tasted the final product.
Compare this to Jamie Oliver’s endless delight in everything he touches, or Nigella’s orgasmic ecstasy from food. Also, coarsely chopped parsley tastes better than finely chopped parsley.
As a cheap recipe slave, someone who loves to recreate ideas from TV cooking shows without buying an accompanying cookbook, I often get frustrated at how vital ingredients are (probably intentionally) left out in cooking shows. No Mary Berry nonsense—every ounce of Parmesan (in her mini cheese and herb buns) and every gallon of broth (in her turkey sauce) was spelled out, along with the required oven temperature and time.
You’ll have to watch the catch-up and hit the pause button all the time, but I think you could successfully reproduce their recipes just from the program.
The issue, however, was that by releasing the program just six days before the big event, the BBC left the program too late to be of any practical use. At least 4 channel. Easy Christmas Jamie came out in early December, and most people have already planned Christmas dinner.
Be that as it may, Berry’s main goal was to minimize stress through preparation, and I agreed with her love of a good list. Among the hacks were pre-cooked baked potatoes and turkey cooked on Christmas Eve. Apparently, this is even an instant Christmas pudding, although the traditional way requires effort a year in advance.
This program was completely traditional, which probably made sense since most of us still stick to the same old turkey and all ingredients followed by Christmas pudding (along with an alternative, lighter dessert).
Berry left the less traditional dishes to her guests, Angela Hartnett (who showcased a traditional Italian Christmas squash and ravioli dish) and Monica Galetti, who prepared a festive Samoan seafood dish called palousami.
Rylan Clark also appeared as a Brussels sprout hater. Berry took him to pick sprouts (“it’s called handwork,” she remarked as he walked cautiously through the stalks-strewn field) before serving a dish of sprouts, peas, and cashews, which Rylan ate with gusto. Apparently, the secret to successful sprouts is to cut them in half so they cook faster and don’t overcook.
Rylan then sat down with Mary, Angela, and Monica to enjoy all the food at the mock Christmas dinner, which, despite the obvious artificiality of it all, seemed genuinely fun and festive. I hope the dishes haven’t gone cold in the inevitable rematches.
Mind you, when everyone pretended to like the new woolen hats Mary gave away as gifts and laughed wildly at stupid jokes, it wasn’t much different from reality.
Source: I News
I am Harvey Rodriguez, an experienced news reporter and author with 24 News Reporters. My main areas of expertise are in entertainment and media. I have a passion for uncovering stories about the people behind the scenes that bring the entertainment world to life. I take pride in providing my readers with timely and accurate information on all aspects of the entertainment industry.