Yesteryear to COVID-19 – Reminiscing about cooking shows

The current situation we find ourselves in, with the adaptation of how we communicate, has had me reminiscing about a return to how things were.

One of my memories sparked has been the TV cooking shows I grew up with in the 80s and 90s. That’s because with the closure of restaurants over the last week, at least here in New Zealand, many chefs no longer have their physical establishments to do what they do best, so some are opting to online platforms.

This has meant chefs’ passion and skills are being captured on video by way of cooking demonstrations – for the benefit of the public, with a sneak peak to how things are done by a professional chef, AKA an expert culinary rock star. This is what got me thinking about the chefs from my childhood, that used to grace our TV screens without the pressure they were competing against someone else like we see in today’s modern programmes of cookery entertainment.

New Zealand icons Hudson and Halls, Alison Holst, Jo Seagar and Allyson Gofton from my era, and overseas influence from UK’s Two Fat Ladies and Graham Kerr spring to mind. I took it for granted the way they demonstrated with ease, multi-tasking between several food preparing tasks while talking to camera, because I used to try and mimic them as a young girl in the kitchen myself, using the window’s reflection as my makeshift camera, and it wasn’t easy.

Today’s chefs who have worked hard in their kitchens and businesses are suddenly drawing upon their skill set to entertain, inspire and inform us in front of a screen, and I take my hat off to them for giving it a go. Some I’ve see so far include Shaun Clouston cooking pies with his children, Sunday Cantina, and Beef and Lamb Ambassador Chef Jack Crosti cooking pasta.

There is something quite comforting looking back on the old videos you can find online, and I encourage you to take a walk down memory lane of Kiwi Food Shows on NZ on Screen.