What's the best thing about watching cooking shows at dinner time? Yep, they make eating time that much more fun. But, often you're also too busy shovelling down your devilled sossies and mash to get up and grab a pen and jot down that excellent recipe. Or you become so caught up in your mastication that you suddenly realise you missed two of the vital ingredients.
That's where cooking shows on DVD come in and Cooking Safari Three is definitely one of those gems you'll return to, to revisit recipes and techniques.
The accessible Maeve O'Meara "treks deep into our cities and suburbs to uncover the very best food and culture from chefs and home cooks who share their favourite recipes and cooking tips". And it's partly this realistic touch that makes this series such a winner.
By going to the kitchens of real people who explain their favourite recipes at their own pace, that whole scary unworldliness of stage-set kitchens and time limits is exorcised. I want to see someone's Mamma getting hands-on with the ingredients while extolling their health-giving properties. (FYI: Egyptian molokhia soup is reputed to strengthen the libido!)
But chefs also are given their due and Longrain, Astral, Balzac, Bistrode, Sean's Kitchen and many other restaurants are featured.
With flavours from five continents (South America, Africa, Middle East, Europe and North America), and recipes ranging from a Persian weekend breakfast right through Syrian mezza and Peru's national raw fish dish, ceviche, and Jewish chicken soup (known as Jewish penicillin), Food Safari Three really dishes up the, er, dishes.
- Wendy Beecroft
Food Safari:
Available nationally from all leading DVD retailers, $29.95 rrp
