Friday, November 15, 2013

Fanny Cradock Cooks



How great is this set? The pace of the show? The lack of editing? The food styling?

Fanny Cradock is quite a culinary character.  She may have sabotaged her career in what is referred to as the Gwen Troak scandal.  Short story: Fanny misadvised Gwen (a contestant winner) on the menu that she was serving to a bunch of British VIPS. She insisted that Gwen change her dessert, and Fanny's dessert ended up being a failure.  In the televised event, Fanny grimaced and made nauseated faces upon hearing Gwen's ideas for her menu (you can see for yourself here at 51 seconds in). The public was very displeased with Fanny's bad behavior.  If the same thing had happened today, I'm sure the incident would have significantly advanced Fanny's career as a celebrity chef guest judge on any number of shows.

Anyhow... I love cooking shows, and I love sassy ladies.  I love that Fanny wears a ball gown when she cooks. I love how she bosses her assistant around and calls her "my darling." I love how clumsily she assembles her dishes. I love her kooky eyebrows, and I love that the name Fanny Cradock sounds absurd, and it wasn't even the woman's real name.

I love the way that food has changed, too. What would adventurous cooking look like today, and how silly will it seem in 50 years?

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