Why, oh why--Boxes for Dinner?

[foodnfoto]

We just wrapped a 4 day shoot for a national consumer magazine. Every single recipe we prepared for these photo/recipe spreads used some sort of instant, boxed food product!!! They all looked and tasted like dookie! Why do American cooks think that to make a quick dinner one must open a box full of salt, food coloring and artificial flavors? Yuck! We even had to use INSTANT RICE! Come on, how hard is it to cook rice? Water-rice-salt-boil-simmer-DONE! Prepackaged-precooked baked potatoes!! My god, we had to make "paella" with Rice-a-Roni!! Trifle with instant vanilla pudding! You know what's wrong with the world? -people eat **** ! **** in--**** out!! No surprise there! A horse eats better than the average American.
Sorry guys, just had to vent.

[CWK]

I'm curious.Was the box stuff just for the photo or was it really in the dish?

[ May 11, 2001: Message edited by: CWK ]

Ummm, slightly hesitant about jumping in here ('cos I'm an outsider) but you're ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! As a regular visitor to the US (and some other "cooking" boards) I am appalled by the use of artificial stuff in so many dishes - yellow cake mix, Jello, Cool Whip, instant pudding, anything a-roni, "helpers", weird breakfast cereals, and stuff full of sugar, fillers, artificial colors and flavors. People should read and understand the nutritional labelling. It is only slightly better over here, but at least we now have an increasing range of organic stuff that has not been messed about with.

[Pooh]

I'm curious too! I'm hoping that these products were strictly used for better shots and not for consumption!

The ingredients listed on the labels of boxed products are sometimes scary. Nothing I want to put in my body too often!

[Isa]

People always want instant gratification, food without the work...


Maybe the manufacturers adds something to the box to burns the tastebuds of people who ets this stuff. Sure would explains its popularity...

[foodnfoto]

The recipes called for the boxed stuff. When preparing the food for phototgraphy we try to stay as close to the original recipe as possible, but this stuff just looked so bad that we had to substitute the real stuff just so it would look edible. We came up with a new name for it---"Donkey's Breakfast"!

[foodnfoto]

The recipes called for the boxed stuff. When preparing the food for phototgraphy we try to stay as close to the original recipe as possible, but this stuff just looked so bad that we had to substitute the real stuff just so it would look edible. We came up with a new name for it---"Donkey's Breakfast"!

[bouland]

I can understand your frustration, but be patient with your fellow citizens. Most Americans have been raised since the advent of convenience foods, and many lack a "food" education that has made them aware of the "better" things in life. At least with these "cardboard" dishes they may be expanding the variety of dishes they eat. (Just don't force me to eat this junk!)

[Pooh]

Hi Peter and welcome to Cheftalk!

Just went on your website and I found it quite interesing. I will explore some more during the weekend.

[Isa]

WOW I love the design of your main page. I have a passion for art déco. Can't wait to have a look at your recipes.

almost forgot welcometo Chef Talk

[Devotay]

At the risk of sounding like Johnny-one-note here, I'd like to direct the attention of those interested in this topic to the thread on "Passing the word about Slow Food", and to http://www.slowfood.com

The Slow Food Movement is dedicated to the kind of taste education that Bouland rightly suggests most Americans need. The American public has been sold a bill of goods. Convinced by the likes of Souffer's, Birdseye and McDonald's that cooking is a chore to be avoided whenever possible, like laundry, rather than an incredibly enriching endeavor that should be pursued with passion.

That magazine that started this conversation is part of the root cause of the problem. BB's like this one are a part of the solution.

Peace,
kmf