For more information on this show, and links to all the recipes visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rs7c9I’m sure I’m not the only person to be somewhat cynical about a super-model fronting a cookery show, especially one extolling the virtues of indulgent comfort foods to suit your every mood. It’s a bit like a monk fronting a good sex guide or a butcher hosting a show about the world’s best vegetarian meals. And Sophie Dahl is also quite possibly one of the most ironic choices that could ever be made. I remember vividly the hype that greeted her rise to fame in the early 1990s, as a ‘plus-model’, being about a size 14-16. There was a great deal of debate, even a public outcry, when she slimmed down to a size 10 at the end of the decade. I also seem to recall a few pictures of her looking gaunt and far too slender being bandied about. So perhaps for a few viewers there is some suspension of disbelief required for this show?
That said, The Delicious Miss Dahl (Tuesday, 8.30 pm, BBC 2) is soothing evening viewing and Sophie manages to appear friendly, down to earth and approachable in front of the camera. She’s quite a surreal looking person with those enormous eyes and doll-like face, though undeniably pretty, and her slightly husky voice (she sounds like she smokes, and she does) is almost hypnotic. There are definitely shades of Nigella Lawson here, although Sophie has strenuously denied any intention to take her crown. The programme is all about relating food to different moods and feelings, an approach I quite like, and the main reason I’ve been watching. Tonight’s theme (broadcast 30/03/10) is Romance, as she believes we express love through food. She will be therefore provide different recipes for each of the three stages of romance.
To start, she acknowledges that in the very first flush of love people don’t tend eat much, they pick, but she says that when a date is coming over for supper for the first time, it’s ideal to cook something that looks like it took effort but actually was simple. She recommends scallops roasted in their own shells, with garlic and chilli marinade served with crushed, minty peas, and a glorious mountain of rhubarb and rosewater Eton mess sprinkled with crystallised rose petals for pudding. As she gets down to cooking the camera crew have some fun with plenty of arty shots of the kitchen and the food itself. Once the meal is complete there are even more arty shots, accompanied by a poetry reading. Sophie completes section one by describing the romance of train stations, something which millions of commuters who have waited for their own delayed transport to work on rather too many wet Monday mornings are unlikely to appreciate anymore.
The next stage is the honeymoon phase, which, according to Miss Dahl, revolves around all day, or at least lazy and relaxed, breakfasts. Her recipe is cheese soufflé blinis with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon. As she cooks she confesses some of her own idiosyncrasies, such as an obsessive approach to tidiness. Apparently her poor boyfriend has been incorporated into her making the bed if he hasn’t got up in time. Phase two of romance winds down with more showing off by the camera crew, presenting some city shots, followed by scenes of Sophie strolling in a graveyard. She says she finds graveyards romantic, and relates the tragic story of Beatrix Potter’s lost love in front of his headstone. Hmmm, I’m personally unconvinced. I managed to see Stephen King’s Pet Sematary when I was 11, and ever since, graveyards have creeped me out.
The final evolutionary stage for a romantic relationship is the 'cosy-on-the-sofa' stage, when you can be yourself and eat loads in front of each other. This is the point at which we normal folk tend to balloon up as the takeaways make regular appearances. Of course despite being recently married, svelte Sophie has managed to dodge that bullet. She now makes a TV dinner of individual shepherd's pies for herself as a veggie and her carnivorous partner. Once the meals are finished she cannot wait and dives into her own, concealing her impatience by forking mashed potato back over the tell-tale hole. In that soothing voice she contentedly concludes that the story of food and romance only carries on.
Next week we are in for some foodie Nostalgia. Fingers crossed for some gooey homely treats!
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