Chefs, restaurateurs and food writers
Chefs, restaurateurs and food writers have contributed hugely to the vocabulary of poets.
Before television, it was the few foreign restaurants and cafés in town that introduced us to the names for such exotic dishes as crayfish mornay, chicken-in-the-basket, Hungarian goulash, chow mein, cannelloni, spaghetti bolognese and a rum baba that one could buy even in the middle of the day from the Austrian café in High Street. When a hot bread roll with attendant pats of cold butter was placed on the white tablecloth before us and a glass of something, perhaps Chateau Neuf du Pape, was poured from a half-size bottle, we took that first sip and nibble, and truly could taste ‘elsewhere’.
On television, there was the Galloping Gourmet, Alison Holst, Hudson & Halls. Celebrity chefs brought glamour and reassurance to the table along with new recipes and ingredients; certainly, not only did they entertain us but they persuaded us to try something new.
Food writers and editors have shaped our memories too; Tui Flower (1925–2017), for some 20 years, the editor of NZ Women’s Weekly, encouraged the cook to give it a go and include that strange-looking avocado or unfamiliar capsicum in a new recipe that didn’t seem too complicated after all.
Alison Holst on the cover of the N.Z. Listener for 4 July 1966. Dame Alison Margaret Holst DNZM CBE QSM (1938–), was a best-selling New Zealand food writer and television chef. Her first television programme premiered in 1965. The following year she published her first cookbook, Here’s how: cooking with Alison Holst.
Graham Kerr (1934–), the Galloping Gourmet, brandishing a bouquet of parsley on the cover of the N.Z. Listener for 3 October 1966.
In 1958, Kerr and his wife emigrated to New Zealand and Kerr became the head caterer for the Royal New Zealand Air Force. His first T.V. show was in N.Z. and was called Entertaining with Kerr. In 1964 he was transferred to Sydney by the military but a Canadian producer saw his cooking show there and offered him a series based in Ottawa. It was to be called the Galloping Gourmet; his wife, Treena, would be a co-producer. 455 episodes were filmed in all. Kerr’s style during those years was heavy on butter, cream and brandy. Today, however, his favourite spices are garlic, ginger, lemongrass and lemon.
The origin of his 'Galloping Gourmet' persona stemmed from a 1967 book he co-authored with wine expert Len Evans, titled The Galloping Gourmets. The nickname was the result of a 35-day trek to some of the finest restaurants around the globe. Pre-recorded episodes would often film Kerr cooking his featured dish in that part of the world where it originated. [www.cooksinfo.com/graham-kerr]