I was reading this article today about how so many recipes lie about how long it takes to prepare, especially when it comes to anything requiring browning or caramelizing onions.
Most recipes seem to indicate that you can get golden brown, caramelized onions in just 10 minutes, when the truth is that it actually takes more like 40 to 45 minutes. The author of the article went on to mention that the only recipe where it seemed the time was stated correctly was in one from Julia Childs.
I have a special relationship with Julia Childs. When I first got started in the Cable Television business, I was what they called an “independent contract installer.”. That means I provided my own truck and tools, and slapped on magnetic signs with the local Cable company logo, and drove around town installing the cable lines from the telephone poles into the house and connected them to the TV.
I did this in the late 1980’s, starting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was enjoyable work, meeting new people constantly, in a part of the country that was completely foreign to my Florida born and raised self. One of the homes into which I installed Cable TV was the Julia Childs house. The same one in which she filmed her TV show for a number of years. I actually walked through her kitchen a few times. I really wasn’t impressed at the time, I vaguely knew who she was, but after a year of 14 hour days, six days a week, I was pretty numb to whatever I might see in someones house.
My partner and I still catch her shows in reruns on one of the cooking channels, and it is amazing how primitive it appears in comparison with the slickly produced “live” shows that we see today. Of course, from the above picture, I know understand why Julia always looked like she was walking on eggs when she moved around her kitchen, and why she always seemed to be somewhat distracted.
Back in those days, a lot of TV was actually done live. Most Soap Operas were broadcast live, and it was not uncommon to see mistakes made, and it was a measure of how composed a performer was when something unplanned happened and the show marched forward without a pause.
Of course, there are some things still live, mostly local news and sports, and you can still see odd and unplanned things happen.
I suppose the most frequent thing you see on live television events now is someone in the background dropping their drawers and mooning the camera. The same guy that has no compunction against showing his pasty white cheeks on TV would never consider turning around to show the front side. I’m not sure I understand the difference.
And of course, there are all sorts of examples where someone thought the camera or microphones were off, but they weren’t, which tends to at least make the news more entertaining for a day or so.
Generally, today, TV is something that is polished and professional and you are unlikely to catch anything that wasn’t planned out in advance.
I’m not so sure it’s as much fun to watch now, even though we are able to see those TV cooks get nice caramelized onions for their dishes on their half-hour shows.