Two Fat Ladies

The cooking programs of "The Two Fat Ladies" on the DVD are entertaining, and well as informational. We enjoy watching the types of equipment they use, as well as their humor.

Aside from visiting some really nice parts of rural UK, you'll get to spend some time with Jennifer and Clarissa. Two eccentric "fat ladies" from a different age where food is done with butter, cream, and lard and politically correct statements are not the rule. A refreshing show if only for this reason.

A wonderful series that leaves one saddened when the final segment has been watched. Wonderful recipes accompany an eye popping travelogue of the British Isles.We again saw visions of places my wife and I have visited in Cornwall, Scotland and Wales. Jennifer and Clarissa are as funny as they are talented.This series will appeal to all Brits or those planning a visit to Britain. It is further saddening to hear of the death of Jennifer shortly after these episodes were filmed.

Hitting the TV screens in the mid 1990's at the height of the `healthy food crazy' the Two Fat Ladies were a refreshing burst of exuberance saying "It's ok to enjoy good food." With a wonderful disdain they ignore diets and mass produced food products in a wave of good old fashioned commonsense and fresh products. In an age of desperately counting each gram of fat, these two wonders took what the BBC's programming director called "A nearly pornographic joy" in spreading real butter on bread.

The two ladies were both long time food writers and cooks with long and colorful careers, who were brought together by the BBC before such a thing as "Food TV" got off the ground, and filled the lack of GOOD cooking shows with cooks who were also characters between Julia Childe and Emeril.

Each show followed the theme that the ladies were showing up to cook for a particular group or gathering and the food they prepared followed that theme.
For example a picnic themed show was to provide a lunch for a Welch men's choir, or a breakfast themed show was to provide a morning break for workers in a Yorkshire brewery. A cocktail party snack show was done at the Brazilian embassy in London, and so on.

In each well edited half hour show they produced five or six meals or treats that proved to be remarkably easy to produce despite looking insanely complicated. It was seeing how easily Jennifer Paterson attacks the mythic cock-au-vin that gave me the courage to do it myself.

Interspersed with each episode is their obvious good humor and delight in working with a kindred spirit. An example is in an episode where they are cooking meat dishes at a girls' private school. One says "In this day and age they're probably all vegetarians!"
"Not the la cross team! Surely!" comes the reply.

My wife and I imagined they were actually on the run after dubious cookery, and had a good laugh in the 3rd season, when after serving particularly spicy food to young children, one lady commented "I think we might have poisoned some of them."
"Well" replied the other, "We'll be long gone before they work it out."

This is probably one of the best cooking shows ever produced. Well edited and concise the `presenters' know their work and their stuff. Their amusing to watch and very good at conveying their knowledge to the viewer and along the way, the manage to make a very firm statement against the food fascists who they feel get in the way of enjoying not only good food but good living. Even if you don't cook, this is fun to watch and just might challenge you to pick up a pan.

It was very exciting to see this series available on dvd. I have seen all the episodes numerous times and they never get old. This is somewhat odd to say since I don't particularly find any of the recipes appetizing. Still, Wright and Paterson hold your attention and are immensely entertaining and most of their dishes are works of art. Whether quoting literature, breaking into song, or telling jokes, the ladies know how to hold your attention. Another wonderful aspect of this series are the locations - as they travel down the English country lanes on their motorcyle and sidecar, the viewer is treated to incredibly beautiful vistas of the English countryside. A tribute to Jennifer Paterson is included on Disc 4.