The British aren’t famous for their cooking, more like infamous — with dishes like Toad in the Hole, Bangers and Mash, Bubble and Squeak and favorites like kidney pie, mushy peas, treacle, and how about a bit of pureed pigeon liver? Yum.
What makes this show fun to watch is that these two women travel the English countryside in their Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle with “doublewide” sidecar. They visit some really lovely places and Jennifer and Clarissa are quite entertaining as they cook up what they consider tasty dishes.
The Two Fat Ladies don’t always cook traditional English cuisine. It just depends on who they’re cooking for and what the menu’s theme is. They cook large meals for different groups of people like British Army officers, Scottish lumberjacks, a Welsh men’s choir, a girl’s school and employees of a brewery.
But whatever they cook you can be sure their recipes include lots of butter, everything starts with butter or ends with butter. And they do a lot with kidneys and kippers. Yuck. How about some Yorkshire pudding, which is basically like pancake batter baked in fat.
And speaking of pudding, that’s what the British call dessert. So, cake is pudding. Pie is pudding. Trifle is pudding. And I guess, pudding could be pudding.
They don’t always give you the exact measurements, so it’s not like a regular cooking show. But again, would you really want to make these dishes?
Not surprisingly, Jennifer Paterson (the one with the glasses) died of cancer in 1999. She often popped out for a ciggy when her dishes were in the oven and she was always smoking at the end of the shows. To pay tribute her friend, Clarissa ate a tin of cavier after Jennifer’s funeral.
By the way, Toad in the Hole is sausages in Yorkshire Pudding batter. Bangers and Mash is sausages and mashed potatoes. Bubble and Squeak is leftover vegetables, sometimes served with cold meat. Why not whip up a batch?
MAIN CAST:
Jennifer Paterson
Clarissa Dickson Wright
Total Seasons: 4 (24 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 4
In Production: 1996-1999
Viewer Discretion: Suitable for everyone
And boy, did these people drink! There were at least two types of alcohol served at each meal. Guess they needed to lift their spirits with spirits. It wasn’t like there was too much going on. Think of Jane Austen times.
