Season's eatings

摘要

Britons bought more than 7m cookbooks in 2009. They watch thousands of hours of cookery shows on television. In the run-up to Christmas in 2010, the latest tome by Jamie Oliver, a cheerful television chef, became the fastest-selling non-fiction work in British publishing history. It is hard to know how much actual cooking follows. In 2009 the British also spent some ￡8.7 billion ($13.6 billion) on chilled ready meals. The figures conjure up sad visions of a nation slumped collectively on the sofa, watching cookery shows while forking supermarket curry mouthwards from a microwave tray.