If you can't stand the Heat...
Further to yesterday's Mexican cookery, have been reading up about chilli peppers. Seems there are hundreds of varieties, and there is even a 'heat rating' referring to the strength of many chillis and chilli products available. What may seem blisteringly hot to us, would be counted as quite mild in a country, such as Mexico, that eats chillis in practically every dish. As yet, have not been able to discover which of the many varieties are sold fresh in this country, but have some info which I hope will prove useful.
Briefly, the large sweet bell pepper, sold now in various colours: red, green, yellow, orange and even purple, is rated as zero on the heat scale. Although called a 'pepper', it is just a cousin of the chilli pepper and any refernce to using a 'pepper' in my recipes always means the bell pepper. Not hot, and not a chilli pepper.
Jalapenos, a short fat green chilli with a rounded end, is said to be 'fairly hot' if the seeds and membrane are included (rating: 2,500 - 5,000); Scotch Bonnet, (by our standards), is very hot (rating 100,000 to 325,000): Tabasco Sauce has a lesser rating of 2,500 - 5,000, although the Tabasco Green Pepper sauce has am even lower rating of 600-800. You will understand the fieriness of chillis when I tell you that the ratings can run up to the million level.
I have found no rating for chilli powder, but worth knowing that fresh cayenne pepper is even hotter than chilli powder, and this is recommended to take the place of hot chilli peppers in a Mexican dish, with the advantage we have a little more control - in other words start with a little then taste, add a little more, taste again, and continue until the desired heat has been reached...). Several varieties of chilli peppers can be bought in jars, they can also be frozen.
Chillies are the flavourings most used over the world (especially by the poor) as a little goes a long way and can turn some of the cheapest, and tasteless ingredients into something palatable. People who eat chillis at every meal become accustomed to their heat and need increasingly larger amounts and hotter chillis to get the same impact. The chilli peppers contain a chemical called a 'feel-good' factor (perhaps the one natural drug we are still allowed to eat). Interestingly, so do oats, so if we begins the day with porridge and finish with a Mexican or Indian dish, we should end up feeling a really happy bunny.
But if porridge does not appeal, why not begin the day with a dish of huevos rancheros (ranch style eggs), another Mexican classic. The traditional chilli peppers to use in this dish are the ones called serrano, which have a piquant flavour and often used toasted, but as with many spicy recipes, we should always keep to the ones we can eat comfortably.
A good tip, when suffering from the heat of a chilli based dish, is that mouth comfort can be gained by eating a spoonful of yogurt. Or even eating a lump of sugar. Water, even iced, will never soften the impact of chilli as it is not water soluble. So, when serving a Mexican or Indian dish, serve alongside a bowl of yogurt, with or without icing sugar blended in. A good dollop of yogurt on top of a chilli con carne can temper the overuse of chilli powder, as can raita (yogurt, cucumber, mint and icing sugar) ease the heat of a curry.
The amounts of eggs, tortillas etc, in the following recipe seems a lot, but as it feeds six, it works out to only two eggs/tortillas per head. One each, perhaps, could make a good 'starter' to a Mexican inspired dinner party. Instead of using canned chopped tomatoes, use canned plum tomatoes as they have a much more intense flavour. Use any drained juices to add to soups, or freeze - to later add to a dish such as chilli con carne, spag bol. etc.
Huevos Rancheros: serves 6
2 tblsp sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
half tsp crushed garlic (opt)
1 x 400g can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 canned or bottled serrano chillis, drained and finely chopped
pinch sugar
salt and pepper
2 tblsp chopped fresh coriander
5 tblsp sunflower oil
12 fresh tortillas
3 oz (75g) butter
12 eggs
1 large, ripe avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until softened but not browned, if using garlic, stir this in at the end and cook for 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes, chillis, sugar and season to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is a thick puree. Add the coriander, cover, turn off the heat and set aside to keep warm.
Put the 4 tsp of oil (from the 5 tblsp) in a frying pan and when hot, fry each tortilla for 1 or 2 minutes on each side until pale golden, adding more oil as necessary. Drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm.
Melt half the butter in another pan and fry six eggs at a time (using the remaining butter for the other eggs), Until the whites are set but the yolks still soft.
To serve, place two fried tortillas on large, oval serving plates, top each with one fried egg, spooning a ring of the sauce around each egg and garnish with slices of avocado. Serve any remaining sauce in a small bowl for people to help themselves.
Having a party, or just providing a few nibbles to go with drinks, can often get us buying something when we can easily use storecupboard ingredients yet still impress, with hardly any effort in the kitchen. Anchovies - although strong in flavour - can be extremely useful in certain dishes, and - rather like the chocolate in the mole recipe yesterday - cannot be tasted but it would be sadly missed if not included. Anchovies can be bought canned in oil, and also in jars - I believe in brine. When a jar or can is opened, drain off any surplus, lay on a piece of parchment and freeze until solid, then bag or box up and use one or more as required.
With anchovies in the storecupboard or freezer, likewise puff pastry in the freezer, then these nibbles can be quickly made:
Anchovy Straws: makes 60 (serves 12)
375g pack of ready rolled puff pastry
114g can anchovy fillets in oil
1 - 2 tblsp black mustard seeds
beaten egg
Unroll the sheet of pastry, still keeping it on its plastic backing sheet. Fold the pastry in half lengthways and cut across the fold. Cut each strip into 30 x 1cm strips and brush with beaten egg. Drain the anchovies and cut each fillet into four long strips and put one on top of each strip of pastry. Twist each strip into a spiral and place onto a baking sheet (non-stick or lined with baking parchment). Sprinkle over the mustard seeds and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for about 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Good served with sparkling drinks.
These next nibbles are a bit more upmarket and some shopping might be needed, but most of the ingredients could still be found in our own kitchen stores.
Nibbles on Sticks:
Thread a quartered fig, a fold of Parma ham, and a slice of Mozzarella onto a stick.
Peel strips of cucumber, cover with strips of smoked salman and concertina together before threading onto a cocktail stick. OR interleave the folds of cucumber with cooked prawns.
Alternate cubes of feta cheese and melon balls on a cocktail stick.
Skewer together chunks of cooked chicken, fresh (or canned) mango chunks, with thick slices cut from a spring onion.
As you can tell, am slightly stuck as to which recipes can tantalise you the most. So please send in ideas, queries, anything to keep my fingers tapping away and get my head stuck into more books. Are there any foods of the world (by region) that have still not been mentioned, and that you would like to know more about? Times like this I really need you to keep me going
Finishing today with a few snippets from yesterday's judging. Those of you who have stuck with me over the past months, will have read my 'media moments', and all the disasters that befell me. Yesterday was another example.
For many years I used to judge the crafts section of the local Allotment show, but a year or two ago they changed the venue, and this meant climbing stairs, which now I find very difficult and painful to do. However, a lift had been installed, and as this would make it so easy, I agreed to judge again.
You will be expecting this, although (forgetful of my track record) I didn't. When I arrived, the lift did not appear to want to work. It came down from above, but refused to go back up. In the end I had to use the stairs. Not a good start
Being the first show of the season, not to mention it being Grand National Day, there were not too many entries in all the classes, both fruit, vegetable and crafts. Some of my craft classes had no entries at all (was particularly disappointed there were none in the pizza class as I was hoping to nibble enough to make them my lunch). There were a couple of Victoria Sponge cakes; two Apple Pies; three lots of cheese scones (these were in the schedule as to be 'three round cheese scones' but one person had made them rabbit shaped which disqualified them - so when entering a show, always read the schedule and stick to the instructions, particularly the shape and size). And only one entry of Flapjack, which I had to give as a second as there was 'room for improvement'. Normally there are at least 6 entries to many more classes, including jams, pickles, preserves, breads, biscuits, even home-made wines, and the summer show, in July (we may have moved, we may have not) should be much better.
As well as the foods, there were other crafts, again only a few this year: 'a representation of Spring', which could be in any form, a collage of photos taken from the entrant's garden won that. A few childrens classes: decorated hard-boiled eggs, judged according to age. This is always a difficult one, as so often it is apparent that Mum had a hand in the presentation of the very young child's offering. Also cress growing in a margarine tub. Other classes were not represented this year, I missed the miniature gardens in a tray, some in the past have been amazingly clever. Also the little flower arrangements, often in an eggshell. Other (adult) crafts missing were knitted goods (clothes and toys), photos and paintings. But at least I had just enough for me to handle without ending up bent double with the back-ache as I expected would happen.
What was great fun was seeing again old acquaintances. Especially Joe Maiden, the gardener, who I have known for many years (we first met when we were both on Radio Leeds). Some of you may recognise his name, he has appeared many times on local TV, made gardening videos, and judges flowers and veggies all over the country.
As mentioned, I came home clutching my Barter Bag (veggies instead of payment for judging), and spent some time cleaning up leeks and refreshing purple sprouting broccoli. There was very little else available at this time of year apart from rhubarb (and I have enough of that growing in our own garden). However, what I did get was as fresh as could be, believed organically grown, and some will be eaten for supper tonight.
Oh yes, although my husband had to take time off work to be here yesterday for the arranged viewing, the florists had phoned him asking him to return for an urgent delivery, so thank goodness I arrived home just in time so that he could leave. After waiting half an hour past the viewing time, with no-one appearing, phoned the estate agent who said the man had not turned up for three viewings he had booked, so they were not well pleased either.
Cannot remember at all what we ate for supper yesterday. Could have been chilli con carne, but there again that could have been Friday's supper. Think yesterday was a help-yourself, Beloved tends to like things like sardines on toast for a Saturday snack, then snacks on other things later, yes I do remember him finishing off the Cheddar with whisky and ginger, bought from the farmers' market, so the chilli must have been Friday. Not too sure whether I ate anything at all. Oh, yes - I did take a cheese and tomato sarnie up to my bedroom to eat while reading, plus two oranges. And a naughty (three actually) Jaffa cakes.
My problem is that I write down the exact thoughts as they come to mind, so excuse the jumping from one thing to another. At least this way you can become completely in tune with my mind. Whether that is a good thing or not, remains to be seen. Often my family say "you shouldn't have said that", usually in respect to me complaining about something Beloved has, or has not done (or family get jitters when I have been slightly critical about other cooks - for perhaps they think I will be sued). Well, this is the Goode Life. The way it is. Warts and all.
Obviously not all personal details are written about. Like never mentioning about the other day when Beloved wanted to fix a washer in the water tank in the loft that had been dripping for years (why now, when we have accepted an offer for the house? We have managed for years as it is), so he tried to fix it and (to cut a very long story short), ended up breaking all sorts of things, having to pay quite a bit for new ballcocks, new piping, and other stuff, having to have the stopcock turned off during a couple of days and only partly turned off (without telling me), another day, so that I found out, when naked that I couldn't have a shower, while he took himself off to the gym so that HE could have a shower... Then after all that, the drip got even worse (I do mean the drip in the tank, not Beloved, but it could apply to both). Enventually, due to something I think called Plumber's Mate (sticky stuff) all is now (almost) right. We had a blazing row over this, mainly because he decided to do it (as he often does) at a most incovenient time - like when we have guests. Oh, that will have given my family cause to complain. Don't care.
Time for me to make my move. Beloved brought in some more (why?) ready-made puff pastry steak and kidney pies, so he can have one for supper with some leeks and purple-sprouting broccoli. Am knee deep in eggs so may make some soft-scoop ice-cream, and use the eggs in a quiche, and also maybe make myself an omelette for supper. Then roll on tomorrow - Monday, my favourite day of the week.
Keep those comments coming...
Briefly, the large sweet bell pepper, sold now in various colours: red, green, yellow, orange and even purple, is rated as zero on the heat scale. Although called a 'pepper', it is just a cousin of the chilli pepper and any refernce to using a 'pepper' in my recipes always means the bell pepper. Not hot, and not a chilli pepper.
Jalapenos, a short fat green chilli with a rounded end, is said to be 'fairly hot' if the seeds and membrane are included (rating: 2,500 - 5,000); Scotch Bonnet, (by our standards), is very hot (rating 100,000 to 325,000): Tabasco Sauce has a lesser rating of 2,500 - 5,000, although the Tabasco Green Pepper sauce has am even lower rating of 600-800. You will understand the fieriness of chillis when I tell you that the ratings can run up to the million level.
I have found no rating for chilli powder, but worth knowing that fresh cayenne pepper is even hotter than chilli powder, and this is recommended to take the place of hot chilli peppers in a Mexican dish, with the advantage we have a little more control - in other words start with a little then taste, add a little more, taste again, and continue until the desired heat has been reached...). Several varieties of chilli peppers can be bought in jars, they can also be frozen.
Chillies are the flavourings most used over the world (especially by the poor) as a little goes a long way and can turn some of the cheapest, and tasteless ingredients into something palatable. People who eat chillis at every meal become accustomed to their heat and need increasingly larger amounts and hotter chillis to get the same impact. The chilli peppers contain a chemical called a 'feel-good' factor (perhaps the one natural drug we are still allowed to eat). Interestingly, so do oats, so if we begins the day with porridge and finish with a Mexican or Indian dish, we should end up feeling a really happy bunny.
But if porridge does not appeal, why not begin the day with a dish of huevos rancheros (ranch style eggs), another Mexican classic. The traditional chilli peppers to use in this dish are the ones called serrano, which have a piquant flavour and often used toasted, but as with many spicy recipes, we should always keep to the ones we can eat comfortably.
A good tip, when suffering from the heat of a chilli based dish, is that mouth comfort can be gained by eating a spoonful of yogurt. Or even eating a lump of sugar. Water, even iced, will never soften the impact of chilli as it is not water soluble. So, when serving a Mexican or Indian dish, serve alongside a bowl of yogurt, with or without icing sugar blended in. A good dollop of yogurt on top of a chilli con carne can temper the overuse of chilli powder, as can raita (yogurt, cucumber, mint and icing sugar) ease the heat of a curry.
The amounts of eggs, tortillas etc, in the following recipe seems a lot, but as it feeds six, it works out to only two eggs/tortillas per head. One each, perhaps, could make a good 'starter' to a Mexican inspired dinner party. Instead of using canned chopped tomatoes, use canned plum tomatoes as they have a much more intense flavour. Use any drained juices to add to soups, or freeze - to later add to a dish such as chilli con carne, spag bol. etc.
Huevos Rancheros: serves 6
2 tblsp sunflower oil
1 onion, finely chopped
half tsp crushed garlic (opt)
1 x 400g can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 canned or bottled serrano chillis, drained and finely chopped
pinch sugar
salt and pepper
2 tblsp chopped fresh coriander
5 tblsp sunflower oil
12 fresh tortillas
3 oz (75g) butter
12 eggs
1 large, ripe avocado, peeled and thinly sliced
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until softened but not browned, if using garlic, stir this in at the end and cook for 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes, chillis, sugar and season to taste. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is a thick puree. Add the coriander, cover, turn off the heat and set aside to keep warm.
Put the 4 tsp of oil (from the 5 tblsp) in a frying pan and when hot, fry each tortilla for 1 or 2 minutes on each side until pale golden, adding more oil as necessary. Drain on kitchen paper. Keep warm.
Melt half the butter in another pan and fry six eggs at a time (using the remaining butter for the other eggs), Until the whites are set but the yolks still soft.
To serve, place two fried tortillas on large, oval serving plates, top each with one fried egg, spooning a ring of the sauce around each egg and garnish with slices of avocado. Serve any remaining sauce in a small bowl for people to help themselves.
Having a party, or just providing a few nibbles to go with drinks, can often get us buying something when we can easily use storecupboard ingredients yet still impress, with hardly any effort in the kitchen. Anchovies - although strong in flavour - can be extremely useful in certain dishes, and - rather like the chocolate in the mole recipe yesterday - cannot be tasted but it would be sadly missed if not included. Anchovies can be bought canned in oil, and also in jars - I believe in brine. When a jar or can is opened, drain off any surplus, lay on a piece of parchment and freeze until solid, then bag or box up and use one or more as required.
With anchovies in the storecupboard or freezer, likewise puff pastry in the freezer, then these nibbles can be quickly made:
Anchovy Straws: makes 60 (serves 12)
375g pack of ready rolled puff pastry
114g can anchovy fillets in oil
1 - 2 tblsp black mustard seeds
beaten egg
Unroll the sheet of pastry, still keeping it on its plastic backing sheet. Fold the pastry in half lengthways and cut across the fold. Cut each strip into 30 x 1cm strips and brush with beaten egg. Drain the anchovies and cut each fillet into four long strips and put one on top of each strip of pastry. Twist each strip into a spiral and place onto a baking sheet (non-stick or lined with baking parchment). Sprinkle over the mustard seeds and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 for about 15 minutes or until crisp and golden. Good served with sparkling drinks.
These next nibbles are a bit more upmarket and some shopping might be needed, but most of the ingredients could still be found in our own kitchen stores.
Nibbles on Sticks:
Thread a quartered fig, a fold of Parma ham, and a slice of Mozzarella onto a stick.
Peel strips of cucumber, cover with strips of smoked salman and concertina together before threading onto a cocktail stick. OR interleave the folds of cucumber with cooked prawns.
Alternate cubes of feta cheese and melon balls on a cocktail stick.
Skewer together chunks of cooked chicken, fresh (or canned) mango chunks, with thick slices cut from a spring onion.
As you can tell, am slightly stuck as to which recipes can tantalise you the most. So please send in ideas, queries, anything to keep my fingers tapping away and get my head stuck into more books. Are there any foods of the world (by region) that have still not been mentioned, and that you would like to know more about? Times like this I really need you to keep me going
Finishing today with a few snippets from yesterday's judging. Those of you who have stuck with me over the past months, will have read my 'media moments', and all the disasters that befell me. Yesterday was another example.
For many years I used to judge the crafts section of the local Allotment show, but a year or two ago they changed the venue, and this meant climbing stairs, which now I find very difficult and painful to do. However, a lift had been installed, and as this would make it so easy, I agreed to judge again.
You will be expecting this, although (forgetful of my track record) I didn't. When I arrived, the lift did not appear to want to work. It came down from above, but refused to go back up. In the end I had to use the stairs. Not a good start
Being the first show of the season, not to mention it being Grand National Day, there were not too many entries in all the classes, both fruit, vegetable and crafts. Some of my craft classes had no entries at all (was particularly disappointed there were none in the pizza class as I was hoping to nibble enough to make them my lunch). There were a couple of Victoria Sponge cakes; two Apple Pies; three lots of cheese scones (these were in the schedule as to be 'three round cheese scones' but one person had made them rabbit shaped which disqualified them - so when entering a show, always read the schedule and stick to the instructions, particularly the shape and size). And only one entry of Flapjack, which I had to give as a second as there was 'room for improvement'. Normally there are at least 6 entries to many more classes, including jams, pickles, preserves, breads, biscuits, even home-made wines, and the summer show, in July (we may have moved, we may have not) should be much better.
As well as the foods, there were other crafts, again only a few this year: 'a representation of Spring', which could be in any form, a collage of photos taken from the entrant's garden won that. A few childrens classes: decorated hard-boiled eggs, judged according to age. This is always a difficult one, as so often it is apparent that Mum had a hand in the presentation of the very young child's offering. Also cress growing in a margarine tub. Other classes were not represented this year, I missed the miniature gardens in a tray, some in the past have been amazingly clever. Also the little flower arrangements, often in an eggshell. Other (adult) crafts missing were knitted goods (clothes and toys), photos and paintings. But at least I had just enough for me to handle without ending up bent double with the back-ache as I expected would happen.
What was great fun was seeing again old acquaintances. Especially Joe Maiden, the gardener, who I have known for many years (we first met when we were both on Radio Leeds). Some of you may recognise his name, he has appeared many times on local TV, made gardening videos, and judges flowers and veggies all over the country.
As mentioned, I came home clutching my Barter Bag (veggies instead of payment for judging), and spent some time cleaning up leeks and refreshing purple sprouting broccoli. There was very little else available at this time of year apart from rhubarb (and I have enough of that growing in our own garden). However, what I did get was as fresh as could be, believed organically grown, and some will be eaten for supper tonight.
Oh yes, although my husband had to take time off work to be here yesterday for the arranged viewing, the florists had phoned him asking him to return for an urgent delivery, so thank goodness I arrived home just in time so that he could leave. After waiting half an hour past the viewing time, with no-one appearing, phoned the estate agent who said the man had not turned up for three viewings he had booked, so they were not well pleased either.
Cannot remember at all what we ate for supper yesterday. Could have been chilli con carne, but there again that could have been Friday's supper. Think yesterday was a help-yourself, Beloved tends to like things like sardines on toast for a Saturday snack, then snacks on other things later, yes I do remember him finishing off the Cheddar with whisky and ginger, bought from the farmers' market, so the chilli must have been Friday. Not too sure whether I ate anything at all. Oh, yes - I did take a cheese and tomato sarnie up to my bedroom to eat while reading, plus two oranges. And a naughty (three actually) Jaffa cakes.
My problem is that I write down the exact thoughts as they come to mind, so excuse the jumping from one thing to another. At least this way you can become completely in tune with my mind. Whether that is a good thing or not, remains to be seen. Often my family say "you shouldn't have said that", usually in respect to me complaining about something Beloved has, or has not done (or family get jitters when I have been slightly critical about other cooks - for perhaps they think I will be sued). Well, this is the Goode Life. The way it is. Warts and all.
Obviously not all personal details are written about. Like never mentioning about the other day when Beloved wanted to fix a washer in the water tank in the loft that had been dripping for years (why now, when we have accepted an offer for the house? We have managed for years as it is), so he tried to fix it and (to cut a very long story short), ended up breaking all sorts of things, having to pay quite a bit for new ballcocks, new piping, and other stuff, having to have the stopcock turned off during a couple of days and only partly turned off (without telling me), another day, so that I found out, when naked that I couldn't have a shower, while he took himself off to the gym so that HE could have a shower... Then after all that, the drip got even worse (I do mean the drip in the tank, not Beloved, but it could apply to both). Enventually, due to something I think called Plumber's Mate (sticky stuff) all is now (almost) right. We had a blazing row over this, mainly because he decided to do it (as he often does) at a most incovenient time - like when we have guests. Oh, that will have given my family cause to complain. Don't care.
Time for me to make my move. Beloved brought in some more (why?) ready-made puff pastry steak and kidney pies, so he can have one for supper with some leeks and purple-sprouting broccoli. Am knee deep in eggs so may make some soft-scoop ice-cream, and use the eggs in a quiche, and also maybe make myself an omelette for supper. Then roll on tomorrow - Monday, my favourite day of the week.
Keep those comments coming...
posted by Shirley at 6:27 AM
2 Comments:
I know that in Indian restaurants a particularly hot curry can be accompanied by a raita - yoghourt based side dish.
A wonderful story about the household fiasco with the plumbing. It sounds so like what happens in our house. I do so prefer to get a trusted professional in. In my next life I have vowed to marry a real handy man not a botcher.
Am still overwhelmed with spinach - do you think I could concoct a pesto out of the leaves?
And any suggestions for interesting things to do with cabbage - the green stuff not the white.
Valerie
Hi Shirley, enjoyed reading about your judging, you know the old saying "when it rains, it really pours". To think you gave up your time and what a dissapointment it must have been for you! At least you met some old acquaintances, which was really nice.
Yes, a wonderful story about the household fiasco with the plumbing. I am lucky because where I worked, until I recently retired, we had a works department, and the tradesmen were very helpful and only too pleased to help you out and I knew that the job would be well done! You have to be so careful these days with tradesmen - I always watch the Rogue Traders when it's on and it sure opens your eyes and how you can get ripped off. The guys who do my jobs for me told me that if I need anything doing I only had to phone the works department and they will pass the message on to the person concerned, which is really good to know and nice of them.
In one of the Sunday papers, which I decided to purchase this Sunday because it had some interesting gardening information in it by Alan Titmarsh, there was a magazine in it and there was an interesting article - Nostalgia - "WE WOULDN'T SWITCH". They really don't make them like they used to. From antique hairdryers to 50-year-old fridges, the gadgets of yesteryear are quietly soldering on. Fiona Duffy met three ladies who won't give up their faithful friends.
Tell on the blink? Cooker crocked? For most of us, the death-rattle of a domestic appliance is the prelude to a visit from the delivery man, bringing a brand new replacement. Deep down, we know this isn't right. But having grown up in the throwaway age, we've never known any better.
In our grandparents' day it was very different. Labour-saving household gadgets were luxuries to be yearned and saved for. They were reasured, revered, looked after - and they lasted.
"Today the average washing machine breaks down after six years," says Ken Watts, appliance engineer and founder of the Whitegoods Trade Association. "And shockingly, that lifespan is actually decreasing, year by year."
It has to be said, of course, that the price of domestic gadgets is dropping even faster. TV's, DVDs, vacuum cleaners and all the rest sell for the same figure they did 10 years or even 20 years ago. And in real terms, their cost if a fraction of what of what it was in the 50s and 60s. But in the long run, we're not saving any money.
"Since the mid 80s the industry has gone mad for what we call 'cost engineering'," explains Ken Watts. "Rather than engineering things to work, they'll engineer them to a fixed cost. And you can't reduce cost without cutting quality."
What's more, modern gizmos aren't just less robust - there's so much more inside them to go wrong.
"People say their old-fashioned item has lasted longer because they've look after it, says Steve Rutherford, senior lecturer in product design at Nottingham Trent University. "But the real reason is usually that it's so somple. And if it does go wrong, someone can mend it. With today's electronics, we don't stand a chance."
And is it soo cynical to wonder if the manufacturers deliverately build product with a short life-span? "When our office paper shredder broke down, we took it apeart," recalls Steve. "We discovered that all its gears were metal, except one, which was plastic. And this was the one that had broken. We'll never prove it, but it's almost as if this was put there intentionally to be the weakest link."
Ken Watts takes a similarly jaundice view. "These days companies are run by accountants," he sighs. "There's no passion or care about the product or the customers." But now, it seems, the tide could be turning against short-lived, shoddy machinery. Leading the way is the Whitegoods Trade Association, which offers advice on buying, repairing and maintaining domestic appliances, rather than replacing them. And it has also launched its own range of robust products, under the brand name ISE, which stands for Independent Service Engineering."
Factories are absolutely gobsmacked when we say, "We don't care aboutcare about price, we just want it to be the best", Ken explains. "They've never heard that before. But our machines are built to the highest standards, with a lifespan of 20 years, and are designed to be economical to repair."
That will be music to the ears of the older generation, who bought their equipment last time it was made like this. They can smile indulgently at their neighbours' flashy modern kit, and look forward to many more years' faithful service from their old friends.
I remember recently you mentioned some of the items that you still had after all these years, which goes to show how in those days they made things to last and could also be repaired it necessary.
A really interesting article.
It's true that things you buy today don't last five minutes, compared to years ago. It just seems that we are being ripped off left, right and centre. Manufacturers only seem interested in all the money they can make and not the customer. How sad to think it has come to this over the years.
Well will leave you for now, as it's tea time. Have a lovely evening.
SweeterRita
Post a Comment
<< Home