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29 March 2007

I was here today. →[More:]Hell on earth for some people, but fun for me. Furniture, bathrooms, room settings, all kinds of home and garden equipment, gifts and housewares, and just about every As Seen On TV gadget you could think of.

There was a cookery theatre where I saw a demonstration by Aldo Zilli, who is quite a famous chef in the UK. In about 30 minutes he made pasta from scratch, got a lamb ragou started (he said it would take about 2 hours to cook, but he demonstrated it up to simmering point), showed us how to prepare baby squid - with a 9-year-old boy from the audience as his helper - and made an orange tiramisu.

On one of the stands they were selling these. I watched the guy make all kinds of things - juice, sorbet, soup, etc. The machine looked as if it would do anything, but it is huge and very noisy. Then he said the price.

Four hundred and fifty pounds. That's about $900. Yes, that's right, $900 for a blender. I mean, it was good, but, ffs, it's a fricking blender.

Interesting - on the US website, it's only $400. A bargain! Quick, get one. Get two!

I ate my fill of all the free tasters on different stands - sausages, cheese, all kinds of things the people selling cookware were making, plus I bought two delicious vegetarian samosas, and also had an ice cream which was probably too big, but which I ate all of anyway.

And I didn't buy any crappy gadgets either!

post by: essexjan at: 12:24 | 8 comments

I love shows like that! Sometimes just to gawk at the crazy stuff people will buy, sometimes to see really cool design, and sometimes to get ideas... like, finding out how make sorbet, but then going home and making it with your own $20 blender.

posted by BoringPostcards 29 March | 12:39

The sorbet was made thus:

A small can of strawberries or raspberries (you need the canned ones for the syrup), pureed in the blender. Plus a handful of real berries.

Then add twice as much ice as other ingredients. Then blitz it. That's it.

posted by essexjan 29 March | 12:48

Yes, but will it blend?

posted by plinth 29 March | 12:51

One of the best things I ever bought at this show was this. I use it all the time, it does the most fantastic grilled vegetables.

posted by essexjan 29 March | 13:00

Half the fun of those shows are the pitchmen. I love listening to their patter, and watching them work a crowd. So many times, I've seen a "demonstrator" who is obviously tired, maybe standing on aching feet, doing the spiel for the 800th time, and the 6th time that day, start in, and then get going on the pitch, and suddenly the blood and the energy come back in their face, and they get a couple of people in the front row to react, and then a couple more, and suddenly, it's Broadway!

Magic needn't wait for the houselights to dim, and maybe that blender is worth $900 to someone, for the entertainment value, essexjan. In a world where Tiger Woods can get paid $4 million+ simply for appearing in Dubai, anything is possible, if you can call it entertainment.

posted by paulsc 29 March | 13:20

Some of the pitches were great. The blender guy was excellent, as was the man selling the Diablo, which has got to be one of the most pointless gadgets ever, but he had people almost fighting over them.

I, on the other hand, was prepared to kill to make sure I got tastes of what was on offer on this stand.

posted by essexjan 29 March | 14:32

I looove home shows, especially the electronic gadgets like home automation and security. I am always frightened off by the prices, of course, but am determined to get at least the biometric front door lock on our house, no matter what.

posted by dg 29 March | 17:54

orange tiramisu.

Genius!

I agree with paulsc about pitchmen. Probably my biggest reason for loving The Big E (New England's all-state state fair) is that it is a showcase for good old-fashioned road-show hucksterism. They have an entire expo area called the Better Living Center that is right out the fair in Charlotte's Web. Chamois! Deep freezes! Emu oil! Knives! Popeet! Woks! Carpet sweepers! I don't care what they're selling - I stay for the showmanship, which is always artful.

posted by Miko 29 March | 19:09

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