To think that TV chefs don't get the point of takeaways?

[AnguasDogCollar]

Every celebrity chef, cookbook author and blogger seems to do it at some point. The compulsory "make your own takeaway!" episode/chapter/blog. Recipes for curry, sweet and sour chicken, your own hand battered fish and chips. The reasons vary "So much CHEAPER" "So much HEALTHIER" "So much TASTIER" "So much QUICKER".

This shouldn't irritate me so much but it does. I know how to make a bloody curry. But if I don't have any food in then no, it's not quicker to go to the shop, buy all the ingredients, make it from scratch, and wash everything up afterwards.

Sometimes, people just don't feel like cooking. They're ill. They just spent ages cleaning their kitchen and can't face messing it up again. They had a rough day and are knackered. So cooking the same thing isn't going to serve the same purpose of NOT COOKING! Why do none of them seem to grasp this?!

(The exception to this is Nigella, who once did an episode where she got chips from the chippie. And put them in a wrap with hummous, but still...)

Cooking most takeaway food from scratch is really time consuming because there's so much prep needed. It might take five minutes to cook but that doesn't mention the hour of chopping before.

YANBU I always get annoyed at this, home cooked “takeaway” never tastes quite as good as from the takeaway, if I want a takeaway it’s because it’s quick and I don’t have to make any mess.

Also I don’t think it is much cheaper anyway, most things I get from the takeaway are £5 or £6 and fish and chips from our local is about £7 if it’s indian or Chinese then I always get prawns or lamb and by the time I’ve bought those from the supermarket that’s pretty much the same cost without buying the other ingredients and paying for the gas to cook it.

My personal pet hate is when someone bangs on about "authentic" flavours not "Anglicized" versions of Indian or Chinese food etc - sod off!

I prefer my naff, greasy, salty, INAUTHENTIC takeaway curries thank you very much.

The whole point of having a takeaway is not so much not cooking, but not having to wash and tidy up. So yanbu.

thecatsthecats There's something particularly smug about a white, British chef telling their predominantly white, British audience to cook something "more authentic" than the Indian takeaway, owned by an Indian family with an Indian chef.

So, so true op. Well said. Love a naughty takeaway nothing better. You can bet your last chicken korma the chefs do too.

Actually, vast majority of people I know usually order takeaway and don’t cook...and that’s who those programmes are aimed at. Most of my friends (late 20s/early 30s) have no idea how to cook or where to even start with some pasta or a curry...

Well said op

Its not always faster, cheaper or healthier. Especially if i gotta buy stuff i wouldnt normally. Not faster with the wrong appliences or having to fine chop this or that.
Plus the point of takeaway is you do nothing apart from eat and throw out the wrapping

Once people know how to cook, they realise their own pizza or curry is so much better
What crap. There are some nights i dont care if i could cook like a 5 star chef, i just dont wanna cook. Some nights the best tasting stuff is anything made by another, even if it bloody cereal

I own a small cafe/sandwich shop and we deliver orders. You would be amazed at the amount of deliveries we do to people's houses at lunch time.
Sundays it's all breakfasts and during the week burgers paninins and wraps 🍔

My personal pet hate is when someone bangs on about "authentic" flavours not "Anglicized" versions of Indian or Chinese food etc - sod off!

I was just thinking this!

When I'm hankering a curry, I'm not imagining some authentic meal I've never tasted half a world away in a country I've never been to, I'm wanting the chicken tikka masala from the curry place down the road.

(I'm more than happy to try out authentic dishes another time, but not when what I want is a specific takeaway dish!)

I agree for the normal day-to-day.

However, we did a family cooking challenge where everyone had to make a dish for a Chinese meal - so similar to a takeaway in terms of choice. It was a great success.

DH made beef in oyster sauce
DS made crispy honey chicken
DD1 made egg fried rice
DD2 made pr belly bao buns
I made chicken chow mein

We've done similar for a Sunday tea and are planning an Indian night soon.

I've looked at a couple of local new build houses recently and commented to DH that when you account for the fact that some of the 'cupboard doors' in the kitchens are actually hiding the fridge, washing machine and dishwasher, then there is very little actual storage space for pans. crockery. food etc. DH says that's because no one cooks any more so they just need space for the microwave and a few plates!

We live a 10 mile round trip from the nearest takeaway and no one delivers so we don't bother - there's usually something in the cupboard/fridge/freezer that makes a quick something to eat and saves us a load of cash as well.

I can cook a great curry (well I think it's great and the kids agree) but sometimes just don't feel like it. So we'll get a takeaway instead. We had one at the weekend. The naan breads are much nicer from the takeaway than the supermarket shove in the oven kind. I guess I should make those myself? Though my oven is crap.

I can cook most things but I don't actually like cooking that much, so I'll happily have a takeaway if money allows.

Our local pub does takeaway - it is amazing! You can get anything off the menu in a box. But it's not the same as proper takeaway.

We can't get deliveries here - but nothing hits the spot quite like a properly greasy, highly calorific takeaway.

I would literally sell my soul for a Chinese right now. I've not had one for years as nothing local.

i think you’re missing the point of TV chefs grin they exist to make money. They write books, appear on TV, have columns etc to make money. They don’t give a shiny shite whether you ignore 80% of their book and just Bake the brownies once in a blue moon. They just want you to buy it in the first place.

All of this. It’s just another ruse to sell cook books. I fall for it all the time tho.

Having said that, there’s a time and place for both takeaway and ‘fakeaway’ or whatever terrible name they call it.

I made my own pizza last week, all from scratch and it was great. Not better than the best pizzaria in town, but better than most of the takeaway options I have. I can’t wait to do it again.

I love to cook and make most stuff, not just meals but bread, jam, cakes etc. I even sometimes make my own butter and cheese. My husband likes to smoke food and make jerky, and my teenage son is a whizz at pizzas and buns. But we are lucky enough to also have great takeaways nearby. We can get dominos delivered within 15 minutes, or a full roast dinner, or all the usual Vietnam, Chinese, Thai, amazing fish and chips ( I live by the sea). So yes I can make a great curry or whatever, but I don’t always want to! We only indulge about once a month but I thoroughly enjoy it when I do. So YANBU!

There's some really sanctimonious comments on this thread but this one is the best😂

*Why pick up a takeaway on your way home from a trip away and you know you've got nothing in the fridge when you could easily pop to the local butcher and grocers to select some locally sourced seasonal produce and then whip up a delicious, nutrious meal which happens to share the same name and general idea as the take away?

I can sort of see the point for the people who have never tried cooking and are living off takeaways because they don't believe they can do it but that's not why I do takeaways.

I have this idea that rather than taking people from one extreme to the other they ought to slowly work down a scale. Replace takeaways/meals out with ready meals. Replace ready meals with jar of sauce/spice blends/pre prepared stuff. Then replace that with from scratch. (and then own butchery/animal husbandry).*

Sometimes a takeaway hits a spot than no cooked from scratch meal can. I have vast quantities of spices and dried ingredients in my cupboards but if I want a doner kebab laden with chilli sauce or a pizza, fish and chips from our local chippy then that's what I'll get. I am not going to fanny about trashing my kitchen which I do every night of the week tying to recreate what the takeaway can do for me and have a mess free kitchen

I have a question about takeaway pizza. Do you / can you make the pizza dough in a food processor, a bit like making pastry?

I totally agree op, I’m a single parent and get sick of making everything meal, every decision about what to have every single day and if I want a takeaway it’s to make my life a little bit easier just for a night off, not to then have to shop for it and cook it like every other day

yabvu there is a difference between a takeaway once in a while and eating takeaway every evenings.

I have a question about takeaway pizza. Do you / can you make the pizza dough in a food processor, a bit like making pastry?

You don't make the dough for a takeaway pizza – the restaurant does!

If you're asking about making pizza dough at home, no you wouldn't use a food processor. You just knead it with your hands, it's extremely simple. Here:

I came here for the sanctimonious 'holier than thou' takeaway-bashing comments and I wasn't disappointed!

There's some really sanctimonious comments on this thread but this one is the best

That one was definitely a satirical post, just FYI.

Brilliant, many thanks @NunoGoncalves I will try that at the weekend

@NunoGoncalves

Oh yeah, I got that...The depressing thing is, it isn't to far detached from some genuine comments.