Two Fat Ladies : Volume 1 and 2 [VHS]

Entertainment Weekly recently praised the Two Fat Ladies as one of the coolest shows on television, and these videos will make a believer of anyone, hardcore food fanatic or not. The two English cooks, Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright, use their no-nonsense patter and decidedly un-glam personas in tackling a variety of foods and specialties--some arcane English recipes (fish pie, Yorkshire gingerbread sweetened with black treacle) and some universally enticing (baked monkfish with rosemary and anchovies, Danish apple and prune cake). Each of the two videos includes three separate episodes, during which the ladies demonstrate a variety of cooking techniques and then tool around the English countryside in their motorcycle and sidecar to feed assorted appreciative groups of guinea pigs. Along the way, their dry Brit observations (Paterson demonstrates making a herringbone pattern atop the fish pie--"like that good tweed") and love of their craft will captivate you, even if you never intend to lift a wooden spoon. And if you are a dedicated cook, their inventive use of fresh ingredients will inspire you. You won't leave without a smile on your face. --Anne Hurley