Is size everything? A rant

Wandering down Canton high street, I happened upon this and just had to stop and take a snap.

Photo: N Tudor

I chuckled and sent the snap to a couple of friends asking if anyone was brave/stupid enough to have a go.

It got a mixed response.  Obviously some of my friends salivated at the thought of just under 2kg of meat.  Others expressed grim fascination.  A third, smaller and possibly slightly more shrewd group immediately got back asking if they had to eat the peas, mushrooms, salad and chips (in addition to the meat) to get it for free.

And then there were some who expressed disgust.  "I'd rather have one small, good steak, than 69oz of bad meat!" cried the foodies whilst the vegetarians who went grey at the thought.  

I began to wonder where this fascination with extreme eating came from.  From the buffet style "all-you-can-eat" restaurants to competitive eating (did you know they have their own league?!), we seem to be obsessed with it.  The media has given us Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me and the cult Man vs. Food as well as churning out dozens of other similar shows.  Our appetite for the large, the weird and the down right disgusting just seems ever increasing.

I have to say that on consideration I'm firmly in the "give me one decent steak over 69oz mediocre meat" camp.  Too many people seem intent on making their menus more and more outlandish in order to get attention, and not always for the best.  Surely an establishment wants to be known for good, quality dishes?  Or perhaps meals like this hook people in?  Does it even matter?

It brings me back to one of my favourite quotes from the godlike Nigel Slater (I'm sorry, he is my idol and one day I will live happily, curled up in the shadow of his aga)

`There is too much talk of cooking being an art or a science - we are only making ourselves something to eat.'

So let's all get back to good eating and leave these marketing ploys well alone.