This morning I was gripped by a press release that declared Britain’s best spaghetti bolognese had been identified. As a lover of that dish, I know its origins are hotly debated, as are its correct components – so I immediately clicked ‘open’.
It turns out that the recipe, as judged by the Hairy Bikers (who I think have reached national treasure status these days), contains honey. What?! I read on to discover a cook from Cheshire had triumphed at a live cooking competition judged by the duo and that his recipe also includes paprika, tarragon and hot sauce. Missing is any pork or pancetta. I’m not Italian but even I know that all that is heresy.
The backers of the competition are Knorr and of course the stock cubes are included, which is fine. I’m also aware that adding weird ingredients to a recipe gets it noticed, so fair play. But still.
What I think about this sort of attention-seeking release (and I don’t necessarily mean that in a denigrating way), is that it should own its own nonconformity. The PRs who create ‘surprise!’ campaigns possibly miss a trick by not being more knowing and playful.
It might seem a bit meta, but it’s fun to share the quirks and jokes rather than present them as facts.
Having said that, I’m tempted to cook the recipe and get some tasters of my own to compare it with something a little more traditional to see which wins: perhaps the Knorr team will see that as a good result even if the recipe loses, but I’d love a quote from Knorr to say ‘honestly, the stuff our customers get up to is bonkers…’
