Ian Thorpe’s cookbook shows he is making a meal of celebrity
WE all love Ian Thorpe, but with so many brilliant chefs in Australia, do we really need a cookbook by a swimming champion? ’Fraid not, says SIOBHAN DUCK.
Opinion
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I’M certain there are many things that Ian Thorpe can teach me. How to improve my freestyle, for one. Grace under pressure, would be another.
But I never imagined I would seek guidance in the kitchen from an Olympic swimmer. How to take a dip, yes please. How to make a dip, no thanks.
This week I discovered that our very own Thorpedo has joined the long list of celebrities to whip up a cookbook. Thorpe’s book, Eat Well Now, promises to deliver “healthy, delicious, low-carb recipes” inspired by Thorpe’s desire to eat delicious meals while maintaining his strong and lean body. You can bet there are no recipes for carbonara or Nutella doughnuts.
Look, there’s no doubting Thorpe is a legend and a hero to many. His sporting and personal achievements are certainly inspirational. But I cannot say that means I suddenly want to pay for his cooktop coaching.
After all, these days there is no shortage of gastronomic guidance.
And thanks to shows like MasterChef and MKR, every man and his dog thinks they can plate up a dish of restaurant quality.
Even the pollies are getting in on it. Bronwyn Bishop showed us how to bake her mushroom lasagne, Penny Wong fried up a family fish recipe and then PM Tony Abbott barbecued a steak on Annabel Crabb’s popular ABC series Kitchen Cabinet.
Chefs such as Donna Hay, Karen Martini and Jamie Oliver provide their recipes online and in multiple print publications. So, if I’m going to buy a cookbook, I want one written by a professional chef, not some star who can trick up a rather tasty salad.
Unfortunately, the cookbook, like lifestyle blogging, seems to have become yet another trapping of celebrity. It’s no longer enough to want to dress like our favourite stars — now we want to dress salads like them too. And there’s no shortage of them willing to show us how it’s done.
Today host Karl Stefanovic launched his blokey BBQ guidance, Karl Cooks, earlier this year. Health nut Gwyneth Paltrow has several cookbooks under her expensive designer belt.
And then there are books by Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria, poet Maya Angelou and cricket star Matthew Hayden spilling off the shelves. So I guess it makes sense for The Thorpedo to throw himself into the pool of talent, too.
But, much as I like the man, I just won’t be splashing out.
SIOBHAN DUCK IS A SUNDAY HERALD SUN COLUMNIST
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