Cooking Price-Wise

An unusual treat for fans of the great Vincent Price, this series is finally available on Blu-ray - the practical way to watch any cooking programme, really, if you plan on experimenting in the kitchen accordingly. It comes packaged with a rather mixed set of extras. This includes audio commentaries on three of the episodes, the first of which is not particularly insightful, but the other two of which are more interesting.

Although Jenny Hammerton has something to offer as a commentator, it's not really clear what purpose the other features with her serve here. one simply involves her talking about famous people are their favourite recipes, which might be of interest if you're the obsessive fan type or if you didn't realise that celebrities eat, but it won't really contribute to your appreciation of the feature presentation. The other simply features her repeating a recipe which, if you've been watching the episodes, you will just have seen Price present. it doesn't add anything.

Making up for this, however, is a delightful collection of public information films. Some of the basic cooking skills they teach are very much applicable today, and there will no doubt be viewers who find them useful. They also reveal cooking-related practices that have all but vanished. The one focused on tea - presented as a conversation between two women but, of course, with a man presenting the important information so that viewers would take it seriously - is full of historical and sociological detail, even if it addresses the question of whether or not the milk should go in first only as an aside.

The other treasure here in Victoria Price's discussion of her father's relationship with cooking, which incorporates some highly entertaining family anecdotes. She always has interesting things to say about her father and the deep affection with which she refers to him three decades after his death speaks to the warmth of a personality that continues to delight fans.