Slow food, fast friends

She also has a passion for calvero nero, another Brassica, equallydifficult to source. (And if you do manage to lay hands on them,both these vegetables have an extremely pungent and, it must besaid, rather unpleasant cabbagey flavour.)
And yet the fact that we either can't physically reproduce theserecipes or really wouldn't care to somehow doesn't seem to matter.One hundred shows and 400 impossible recipes later, our devotionhas only deepened.
Something Australian cooking shows have always done well, and atradition Maggie and Simon proudly continue, is the celebration oflocal food. Filmed almost entirely in Maggie's kitchen in theBarossa Valley, the first year of Cook and Chef was very focused on South Australian produce and producers, andthere were plenty to choose from.
In subsequent seasons, we've moved further afield (and, later thisyear, they're off to New Zealand) but the core of the show remainslocal, seasonal produce. Anyone interested in food must beinterested in learning how things are grown, how to identifyquality, and where to find local versions of exotic ingredients,whether that's buffalo mozzarella or sea slugs.
Much of the love, though, is thanks to our hosts. Talk about an oddcouple.
Simon is diminutive, slightly camp, with a taste for black leatherand chrome studs. Maggie looks like what she is: a farmer with apassion for cooking, and for chunky jewellery.
Maggie likes to cook with whatever in the garden: Simon (as we mayhave mentioned) likes nothing better than starting with 17 rarespices and a big chunk of shark's fin.
While, in the early days, their unease both with the camera andwith each other was palpable, there was still something hugelylikeable about them as individuals, and something hypnotic in thevery odd pairing. Now, with the passing of time, a real friendshiphas developed and we - and they - can see that, despite theirobvious and manifold differences, they're united by one crucialfactor. Their devotion to food.
They have a real respect for each other's abilities, but are lessand less shy about making fun of each other, too. And thatclassically Australian disrespectful camaraderie is a real pleasureto watch. A big part of the fun each Wednesday evening is watchingthem eye each other's dishes with a mixture of fascination andsuspicion - before the final taste-off converts each to the other'screations. Or, sometimes, not.
And perhaps that's the secret of the show's longevity, and ourpleasure in it. As well as watching two people have an awful lot offun doing something they love, we also watch them be tested,challenged, encouraged to try new things, and learning a littlesomething new every week.
This isn't purely instructional: it's not just two experts tellingus amateurs how to go about things. It's each of our hosts cajolingthe other into having a go, discovering new flavours, ingredientsor processes, and taking a journey of which we're all a part.
The Cook and the Chef: Wednesday, 6.30pm, ABC1