Take a tasty time out for this timely tome

It would be easy to say that Kerr leapt on Childs' coattails. After all, "The Galloping Gourmet" appeared on U.S. television in 1969, six years after "The French Chef." But it would be glib and plain wrong to say so. Not only had Graham Kerr been cooking since he was a wee one in the English hotel kitchens owned by his parents compared to Julia who began at a doddering 36, but his first televised cooking demo aired back in 1960 in New Zealand ("That doesn't count," Child teased him). True enough, Child was a pioneer in the United States and unquestionably deserves her iconic status as queen of small screen cuisine, but Kerr set a few firsts himself.

Viewers in the U.S. had been well prepped, of course, by "The French Chef," but the style of "The Galloping Gourmet" was a world apart. The show opened with the snappily-dressed, British dandy of a ball of energy leaping over a tall kitchen chair while holding a full glass of wine, setting the tone for the rest of the episode and raising the bar for almost every cooking show that followed.

What fun!

If you love cookery ... or if you enjoy quirky glimpses into modern sociology as it happens ... or if you think Julia Child was really really funny (and the Galloping Gourmet a bit smutty) ...

take 7 minutes and 19 seconds to listen to the author of Watching What We Eat talk about it with Renee Montagne, and listen to the clips. It'll put a smile on your face and something interesting into a pan for dinner too, I betcha.

Here's to the cooks! Cheers!