Of 14 potential lunches and dinners a week, New Yorkers cook less than half — 5.4, according to the 2004 Zagat Survey — skipping the rest, or turning to restaurants for dine-in or takeout. National statistics are no more encouraging. According to the NPD Group, which surveys eating patterns, less than a third of main dishes are made from scratch, down 16 percent in the last decade. Little more than half of all suppers require use of a stove top, a 21 percent drop since 1985. And dinner parties are on the wane — we garnered 16 invitations on average in 1990; 12, in 2003. If dinner parties do happen, takeout tins often litter the kitchen.
It seems a bizarre paradox. The popularity of food porn — TV programs presenting not-always-realistic recipes and cooking techniques — continues to grow while most of us remain whiskless. And it’s not only an American trend. According to a recent survey published in the London Times, the British are also suffering a bit of fry-pan phobia, with restaurant spending there up more than a third in the last five years. [Amodio]
Amodio, Joseph V. “Celebrity-Chef Backlash.” The New York Times. 28 March 2004. <www.nytimes.com/2004/03/28/magazine/magazinespecial/SECELEBCT.html> (3 April 2004).