Posh Nosh

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Posh Nosh was a 2003 BBC television programme parodying television chefs. Written by Jon Canter from an idea by Arabella Weir and directed by Chris Langham, the programme stars Weir and Richard E. Grant as chefs the Hon. Simon and Minty Marchmont, owners of a very posh restaurant called "The Quill & Tassel." There were nine ten-minute episodes, in which the chefs carry out their mission to bring "extraordinary food" to "ordinary people."

Simon and Minty prepare various dishes ranging from architect's fish and chips to bread AND butter pudding, offering snooty and frequently surreal commentary along the way. For instance, they employ words in odd ways in parody of specific culinary terminology, such as "interrogate a lemon"; and their cooked vegetables are not peeled but "embarrassed," after which they might be "annoyed" instead of boiled. They also frequently insist on ultra-specific, often prohibitively expensive, ingredients - such as Greek currants that you actually have to fly to Greece to buy.

At the same time, a thread of domestic tension (and often hostility) runs beneath the surface of every exchange between Simon and Minty, along with some not-so-subtle hints about Simon's sexual orientation. The common use of web sites in television programmes are often spoofed as well, with items such as www.sexymexavacado.com and www.arthurleggbourkersfarmnearbanbury.co.uk appearing as subtitles on screen.

Finally, each episode concludes with teaser for the next episode and a short faux promotional piece for a jar of something "from the Posh Nosh range" at your local purveyor of all foods fine and extraordinary. Each item on offer is progressively more ridiculous. For example, here is the close from the episode about architect's fish and chips (as distinct from builder's fish and chips):

Minty: Join us next week on Posh Nosh, when I'll be disabling a partridge in its own jus.
(closing theme as the credits slide by, right to left, very quickly)
(pause at the end of the third line)
Promo: From the Posh Nosh range, Dried John Dory Thins in Basil Aioli.
(last line of closing theme)

The woman who does the voice over for these promotionals is Joanna Lumley.

[edit] Theme Song

The introductory theme for Posh Nosh is taken from the traditional English ballad titled "The Raggle-Taggle Gypsies". It uses the following verses from the ballad:

Opening theme:
What care I for my house and my land?
What care I for my treasure, O?
What care I for my new-wedded lord,
I’m off with the raggle-taggle gypsies, O!

Closing theme:
What care I for a goose feather bed
With sheets turned down so gravely, O?
For tonight I shall sleep in a cold open field,
[Faux Promo for Posh Nosh range product inserted here]
Along with the raggle-taggle gypsies, O!

As with the voice of the Posh Nosh Range promotionals, the person who sings the theme song is not credited, but it is the famous English countertenor Alfred Deller, who recorded the song several times, although it is unclear whether the recording used is the one from the mid-1950s or the one from around 1970.