And have you noticed how they always seem to serve at these fancy dinners with the most expensive ingredients? Like, Coquilles Saint-Jacques (scallops au gratin) is just a fancy way of saying "rich people's food".
I'm not buying into all this "cooking up something sublime" nonsense. There's got to be more to it than just making some fancy meal for our loved ones. Maybe they're trying to brainwash us into thinking we need to keep up appearances and impress others with our culinary skills?
And let's not forget the period dramas themselves - are those just a way to make us feel better about our own lives by showing us that someone else has it worse off? I mean, who really wants to watch a show about people struggling financially just to keep their social status?