Farewell to the Urban Peasant

It’s been so long ago that I can’t even remember what US channel I first saw him on… was it an earlier incarnation of TLC?

James Barber was a quirky presence on television, in that era before Food Network remade the television cooking show into the slickly produced 22-minute food orgasm, for good and ill. He had a cheery presence and a “lets all cook, kids” attitude. I think I was transfixed because he made really simple things and he made a lot of stuff in a toaster oven. He didn’t concern himself that much with how it looked on the plate when it came out of the toaster oven, but that was alright. He didn’t like snobbery; he wanted good food made with ingredients you could find at the store. I’ve always liked cooking shows, and I found the way he poked about the kitchen to be charming.

I assume that Urban Peasant was successful for CBC over its ten year run. CBC says the show aired in more than 120 countries and up until I recently, I still occasionally caught the aging reruns on one or more of those third tier Canadian cable channels.

James Barber passed away last Thursday at his home on Vancouver Island; he was 84.