The Great British Menu 2011

This year’s Great British Menu started last week (Monday 4th of April) with the North East region – and tonight is the turn of the chefs representing Northern Ireland.

This is the sixth series of The Great British Menu, and this year they’re working with The Big Lunch, a community street party initiative which encourages communities to get together one day in the summer.

Competing for Northern Ireland are:

• Brian McCann – Shu Restaurant, Belfast
• Chris Fearon – Deane’s at Queens, Belfast; and
• Chris Bell – Longridge Restaurant, Preston

Inspired by the street party theme, the chefs will be preparing a starter, a fish course, a main and a dessert over the course of the week – they have to be on their toes, though, as each course is judged by a competition veteran, with one of the chefs being sent home on Thursday.

The winner of the regional heat will be decided on Friday by the GBM panel: Prue Leith, Oliver Peyton and Matthew Fort.

Programme details:

• Broadcast on: BBC 2 at 6:30pm, Monday 11 April 2011
• Duration: 30 minutes

Other information:

You can find more information about The Great British Menu 2011 on the BBC website.

Started by The Eden Project in 2009, the street parties for The Big Lunch have involved millions of people across the UK. This year’s street parties are planned for Sunday 5 June 2011. You can find out more about The Big Lunch at www.thebiglunch.com.

BBC iPlayer

This week, the BBC iPlayer is hosting serialised versions of books from two of our favourite authors, Anthony Bourdain and Keith Floyd.

Both series run all week – they’re definitely worth catching up on!

A Cook’s Tour

In the first episode of his award-winning book, “A Cook’s Tour”, chef Anthony Bourdain enjoys the perfect cup of coffee in Ho Chi Minh City as he embarks on a global adventure in ‘extreme cuisines’.

Read by Anthony Bourdain.

Details:

• Broadcast on: BBC Radio 7, 3:15pm Mon, 22 Nov 2010
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Available until: 3:32pm Mon, 29 Nov 2010
• Find it at: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
• Buy the book at: www.amazon.co.uk

Stirred but not Shaken

In this honest and revealing memoir, The Giddy Gourmet looks back over his life, the ups and downs of his career, and his love of food.

Just how did one of the first celebrity chefs become so inspired to love food?

Read by Michael Cochraine.

Details:

• Broadcast on: BBC Radio 7, 3:30pm Mon, 22 Nov 2010
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Available until: 3:47pm Mon, 29 Nov 2010
• Find it at: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
• Buy the book at: www.amazon.co.uk

Man Versus Food

Just a quick post to tell you about our new obsession: Man Versus Food!

Host Adam Richman travels across the U.S. in search of the biggest and the best food that America can offer. There’s no fine-dining here – burgers, fries, pizzas, and sandwiches are the order of the day. From 21/2lb cold cut sandwiches in Ohio to 13lb pizzas in Atlanta, Adam challenges himself and his digestion to beat the gargantuan meals from famous eateries across the country.

The highlight of the series so far: The Big Texan challenge.. 72oz of steak!

More information

Man Versus Food is shown on weeknights at 9pm on The Good Food channel.

You can find out more about Man Versus Food here.

Paul Richardson

Kelly bought me Paul Richardson’s “A Late Dinner: Discovering the food of Spain” last year and it quickly became one of my favourite books.

Paul’s obvious love of all things Spanish is clear in his emotive and evocative descriptions of the regional food and the strong bond between the people, the land, and their cusine. I defy anyone who reads this book to say that they don’t want to take off immediately and discover Spanish regional cooking for themselves!

BBC Radio 7 have serialised the book and it’s available on the BBC iplayer in short 15 minute programmes – in this first episode Paul Richardson explores and enjoys food in Ibiza. Surprising, I know, but highly recommended.

Details:

• Broadcast on: BBC Radio 7, 2:15pm Monday 1st February 2010
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Available until: 2:32pm Monday 8th February 2010
• Find it at: www.bbc.co.uk
• Buy the book at: www.amazon.co.uk for £11.03

New NI Cooking Programme

Are you the best cook in your family? Do you think you have what it takes to work with a celebrity chef and win the ultimate food fight? If the answer is yes then you can prove your worth in an exciting new BBC Northern Ireland cookery game.

Under the guidance of celebrity chefs Jenny Bristow and Kevin Dundon, each episode will feature two amateur cooks going head to head in a fun culinary challenge.

Working against the clock, the amateur cooks will have to prepare a three course meal for family and friends. Not knowing who has prepared which dish, the guests will be asked to vote in secret for their favourite dish based on taste and appearance.

In a final twist the chef who is declared the winner will not necessarily be the one who earns the most votes from the dinne guests – stepping into the role of judge will be a family member or friend who is willing to risk a few egos by declaring their own favourite dish and ultimately choosing which cook is the ‘dinner winner’.

In addition to the distinction of winning, the cook will be rewarded with a tailor-made treat – including a luxury spa treatment or tickets for a concert.

Castings are already underway, so if you think you could handle the pressure then get in touch with Green Inc. The deadline for applications is this friday (Friday 5th of February) so get applying!

To apply for the programme or to request more information you can:

• Ring Green inc. on 02890 573 001; or
• Email Green inc. at tv@greeninc.tv

Gordon's Great Escape

I have to confess – Kelly and I like Gordon Ramsay. Behind all of the swagger and media-courting I think there’s a great chef with a lot of talent, drive, and ambition.

So we settled down to watch “Gordon’s Great Escape” with some expectation. The basis for the programme certainly sounded good – Gordon was off to India, avoiding the posh restaurants to find authentic regional cooking. Yes, the format has been done plenty of times before, but it does make for interesting television.

The first of three one-hour shows should have been very watchable. The cooking sequences were good – cooking for passengers on an accident-prone train, learning to make Biryani with an irascible royal chef, and making ant chutney in the jungle. There were plenty of thoughtful confessions too in which Gordon talked about the difficult year that he’s had, and his need to get back to cooking – although I was left wondering was this a frank admission or more spin.

However, the programme was completely ruined by the persistant, needless swearing of the host. It was like a buzzing at the edge of your hearing which, once heard, seems to drown out all other sounds. And worst of all, the local people and chefs that Gordon met along the way were faultlessly polite, which only emphasised his crass behaviour.

The “Great Escape” was made when I changed the channel.

I’ve no idea who the programme-makers thought were going to watch “Gordon’s Great Escape”. Foul-mouthed food-lovers? Or viewers who are also afflicted with Tourette’s, perhaps. For me “Gordon’s Great Escape” is a terrible waste and a bit of an embarassment.

Other information

This episode: Monday 18 Jan, 9PM on Channel 4
Next episode: Tuesday 19 Jan, 9PM on Channel 4

You can visit the Channel 4 website to see some clips.

Nigella Lawson on Food for Thought - BBC iPlayer

There’s a short but interesting interview with Nigella Lawson on BBC’s iPlayer at the minute, in which Nigella talks about her early experiences of food – as a chamber maid in Italy, whisking white sauces for her mother and making veal stew and rabbit with prunes on a teenage visit to France.

She also touches upon her childhood, and the transition from being a reluctant eater to a passionate cook with a healthy appetite.

In the “Food For Thought” series Nina Myskow talks to various celebrities and discovers how attitudes to food affects their lives.

Details:

• Broadcast on: BBC Radio 4, 2:45pm Sunday 27th September 2009
• Duration: 15 minutes
• Available until: 3:02pm Sunday 4th October 2009
• Find it at: Nigella Lawson on Food For Thought