If Gordon Ramsay’s on a show, I’ll watch it. I’d watch the man if he posed as the test card for that matter, but it’s not just because he’s a total babe who gets all macho all over the shop and makes me go weak at the knees, it’s also because he actually really does turn businesses around.
One of the things that drives me nuts though – despite the fact that it makes for great watching – is that so many of the restaurateurs who call him in to save their businesses take absolutely no notice of what he says and/or have a pop at him! This was the case in last night’s episode of Kitchen Nightmares USA: The Secret Garden, and it was epic! Read more & comment »
May 13th, 2009 by Lisa McGarry. Tags: Good Food, UKTV
UKTV is to undergo yet another rebrand and has licensed the brand of BBC Worldwide cookery magazine Good Food.
BBC Worldwide, which owns 50% of UKTV with Virgin Media, will continue to operate Good Food’s magazine and website on an independent basis.
“We are thrilled to mark our tenth and final channel rebrand with a completely different approach: licensing an established brand name that has both heritage and credibility associated with it,” said UKTV controller Matthew Littleford. “By re-launching our new food channel as Good Food, UKTV gains valuable brand equity while also completing our ambitious 18 month strategy to create a network of truly multiplatform brands.”
Representing the North West this week is former champion of the North, Nigel Haworth (Northcote Manor, Blackburn), who defends his title against Aiden Byrne (The Church Green, Lymm, Cheshire), as the culinary challenge continues.
Nigel reached the final in last year’s competition but did not make it through the public vote. This year, however, he’s determined to make it all the way to the banquet and his menu includes: Goosnargh duck pie, ham and scratchings; Muncaster crab, tossed salad with eggs and English mustard mayonnaise; Lonk lamb Lancashire hot pot, pickled red cabbage, tangled garden carrots and leeks; and, for dessert, summer fruit pudding with a cornet of Kirkham’s cheese ice-cream.
Fay Ripley has been everywhere this week promoting her new cook book ‘Fay’s Family Food.’
I have to say I’m a bit of a sucker for this sort of product as having three young children, I would love to be able to make on delicious meal each night that all five of my family can enjoy.
Fay is an unlikely author of a book like this. She is best remembered for her role in Cold Feet and has starred in many high profile TV shows since. I wouldn’t have thought old fashioned cook books were her thing. However the premise of her book seems good.
Fans and critics are hitting out at celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay after it emerged that some of his London eateries serve food that was cooked elsewhere.
Restaurant owner Israel Pons was particularly irked by the news, considering that Gordon Ramsay criticised him on his Channel 4 show ‘Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares’ for similar offences.
Pons told The Sun: “It’s hypocritical of him to use a mass production system.
“We were criticised for making up orders the day before instead of fresh on the day.
Yesterday, The Sun reported that TV chef Gordon Ramsay is allegedly “serving up ready-made meals costing as little as £1.92 at several of his fancy bistros”
The report adds that diners at Gordon’s restaurant, ‘Foxtrot Oscar’ in Chelsea, pay £9.95 for a fishcake which actually costs £1.92 per portion to buy and what’s more, the article says the dish is “knocked up across town.”
However, the assistant manager of the restaurant told the paper, “Everything is cooked here. It’s Gordon Ramsay — it’s very good.”
But The Sun claims to have seen pre-prepared food delivered by the van load to the backdoor of Foxtrot Oscar… Read more & comment »
Over the past three years, Great British Menu has cooked for Her Majesty The Queen at her 80th birthday banquet, served a magnificent meal to the gastronomic elite of France and thrilled some of the world’s finest chefs with some of the very best, cutting-edge contemporary British food.
Ancient Roman cuisine meant theatrical, devious and orgasmic food. The Romans had few boundaries and unusual appetites, eating everything from flamingos to parrot tongues and jellyfish. Heston creates a Roman feast for a group of celebrity diners, with dishes including pig nipple scratchings, calf’s brain custard, and a slow-cooked hog filled with edible intestines made from chicken and a cocoa mixture. And for pudding, Heston rolls out the ultimate naughty Roman dessert: an unusual ejaculating cake featuring white chocolate mousse, space dust and dry ice.
Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant fat Duck is said to have been hit by the vomiting bug Norovirus.
The restaurant was closed recently as many diners came down with what looked like food poisoning after eating there, but after a thorough investigation The Health Protection Agency have said that the outbreak was caused by staff at the restaurant continuing to work whilst suffering from Norovirus.
A HPA statement read: “The in-depth investigation into what has caused 529 people to date to report being ill after eating at the restaurant is continuing and so far, the HPA has detected norovirus infection in six staff and eight diners and weaknesses in how staff sickness was identified and dealt with. Based on staff interviews, sickness records and samples taken, it is clear that staff worked while still infectious with norovirus.”
Heston Blumenthal is on a mission to use myth, science and history to create the greatest feasts ever known. The royal court of Henry VIII revelled in the most spectacular and sumptuous feasting British shores had ever known. Heston creates an extravagant, flamboyant and spectacular Tudor feast for a group of celebrity diners, including frog blancmange, a mythical beast and bone marrow rice pudding. He also creates the “daddy of all meat monsters” using the head of a pig, the body of a lamb and the wings and back end of a goose.
Nick Hancock will present Taste the Nation a new cookery contest that pits county against county as amateur cooks battle it out to win the Taste the Nation cup for their county.
Each county team will be led by a celebrity chef who will manage and mentor a team of four contestants; three of these will be chosen to be in the first cook-off whilst the remaining one will compete in one of the later rounds. With the responsibility of representing their counties emotions will run high as the contestants do battle against their rivals.
Welcome to our Primetime Picks of what we reckon is worth tuning into this coming week!
Oh and don’t forget, there’s no episode of Lost tonight. It’s not on until next Sunday… don’t know how I’m going to cope without my Lost-Sunday-Fix but I suppose I’ll just have to… Read more & comment »
This four-part series follows renowned chef Heston Blumenthal on a gastronomic adventure as he attempts to create the greatest feasts from history. In the Middle Ages, food was used as a source of entertainment and escape from the harsh realities of everyday life. Chefs dazzled and delighted privileged guests with incredible feats of dinner magic. In this episode, Heston creates a magical feast for celebrity diners. Look out for his astounding ‘meat fruit’; a surfeit of lampreys; a mind-boggling pie based on a nursery rhyme; and a dessert of edible tableware!
Many of you have been asking where to find the recipes featured on BBC Two’s new TV show, James Wong: Grow Your Own Drugs.
Well have no fear! The cheeky chappy has written a fabulous book, containing all the recipes from the show and more. Just click on the link below to buy the book.
