Review: The Good Cook

To quote Grace Dent writing in The Guardian Guide a few weekends back, "Every TV chef needs a quirky gimmick, and Simon's is that he is 'good at cooking'." She is referring, of course, to the latest addition to the increasingly tedious line up of Friday night TV, the BBC's The Good Cook, featuring delicious recipes by Simon Hopkinson, former chef and renowned food writer and critic. Grace Dent's angle of her review is that nowadays, TV chefs all have a gimmick, and that Simon's new show is without. Whether it be Jamie Oliver and his 'alwight/luvly jubly/jack the lad get-up, or Nigella Lawson and her come to bed gaze as she licks cream off a perfectly manicured finger, cooking, it seems, is never simply cooking and Grace goes to great lengths to spell that out. 


With this in mind, I decided to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon catching up on the first few episodes of The Good Cook. I sat down, ready to watch a normal, regular man cooking. In reality however, what ensued was the same pattern that every food programme follows. Granted Simon didn't swear every time the producer in his ear told him to. And yes I'll agree that there was no mention of a celebrity father or sexual undertones to everything he did. Yes The Good Cook is without gimmicks. That is, if Simon really does play old fashioned vinyls every time he cooks, and if he is actually part chef/part Neo from the Matrix. Afterall, there's not many chef's i've seen that can suddenly switch to slow motion when they stir their sauce or pour in their olive oil.  Oh and of course, there's the little deli and Butchers where everyone knows your name and will greet you with open arms whenever you arrive; 'Good morning Simon! What'll it be today!?'

This show is without gimmicks, if Simon really is a stereotypical British music snob but I fear that actually, he's pretty normal and Grace Dent really wanted to write a funny review at the expense of all the other celebrity chefs. I almost hate myself for being sucked in by yet another witty Guardian review without thinking for a second that the writer might be wrong! 


Until a cookery show comes along featuring just a chef who cooks, I think I'll stick to good old Saturday Kitchen for my cookery kicks.


To see what the hell i'm jabbering on about have a look for yourself.