I thought he was in India to learn how to cook authentic Indian food. I watched the programme with my husband recently and he asked me who this very rude man was.
I have to agree with my husband. Mr. Rhodes was rude, condescending and trivialized the local chefs' knowledge about preparing the traditional foods.
I used to admire this cook, but he certainly hasn't impressed me this time around.
What a pity.

Hi

if you read the board you will see that the majority of people here are dismayed and upset by gary rhodes rudeness and arrogance spoiling what could have been a great show with a different presenter such as rick stein or atul kutcher.

Bev x

did any one watch the banquet, what a joke I really thought he did go to india to learn the dishes, but all he did which I thought he would was to modify, remove and play with the food. By watching I could see that everyone pampered him. How can you take out onion seeds from a traditional dish and put in cut up onions, I mean does it not take away the essence of how the dish was really made. for a sweet I was shocked that he did not make the rice pudding, instead he comes up with bread and butter pudding for dessert.I mean what was the idear of going away to learn something then to add a english sweet at the end. No one says that we cant all modify things to out liking but if you are going to invite guests,prepare the dish as how it was shown to you, I have lost my flavor for this man I am dissapointed, with his rudeness and mannerism.

next time when UK food is putting something like this together again I hope that they sit down all together and make the right choice as to which chef they will be sending away.

the art to cooking anything that is not form your culture is to watch, learn, and enjoy, then ask questions.

I hope some one agrees with me on this one.

shazzab, that's the essence of the problem isn't it?? The programmers and producers have all seemed to lose their collective talent in the last 12 months.

It's not just this Rhodes the Rude disaster, there's been a whole series of mis-steps recently. It's as if they no longer know what makes for good television. Their disdain for, or ignorance of, the viewing public is remarkable.

So, clearly, this programme had nothing to do about India or Indian cooking. It was simply an excercise in ego-massage for this silly anglo-Indian "banquet"

I stopped watching half way thru the first week.Where I work the are a few Indian people from Kerala region.Normally,if the is a programme on about India I tell them it's on in case they did'nt know it was on.I did'nt this time.
And did anyone notice that on Great British Menu when GR & Atul were on,Rhodes was quite rude at times to Atul & blamed Atul when the Champaign for the oyster sauce exploded out the bottle & then promptly & curtly remarked to Atul simply because he was sxxxxxxing.

Last nights show was truly terrible, and very very telling by how it was edited.
And I am glad in a way that when it came of the air the forum was, in the censoring stage or otherwise there would of been a long stream of expletive riddled, ranting from my good self
Lets do the postmortem on last nights dead donkey;

I could not believe how he screwed with most of the dishes, making comment like"lacking finesse" or that "Rhodes touch". I can understand that he may want to gussy up the appearance but if a dish is good its good! The need to mess with a dish, when you have the ingredients, in the context of this show reeked of egotism!!
The behavour in Atuls kitchen was terrible, he had no respect for the chefs there, I could understand if it was throw away comments in the heat of the moment, but some where on the voice over, post the event. This is the kitchen that has elevated Indian style food to a new level in europe, and has been accredited as such by the Michelin guide, which is a feat in its self.
To the 3 households who did watch this show, which would you prefer the chicken dish as prepared last night, or the one that was done in India? Gary's interpretation looked like it was still wrapped in cling film and looked about as good as a dogs dinner.
And then we get to the pudding $%^&@%^^&*& ^%$&^ idiot!!!! Some of the most exciting and delicate sweets I have ever tried are Indian, yes they do have some very sweet offerings, but every culture does. And to say he did not find anything appropriate..... well I think the reaction of the dinners was the real tell when he announced his feelings, and said he would do bread and butter pudding. My wife and I just COULD not believe what he said, all it suggested to us was that he did not , get, Indian food

Right then lets get on to the edit and in my humble opinion, what they did not show revealed the world to me.
Reactions to the food are key to this kind of show and in truth, there were not that many. But what was interesting was, no reaction from Atul at all, no reaction from the Punjab chef/mentor on the chicken dish, and a no show at all on the bread and butter pudding(during the show Rhodes kept mentioning it and yet, it never made it to the edit,.....hmmmm) and not one mention from the dinners on their thoughts of that dish either.

This show was rushed and was badly executed(perhaps Rhodes had to get back to the restaurant to sort out his Brake Bros order ), the sous chef idea was flawed from the off, and was a misleader and added nothing to last nights show. All in all it seems that food programming is going backwards, and this constant need to have the journey of the hero, with a affirmation of their abilities at the end. In short trying to turn food into a soap opera. It works with Gordon, but at the end of the day he seems to respect good food and the reasons behind it.

Gary please leave our screens, and take a long hard look at the person you appear as on camera. Its not doing you any favours or us the viewing public.

I've watched all of the programmes in the series and loved the food that was shown. I've made the Prawn Curry and it was delicious and I'm certain I'll try some other recipes. However I have to agree with the general consensus that Gary Rhodes was a most unsuitable "host" for the programme. His attitude, comments and arrogance were inappropriate in a situation where he was the guest and others were taking time to teach and educate him. The comments in last night's episode (the banquet) about some of the dishes were just breathtaking in that he was full of praise when in India and in front of his teachers but now says the dishes were "wrong".

What was an interesting contrast was that an old Madhur Jaffrey series was shown on uktvfood alongside the first week of the Rhodes programme. Some of the dishes she cooked were very similar as she was in some of the same regions of India. Her style of cooking and presentation and obvious delight in the food was a complete contrast to Mr Rhodes - I'm now trying to hunt out her book for that series.

The telling point from the last episode is exactly as Prodigal2 pointed out - the lack of obvious positive reaction and praise from other than a minority of the assembled diners, no comment from Atul and nothing shown about the bread and butter pudding. If I was one of the sous chefs I'd also be a bit fed up with Gary's apparent disdain for the two young ladies over their kitchen performance - err excuse me but neither of them were trained chefs but at least they tried and were polite and cogniscent of Indian culture during their visit. We then have the Welsh chap - I don't know but he seemed somewhat uncomfortable with being in India and didn't seem very culturally sensitive. I also felt he was a bit rude at times - no wonder Gary wants to offer him a job!

The idea of showing how to cook genuine regional Indian food is a good one. The execution in this series unfortunately leaves a lot to be desired and that's down to Mr Rhodes.

PC

M*i*V, my husband was also shocked. He watched a couple of episodes as he loves the food and would love to go to India. He found it very interesting but kept laughing at Gary's obvious horror. When it got to the Banquet he managed about the first 5 minutes, as soon as he saw Gary changing things - he was off.

What a shame !!! Gary Rhode is sent to India to learn about the "Authentic Indian cuisine" and what he comes back with is total disrespect of what, where and with whom he learnt. So much money must have been spent in putting the show together - sending Mr. Rhodes to India and getting the top chefs across the nation to spend their rather precious time and effort to help him learn and appreciate real Indian food. Throughout his program he spelled the banquet that he is to host when he is goes back home - and what a banquet !! THE MOST SHAMELESS ACT OF DISRESPECT FOR A COUNTRY, ITS CULTURE, ITS PEOPLE AND ABOVE ALL, ITS FOOD.

If the idea was to mould the Indian food to satisfy the 'so-called British' audience, I think all that Mr. Rhodes needed was an Indian cookery book. He could have just leant the techniques from the book and given them a British makeover - there was really no need to go all the way to India.

And a Bread and Butter pudding as a dessert for an Indian banquet! I think Mr. Rhodes along with UKTV food owe an apology for such disgrace.

Thank you, someone sees my point of view.

I did'nt see the banquet as I'd stopped watching half way thru the first week.What did he cook?Was it Indian food or Rhodes interpretation of Indian food? Was the B&B pudding 'Indianised' or plain old Bread & Butter pud?
I did like Atul Kotcher's take on anglo Indian food on Great British Menu,I think Atul or Hardeep Singh Kholi (runner up on Celebrity Masterchef) would've been a better choice.

Merv, the banquet was TOTAL car crash TV. It was truly appalling.
The bread and butter pudding never made it to the edit so in truth, we will never know, what it was like, but Garys attitude that there was NO suitable Indian dessert in his mind, and he declared this to the dinners,it was a tumbleweed moment.
The idea of sending a chef/cook out with no Indian cooking experience, is great in theory as everything would be fresh and a new technique or idea. Sadly Rhodes(I can't use Mr as it is a act of respect), thought he knew best. Gino de Campo in Mexico, worked as he showed deference to the new food he was learning, and there was no bally,'banquet' as a end focus which was a total crock if you ask me. Gino also was there to see if he could fool the Mexicans so they were unaware that a Italian was cooking, so the premise was, it must be authentic!!!!

And the Sous chef label was a misnomer, and only 1 of them was able to engage with the camera and make a item interesting, and their purpose at the banquet, who flipping knows because neither Gary nor the producer did either by the looks of things

I am not one to normally post any comments anywhere - but I am so just so surprised at Gary Rhodes' lack of respect for indian cuisine and culture. I used to like his usual series on UK Food but my respect for him as a TV chef is now zero after viewing the 'Rhodes across India' series. The recipes have certain ingredients and amounts for a reason and have been around for centuries. Who does he think he is to judge and comment negatively on them?? I think he was an embarrasing representative from the UK and think he has managed to lose his respect as a Chef at the same time.
I agree with most of the comments posted here from other viewers and I hope Gary Rhodes does make time to read them and perhaps learn to be more sensitive and understanding of other cultures next time.

You're right Puja1 - Rhodes just needed an indian cookery book. A trip around India was totally wasted on him!

I agree completely about Rhodes, what a complete lack of respect toward Indian food and the people who took time to share their recipes.

What he should have done is buy a jar of Korma sauce and boil in the bag rice, as it seems that would have suited his taste buds more! This series was the ideal forum to show Brits what fantastic food 'real' Indian food is like, instead it made him look like a complete jackass!

I grew up in Wales, I never met a Welsh person like Scott. I've come to the conclusion that they picked the most uncharismatic ,ungracious, miserable, rude bloke they could find (sending him to India was a complete waste of time- it was obvious from the start he prefers pies)I think I saw him smile once.The girls were a lot better and genuine in their gratitude, what they lacked in technique they made up for in enthusiasm, who wouldn't like to be taken to India and invited into homes, and be fed and treated like a long lost friend?

The pudding debarcle was the worst, my husband and I just looked at each other when he said b&b pudding, to say that there were no suitable Indian desserts is a complete joke, if some thing was too sweet all he had to do was put less sugar into it-or is that rocket science? And it seems the only British pud he knows is b&b pudding, this series just confirmed my previous thoughts about him ,that its more about the ego than the food.

I agree, Gary Rhodes was most certainly the wrong choice for this programme. Pity as it was a good idea! Rhodes is not able to listen.
I thought the whole point of this series was for him to learn.
I am not surprised at Rhodes' behaviour - remember the argument with him and Urban Chef Ollie televised previously on the subject of rapeseed oil???

I am so glad I am not the only person that felt strongly enough to comment on Rhodes's disgusting, condescending, arrogant and shameful behaviour. All I can say is "ditto" to the previous comments and don't want to repeat everything already stated but what I found particularly annoying was the "Gujarati" episode.

When Anjani suggested that Gary use a toothpick to eat a fritter, he said something along the lines of "Let's do it the way we do it in England... use our hands" HA!! PURLEASE!!! What was that for? Is he trying to cash in on the now dead issues shown on Celeb Big Brother? Actually Gary, Indians use cutlery too! I think Anjani was the only mentor that didn't take any c*ap from him and as a result you saw the true Gary. The rolling eyes, the smirk, the post-cooking comments on her "bossy" behaviour etc. All because she recognised you for what you were Gary... an OK chef with his head up his own a*se. I suppose you didn't try and undermine your other mentors on what they were actually experts on? They humoured you and you mistook that for their deference.

AND now to the dessert.... Rasmalai, Rasgula, Kheer, Kulfi, Barfi, and more!
Anyone that has been to their local Tandoori, could you please point Gary in the direction of a handful of traditional indian desserts. I think he missed the last page of the menu.... not to mention the last page of "Good Manners for Dummies".

Hope these messages are relayed to Gary by UKTV Food as he needs to take a good look at his attitude towards cuisines that are not native to him. Learn to Learn Gary... believe it or not, you don't know EVERYTHING.

I Googled 'Indian desserts' this afternoon, and found 100's of fab things, I did this all on my own - without the help of a researcher(!) and perhaps that is the problem, he didn't do enough of his own research.To say that he couldn't find one he liked is ridiculous, at the very least he could have been less obnoxious about it.

My only worry now, is that I'm going to be obese by Christmas trying all the things I found!

I stopped watching this programme after the bengali segment as I did not appreciate Gary Rhodes attitude. By the sounds of it (all your comments) the banquet was not a success. Bread and Butter pudding...hmm...the Indian version is called Shahi Tukra and it is divine (bread, sugar, cream, saffron etc). There are plenty of desserts he could have made; kHUBANI KA MEETA (Dried Apricot dessert) from Hyderabad, Gajar ka halwa (carrot dessert0, Gulab Jamun, Ras Malai to name a few. It is unfortunate that the series was so disappointing the concept behind it was a good idea.

No suitable Indian Deserts.....Wonder why he did'nt serve up a Muller Rice then.
But I have noticed on the boards those of us who have complained about not so much the programme but the host seem to be a wide cross section of the community.From us 'Brits' who have been ashamed of G.R's lack of manners to our Indian comrades who state,quite rightly,that the is far more to Indian food than a Chicken Korma from the local take out.
Dont riday is Curry nightget me wrong,I love my British food.We have a lot of great dishes,Hot Pot,Faggots,Welsh Cawl,Stovies ect but Indian food is,in my opinion,as part of our modern heritage as those dishes.
For example,how many of us started our love of curry with a Vesta curry or even that curry sauce with sultanas & apple on your chips on the way back from the pub?I know I did.My first real curry was a Gurkha Curry in the Mess when I joined the RAF.
But how many of us curry lovers are still searching for the perfect curry?I know I am.I was hoping Rhodes would deliver.Sadly all he delivered was embarresment & scorn.
Regards,
Merv

In my opinion gary rhodes owe the nation of India an apology, also all the chefs who tried to teach him, the british people for embarassing us as a nation, i deeply hope that all Indian people do not think this is the average british persons attitude, and lastly uktv food should issue an apology for actually showing this programme after seeing the completed edited version.

shame on you both uktv food and gary rhodes, you should hang your heads in shame

A can't believe how many comments and different threads have been generated for this programme! It dwarfs the outrage expressed when MK was first aired.

And in all of these Rhodes Across India postings I have been unable to find one totally positive comment. Everyone universally seems appalled at Rhodes' behaviour as if he were some sort of spoilt brat.

The unanimity is truly astounding. Usually there is at least some disagreement, dialogue or discourse.

But as was said on another thread [somewhere, there's so many], how could the producers have let such a program come to air [or UKTVFood for that matter] It so *obviously* offends and embarrasses it is incomprehensible it wasn't edited differently.

Awful.

GFLForever, I couldn't agree more

And not one comment rebuking us for disliking a show

There seems to be some very poor food TV being made at the moment. And yet this was a show that could of been brilliant, which is all the more galling.
A great premise that was ruined by very bad production(not camera work, or sound but everything else) and a presenter with a ego problem

Prodigal you're so right about no one being upset about the consternation on Rhodes Acoss India. It makes me even MORE suspicious about the posters that abused those that didn't care for the MK production. My guess is they worked for the production company.

The quality of new programming commissions does seem shocking. What's happening at UKTVFood?

I agree that "[blank] Across India" is a brilliant concept, as would be "[blank] Across [blank]" I can think of a dozen great ideas for that! But this Rhodes thing is unimaginable it ever got to air. Sad. I was so looking forward to it.

Everyone must be asleep at the switch

Well I think I had better be grateful that English is not my first language because I enjoyed the few episodes of Rhodes Across India that I managed to watch, as did three Indian friends (from different areas of the country) who watched the programme with my family and myself.

Obviously I missed something.

Was not too thrilled when he announced there were no decent Indian desserts, lots of ideas came from the captive audience here, but apart from that not only were the recipes good, have already tried three, it was interesting watching the different styles of cooking and also the various ways of inter-reactioning and communicating.

Have never seen Gary Rhodes before, watching only because it was about India and it because it gave some pointers on the various cuisines and culture though obviously with not much depth because of the time limitations, however I have definitely seen a lot worse as far as TV programming goes.

I think Gary Rhodes treats everyone with the same disdain. His ego has taken over. UK and India have a special food relationship. People other than ethic Indian and Pakistani have at last realised that a great and varied cuisine is out there and want to know more. I feel that people now regard other ethnic groups as having something special to offer and find it offensive when such groups are treated in condescending and disdainful manner. I know that I do. The Programme was a great idea badly executed. Indian food is greater than any chefs ego.