Message Boards

So it's not only me who dislike Rhodes. I do watch his program but with mute button on. I just need the inspiration and I usually try to get the recipe from different website, no way I'm going to try his recipes :-D.

Azelia,Thank you!! I'm so pleased someone got the joke. Everyone here seem so serious and righteous about how he show talk and act in from of the Chinese. Indians etc. Believe me peaple in other parts of the world are quite capable of sticking up for themselves and would find Gary Rhodes as funny as we do. They have learn't to humour him thats all.

What I liked about this programme is that it puts caribbean food back in the public eye showing the diversity, influences and range of food that is eaten in the 32 caribbean islands where over 6 different languages are spoken. As for suggestions, I would say a fish dish which is so different from the bland stuff you get in the UK.

All the best !

Maureenj - you just made me laugh out loud with your pig tail and cow heel soup phrase! very funny, especially when like me you've just been reading the thread with everyone else's very serious or stressing comments about their dislike of Rhodes.

I remember Rhodes way back from what was then this new exciting program called Hot Chefs, his first appearance on tv - he was annoying then too, insulting his sidekick assistant (I believe the BBC got phone calls about that). And I have followed him not because of his personality but because I had eaten in the restaurant (Greenhouse) where he was cooking then, loved the food, ate the best bread & butter pudding ever, bought the first Rhodes Around Britain Book to cook the Bread & Butter pudding recipe, and it tasted just like I remembered.

I stuck through the Gary Rhodes annoying habits over the years like driving ferrari or alike throughout Rhodes Around Britain. Watched his annoying habit of turning recipes ever so complicated unnecessarily in Cookery Year and Rhodes at the table and then I JUST GAVE UP.... he just made everything chefy and fiddled about with the recipe just that little bit over the top! When everyone else was and is simplifying recipes - don't get me wrong I like long recipes when necessary but Rhodes does it when it's not necessary.

I was really excited about a new program on China - ooh great, love to know about the different regional cooking in China and then he did it again and just like everyone here has already stated, he got in the way. I was hoping it would be more like that Australian Chinese chef when she did her travels through China's regions.

BUT having read through this thread I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS because I shall reconsider the caribbean program and watch as I would love to find out more about the different cuisines and you lot have wet my appetite just reading about it. Any suggestions on how to tolerate him better would be welcome


He still has in my opinion the best bread & butter recipe ever (traditional that is, not talking about new interpretations ie panettone)

Maureenj - you just made me laugh out loud with your pig tail and cow heel soup phrase! very funny, especially when like me you've just been reading the thread with everyone else's very serious or stressing comments about their dislike of Rhodes.

I remember Rhodes way back from what was then this new exciting program called Hot Chefs, his first appearance on tv - he was annoying then too, insulting his sidekick assistant (I believe the BBC got phone calls about that). And I have followed him not because of his personality but because I had eaten in the restaurant (Greenhouse) where he was cooking then, loved the food, ate the best bread & butter pudding ever, bought the first Rhodes Around Britain Book to cook the Bread & Butter pudding recipe, and it tasted just like I remembered.

I stuck through the Gary Rhodes annoying habits over the years like driving ferrari or alike throughout Rhodes Around Britain. Watched his annoying habit of turning recipes ever so complicated unnecessarily in Cookery Year and Rhodes at the table and then I JUST GAVE UP.... he just made everything chefy and fiddled about with the recipe just that little bit over the top! When everyone else was and is simplifying recipes - don't get me wrong I like long recipes when necessary but Rhodes does it when it's not necessary.

I was really excited about a new program on China - ooh great, love to know about the different regional cooking in China and then he did it again and just like everyone here has already stated, he got in the way. I was hoping it would be more like that Australian Chinese chef when she did her travels through China's regions.

BUT having read through this thread I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS because I shall reconsider the caribbean program and watch as I would love to find out more about the different cuisines and you lot have wet my appetite just reading about it. Any suggestions on how to tolerate him better would be welcome


He still has in my opinion the best bread & butter recipe ever (traditional that is, not talking about new interpretations ie panettone)

Yes none… I have seen FOOD SAFARI… and that is a great example. FOOD SAFARI is a much better show... at demonstrating the dishes. If you want to learn how to make authentic food from a different culture... watch FOOD SAFARI! If you want to watch Gary Rhodes interrupt people – Watch Gary Rhodes. I realise it’s deliberate, either the whole plan was for Gary to do his own versions, OR he thinks that the local chefs can’t “host” so he feels the need to take control of those segments… either way it comes across as awkward. On FOOD SAFARI different chefs and cooks somehow manage to explain their dishes, without interference from the host. Now granted, it’s a not a travel show, and it doesn’t have a celebrity chef – but it doesn’t make the mistake of dismissing the very people who are there to demonstrate the dishes.
I suppose I should give Gary a break… but then again, you yourself just said that you found the Indian and Chinese shows...”dreadful”… well personally, I don’t think he’s improved much.
Although I actually checked in again last night, and he was in a kitchen, cooking his own versions of Caribbean recipes for guests... it was fine... he wasn't interrupting or talking over anyone. I have no problem with his cooking, or with him creating new dishes, just the fact that he doesn't handle the segments where he cooks with others well at all.

There should have been more pig tail and cow heel soup!!... anyway....

When you try caribbean dishes you may want to twist things yourself personally I very rarely use coconut milk ,this is just my personal preference though I use fresh grated coconut in dumplins, cakes and bread. You may prefer your curry hot or mild with a long or short gravy you don't have to stick to the letter of the law food is alway evolving, I cant believe people go to pie and mash shops in the summer but people do.

Food aroses memories and comfort my dad who came to the UK in 1962 used to insist on caribbean food in the middle of winter in London!!!

Oh by the way, you probably can get more of the ingrediants than you realise ask your butcher for goat meat (I think welsh people eat it) and you local fishmonger for fish ingrediants. local butchers may be able to get you yam, plantain and other provisions. Or take a little trip to a ethnic food market .

When you cook your dishes make sure you have some calypso in the background a smile on your face, a swing in your hips cook more than you need so if someone pops in you can say 'sit down child let me feed you'. Have fun.

Andrew this is for you have you seen Food safari and the likes,there is only one word.........BORING....The Rhodes style may be controversial but I have a sneaky feeling it was deliberate I am sure he would be very amused by all this faffle, go on give the man a break, he has come a very long way from those dreadful loo brush days and is passionate about his food and tries to communicate this to the viewers, it's not about throwing ingredients together in a steamy kitchen then get a female presenter to taste, this is another twist on the reality theme. I have to admit the Indian and Chinese themes I personally found them to be dreadful , maybe because there is an overload of those around us , perhaps he may even start something nearer to home.

YES the Caribbean food is fantastic, YES the locations are wonderful, and YES it's great to see the local chefs. We are all in agreement about that. BUT, Gary Rhodes, talks over, interrupts, dismisses, and generally annoys all the local experts. Watch carefully.. see how the chefs stand next to him with a horrified look on their face, as he tells them how to cook their very own dishes.

Perhaps he was worse in India and China ( the mind boggles ) , and maybe he doesn't use profanity... ( although I'm sure he inspires his viewers to ), but if the best we can say about him is that he was more annoying in other countries, and he doesn't swear at the chefs, then that should tell you something.

Gary Rhodes stops this from being a great show. Not with his " colourful twists", but with his egotistical, irritating, interactions. Mentioning a slightly different ingredient, or a subtle twist is one thing... completely steamrolling someone who is ostensibly teaching you their recipe.. is something else. I would dearly love to watch a colourful show, with colourful people, and a colourful cuisine... without the "colourful " Gary Rhodes to ruin it.

What a lot of pig's tail, I found the programme most enjoyable,this gives us new inspiration to cook extremely colourful and exciting food, one must remember that a lot of ingredients are not available to those of us who do not live near ethnic shops and markets and a modification is often helpful. I found a lot of the food a wee bit heavy for a hot climate ,I am sure the locals will not agree with me ,there is a difference between feeding poor slave of the past and today's sunny people found on the islands. The point of Rhodes is to show a colourful cuisine in colourful places with colourful people and even alittle twist hear and there, is that not how great dishes have been created.

I don't disagree with any of the comments and have found them interesting reading. However, I am enjoying a lot of elements of the programme. I like the information about the different Caribbean islands and cuisines. I am also really excited about cooking Caribbean food, which I have never done before. I feel quite inspired, although I have to admit more by the traditional than the modern twists! I have made rice and peas and brown stew chicken and I can't wait to try more recipes. I am glad that there is a whole series dedicated to this fantastic cuisine.

I must admit I was harsh earlier - I've watched most of the other shows now and you're right Maureen, it's brilliant to have a show dedicated to Caribbean food. I've loved watching it. Gary's toning it down, either because the chefs aren't letting him getting away with changing the dishes to his taste or because he's picking up on the laid back vibe and going with the flow a bit more.

Either way, it's got me wanting to cook all things caribbean. I did saltfish fritters and fried plantains for tea tonight.

Tomorrow I'm attempting curry goat for the first time ever along with Rice & Peas. The goat's marinating at the moment and smells divine. I hope it all works out lovely tomorrow. I'm making a banana cake with dark chocolate sauce & vanilla ice cream for afters too. I can't wait.

For anyone who lives near Birmingham, the Bull Ring markets have fabulous Jamaican stalls where you can buy pretty much everything you've seen on the show. No fresh callaloo though, only tinned along with the ackees.

I accept all your comments but I just Love this programme. Yes, I agree his 'modern' twists annoy a bit (think pilau risotto!!) but this programme showed the diveristy, richness, passion of caribbean food instead of just showing ackee n saltfish and curry goat and rice, it opens your eyes to the variety of cooking styles and regional cooking that the carribean has to offer. What other programme does this, at least he gave the local chefs a voice.

I also enjoyed the scenic locations what other cuisines associates certain foods with being on the beach, playing cricket, listening to music with the warm tropical air on your face and the turquoise sea in the background.

Every ethnic cooking style in the UK has been Anglicized think chicken tikka you can't blame Gary Rhodes for adding his own touch, thats what chefs do.
Hopefully this programme will raise the profile of caribban cooking which is the best in the world.

Give Gary Rhodes some slack he was respectful with no profanity its not a perfect programme but the best ive seen on carribbean cuisine.

Why oh why did he insist on adding Lime and Butter when the local lady obviously would not have used them?
Please Spike, leave the recipes as they are and stick with important information such as. "In the UK this would work just as well with our native Brown Crabs".
That's what I need to know.

I agree - I hate the 'twists'. Show the traditional cooking and show it in great detail. Rice & peas deserves half an episode, especially when there's so many versions. Even when he gets 'jamaican chefs' to show their skills, it's some executive chef from the US in a sandals resort which persuades the tourists never to leave their premises. That pink pork in coffee - would any Jamaican person eat pink pork? Cook it to death, that's how it should be - in Caribbean cooking anyway. Bet he was itching to whip the fish out of the pan after a quarter of the time in Episode 3. Learning a new cuisine means adapting to ways of cooking that you're not used to - that's the whole point!

Go to a town and ask the locals who does the best rice and peas in the world, who does the best jerk chicken/pork, who does the best ackee & saltfish and let's see some real culinary wonders not your messed about with versions by head chefs that have to sanitise their cooking for the tourist massive.

Having said that, I love the guy from Huddersfield and I'm planning a visit to his restaurant during whit week. He's passionate about real jamaican cooking and seeks to replicate that rather than 'enhance' it in an egotistical way. Give the guy his own show - he demonstrates his love for food, without messing it up, poncing it up on the plate - give us a chef we can actually learn from. Go Barrington!

I think he is a lot better than he was on his India Trip. I am really enjoying this series. More so because of the locals and their passion for their cuisine. What I can't understand is Mr Rhodes need for 'HIS modern twist' to the local classic dishes.
I love the way he tries to add the chefy touch on presentation where I think just a plonk on a plate would be more like it! This sort of food is not the type that you will see featured at restaurants with small portions on huge plates.

I live near a market that stocks all the ingredients needed for a Caribbean meal and am looking foward to trying all the recipes!

Have to agree...the guy's ego has gotten the better of him

UKTV Food could save loads of money by recruiting local chefs and asking them about their food, passions, etc

Look, this is the third in hopefully a short series of "Rhodes Insults". He ruined India, was patronising, even with his remarks about being told to behave, in China and it would appear he hasn't learnt a thing.
Mr. Ego, you are not God's gift to the Culinary Art. These local experts have probally forgotten more than you know about their local cusine and do not need to put up with your take. As stated above and in previous threads, I would like to see the genuine article and get that recipe NOT Spikes idea of the new, improved, Anglicised, look at me version.
UKTV, how many more programmes is Rhodes contracted to make? Not many more in this ilk I hope.