Posts by: schmaltz1

Not a good show, Falafel. Lacks punch and these can't possibly be the best British dishes? It sounds like they have to pick from some pretty dreadful fare to start with. I haven't seen one dish I'd want to even taste. If it were a half hour show I think that would punch it up a bit.

Odd, they haven't mentioned. But if it is like last year it should be August?? They made such hoopla about it last year, seems strange....

It's good to see the female branch of humanity get a crack at presenting. That was one of the reasons Great Food Live worked so well.

With all the male chefs coming on the show you need some sort of strong presonality female counter-balance otherwise there is simply too much testosterone and the show becomes boring.

Tana didn't help the mix for some reason, but certainly Amanda Lamb does! Who dresses her? They have a keen eye for what the viewers turn tV on for!

And Silvana is a great talent, too.

I was attributing it to Alzheimers. Seriously. Some of his pronouncements are complete nonsequiturs, as if he isn't aware of what's going on around him. The puzzled looks on the audience are always a dead give away.

I think they are trying to steer the show to be more and more like GFL - hence the Amanda Lamb live wire personality. But I'd be rid of Tebbutt, too. Lamb and Tebbutt are NOT a good match-up.

Well at least UKTVFood has had the courtesy, and common sense, to introduce us to Barefoot Contessa and Anthony Bourdain!

I'm hungry for more. Really tired of the old BBC repeats. We can recite them word for word now.

I'm glad my kosher upbringing leaves me out of the debate. The thought of worms would certainly make me cook all the "pink" out, whether it dries out the meat or not!!

I'm with Jack on not liking the host's doing the cooking, particularly Matthew Fort's concoctions. Some are quite dreadful.

It's my least favourite part of Market Kitchen. Let's keep the cooking to the guest chefs.

They must not rehexxxx these recipes before taping? That one was just terrible.

Something is really wrong at UKTVFood IMHO. Beeb seems the place to be.

I'm sorry but did anyone catch tonight's MK show??! Here was some chef trying to show us how to make a traditional English Breakfast. My, what a challenge!

Apparently so, as it was just slop. Should have been called a dog's breakfast.

Let's lift our game, please!

Babsky, you are right. Every season they plumb new depths of programming quality. Not much to look forward to, is there?

MK turns out to only be the beginning of poor-quality, celebrity-drenched, over-produced ****. It's coming thick and fast now!

This thread has become a bit of a revelation to me as I also don't like the show, but do watch it many evenings for some duration. "Tolerate" as it was put earlier.

Unlike free-to-air, I don't thing ratings work quite as well for specialist channels as I find myself tuned in to UKTVFood whether I like the show or not.

And if anyone doubts it, MK is VERY boring. A terrible, terrible food show.

I have eaten chorizo all my life and it is probably in the top 10 sausages of the world IMHO.

Unless it just Jack's backlash on "trendy", clearly he has a problem with paprika. While chorizo has a zillion variations, the common thread in all the variants is paprika.

A beautiful herb, paprika is such a sultry, seductive spice. And chorizo is the wonderful sausage representative! Viva chorizo!

If you don't like it, fine! Just avoid it!!

To settle this issue, I decided to dust off my copy of Claudia Roden's "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" where she discusses the origins of Baklava on page 396.

Here is what she says:

"Baklava is not mentioned in medieval Persian or Arab literature, and seem to have made their appearance in the region during the time of the Ottoman Empire. Are they Greek or Turkish, while we will never know I suspect Greek. The first mention of these delights are in Greek writings"

As Roden is a respected Arab food historian, I would tend to take her word for it.

For those that care.......

For me it would have to be Claudia Roden's "Arabesque". A beautifully written book not only informs of the cuisine but also of the rich culture of the region. A wonderful read!

Try her chicken with chestnuts!

A second is her ancient early 70's book "A Book of Middle Eastern Food" Gorgeous!

Thank you for the history lesson, does this really matter?

And to "take offence" would seem an overreaction in the extreme.

While you may be right about its origins (I don't really know), when you go to Greece there is baklava everywhere. So, in a sense, it is indeed "Greek" if it's so much part of their culture. And no one is saying that it isn't Turkish, too...or Lebanese, or Egyptian. It is truly a dish enjoyed throughout the Levant and environs.

I simply cannot believe ANY producer would pick Gary Rhodes to host any show anymore.

His presence is just the kiss of death to any program anymore. He has demonstrated with his demeanor that he has no place on TV

So sorry you mates down in the antipodes have to endure Rhodes Insults India. Frankly it was a total embarrassment for Britain, it's shameful the way his arrogance overflowed into our living rooms. He's not welcome anymore on my screen!

Just turn him off. He has no place on TV and has worn out his welcome here.

Sponsors, schmonsors, it doesn't really matter. Over the past year they have now successfully modified Market Kitchen to be a clone of what Great Food Live was: An hour show showing a series of dishes cooked by various chefs with running commentary from the peanut gallery. Just because MK has a zillion hosts rather than JB, it's virtually now the same show format.

Who knows what they're trying to do.

I agee entirely. Jeni Barnett was real. What you saw is what you got. That just doesn't happen too much any more on UKTV. And certainlt not on the manufactered MK progamme. Yuk..

You either liked JB or not...a far cry from the manufactured TV that has replaced her. Very sad. Very sad, indeed.

Grissini, you are so right. Because MArco is not being overexposed as a celebrity now, he's not even mentioned. Stupid.

Isn't Marco's Hells Kitchen considered a flop? I heard that they cancelled it in the US after 4 episodes. No one was watching?

Perhps this is why he was ignored as a "Iconic" chef. He's not enough of a "Celebrity".

Really, he's the genesis of much of today's modern British cooking talent.

Ha! I would certainly be willing to watch a pilot of yours if you're the one I'm thinking of.

Just watch the end credits of any new food show (such as Market Kitchen). The casting directors, producers, commissioning executives and others are all lised. If I were you I'd send your demo to as many names as possible. They may find a spot on one of these reality cooking shows.

It only takes one!

Good luck.

I'm SO with you Jeni Bird, UKTVFood is just one overseen repeat after another and the daily freshness that GFL brought is really missed. There was definitely something about Great Food Live!

Jeni IS such a talent. Great impromptu discussion, incisive interviewing skills and a sharp sense of humour.

What better testament that GFL was truly loved, and is now sorely missed, than the 1000's of postings on this website since early last year lamenting its demise!

The changes to the presenters HAS been positive. I used to love Silvana on Great Food Live. She always used to interrupt Jeni! She's a brash, loud and opinionated Bulgarian. That makes for great television. And, it was always in good humour and great fun!

We'll have to wait and see about Jun. His other TV programmes have been quite "sedate" in style and he may not be the persona to inject life into a show with a lot of quiet guest chefs already.

Or perhaps replace Parker-Bowles? Hmmm?

Not sure how "proper" Market Kitchen is, actually. Don't know quite what that word means really. While there has been improvement - especially centred around the presenteres - it still lacks enough interest to command an hour's worth of watching. If it was only 30 minutes long then that *would* be quite different.