I love to watch Indian cookery programmes, but cant we find someone better that Reza Mohammed to show us what real Indian food is? get him out, get someone else in...please!!!

How I agree - please cut him out and get some good Indian presenters/chefs, there must be plenty already living in the UK, running good Indian restaurants.

if you dont like the chef , dont watch the programme...no jeed to be so negative about the man. i happen to like him!!

Not really sure what the point of this thread is. p.k. can you explain what you mean by 'real Indian food'? And I don't understand lellysmum post either - Reza lives in the UK and runs an extremely good restaurant. By all means dislike a presenter for whatever reason but Reza is a chef and restauranteur who creates good Indian food.

lellysmum rarely makes a positive comment so i dont take much notice. I think Reza is as Indian as they come isnt he? The clue is in the name!!

What a world! It now appears that to be a talented and dedicated lover of Indian food, who's restaurant is excellent, is not enough. Reza also needs to fit into a 'box' in order to present on 'the box'. At least he is enthusiastic! I can think of at least one chef who appears from time to time who appears condesending and bored with the whole presenter thing. p.k and lellysmum, a question for you, when you go out to dine, do you vet the chef before you book the table?

sorry lellysmum that didnt come across right. didnt mean to offend ooops but whilst it isnt positive, which you know the rules on that one, i do think he is very good at the cookery. really sorry about that comment was meant to be funny. and looking at it, it isnt

I find him quite entertaining but thought that coconut coast wasn't as good as delhi belly (a bit too much Reza and not enough of the cookery). Perhaps he's a bit too camp for some but it just makes for good entertainment with the food. If it comes to camp, have you been watching Greg & Max do Route 66; they could have come straight from village people but an excellent series.

I think he is great on Coconut Coast and Delhi Belly - just because he has an unusual style doesn't matter, he obviously knows what he is talking about - so as Snoozy says if you don't like him don't watch!

I like Reza Mahammad, he's enthusiastic if a bit ott most times although I find him hilarious. Did any of you saw him on the series A house in France with Nigel something, he was so funny in that.

p.k - what's so disgusting about him????

I think he's got the best job in the world to get paid to eat Indian food and do the odd bit of cooking.That is my idea of heaven!!I also think he's great because he's 'different' from the conventional chefs because he appears to be himself.I remember one episode where he was trying mango chutney in India and he said it was awful (there were different varieties) but his face was so funny (like he was chewing a wasp!)Now how many chefs would be totally honest like he is?

relishmama, I accept your comments but I stick by mine, I watch cookery progammes for the cookery not to watch chefs/cooks take over and promote themselves as entertainers and be the centre of attention. doggiebore got it right with the comment "a bit too much Reza and not enough of the cookery" and before you have another go, it has nothing to do with camp because for me - and quite a few of my friends and colleagues - Ainsley is just as bad, they have to be centre of attention! Just because we live out in the sticks and are not aware that someone owns, runs or cooks in a restaurant doesn't mean that we don't have excellent chefs (Indian or otherwise) who don't actually need to be flamboyant strutters on TV to cook the most excellent meals and as good if not better than the peacocks we have to put up with. For us - and there are a lot of us - AWT, Giaconda Scott, Tony Tobin, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Phil Vickery, Mike Robinson, to name but a few, far outshine those chefs who only appear on TV to promote themselves not the recipes.
And for Chef de Maison the answer to your question is no but if I had to put up with people like Reza or Ainsley it would definitely be the first and last time I dined in their establishments (although as I understand it Ainsley doesn't have an establishment)we have extremely good chefs here in the sticks and I have to add that we had an excellent Indian meal in Bangkok! so they don't have to be the centre of attention - the food should be.

there are a lot of cookery programmes on lately that seem to be 1/2 cooking and 1/2 something else, whether it be AWT telling/showing/teaching about his farm, his house in spain/markets, etc. or madhur jeffries' tour around the far east, rick stein/floyd/rhodes around the uk,etc. and rezza around the uk and in india. i personally enjoy learning about these other places AND the food...whether or not i'd eat it! ya'll who don't like rez must really hate the "worral thompson" programme, because there's even LESS cooking in that one. i agree that both rezza and ains can be a bit ott at times, i still find them entertaining and quite amusing! happy cooking and watching!

I saw him in A House in France when he fell off his motor-bike and broke his arm. He was funny but I think he's too camp.

well i gotta go on this one again, i personally like to watch all the chefs all in their own right and the way they present their programmes, i do however have to disagree about the programmes being all about cooking , i find it much more entertaining when you learn about the chefs, the country, place they are cooking at, and see their personalities on show,i dont think they are promoting themselves and if they are then good luck, i just find the whole thing more interesting if there are other eliments included in the programmes. and if i find a particular chef annoying or what ever, i just switch over...every one to their own i say!!!

I agree, Reza is great fun to watch, which makes his programmes more entertaining. You can tell he's passionate about what he does

Hi baboush, yes it was great fun with Nigel in France, but very OTT. A little Indian bird tells me that the venture with Reza failed, anybody know what happened? Lellysmum, just for the record I too live in the 'sticks' Herts/Beds border, Paul Bloxham is my nearest TV celeb chef, otherwise we have to manage without egos and take pot luck and word of mouth to find good food.

I love his programmes - both Delhi Belly and Coconut Coast are great programmes. Coconut Coast has persuaded me to go to Kerali for a vacation - it looks amazing, and all that Ayurveda going on is right up my street. I think Reza really knows what he is talking about and is really enthusiastic about food. OK so his style can be a bit OTT sometimes but that makes him all the more interesting.
Didn't know he was in 'A House in France' - what did he do? He wasn't the friend of Nigel who bought the house too was he?

I love his programmes - both Delhi Belly and Coconut Coast are great programmes. Coconut Coast has persuaded me to go to Kerali for a vacation - it looks amazing, and all that Ayurveda going on is right up my street. I think Reza really knows what he is talking about and is really enthusiastic about food. OK so his style can be a bit OTT sometimes but that makes him all the more interesting.
Didn't know he was in 'A House in France' - what did he do? He wasn't the friend of Nigel who bought the house too was he?

Hi Sonia - no, Reza was brought in for the second series. Nigel's friend was Nippe(sp?) but Nigel went on to have a crazy idea about opening an Indian Restaurant and used the house (without Nippe's knowledge) as collateral for a loan. Reza was brought in as the expert in how to run an Indian restaurant by Nigel - but I think he bit off more than he could chew! Sadly (or inevitably, depending on how you look at it) the restaurant has now failed - but I am sure has made Nigel lots of money from the programme as it was great viewing - and Nigel is one of the producers of the programme....

Just re-read my post... cynical? Moi? Never!!

lol g...

Thanks Georgie - haven't seen the second series so didn't know the continuing story...........thanks for filling me in.

Hi Sonia - there is a book to accompany the series called 'A Curry in France' written by Nigel Farrell if you are interested.