As part of Channel 4's "The Big Food Fight" season, it's Gordon Ramsay's turn behind the hot plate. But, whereas Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver used their episodes to shock/educate about the realities of where meat comes from, Ramsay falls back on a cheery gimmick.
In Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong, the idea is that people across the country follow Ramsay's lead in cooking a three-course meal. On live television, at 9 o'clock on a Friday night --which seemed like bad scheduling.
Did you log onto the website and purchase the necessary ingredients before the show? Did you starve yourself all day, so you could stomach a big meal at 9 pm? There was even the vaguely-daft idea of seeing your fellow "interactive chefs" online -- via a virtual map!
Well, did you do it? Go on, admit it. I didn't bother, so this hour-long special was just an amusing waste of time for me. It was basically a feature from Ramsay's F Word series: there were the celebrity guests (Chris Moyles as Gordon's "comedy partner" and Janet Street-Porter cooking at home on a live feed), web-links to members of the public odd enough to have a TV and a webcam in their kitchens, and even some cross-promotion with E4's Big Brother house. Yes, those kids are still trapped in the BB house, unaware the Hijack show has flopped and nobody's watching.
The meal itself wasn't anything special (scallops, steak and chips, chocolate mousse), because it had to be relatively easy, quick and simple to make. So I'm not sure why a "cookalong" was even needed, as most people tuning into a Gordon Ramsay show must surely be able to handle steak and chips?
But it was all for fun. I'm sure that if you had your ingredients and entered into the spirit of things, it was an amusing way to spend an hour, and you ended up with a decent meal at the end. I just hope the advert breaks were long enough for you to actually eat the stuff!
As usual, Gordon Ramsay was a tornado of enthusiasm, ending every sentence with "yes?" and bellowing "come on, Chris!" every few seconds. Moyles, as the embodiment of a bad cook who loves his food, was more entertaining than usual away from the radio (pricking Ramsay's ego quite nicely) – although I find it irritating how many of Moyles' friends/family cling on to his shirt-tails. Oh, look -- there's Aled and Mrs Moyles scoffing away at a table.
This Cookalong wasn't particularly brilliant television (the idea was better than the execution), but it was a unique experience that benefited from the fast-pace and Ramsay's charisma. And I bet it was twice as entertaining if you were cooking along, not watching along. With a takeaway.
18 January 2008
Channel 4, 9.00 pm
In Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong, the idea is that people across the country follow Ramsay's lead in cooking a three-course meal. On live television, at 9 o'clock on a Friday night --which seemed like bad scheduling.
Did you log onto the website and purchase the necessary ingredients before the show? Did you starve yourself all day, so you could stomach a big meal at 9 pm? There was even the vaguely-daft idea of seeing your fellow "interactive chefs" online -- via a virtual map!
Well, did you do it? Go on, admit it. I didn't bother, so this hour-long special was just an amusing waste of time for me. It was basically a feature from Ramsay's F Word series: there were the celebrity guests (Chris Moyles as Gordon's "comedy partner" and Janet Street-Porter cooking at home on a live feed), web-links to members of the public odd enough to have a TV and a webcam in their kitchens, and even some cross-promotion with E4's Big Brother house. Yes, those kids are still trapped in the BB house, unaware the Hijack show has flopped and nobody's watching.
The meal itself wasn't anything special (scallops, steak and chips, chocolate mousse), because it had to be relatively easy, quick and simple to make. So I'm not sure why a "cookalong" was even needed, as most people tuning into a Gordon Ramsay show must surely be able to handle steak and chips?
But it was all for fun. I'm sure that if you had your ingredients and entered into the spirit of things, it was an amusing way to spend an hour, and you ended up with a decent meal at the end. I just hope the advert breaks were long enough for you to actually eat the stuff!
As usual, Gordon Ramsay was a tornado of enthusiasm, ending every sentence with "yes?" and bellowing "come on, Chris!" every few seconds. Moyles, as the embodiment of a bad cook who loves his food, was more entertaining than usual away from the radio (pricking Ramsay's ego quite nicely) – although I find it irritating how many of Moyles' friends/family cling on to his shirt-tails. Oh, look -- there's Aled and Mrs Moyles scoffing away at a table.
This Cookalong wasn't particularly brilliant television (the idea was better than the execution), but it was a unique experience that benefited from the fast-pace and Ramsay's charisma. And I bet it was twice as entertaining if you were cooking along, not watching along. With a takeaway.
18 January 2008
Channel 4, 9.00 pm
