THE MAGIC OF FOOD
Crazy Delicious, though over the top, is ultimately amusing
On Crazy Delicious, Netflix’s new cooking competition programme, judges-chefs Heston Blumenthal, Carla Hall and Niklas Ekstedt are dressed in all white and referred to as ‘food gods’. At the end of each of the six episodes, the ‘gods’ descend from their vantage point—set to observe the action below—to the sound of thunder and lightning, and announce the name of the winner of the coveted ‘Golden Apple’. Jayde Adams, as the host, carries the show forward with witty, punny commentary, while stroking a rabbit, dabbing lipstick and biting into a chewable flower pot. Colour explodes in every scene—from the foliage and flora, the contestants’ dishes, Adams’s blue eye make-up and puffy sequin dress which, together, shine brighter than our collective future as it stands now. Quirky and silly, Crazy Delicious couldn’t have come at a better time.
The show would like you to believe that it is set in an ‘enchanted edible garden’ where the soil is chocolate, olive oil flows from trees, fresh eggs lie undisturbed in nests with a prosecco waterfall frothing nearby. Every episode, three contestants enter this fantastical land in wide-eyed wonder (in the later episodes, the contestants mercifully tone it down to mild surprise), and are expected to ‘forage’ in this ‘garden’ for ingredients. The proceedings have a whimsical, fairytale-like quality. Each episode is split into three rounds where contestants cook with a ‘magic’ ingredient, recreate popular favourites and finally deliver a grand feast. The descriptions of the food the contestants are about to cook are helped by storybook illustrations of the same. It’s worth repeating that it’s all very Alice in Wonderland meets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The brief is in the title and contestants really embrace the crazy, creating stunningly elaborate and imaginative dishes. There are strawberry cheesecake wings, a jerk watermelon that looks like ham, and buns coloured with squid ink. But it is the best-tasting dish that always wins.
It’s all a bit much, but Crazy Delicious is ultimately amusing. And we all could use some laughs now, even the unintended kind.
—Anu Prabhakar