Chef on Doctor’s orders
THEY do tend to overdramatise things at the Southend cafe where they film JAMIE AND JIMMY’S FRIDAY NIGHT FEAST (C4, 8pm). At one point tonight, in the first episode of the new series, co-owner Jimmy Doherty even asks one of their customers: “Was it quite daunting, getting that roll?”
Honestly, what sort of question is that?
Well, since you ask, it’s a question that I’ve deliberately misinterpreted in a vain attempt to be semi-amusing, because what Jimmy is actually saying is “role”, as in a part in a drama.
The customer that he and co-host Jamie Oliver are chatting to is Jodie Whittaker, no less, their first celebrity guest of this sixth series. Was it daunting for Jodie (right) to land the lead role in Doctor Who, that’s what Jimmy means, especially as it had never previously been played by a woman.
It’s not clear whether he follows this up with the obvious supplementary question, namely: “Why have the storylines become so relentlessly, exhaustingly, patronisingly PC?” but if he does then I’m afraid it hasn’t made the final edit. Pity. But then Jodie is mostly there for the food, of course, as are all the celebs invited to this end-of-pier eatery.
“I’m absolutely starving!” she tells them. Which is obviously what they’ve been hoping she’d say, although it would have been funnier if she’d replied: “Naah, not really, guys, I had a whopping great doner kebab in a lay-by outside Alpha Centauri.”
As for what’s on tonight’s menu, Jamie has lined up his “epic roast pork”, the preparation for which he then shows us in a bit he’s recorded earlier, “down in my little beach hut” at the other end of the pier.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he begins, “we are gonna do potentially one of the most amazing roast pork dishes ever: a little cheeky twist from America, right?” He then talks us through what’s so cheeky about it. “I’ve got a homemade bay salt in there, a double crackling, I’ve got the most amazing sauce to go with it: bourbon, peaches, a dirty gravy.
“Oh, my Lord, the flavours are BIG! I think you’re gonna love it…” And what’s most irritating of all, of course, as ever with Jamie Oliver’s recipes, is I’m pretty much certain he’s right. Curse that man and his annoyingly brilliant food.
Meanwhile, business is a little less brisk at another famous seaside pier, featured in PORTILLO’S
HIDDEN HISTORY
OF BRITAIN
(Channel 5, 9pm). Michael concludes the series in Brighton, whose West Pier now looks a bit sorry for itself. Major fire and storm damage have reduced this Victorian structure, once a major tourist attraction, to a crumbling skeleton, albeit one that continues to exude a certain style. Michael speaks to a chap with particularly fond memories of its heyday, 102-year-old Len Goldman. In his youth, Len visited the West Pier as often as he could. “My second home,” he calls it. Not that he could always afford the steep admission charge. “It cost sixpence,” he recalls.