Jewish chef’s Viennese cookbook dream lives on after short but sweet run on Jamie TV contest
WAS KNOCKED out of Channel 4’s cookbook contest — but Jewish cook Caroline Fooks still hopes to publish the recipes she learned from her Austrian refugee mother.
The opening episode of The Great Cookbook Challenge With Jamie Oliver this week saw Ms Fooks whip up her classic sachertorte and pitch her book idea: “From schnitzel to guglhupf: Viennese recipes with love.”
Judges praised her dessert, with the Evening Standard restaurant critic and food writer Jimi Famurewa hailing her “fantastic cake” and calling it a “total joy”.
Retired teacher Ms Fooks was among the first six hopefuls and had hoped to adapt recipes passed on from her mother Erica Swift, who fled Austria after the Anschluss, as the JC revealed last week.
But judges chose to eliminate her before the next round, with 22-year-old vegan Calum and Filipino chef Rex De Guzman, 27, taking the two spots available with their cookbook ideas.
One of the judges, publishing chief Louise Moore, suggested she would have preferred sampling a savoury dish instead of a dessert to gain a better understanding of Ms Fooks’ concept. But Ms Fooks told the JC she believed she was right to choose the cake, saying: “I don’t regret it. I know I was the only one who did a cake.
“Everybody else did savoury but I do think it was a good choice because it did sum up the essence of the book.”
She added: “I was obviously immediately very disappointed but also very pleased for the two that went through because in a very short space of time we formed a bond, the six of us, it was extraordinary, so I cared about the others as well.”
Social media users praised Ms Fooks’s concept, with one writing: “I want to try that chocolate cake!
“Feels emotionally charged plus looks fabulous.”
Another wrote: “That’s the book I want. Best cake EVER! And Caroline is right…we can all show our love to people through the gift of food!”
Another said: “Would really love a copy of her mother’s book.
“She really got the idea of ‘gemütlichkeit’ across. And what a story. Loved it.” Ms Fooks, whose Instagram handle is @cook_gemutlick, still hopes to find a publisher and has already tested 65 recipes with another 25 to go.
The programme gave her a boost in confidence and she was encouraged by judges’ feedback.
She said: “That’s what I got out of the whole experience, actually, affirmation that the idea is worthwhile going forward with and trying to find another publisher.
“It was a huge privilege actually.”