Chef hits on right recipe

THE first words you’ll hear tonight on a new series called THE CHEFS’ BRIGADE

(BBC2, 9pm) are those of a man declaring: “I’m obsessed with food.” Surprisingly, this man is not the controller of BBC2. It’s Jason Atherton, the Michelin-star chap who’s leading this latest challenge.

Jason tells us food is his life (“It’s who I am…”), but then adds (and this is clearly the important bit): “If you want to make world-class food, it’s never about one individual.

“It’s always about building a team.And in the kitchen, that team

is known as the brigade.” So there we have it.

Before we’ve even had the chance to ask why this show is called what it’s called, Jason has dished up the answer for us.

He doesn’t answer the obvious follow-up question – namely, that if he’s the guy in charge, why isn’t the apostrophe before the S – but hey, let’s not get too picky for now.

The idea of the series (I thought you’d never ask) is to give a bunch of people with raw talent (people currently cooking in hotels, gastropubs etc.) the chance to flourish.

Jason is taking them on a culinary jaunt across Europe, stopping en route to cook off against brigades from some of the continent’s most fancypants eateries. (He doesn’t say “fancypants” by the way.)

First up, Jason and his gastronauts (a far better title, why didn’t they go for that?) are in Puglia, Italy. It’s a place where the cooking, we’re told, focuses on simple, fresh, local ingredients served with minimal fuss, but then name me a food region that doesn’t say that.

More interestingly, Jason says Puglia’s food, when you’re eating it, “just feels alive”, so personally I’d steer clear of the octopus.

Anyway, the overall feel of the show is kind of intense and full-on – lots of stress, lots of shouting, a few tears, some hugging, not an abundance of laughs – so if you’re in the mood to be emotionally drained on a Tuesday night, I dare say you’ll be hooked.

Before that, there’s also a food

theme to the first in the new series of INSIDE THE FACTORY (BBC2,

8pm), presented by Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey.

Our hosts are in Stoke-on-Trent, finding out how Mr Kipling makes his cherry bakewells (Cherry Healey, cherry bakewells, oh, the comedy potential…).

The answer is he doesn’t. He gets his workforce to make them.

It’s all jolly mechanised these days, but with a vital finishing touch still done by hand.

“They haven’t found a machine yet,” explains worker Sue, who’s done this particular job now for 13 years, “that’s able to put the cherries on.”