Brooklyn’s cookin’ up new line of posh aprons and wooden spoons
THe critics may have nervous breakdowns over Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham’s apparent inability to tell his alfredo from his bechamel. Never mind the white knuckle ride watching how much oil he adds to his potatoes. And the less said about his habit of cooking while wearing a rescue puppy in a sling, the better.
However, it can be revealed that the ‘budding chef’ is to launch a range of branded items for use in the kitchen.
Sources indicate that Brooklyn, who took up cooking during lockdown and has 15.3 million followers on Instagram, will endorse chef’s aprons, T-shirts, bandanas, hats and cooking utensils such as tongs and wooden spoons, all emblazoned with his name.
A friend revealed: ‘Brooklyn has a team working with him on ideas now. He has ambitions to be a fashion icon, as well as a chef. He’s hoping to start a revolution in what chefs wear. His aprons, for instance, won’t be made of leather (traditional as it protects chefs from heat and injury) but will just have leather straps instead.
‘He has a great interest in fashion and design and there will be items such as bandanas to keep your hair off your face, too.’
The source added: ‘In terms of the kitchenware, he likes polished wood and oversized items. He is also very attached to his tongs.’
It will be yet another cash-in from Brooklyn who, like parents David and Victoria Beckham, is no slouch when it comes to building a brand.
He has recently signed a number of commercial deals, endorsing plant milk and tinned sake rice wine, while also fronting Instagram reels for the venerable Michelin guide.
In one Michelin video he is seen eating sushi at Hayato, a Michelin two- starred restaurant in Los Angeles, where the tasting menu costs $350 (£283) a head.
AFTER sampling some Gold Ice Snapper with Shiso Blossoms he observes: ‘It’s probably one of the most gorgeous plates of food I’ve ever seen and it’s just like such a clean taste. It goes down so amazing.’
Brooklyn, 24, tried careers in football, modelling and photography before alighting on the world of food. But there has been controversy (and mockery) over his abilities as a chef. Videos showing him cooking enormous — and enormously expensive — cuts of meat have turned some off, and his use of huge quantities of butter and oil has also attracted comment.
In the world of Italian food, he’s been criticised for using tomato sauce from a jar to make lasagne, and for adding bechamel sauce to spaghetti for ‘Pasta Alfredo’, rather than using alfredo sauce (with cream, garlic and parsley) with fettucine. When viewers spotted a wine cork bobbing in his ragu, Beckham insisted it was there to tenderise the dish.
A social media TV series, Cookin’ With Brooklyn, was created with facebook owners Meta last year. In it, he was reportedly assisted by a team of 62 to create short videos in which he made food for friends. for a fish and chips sandwich, a chef friend battered and cooked the fish and also cooked the hash browns. Brooklyn’s input was restricted to spreading aioli on a bagel.
In a more recent video he made a grilled cheese sandwich and blowtorched the bread. Some were distracted by a gaping hole in his tracksuit bottoms, others sarcastically described the result as a ‘culinary masterpiece’.
In an interview he insisted: ‘ I’m not a professional chef. I’ve never said that. I never would say that. Obviously, my dad [retired footballer David] knew what he was doing at a very young age. I’ve only been doing cooking for not even three years.’
Last week he said on Instagram: ‘I love cooking because it’s one of the few things that takes my mind off anything that’s happening.’
INDIANA Jones may have hung up his bullwhip, but hardcore Harrison Ford, aged 80, still has his drinking boots on. Very late on Friday night — around 2am — he was virtually the last man standing at a Cannes party thrown by film producer and publisher Charles Finch to celebrate the latest edition of his film ‘bookazine’ A Rabbit’s Foot.
Ford told me he was having a ‘tremendous’ time at the Festival, where Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny had its premiere and he was presented with an honorary Palme D’Or. He also shared his love of British tailoring — to be specific, the grey Paul Smith suit he was wearing.
His wife Calista Flockhart waited patiently for him to finish making the rounds, which he did with great charm and bad language. Ford was in heavy demand from the celeb-heavy crowd which included TV presenter Mariella Frostrup, actress Alicia Vikander, actor Mads Mikkelsen and director Audrey Diwan, who is about to shout ‘action!’ on a remake of the famous erotic Emmanuelle film, set in present day Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, his Indiana Jones co-star John Rhys-Davies (Sallah in Indy and Gimli in The Lord Of The Rings) was also on top form. Rhys-Davies, 79, said he’d barely stopped working in a 50-year career. ‘Naturally, I attributed this to my genius; until it dawned on me that if you are tall, fat and ugly — with a loud voice — you are in a seller’s market.’