Mary hopes to serve up a tasty treat
Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast Channel 4, 8pm
IT’S January, and while most of the country is attempting to detox and cut back on the calories, the people in charge of TV schedules are determined to shove more foodie shows down our throats. The latest is the new seventh series of Jamie and Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, which begins tonight. Thankfully, for those who have overindulged during the festive season, there is a lot more to this particular programme than just delicious food.
One critic called it a “blend of Top Gear and Countryfile, with faint undertones of TGI Friday’s”, as chef Jamie Oliver and farmer Jimmy Doherty kick off the weekend with not only good grub, but informative features, chat with celebrity guests, fun and games.
If you haven’t seen the show which began in 2014 before, Friday Night Feast follows Jamie and Jimmy as they entertain punters and celebrity guests from behind the counter at the once-broken-down cafe on Southend Pier.
In each episode Jamie demonstrates a recipe for the weekend, usually filmed and cooked outside the cafe, or sometimes at his portable pub, The Cock In Cider.
Each episode of Friday Night Feast sees a guest come to the cafe and help cook a recipe to their choosing, usually one which has played a significant part of their life.
Every week the duo continue their long-running food fight, where they take to the road and challenge the practices of the food industry, and Jimmy also builds a DIY piece of cooking equipment on his farm, showing the viewers how to do it.
However, the biggest selling point of the show is the longest-running bromance between the two hosts and childhood pals who grew up in the same village of Clavering in Essex.
“We discovered girls together, often went out with the same ones,” Jimmy once said.
“After all, we lived in a village – there weren’t a lot to go round.”
However, the duo don’t like to hog all the limelight and give their famous guests plenty of opportunity to have their say and join in.
Some celebrities take to cooking in the seaside café like seagulls to water, while others look horrified when they realise the main dish Jamie has demo-ed for them is one they’ll have to make themselves – see Taron Egerton in the Festive Feast special on Christmas Day for details.
However, Jamie and Jimmy will probably learn a thing or two tonight, as they welcome national treasure Mary Berry to the longest Pleasure Pier in the world to keep an eagle eye on the kitchen.
The boys take Mary on a trip down memory lane, recreating a nostalgic seafood feast inspired by her happy family holidays in the West Country.
They bring together all the ingredients that helped make Mary’s family trips so special, including a stuffed whole trout, potted shrimp and a retro crab cocktail, plus local bread from her favourite bakery.
Jimmy tries his luck at winning ‘star baker’ by rustling up a gorgeously gooey mozzarella and pesto bread, while Jamie reinvents the classic beef wellington.
Out and about, the boys find themselves on the front line of cooking, taking part in a training exercise with the No 3 Mobile Catering Squadron at RAF Wittering.