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BBC Lifestyle in November 2009:
Big Chef Takes On Little ChefPremiered: Monday, 2 November 2009 at 18h30
Number of episodes: 3 (Runs weekly on Mondays at 18h30)
Little Chef is a British institution; a restaurant chain with 180 roadside outlets all over the UK. Olympic Breakfasts and Jubilee Pancakes loom large in the memories of many Brits, but the business has been experiencing difficulties, and in 2007 venture capitalists had to step in and save it from financial collapse.
Now in its 50th year, Little Chef is in serious need of creative inspiration.
Enter Heston Blumenthal, to take on a culinary challenge. The Michelin-starred chef applies his culinary techniques in an attempt to restore the fortunes of one of Britain’s most conventional yet iconic food brands.
Heston has strong childhood memories of Little Chef, but can he work his food alchemy to breathe fresh life into the restaurant’s menu and help restore it to its former glory?
Can a chef more used to serving up £200-a-head meals turn around the fortunes of a much-loved but tired British institution? And can Heston make the British public fall in love all over again with Little Chef, and with classic British food in the process?
Supersize versus SuperskinnyPremiered: Monday, 2 November 2009 at 21h20
Number of episodes: 8 (Run weekly at 21h20)
Dr Christian Jessen and Anna Richardson present the diet magazine show which tackles the UK's dysfunctional relationship with food.
Each episode follows two people with an extreme, dysfunctional approach to food intake - one is severely overweight, the other painfully thin - as they try out each other's diet in an attempt to see what they're doing wrong.
Amongst others, we follow Amy Jo, a compulsive exerciser who doesn’t eat enough food to balance out what she’s burning off, and 38-stone Andy who just can’t stop eating. We also meet six-stone Tatiana, who’s desperate for people to stop asking her if she has an eating disorder, and her diet partner on the show, 23-stone jazz singer Sandra, who soon teaches her how to pile on the pounds.
The series also sees diet doctor Gillian McKeith travel around the UK to test out the nation’s knowledge of food, challenging rugby players, cab drivers and truckers to see if they can pick out the healthiest meal from a selection of three.
Meanwhile, Anna Richardson immerses herself in the world of diets to see how easy it is to drop several inches from her size 14 figure by following a number of contrasting diet plans.
Heston's FeastsPremiered: Friday, 6 November 2009 at 18h30
Number of episodes: 5 (Runs weekly on Fridays at 18h30)
According to Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal, the future of cooking lies in the secret recipes of the past, and in Heston’s Feasts, the gastronomic adventurer heads back in time through a range of historical culinary worlds on a mission to recreate famous period dishes for the ultimate 21st Century banquets.
In each episode, Heston explores a period of gastronomic innovation, recreating lost recipes, discovering forgotten flavours and ingredients, and travelling to remote areas to source unusual foods. His culinary quest takes him through Victorian Britain and Tudor England to the Medieval era and also to Ancient Rome.
Daring dishes on the menu include an entirely edible garden with insects, 24 blackbirds baked in a pie, and a Trojan Hog with edible intestines. Each of Heston’s quests culminates in a spectacular banquet laid on for a boisterous bunch of brave celebrity diners. How will they receive Heston’s historical recreations?
Take On The TakeawayPremiere date: Tuesday, 11 November 2009 at 18h30
Number of episodes: 11 (Runs weekly at 18h30)
In this new food series, guest celebrity chefs are on a mission to convert kebab lovers and curry addicts to good home-cooked food.
The celebrity chef visits a fast food fan in their own home and tries to convince them that they can cook their favourite meal themselves. They will also attempt to beat the takeaway on price, speed and - the big one - taste.
The show sees Michelin-starred chef John Burton Race join a host of celebrated chefs as he travels to Newport, South Wales to take on the challenge to a cook a Pakistani Balti for two consultant surgeons.
Irish chef Paul Rankin is tasked with cooking a Greek meal for singleton Chris Houtris and his cousin Mario Mitiadous, and Frenchman Jean Christophe Novelli, who is convinced that food made with fresh ingredients at home will always taste better than a takeaway, heads to Enfield to take on the local takeaway ‘Thai Jasmine’.
Can the chefs convince the fast food fans that they can create such culinary delights under their own roofs, and save a lot of money in the process?
BBC Lifestyle is on DStv Channel 180.