Ainsley Harriot, C/D?

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I like him, he's always givin 110%, he's fun in a sort of light entertainment way. and as far as tv chefs go he's a hell of a lot more classic than Jamie Oliver or Gary Rhodes

Opinions?

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:01 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a joke right? The man should be atomised.

― Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:06 (twenty-two years ago)

No joke, I actually quite like him.

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:08 (twenty-two years ago)

for the benefit of the americans:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/features/christmas/ainsley_150.jpg

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:10 (twenty-two years ago)

He's Craig Charles' cousin. What a talented family.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:12 (twenty-two years ago)

all tv chefs apart from nigella lawson, hugh fearnley-whittingstall and nigel slater should be rounded up and brutally murdered

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I met AH at a party once and he was really nice. Big hands, mind.

Rhodes would be first against the wall for me. Damn that punky penis and his fastidious ways.

― Alfie (Alfie), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

No love for Antonio Carluccio, Dave?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Carluccio is only mildly less offensive than Ainsley, who is a blight on the tv schedules

― chris (chris), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:16 (twenty-two years ago)

nigella lawson is just a pot handling siren of over 35s autoeroticism, shes no ainsley

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:17 (twenty-two years ago)

however, i did quite like that bloke of saturday kitchen on bbc2, just coz he looked like a fat richie hawtin

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:18 (twenty-two years ago)

nigella lawson is just a pot handling siren of over 35s autoeroticism

You make it sound like that's a bad thing.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:19 (twenty-two years ago)

"and as far as tv chefs go he's a hell of a lot more classic than Jamie Oliver or Gary Rhodes" - if the classification 'classic' was an infinite ascending scale, surely TV chefs would be way, way down, jostling for postion with twentieth century dictators, catching your cock in your zipper, the M25 and shitting yourself.

― Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:19 (twenty-two years ago)

May I take this opportunity to remind you all of the phrase "Percy Pepper" and ask why this thread is a C/D rather than a Defend The Indefensible?

― Tim (Tim), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:20 (twenty-two years ago)

How about the indie grrrl from The Best?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:22 (twenty-two years ago)

is carluccio the Italian dude from Saturday kitchen? He was drinking shot after shot of limonjello or something one morning.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:23 (twenty-two years ago)

May I take this opportunity to ... ask why this thread is a C/D rather than a Defend The Indefensible?

i would have, but i didnt realise he was so disliked. most people i talk to are pretty neutral on the issue and some people i know quite like him too.

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Carluccio's the big fat guy with the kinky white hair. Cooks a lot of truffles.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:25 (twenty-two years ago)

who's the gay bloke with lots of ear piercings etc who's often on ready steady cook? used to see him round brixton a lot...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:25 (twenty-two years ago)

You make it sound like that's a bad thing
its not, not at all in fact. but nigella, as far as her tv cheffery goes, is too much of an islington dinner party thing for me to handle.

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:26 (twenty-two years ago)

now, in two words, i will give you one reason to ban cooking on tv - worral thompson

nigella lives in shgepherd's bush and i love her

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Where does ILX stand on scrawny fish nationalist Rick Stein?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:28 (twenty-two years ago)

he's a hero, and also and Ilxor lookylikey

― chris (chris), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah worral thompson can go, don't like his style

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:30 (twenty-two years ago)

worral thompson is married to the girl whose parents own this family supermarket near me. you see him carting off cases of food at christmas. he is kind of pervy on ready steady cook.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:30 (twenty-two years ago)

rick stein i like a lot - try to cook some of his recipes if you can, they fucking great

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Ken Hom anyone? Always been fond of him

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Where does ILX stand on scrawny fish nationalist Rick Stein?

I like him for his slightly eccentric nature (see also Keith Floyd) - I always wince at the amount of olive oil he puts on things though.

― Alfie (Alfie), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:32 (twenty-two years ago)

All the modern crop of TV chefs are pretty awful - are they all on speed? Flinging shit around the kitchen and talking 300 to the dozen... I miss Keith Floyd. He always got drunk, he roxx0red.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Keith Floyd's "wine" was actually Ribena. Fact.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:33 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate when they do things like the full english breakfast, I mean what am I? A leper?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh yeah Floyd is megaclassic. Theres nothing like watching old Floyd on France reruns, but they seem to be pretty rare these days. The drunkeness definatley adds to the appeal.

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:34 (twenty-two years ago)

for the benefit of the americans

no need for that. he gets a big up from obie trice on the 8 mile soundtrack - i nearly choked when i first heard it

"So throw up your hands and peep out your man's/
When I come through next quarter trust it in you's/
And trust I'm attackin' it/
i cook up that hot shit like Ainsley Harriot"

!!!!

― zebedee (zebedee), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:34 (twenty-two years ago)

"So throw up your hands and peep out your man's/
When I come through next quarter trust it in you's/
And trust I'm attackin' it/
i cook up that hot shit like Ainsley Harriot"

Woh!

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:35 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe he only used him coz it rhymed =)

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:37 (twenty-two years ago)

i totally forgot about this

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i have completely changed my mind abt j.oliver

(i always liked his orignal prog w.the sound turned down to avoid stupid catchphrases and voice, cz i love how he enjoys physical soux-chef skills like chopping, and does them beautifully) (the kind of stuff delia's and nigella's cut away from or edit fast-forward through)

i think i liked that he was always quite unusual in not de-emphasising that cookery is work, and that actually improvisation is part of the deal also (i assume lots of chefs came up through the same put-upon juniors route, but he is the only one who's made a virtue of opening that up...)

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:50 (twenty-two years ago)

his recipes are nice! I particularly like his italian sausage pasta with tomato and fennel. How the hell do you spell fennel?

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:54 (twenty-two years ago)

classic Keith Floyd moment...cooking ostrich meat (possibly on the African savannah) watched by a flock of inquisitive ostriches.

― MarkH (MarkH), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:57 (twenty-two years ago)

i think w.oliver underneath a VERY quickly tedious sleb frontage was a actual real good cook, and the actual real good cook is fighting to break through the shallow sleb frontage (hmmm clearly i am a TV cook rockist)

(also i liked two fat ladies cz of their hostility to the norms of modern hygiene!!)

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 11 September 2003 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

i hate gary rhodes

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Mark H's anecdote reminds me of the time I saw pigs being fed loads of sausages from buckets of wasted food.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

two fat ladies were funny! and i really liked the look of some of the stuff they cooked

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Gary Rhodes is a grade A arse, BUT he made the finest looking pork pie ever on Saturday Kitchen last year, so I am prepared to tolerate his continued presence on our screens.

― Ricardo (RickyT), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:09 (twenty-two years ago)

that did look amazing didn't it...
PORK PIES = WAY BEYOND CLASSIC!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I am a huge Jamie Oliver apologist, he is a good man

― chris (chris), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:26 (twenty-two years ago)

my fave Floyd moment was in some show where he'd chopped up chillies, cut to him 10 mins later with streaming eyes in some amount of pain saying "now this is why you always wash your hands after handling chilli and DONT RUB YOUR EYES ARGH"

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:27 (twenty-two years ago)

And I have to admit after seeing "Jamies Kitchen" I have more respect for Oliver - those kids were a useless, lazy bunch of fucks and he gave them SO much leeway and support despite this. I'd like to think because thats how he was, and not because the cameras were on him, but anyhoo...

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Jamie Oliver another one for the ILXor Chef Lookalike brigade, at least a year or two ago anyway.

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 11 September 2003 10:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I love the idea of Rick Stein being described as scrawny

― Mooro (Mooro), Thursday, 11 September 2003 11:46 (twenty-two years ago)

you would

― chris (chris), Thursday, 11 September 2003 12:00 (twenty-two years ago)

And I have to admit after seeing "Jamies Kitchen" I have more respect for Oliver - those kids were a useless, lazy bunch of fucks and he gave them SO much leeway and support despite this.

He did more for them, than some deserved: re what's-her-name that couldn't be arsed to show up til she was threatened w/ dismissal. I never thought cooking was an easy profession. However, it takes a lot of passion to leave your new wife and baby to supervise a surly class of 12.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 11 September 2003 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Ainsley Harriot, like Jamie Oliver, is a perfectly good chef ruined by having an irritating personality over-developed for television. I love Two Fat Ladies, Paul Rankin and Keith Floyd. I also have a grudging respect for Delia.

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 11 September 2003 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I also have a grudging respect for Delia.

So do I. She knows how to squeeze a pound or two from the slavering masses.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Thursday, 11 September 2003 22:50 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, but she also cooks proper food like my mum does. And that's a good thing. What's the deal with jus of this and coulis of that and parfait of the other if you can't even make an omelette or a decent pan of soup or whatever?

― ailsa (ailsa), Thursday, 11 September 2003 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember seeing Ainsley Harriot on public TV! Him, Madhur Jaffrey, Delia Smith, and Gary Rhodes, all on the same program IIRC (something about "great world chefs" or something) sometime in the early - mid '90s. I totally agree with the Gary Rhodes detractors. I could NOT stand him. He always seemed to me to be a big-time twit. Ainsley Harriot seemed really cool and I liked his personality a lot. I liked Delia Smith, too, though on occasion I *was* bored by her. (Hey, I was still a young teen then and it took an Ainsley Harriot to get me totally engrossed with a cooking show.) Madhur Jaffrey was my favorite, though. I loved it whenever she was on because she had this amazing air of capability and knowledge, which I really liked, plus she had this winning personality which I felt made her likeable.

I also remember seeing "Two Fat Ladies", though for a longer period of time, and on the Food Network. I loved that show to bits. They sure loved their butter, didn't they? And didn't you always sense an undertone of, "Oh, you little witch, if the cameras weren't off I'd strangle you!" on the program? Or am I just seeing things? Anyway, I found the program very highly entertaining and loved Jennifer and Clarissa.

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Thursday, 11 September 2003 22:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Ailsa OTM re Delia. Though my main gripe with la Smith is that she tends to get overly excited about an ingredient new to her "This year everything I cook will contain lime" Dee and all other Two fat ladies lovers you are correct in every respect. They ruled. Being the parochial cornishman that I am I have to plump for Rick stein as he has done a great deal for my home county (I remember what Padstow was like before he broke big and it's an improvement now).
Harriot though...I'm sorry Bob, I can't find it in my scarred and corroded heart to love him. Possibly because he's a bit of a tit, almost certainly because Ready Steady Cook is an abomination featuring some of the least inspired cuisine ever to embarrass a TV screen, though I will allow him a certain degree of respect for taking barbecue cookery seriously.

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 11 September 2003 23:03 (twenty-two years ago)

Ainsley ain't no proper chef, what restaurants has he run, where can we taste his cooking? nowhere but on his rubbish tv programmes - the charlatan.

― chris (chris), Friday, 12 September 2003 07:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Ainsley is v. easy to impersonate.

Oliver makes v. nice looking food although I could do without his programmes' look-at-my-lifestyle trimmings.

Gary Rhodes can eat a dick (possibly after cooking it in a manner that combines traditional flavours with modern flare)

― robster (robster), Friday, 12 September 2003 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes but did anyone see the Ready Steady Cook where one of the chefs was talking about some food and said "the blacker ones always tend to be bigger and more satisfactory" and the camera went to Ainsley laughing like a maniac.

Cheap humour I guess but still. He seems a nice guy if nothing else.

Paul Rankin Ailsa? I always thought his show with the other chef Jean was so funny, she'd be slicing an egg and he'd say "you know Jean, ho ho ho, I really prefer them done horizontally". Or "Jean knows full well I like my tomatoes sliced THINLY". I'd say she must have wanted to lamp him with the frying pan at the end of every episode.

I find Delia doing the things like fried breakfasts and omelettes a bit much as I said.

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 12 September 2003 07:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Nairn, he's enthusiastic and knows his produce, also his restaurants are supposed to be pretty damn good.

Giorgio Locatelli is pretty good when he's not being a caricature of himself.

There are some good chefs on UK Food too, ones that don't have their own shows but just appear on there from time to time, especially the youngish Italian bloke whose name escapes me.

All James Martin's programmes have been crap though, which is surprising as he was always one of my favourites on RSC, unlike Patrick Anthony who can FuXor right off.

― chris (chris), Friday, 12 September 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Best chef ever is the dude from Consuming Passions.

EVER.

― Nellie (nellskies), Friday, 12 September 2003 09:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I can smell the irony from here, that man is a parrot faced fool

― chris (chris), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:02 (twenty-two years ago)

you are so irony deficitient you have anemia. he is tops.

― Nellie (nellskies), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.abc.net.au/southwestwa/stories/m374245.jpg

he even has enough cred to wear a beret.

― Nellie (nellskies), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:24 (twenty-two years ago)

aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh

I'd eat his chuffing liver with a rather fine south Australian chardonnay

― chris (chris), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:25 (twenty-two years ago)

what is the name of the little sticky-up bit on top of a beret?

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:35 (twenty-two years ago)

whatever happened to rusty lee?

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

a stalk mark...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate/hated the 2 fat ladies due to their views on vegetarians.
Gary Rhodes - noooooo
Jamie Oliver - if you say pukka one more god damn time, I swear I am gonna ram that fish where the sun.......
AH - well his enthusiasm for cooking is infectious, but I hate all that 'percy pepper' crap!

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:39 (twenty-two years ago)

i think jamie oliver has sworn off "pukka" etc, he said he got fed up of people saying it back to him

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I hate/hated the 2 fat ladies due to their views on vegetarians.

this is one of the reasons why i loved them - not that i hate vegetarians at all, just that they were obnoxious posh and total funny, game old lasses who made me laugh a lot

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but i bet he lets the odd one slip & trust me, I'll be there! oh yes, i'll be there to....*mumble, mumble, mumble*

― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Friday, 12 September 2003 10:42 (twenty-two years ago)

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