No cheeky chappie brandishing a whisk, no bosomy gastro-porn, no foodie-travelogues in foreign parts, no al fresco cooking sketches of dishes we are unlikely to try, no rants, no back-slapping, no slurping or faux bonhomie. Simon Hopkinson, aka The Good Cook on BBC 2, is the best thing to happen to TV cookery programmes since Delia Smith a generation ago.
The idea is simple. Put a great restaurant cook in his home kitchen and get him to show us how to make all the dishes we most enjoy eating. You know, dishes like steak and chips, coq au vin, salade Nicoise, sticky toffee pudding, rhubarb crumble… even the much abused Quiche Lorraine. No fancy production frills, just a careful, thoughtful demonstration of how to execute these recipes… to perfection!
I first met Simon in the early 1980s when he was cooking in a small South Kensington restaurant called Hilaire. It became my favourite London eaterie. Then, in 1987, he joined forces with Sir Terence Conran to open Bibendum in the old Michelin building a few hundred yards up the road.
For me, Simon Hopkinson was one of three seminal spirits of that era who shaped the future of modern British cooking. The other two were Alastair Little and Rowley Leigh. (You can read about them – and others – in my two volumes of Great British Chefs, published in 1989 and 1995. Find them on Amazon).
In The Good Cook, Simon turns his back on TV cookery as frothy light entertainment. What he gives his audience is the quiet, practical authority of a seasoned chef whose approach is based on the twin pillars of Elizabeth David and Jane Grigson. Substance and comfort in a time of uncertainty. Forgotten values made familiar once again.
More please BBC 2!
Kit Chapman, proprietor of The Castle at Taunton and author of My Archipelago.
just watched this series with Simon Hopkinson – great food- great cooking ideas-beats Ms Lawson!
Many thanks, Sandra. I agree. KC
I agree with all of the above … but can someone (Simon himself?) pls tell me how to keep the famous crisp chicken skin crisp when you cover it with foil to keep it warm and rest whilst finishing off the lovely potatoes?
Also, why are “roast chicken, bread sauce, steak & chips” missing from The Good Cook book accompanying the great series?
Margaret A, Northumberland
Hello Margaret Atkinson!
Thank you for your comment. I suggest you approach Simon via his publisher to get the answers to your questions. Also, my guess is that the chicken and the steak recipes have been omitted from Simon’s new book because they have already appeared in previous books.
Happy cooking!
KC
Why, in the episode shown on Friday the 12th of August did Simon say that the fennel and Parmesan dish was suitable for vegetarians, it is my belief that Parmesan has animal rennet in it?
Many thanks
Louise Grove
Hello Mrs Grove!
Thank you for your comment. In my book, and by any definition of the word, Simon’s fennel with Parmesan is a vegetarian dish…. But, of course, it is not vegan.
I hope you have been enjoying the TV series. Now buy Simon’s book – one of the best cooking manuals I have seen in a long time!
KC
Whoppeee! We’ve got Simon on ABC TV now in the Land of Oz .Great programme,good presenter.We love his kitchen too!
Robert Dick
Hello Robert!
Glad you’re enjoying Simon’s cooking. Now look out for Nigel Slater which,I hope, will be coming your way in a few months time.
Kit Chapman