All cooked up

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All cooked up

Darryl Bullock looks forward to spotting some celebrity chefs – and learning a thing or two about cookery too, of course – at the Love Cooking bonanza at Colston Hall.

How often have you heard the expression “food is the new rock ’n’ roll”? True, some of the nation’s favourite chefs and food pundits may be young and sexy, but they’re not exactly known for jumping into the back of a Transit and turning up at a venue to strut their stuff in front of an adoring audience, are they? Well, apparently, they are.

On Tuesday 5 October, Love Cooking rocks up at Colston Hall, part of a UK-wide tour bringing some of the union’s best-loved celebrity chefs and cooks to a theatre near you. Live cookery demonstrations are hardly a unique idea, but a national tour with this number of the UK’s top chefs is; the whole tour features some 16 food and drink experts (other venues get Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Antony Worrall Thompson, Rick Stein, Richard Corrigan and Oz Clarke, among others) and almost half of that number will be here in Bristol. Hosted by food and drink writer and former wine merchant Nigel Barden, local food fans will be treated to a star-studded line-up featuring James Martin (the host of BBC1's ‘Saturday Kitchen’), Gary Rhodes, Ainsley Harriott (who hosts BBC2’s ‘Ready Steady Cook’), Rachel Allen, Gino D'Acampo, Valentine Warner from the hit BBC series ‘What To Eat Now’ and former ‘Masterchef’ winner Thomasina Miers. Watch in awe as each chef presents a range of new and exciting recipes, as well as some of the classics of British and European cuisine, discussing what inspired the dishes and why they chose the ingredients, offering useful tips and trade secrets and taking questions from the audience.

Food writer and presenter Thane Prince, a founding partner of Love Cooking, tells Venue that the idea for the tour grew out of her involvement with the annual BBC Good Food show. “I've been involved with the Good Food Show almost since the beginning, but I felt that we could appeal to a different audience, one that wanted more emphasis on craft and technique: an audience of passionate cooks, whether beginners or more accomplished. I've known many of the chefs for years and have a good relationship with them. They were really up for the idea and have been wonderfully helpful.”

Each show is made up of six one-hour presentations and tickets include access to supporting demonstrations, features and activities before and after main stage events, a Love Cooking recipe book featuring more than 60 recipes from the chefs featured in the tour and exclusive access to the Love Cooking website where you can re-watch all of the filmed presentations from the tour, giving you your own online video library of first-class cookery demos. Discounts are available for more than one presentation and day passes are on offer too.

Thomasina Miers, head chef of London’s brace of Mexican street food restaurants, Wahaca, is one of the many culinary heroes appearing in Bristol. “I love doing cooking demos,” she tells Venue. “Chatting to people, showing them recipes I love to cook and talking about how much fun food can be. It is also great to meet up with the other guys who are doing demos, catch up with them and see what they are cooking. We can always learn from each other! It’s going to be a great show.”

Her own rise to celebrity chef status has been meteoric. In the five years since she won the coveted ‘Masterchef’ title, which catapulted her into the spotlight, she’s filmed two series for Channel 4, written or co-written half a dozen cookery books and founded Wahaca. “‘Masterchef’ gave me the confidence to get out there and start cooking professionally,” she says. “I now do what I love to do as a career. It is such a privilege to be able to work at what you love. I work hard, but I also get a huge amount of pleasure from what I do. I feel very lucky; it’s such fun to see people coming in through the doors to eat the food. It gives me a real buzz.”

But cooking up a storm on stage in front of a doting audience is a million food miles away from doing the same in a professional kitchen, surely? “Love Cooking is all about cooking, food, recipes and fun. It’s a chance to see a whole host of cooks and chefs getting up on stage, having a ball and showing people some new recipes.

“We haven’t got on the road yet: ask me about the rock ’n’ roll side after the event, although I might not tell you, of course – it should be a real giggle. I think people will come and find out for themselves what it’s all about.”

With venues and dates already in the pipeline for next year, Love Cooking looks set to grow and grow but, at the end of the day, what will your average home cook get from attending a session that he or she wouldn’t get from watching the numerous TV cookery channels and shows? “There is the joy of the real theatre experience and seeing your favourite chef cooking live on stage, seeing actually how he or she cooks the dish without any of the editing of a television programme,” Thane says. “I’ve appeared in lots of live shows and the immediacy of cooking gives the event a real buzz.”

LOVE COOKING WAS AT COLSTON HALL, BRISTOL ON TUE 5 OCT. FFI: WWW.LOVECOOKINGFESTIVAL.COM