Families put their reputations to the test, relationships on the line and decades-old recipes in the firing line, when they come up against each other in a head-to-head cook off.
The blurb captures the essence of this show fairly well, if with a pinch of predictable hyperbole. If you’ve seen the original British Masterchef and are dumbstruck by its transformation into our local version, then perhaps you can imagine this as a British My Kitchen Rules, with the added stipulation that the pairs must be from a single family. It’s low-key competitive cooking, with most of the drama being in the promotional para above. Paul Merrett and Amanda Lamb are the judges and their job is to choose between the pairs competing each episode. Each pair has an hour to prepare their three course menu; the winning pair is sent on the next round.
In the episode I watched, two sisters from Surrey, with a “traditional English food” background competed against a mother and daughter, who talked about their Iranian-Armenian heritage. The three course menus each side put up were fairly dull and the most-commented upon aspect of the competitors seemed to be how calm they were. The result was close to a tie – the judges were underwhelmed by both teams and, for a while, it seemed that they were reluctant to see either team again.
Will I watch Family Food Fight again? With Lifestyle Food as my background viewing, I wouldn’t turn it off or switch over, like I would for Good Chef/Bad Chef, but I’m not linking it and wouldn’t be distraught if I never saw it again. The concept is a bit ho-hum and needs something to lift it. Whilst it is good to see a food show where the emphasis is not on manufactured tension or interpersonal drama, this only works if the food is interesting which – at least in this episode – it wasn’t.
Family Food Fight is on Lifestyle Food on Mondays at 8.30pm.
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Injera
Hope you enjoyed “High Tea” with Raver tonight. Wish I could afford to go to a top restaurant, I might learn to appreciate french food
NAAAAAAAAHHH. but a really top Asian restaurant would be great.
I believe you were in China. So was I. The food there made me want to go back there, especially in Szechuan. So different from the stuff we get here
ANYHOO back to your post.
I’m truly surprised someone with an Iranian/Armenian heritage would not have been able to cook something interesting or tasty. Maybe they were told by the producers to Britishafy it to avoid all the usual crap
Guess I better get a digital tv so i can watch these shows
sourkraut: dinner was amah-zing (little Rachel Zoe reference for those playing along at home).
Loved the food in China, but we didn’t get to Sichuan – did you go there? And have you discovered the joys of Fuchsia Dunlop? Planning a food trip to Chengdu.
Yes, it was disappointing that the mother-daughter didn’t really capitalise on their heritage. I’ve been lucky enough to have been invited to feasts with Iranians and the food is astonishing. The first dish they put up was definitely a special dish, but when it came to putting up their menu it was pretty bland: noodles, cupcakes… hello? They were beaten by two English girls serving chicken’n'rice. Don’t know that the prods had much to do with it; from the judges’ reactions, it was a bit of a dud all round!
Injera´s last blog ..Food TV – Family Food Fight
Injera
Certainly sounds like the Iranians anglophiled their food, surprised they didn’t do toad in the hole or some other native delicacy.
I have tasted Iranian food and it was triffic (have an Iranian workmate) subtly different from Lebanese and if possible, more flavoursome.
Yes I got to Sichuan, visited a stack of Chinese officials on a technical tour and was fed like a king.
Most interesting was the Mai Tou toasting. Apparently that’s one of the ways they test foreigners out. The stuff is used in their rockets (probably) but does not seem to get you drunk even after about ten of them which is amazing given that its about 50% ALCOHOL. Anyway i passed that test, so on to number 2.Do you like spicey food I was asked, I replied yes, and out came the next 3 dishes with the asbestos gloves…. Not quite but nearly, even so they were delicious. My only problem was I wqas never sure what i was eating, and I did not like to ask. Only exception was century egg which i did ask about after surreptiously (spelt/spelled correctly brain dead d) putting to one side. Just did not like it. later found I had eaten lumps of chicken blood but thaT was Ok.
Chengdu is ok, but I got lucky, as got driven out into the regions/ mountainous area which was fascinating
Glad the meal was A mahzing. What did you have?
PS not familiar with Fuchsia dunlop…please explain (OMG)
Sounds as though you had a great trip – being feted by local officials would definitely be the best way to try a range of different food (and drink). We did our thing for the Chinese (grape) wine industry, making it our mission to try as many Cab Sauvs as we could. Can’t remember now which one was actually okay, but we left a trail of empty Grand Dragons, Great Walls, Dragon Walls, Great Dragons etc etc behind. Did try some of the fire liquid but did not persevere with it.
We had the tasting menu and I can’t identify my favourite of the dishes – possibly the least favourite was the quail, but had it been part of another dinner it could well have been the highlight! Least favourite definitely relative in this case. The salad was astonishing (thanks, thesaurus!) and the amuse bouche to start – a milk curd with truffle and oxtail confit – was sublime (see, I’m much better away from the pressure of instant adjectival recall). The snow egg may well have been what Poh was aiming for last year with her deep fried meringue – if it was, and had it worked, she would have cruised to victory!
Fuchsia Dunlop is an English woman who went to Sichuan to learn cookery. She’s written a few cookbooks (her book on Sichuan food is a go-to resource for us, and the Hunanese one is also great) and a memoir. She also keeps a blog – check it out here.
Injera
We also had quite a few cab savs, but was never sure if they were local or imported. Either way they were highly acceptable
Just to satisfy my curiosity, can you describe the taste (EXTREMELY DIFFICULT I KNOW) of truffles. I’ll probably never have them along with Grange H
Thanks for the info on F D does she do a sate Heh heh?
Actually, I couldn’t describe the taste of a truffle – oh, yeah, how’s ORSUM! Or AMAYZING! – but it’s earthy and… no. I’m out of ideas. When I’m thinking about it, I can taste it in the back of my mouth, though, so it is certainly memorable. Worth a try if you spot it on a menu. More affordable than the GH, in any case! Just avoid truffle oil – doesn’t do the truffle justice.