Jamie Oliver’s Cookbook Challenge: Final Four Shine

The Great Cookbook Challenge With Jamie Oliver is the TV chef’s brand-new show on Channel 4. In this show, novice cookbook authors vie to secure a deal with his publisher, Penguin Michael Joseph. They have to leave a deep impression on Masterchef judge and Evening Standard critic Jimi Famurewa, PMJ managing director Louise Moore, and Taverna cookbook author Georgina Hayden. Let’s take a look at how the sixth episode unfolded.

Cook and Chat

The first test for the four semi-finalists was the chop-and-chat, which has witnessed some of the most remarkable moments in British television. Dominique, Ian, Zera, and Rex had 15 minutes on camera with Jamie Oliver. They not only needed to cook—or in some cases, finish—a dish but also truly promote the concept of their cookbook. No one was left making the statement that if their grandmother had wheels, she would have been a bike…

… However, this challenge clearly demonstrated that this show is as much a media challenge as it is related to cookbooks. Not every and indeed very few cookbook authors will attain the level of fame necessary to ever appear on a TV show. But the winner of a competition hosted by Jamie Oliver? They undoubtedly will. All four performed well with their dishes. Ian’s deadpan sense of humor was more evident on screen than in any other episode.

USP! USP! USP! USP! U… SP?

Last week, this writer ultimately reached a sort of conclusion on why The Great Cookbook Challenge works without giving a particularly satisfying feeling:

Perhaps this is an accurate depiction of a cookbook industry that adheres to its status quo and demands authors to be accessible, unique, and remarkable all at once, individual representatives for entire cuisines that they could never truly hope to comprehend. But then that raises more profound questions that the show can never answer: Is this the cookbook industry that people should desire?

The final three are Dominique, with a book for those seeking to start using “Asian flavors,”; Rex, with an introduction to Filipino food; and Ian, the “skint roofer” with budget-friendly recipes. The contestant who left was Zena. Her book offered both faithful recipes for international classics and variations on each one (the idea being that you can break the rules after you learn them.) She went home because, as Moore said, the judges didn’t quite “grasp” her USP, even though her idea was the most distinctive among the four. The reality is that the other three ideas are easier to understand in general and thus more likely to sell.

It’s not really fair to criticize a show that has shown from the very beginning that it is overly commercial and aims to be so for being overly commercial. But once again: Is this the cookbook industry that people want?