Oh Cook With James May - General Discussion

[ProfCrash]

S01.E01: Asian Fusion

"After a de rigueur opening tease giving away all the best bits from the series, James starts his culinary journey by taking on the food of Asia. As the publishers of his new recipe book are in attendance, he immediately starts with a glass of wine. The first dish of the day is a Thai noodle soup, a staple of Southeast Asian cuisine. It's a delicate balance of flavours that the literary folks, thankfully, seem to enjoy. James also whips up a quick rice and seaweed breakfast made with Nori, the sheets of seaweed you get when you buy sushi. Then it's time for some proper fusion: Spamen, ramen made with Spam and a pot-noodle. If you are flicking through Amazon Prime thinking, 'where can I find a show that combines Western wartime rationing with the flavours of Japan?', you've come to the right place. Last but certainly not least James dusts off his trusty wok to cook salmon, served on a bed of stir fried vegetables."

[Aulty]

They've finally released this - Amazon Prime UK only as far as I am aware.

I am not sure what the target audience for this show is. Grand Tour watchers want more GT, Reassembler fans want him to talk about spanners and cogs (thats what I got from comments when TGT annouced this show on Twitter). I know that they have a cooking themed spin-off to their Drive-Tribe plattform, but would those cooking enthusiasts watch an amateur cooking show? Curious to see what you all think 🙂

As for the show itself, I watched a few episodes and I am not sure I enjoyed it. Its scruffy and basic like the Reassembler and , quite on brand for James, it looks very 70s. Testing kitchen tools is mildy interesting but stucking a home economist in the back room seems an odd choice.

If I had to sum it up, I'd say its the antidote to everything Jamie Oliver. Maybe thats exactly what they wanted it to be.

Oh, and another thing: I thought James went vegetarian?

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Aulty

[ProfCrash]

On 11/18/2020 at 7:50 AM, Aulty said:

They've finally released this - Amazon Prime UK only as far as I am aware.

I am not sure what the target audience for this show is. Grand Tour watchers want more GT, Reassembler fans want him to talk about spanners and cogs (thats what I got from comments when TGT annouced this show on Twitter). I know that they have a cooking themed spin-off to their Drive-Tribe plattform, but would those cooking enthusiasts watch an amateur cooking show? Curious to see what you all think 🙂

As for the show itself, I watched a few episodes and I am not sure I enjoyed it. Its scruffy and basic like the Reassembler and , quite on brand for James, it looks very 70s. Testing kitchen tools is mildy interesting but stucking a home economist in the back room seems an odd choice.

If I had to sum it up, I'd say its the antidote to everything Jamie Oliver. Maybe thats exactly what they wanted it to be.

Oh, and another thing: I thought James went vegetarian?

 

I'll have to look for this and see if it is on in the US.

I remember James eating plenty of meat and fish on Top Gear and Grand Tour, so I don't remember him being a vegetarian. Maybe that is a new thing? Richard was always the picky eater.

[jennblevins]

There’s 7 episodes available for me in the US, although I wouldn’t put it past someone in my family to have tried to tell Amazon that we were in the UK. 

[BradyB66]

I’ve watched all seven episodes twice already. I find this so delightful - reminds me a lot of his Man Lab and Toy Stories. Him breaking the fourth wall and talking back to the camera people and the producers, and his Nikki in the closet all work for me.

Not that I think this should in any way take Amazon off the hook for not releasing The Grand Tour’s Madagascar special yet.

Edited November 26, 2020 by BradyB66

[Aulty]

On 11/26/2020 at 1:29 PM, BradyB66 said:

Not that I think this should in any way take Amazon off the hook for not releasing The Grand Tour’s Madagascar special yet.

It'll be out on December 18th.

And this show, Oh Cook with James May, wil be released internationally on January 15th.

Edited December 1, 2020 by Aulty

[ProfCrash]

We watched the first episode and it was ok. There was some interesting info, like rice noodles created to extend the rice harvest during a time of need, but it was mainly boring. James is James, he doesn't have a sense of being passionate about much of anything. The recipes looked good but the show kind of dragged. Not sure if we are going to watch the rest of the episodes.