Boys Weekend (2008) + Good Chef, Bad Chef –
Series 1 & 2 (2006 - 2008/Umbrella Entertainment/PAL Region Free/0/Zero
DVD Import Sets)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+/B- Extras: D
Episodes: B-/B
PLEASE NOTE: These DVD sets can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region
Zero/0/Free PAL format software and can be ordered from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of the review.
Cooking
shows are so popular in the U.S.
that it has become one of the few truly positive things to happen in the cable
TV era, with many of the show being intelligent and useful, as well as opening
up the world of food. It turns out this
extends to other markets and while some British cooks have been part of the
U.S. wave, we have not seen enough cooking from Down Under, which is all the
more amazing after seeing two recent Australian series on the subject that
should have made it to the U.S. years ago and the metric system is not any kind
of excuse whatsoever for it to be so otherwise.
First is
a shorter series called Boys Weekend
(2008), in which several ace chefs are trying to impress and outdo each
other. Running 13 half-hour shows over
three DVDs, we see chefs Gary Mehigan, Adrian Richardson, Miguel Maestre and
Manu Feildel over 13 weekends in a friendly rivalry that also brings out their
personalities, their love of food and love of life. These guys deserve more international fame
and maybe they’ll eventually get it.
Overall, this is a decent, high quality show that is different from most
in what has become a genre unto itself.
But even
better is Good Chef, Bad Chef
(2006), featuring two great cooks with two different approaches to making the
same dishes. Gary Mehigan (back again) loves
to cook the old-fashioned way with sugar, butter and goes all out in his
dishes, while Janella Purcell has alternate ways by substituting the obvious
ingredients with items like rice, canola oil, tofu and other healthy
alternatives (she skips yeast altogether!) in what she makes. They are fun, have great chemistry and this
is a terrific show that should be an international hit by now and be big in the
U.S.,
but is hardly known. That is a big loss
for the rest of the world. This 7-DVD Season 1 & 2 set has tons of great
shows (running about 20 – 23 minutes each) and even simple dishes like pizza,
pasta and chocolate cake become exotic and different. Their joy of cooking is as strong as any TV
show on today and this is as solid a DVD set on the subject as any I have
encountered to date, save WGBH’s Julia Child sets.
Of
course, both shows have very unusual ideas for cooking that are no different
than anything on the U.S.
cable networks, yet also reflect a fresh, alternate view I enjoy from so much
we get from Australia. Definitely check them both out if you love
food and cooking, but Good Chef, Bad
Chef (with its 52 episodes!) is a buried treasure that will make food
lovers glad they went out of their way to buy it. Hope more of the show and from its stars hit
DVD (and Blu-ray for that matter) soon.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image in both cases was shot on HD video
(likely 1080i) and may have some softness and limits at times, but both are
nicely shot. Boys has nice locations, while Chef
has one of the best sets for cooking I have ever seen for any TV show since
Julia Child started it all. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo on both are well recorded with Boys having little location audio trouble, but Chef has surprisingly good Pro Logic-type surrounds and is easily
one of the best audiowise we have reviewed to date. Sadly, neither has any extras, but there are
recipes within each show.
As noted
above, you can order these PAL DVD import sets exclusively from Umbrella at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
