WORDS Meadhbh McGrath
The Taste features 25 contestants, a mix of home cooks and professional chefs, out to impress judges Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain and Ludo Lefebvre. The series borrows the premise of blind judging from The Voice, as each contestant’s dish is presented, anonymously, to the panel on a large Chinese soup spoon, piled so high that we are treated to endless, hilarious slow-motion close-ups of the judges opening wide to get each towering spoonful in. However, in the second episode, Irish contestant Barry was eliminated, but only after being unveiled to the judges. When it was discovered that he had used a number of shop-bought products, he was sent home, effectively stripping the show of its claim to judging blind.
In the original American version, Nigella, relatively unknown in the US, was more of a background figure compared to Bourdain, “the Keith Richards of food”. The UK version, on the other hand, is assuredly Nigella’s show. She requires almost no introduction, and immediately assumes the role of presenter, flanked by Bourdain, offering brutal criticisms in the manner of Simon Cowell, and Lefebvre, who proves to be practically a caricature of a Frenchman, described by Nigella as “very French. Very, very, very French”.
All eyes are on Nigella. Although the show was filmed three months before her highly publicised fraud trial, it is Lawson’s first British television appearance since then, and viewers eagerly waited to see if her career could survive the scandal. After the first two episodes, it is clear that revenge is a dish best served with a spoon.
Nigella comes across as tough but fair, as she shifts between the roles of maternal mentor to her team (in the premiere, we see her hugging one crying contestant: “You don’t need to be afraid of responding emotionally, food is very emotional”) and scolding school-teacher in the final judging segment. Bourdain observes, “She’s nice and she’s polite, but there’s an iron fist beneath that velvet glove.”
The audience is treated to countless shots of Nigella’s heaving bosom and long eyelashes fluttering as she savors each spoonful orgasmically. There’s also plenty of her trademark sensory innuendo, as she purrs, “It would be satisfying almost to the point of sinful gratification to beat Tony and Ludo.” After a particularly impressive spoon of ravioli, she murmurs, “Instantly seductive,” and invites one young man to join “Team Nigella” with a breathy “I really want you.”
Unlike The Voice, viewers can’t share the experience, an obstacle all cooking contests face. The highlight of the show is the chemistry between the judges. Nigella, Bourdain and Lefebvre come across as the kind of people you would definitely want to have at a dinner party.
