Superb. Jamie at his very best. Gets you in the mood for Xmas too!

Okay. This DVD is fantastic in many ways.
Firstly, Jamie has prepared a set of instructional cards that come with the DVD. These take you through the recipes described on screen.
Jamie takes you through how to cook the perfect Xmas lunch over 2 days: Christmas Eve (preparation) and Christmas Day (cooking).
I myself have had many compliments from people over my gravy, chicken and roast potatoes since I followed Jamie's recipes.
He shows you how to baste perfectly, how to make the best gravy on a vegetable trivet, how to prepare the veg (complete with flavoured butters) etc...etc.. Basically, everything is here.
And just for fun, an 'extra' is Jamie's '-top tips-' for Christmas. And he serves the meal up to his family at then end. Very Christmassy.
Okay, I'm a bit of a Christmas nut, and I have many, many Christmas DVDs. But this one I start watching in September, as it reminds me about great tips for cooking, not just a Christmas lunch, but sunday dinner too!
Great value for money that goes beyond Christmas and into everyday throughout-the-year cooking. Cannot recommend it highly enough.

Great series

For anyone with a real interest in the slow food movement or just generally interested in how real, quality food is produced this series is fascinating.

Rick Stein travels around the whole of the British Isles and meets local small producers of high quality produce (from cheese to meat to vegetables) and then shows how to cook using the product as one of the ingredients.

As is ever the way with such programmes they are not perfect. Rick’s ranting about the lack of support for small producers is fairly repetitive but is a minor downside. The only real criticizm I could level at this is that although Rick spends a lot of time complaining about"fancy foreign food" being all that he can get in many of the hotels he stays in, a great number of the recipes he cooks seem to amount to the same"fancy foreign food" that he is complaining about. Personally I like the fancy foreign food so don’t have a problem with it save that I can’t understand why he and his producer/director couldn’t see the anomoly themselves.

That aside this is something I’ve watched again and again and I continue to be fascinated by the content and charmed by Rick Stein who is incredibly enthusiastic, knowledgeable and charming throughout.

His outburst at the state of the steak he is served in one chain hotel is particularly amusing!

Fishy

I already own the Food heroes DVD and bought this recently. It’s very interesting to see how Rick Stein has come on as a TV presenter as he is definitely much less comfortable in front of the camera in this series than in the later one.

However don’t let this put you off as his slightly clumsy presentation is naively charming rather than annoying and the recipes are fantastic.

As is ever the way with his dishes he does seem to have some difficulty on occasion with plating them up. For a professional chef he tends to just bung stuff on a plate rather than making a visual feast for the eyes as well as the stomach. Of particular note in this regard is the whole turbot which he cooks. It looks perfectly done and I’m sure was delicious but I’ve never seen a less appetising looking presentation in my life.

The travel is relevant and interesting and the camerawork is great. The markets around the world make you yearn for similar quality in the UK and are fascinating.

This is definitely one I’ll be watching again and again.

I don't know how he did it !

As an avid fan of the TV series, I was really pleased to see that this had been finally released a year after its transmission. What a man! I wasn't a great fan of Jamie Oliver before I accidentally watched this on TV one evening at home and how easily I was converted!! If you want to watch how difficult it is to take some really challenging kids and turn them into hard-working, talented chefs and see a celebrity chef lose him temper along the way - this is definitely for you. It's fascinating viewing - the DVD equivilent of a car crash - riveting! If you're a fan of Jamie Oliver or know someone who is, you should definitely get this for Christmas. As the TV campaign stated"Has Jamie bitten off more than he can chew?" - watch it and see. Classic reality TV.

A brilliant series

I have just been watching this series again on televison & it's been a joy. Hugh, aboard the"gastro wagon" (his converted Land Rover)roams the countryside looking for"free" food from natures larder (as it were). He also takes to the water ways on a canal longboat & is up trees (getting rooks for rook pie) & scaling cliffs & the like, to get all manner of wild food.
It really is a"Cook On The Wild Side" , the emphasis very much on the"wild" - fascinating & a must for all Hugh fans & for those with a keen interest in foods you can find growing on your doorstep in Britain's countryside.
I will be buying this post haste !!!
UPDATE - I did buy this & the whole series is just absolutely bang on. I advise you to treat yourselves immediately & then get the"Edwardian House" DVD which is equally superb

Very good wine series from 1995

This is a very good 10-episode TV production from 1995, shown on BBC 2, that mainly focuses on one grape variety per episode, and takes us to two to four regions where it has its origin or its best expression. This usually means that we get to see a bit of the old world and a bit of the new world in each episode, and get to know a bit more of the regions once they pass by. In each episode there is a combination of narration by Jancis Robinson MW and interviews with winemakers and some other wine personalities, together with a lot of nice scenery. In the episodes, Jancis is pedagogical and witty, and gives a very informed and balanced view of things, just as expected. Other wine-related info-bits, not exclusively related to one grape variety, such as barrel-making and wine competitions, are fit in at appropriate locations.

The 10 episodes are Aperitif (not an episode on aperitifs, but an introduction to the making and tasting of wine, Jancis own wine writing background and so on), Chardonnay (Burgundy, Australia), Cabernet Sauvignon (Bordeaux, Chile), Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand, Loire, Chile, Bordeaux), Syrah/Shiraz (Rhone, Australia, California), Riesling (Germany, Austria), Pinot Noir (Burgundy, Oregon, California), Merlot (California, Bordeaux), Grapes and gas (sparkling wines, visting Champagne, Australia and California), Grape invaders (about the planting of well-known varieties in new places and the fate of lesser-known wine styles and grape varieties, visiting Italy, Spain and Languedoc).

It is probably very sensible to have the grape-by-grape approach rather than a region-by-region/country-by-country approach, since this will more naturally focus on taste in the glass. There are also some drawbacks to this approach, in my opinion. The viewer gets a somewhat simplified view of the varieties that go into a typical French red wine, fortified wines have been all together left out, very little is said about the different styles in such huge wine countries such as Spain and Italy, and several interesting regions (Alsace, for example) and countries (Portugal, for example) are not covered at all. Obviously, you do need to make some choices in a production like this, and I can understand the choices made, but the first words on the back of the DVD box “ In an encyclopaedic tour around the wine producing countries of the world… ” are hardly justified in light of this.

Now, don ’ t be misled by the title “ course ” and expect to learn how the wines actually taste by just watching these programmes. You learn more about existing combinations of regions and grape varieties, how wine is actually made and the various problems that winegrowers in different regions face. Jancis doesn ’ t even try to fill up the programmes with taste descriptions, which is probably a good thing, and a realistic approach. Therefore, I think this DVD is more suitable for those who have at least a little wine tasting experience than for absolute beginners to wine. I am sure even complete wine nuts will also enjoy it.

In one respect this DVD deserves real criticism. Nowhere do you get to know that this series was produced in 1995. Rather, the box and the discs both say ” Copyright 2004 ” and nothing else. Well, you do find “ MCMXCV ” in the very last frame of each episode, but that ’ s more for the detectives among us. This doesn ’ t mean that the content is aged in any serious way or not worth watching, but you do get somewhat surprised when a supermarket buyer hunting for low-cost merchandise tastes a 1993 wine at a grower, when Jancis claims chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon to be the future, and so on. It is still worth watching, and I know of no younger “ substitute ” , but it seems obvious that someone wants to hide the series ’ age!

By the way, the series was released in R1 as early as 2000, and Jancis has written a companion book to the series.

Great DVD with easy, mouthwatering recipes for all to try!

Excellent DVD, with lots of tasty recipes. Presenter is great to watch and makes your mouth water when shes making and eating her Onion Bhajiyas! Her Rice looks delicious too and is inspiring to watch her make these tasty dishes. Plenty for Vegetarians too, including an Indian Cheese recipe which looks scrumpious! At a great price, this DVD is well worth it for lovers of food/cooking. Includes a print off and keep recipe section.

great for beginners

This was the first decorating dvd I bought, and found it was a great help.
The boxed set is made up from 3 DVD's and is full of so much useful information. Some of Elaines flowers are quite basic, which is great for someone who is either just beginning sugarcraft or who would like to learn, but who doesnt know how to begin.
She also shows you how to make models from marzipan and paste in easy to follow steps. Her 3rd DVD will show you how to marzipan, royal ice and how to cover a cake with fondant. All in all a great buy and a huge help.

Sadly it’s running out of steam

Like other reviewers I am a massive fan of the River Cottage series and would also recommend the first three to anyone (and have done so on Amazon).

As has been said this new series shows how Hugh has moved from his rural idyll (out of which he was making a pretty decent buck already) into a very commercial enterprise. With that it has lost all of the personal interest and charm and is now simply a money making exercise.

I was deeply saddened as I’d looked forward to this being released. What I’d like to know is when is his excellent series (pre River Cottage)"A Cook on the Wild Side" going to be released onto DVD as that was fascinating?

If you don’t already own the first three DVDs go and buy them instead of this one. If you’ve already got them then watch them again and don’t bother with this one. You’ll be very disappointed.

A pleasure to watch

This is Jamie Oliver at his best; zooming around the UK on his scooter andknocking up some great dishes on a tight budget. There are some nice extrafeatures on this DVD and each recipe is quickly accessable from the mainmenu which is handy. Overal a very entertaining watch, with some goodpractical tips and lots of mouthwatering recipe ideas. Oh and one rathercute chef!

Lots of Fun

Got this, tried it, it works! All Jamie's shows of that series, on one easily navigable dvd. And it makes a great gift!

If you've seen the shows, you know exactly what to expect. If you're reading this, you're interested. Click away!

inspiring and funny

Although it's a show with a preproduced concept (i think) Jamies way of cooking inspires me to try new things out in the kitchen. It s a simple way of cooking with fresh stuff and left overs. and funny I love to make a mess too out of my kitchen I specialy love the scene where he does this thing with cooking fish in aluminiun foil with allot of herbs, potatoes, veggies and wine!

YUMMIE!

Not the best....Not the worst

This has a similar feel in many respects to Steins"Food Heroes" (in so far as Hugh travels the country to partake in a variety of food related activities), it isn't terrible by any means but my main gripe is the price for what you get. Yes, Hugh's travels around the country in order to experience & source local/regional foods are still interesting & there are still some fascinating features & very good recipes & Hugh never disappoints with his free & easy style of presenting, it's just that all the other River Cottage DVDs are so much better (& you get more for your hard earned cash) - I'm a great fan of Hugh's work & he beats much of what else is available, hands down but I would suggest any of the other River Cottage DVDs would be a better buy , or failing that ,the excellent Edwardian House DVD.
The quest for curried goat in Birminham & the subsequent Pirates of the Carribean style party, that Hugh hosts, is the highlight for me.
If this was available for about a tenner I might not feel that this was one River Cottage DVD franchise,too far !!

Home made 5 stars food

Nigella has it all and is willing to share with us some of her secrets and recipes.

The recipes on this DVD are quiet simple to achieve yet give a great result and impression. The step by step DVd approach makes it easier than just doing it straight from the book. Having the book helps when it comes to having different recipes on hand but it is not essential (just a plus).

Nigella's cooking is fun, affordable, sometimes exotic but always achievable in your own kitchen. Her recipes always seem to make a great impression on guests and on other familly members. Cooking with Nigella is never borring and I can't wait for the next DVD to be on the market. I won't miss it ! ;o)