If you turn on the TV at my place, you always end up on 24Kitchen. That's the channel I always finish with. And also start with, by the way. It's just always on. When I'm cooking, writing, or just messing around a bit. Jamie's voice makes my heart skip a beat, but I can also really enjoy Rudolph in the kitchen with his clumsiness. Especially when he tries to interview the guests in the meantime, but can't really do that because he also has to bake (men can't do two things at once) and the guests can't really answer either, because they keep stuffing themselves with sweets. And later in the evening, there's a wedding cake program. Seriously, I'm in my element.

Even when I'm just hanging out at home for a day, I watch cooking shows back on my laptop. It's delightful to watch and here and there I get a lot of inspiration. So I'm quite familiar with the shows, and that's why I'll share a few with you that you really don't need to be a foodie to enjoy.

About Cooking

In the past, I almost stayed home for this show where Robert Kranenborg is in the kitchen and his daughter does the service. People could sign up for this show and then play restaurant for a week. Every day, each participant cooked a different course, and that rotated daily. Those people, man oh man, they seriously can't even fry an egg. Nothing was served warm or half of it was burnt. The only thing they could think of to make was a carpaccio (so boring) or a trio of something. I have a sort of allergy to something like a ‘trio of salmon/tuna/bacon/chocolate’ or whatever. I inherited that from my mother. I can't really tell you the real reason. Just never order it. Robert Kranenborg just sighs and groans through everything that happens and gets angry at everyone. His daughter talks to everyone as if they are toddlers, and that's cringeworthy, but also so delightful. Okay, I'm digressing, because this show isn't on anymore. But imagine you're at home doing nothing or lying sick in bed or something, then I can highly recommend this show on Uitzending Gemist.

Save with Jamie

Then we have Jamie, my dearest. He has made many shows, and of course, I love everything about him, but for the non-foodies, the show Save with Jamie is a very good one. Especially for the younger and studying people. He teaches how to easily whip up a meal, but also how to save money and how to deal with leftovers. Look, I understand that everything looks incredibly easy with him and that it really doesn't come together in a flash for you (as it does for him), but this show is really very educational: Jamie has a lot of fun and simple ideas. And oh yes Jamie, I could listen to him for hours. How he talks about broccoli or olive oil... You could almost get excited about it. Sorry, I'm going too far.

Ready Steady Cook

Also no longer on TV, but very easy to watch back on the computer. Perfect for before bed. Two (ordinary, like you and me) people are paired with a chef. Each contestant has brought a bag of ingredients, and the goal of the game is to creatively process the brought ingredients into dishes within a time frame of 20 minutes. It's all incredibly stressful because those 20 minutes go by so quickly, and those people start sweating and flying back and forth and throwing food around and stuff. Very funny. The audience ultimately decides what turned out to be the tastiest.

Herman Helpt

In the list of guilty pleasures, there's Herman den Blijker. I secretly have a little crush on him, which I can unfortunately share with very few people. Luckily with my mother, I believe. I don't care about his physique; I just find that real Rotterdam charm so delightful, just like that fat cigar in his mouth. He can really cook a piece of meat, and his restaurant Las Palmas is such a nice circus where you can feast your eyes on dressed-up football wives and new-money boys. Not that it interests me in the slightest, but for an evening, it can be quite entertaining. Well, his show Herman Helpt is quite a treat. He helps people who own a restaurant that is about to go bankrupt get back on their feet. Also here; such stupid people sometimes, and Herman calmly gives them a pep talk and shows them how it all should be done. Well, go see that.