- Hardcover: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fourth Estate; First Edition edition (30 April 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007278306
- ISBN-13: 978-0007278305
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 14 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 223,891 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Shooting the Cook
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Chosen by Kate Colquhoun as Book of the Year
--Telegraph
--Telegraph
Product Description
As the producer behind the phenomenally successful Keith Floyd and Rick Stein BBC cookery programmes, David Pritchard tells the tale of the ascent of the chef celebre. Twenty five years ago, no one could have foreseen the incredible popularity commanded by food programmes on television today. Now we have a whole army of chefs representing virtually every single personality trait from sexy to aggressive, to young and experimental. But back then, charismatic, erratic, always happy to have a slurp of wine or two, and not afraid to say exactly what he thought on air, Floyd was a revelation. This was a chef that television had not seen the like of before. Freed from the constraints of studio filming, Floyd brought us the idea of cooking on location, but most importantly, he simply invited viewers to have fun and enjoy being in the kitchen.
Shooting the Cook divulges the stories of what went on behind the scenes to the groundbreaking television that inspired the event of modern television chefs as we understand them today. David Pritchard shares the overwhelming excitement that went into making the early Floyd series - from sitting down to a silver service dinner aboard a tiny fishing trawler heading out of the Plymouth Sound, to attempting abortive hot-air balloon adventures over Alsace.
Tangled up amid the tales of the bust-ups, the botched camera shots and the exquisite regional food are reminisces also about the David's life growing up in ration-starved, post-war Britain. Also containing snapshots of life behind the scenes of Sixties television making and spanning the era from when avocados were virtually unheard of to a time where the term 'foodie' has gaining an almost cult-like status, this is an outstanding memoir from the producer who single-handedly changed the face of food as we know it today.
Shooting the Cook divulges the stories of what went on behind the scenes to the groundbreaking television that inspired the event of modern television chefs as we understand them today. David Pritchard shares the overwhelming excitement that went into making the early Floyd series - from sitting down to a silver service dinner aboard a tiny fishing trawler heading out of the Plymouth Sound, to attempting abortive hot-air balloon adventures over Alsace.
Tangled up amid the tales of the bust-ups, the botched camera shots and the exquisite regional food are reminisces also about the David's life growing up in ration-starved, post-war Britain. Also containing snapshots of life behind the scenes of Sixties television making and spanning the era from when avocados were virtually unheard of to a time where the term 'foodie' has gaining an almost cult-like status, this is an outstanding memoir from the producer who single-handedly changed the face of food as we know it today.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Great as I knew it would be. Brought back lots of memories as I worked at Southern TV and lived in Southampton. Have watched most of the Keith Floyd programmes in the past as well as Rick Steins and it was interesting to have some insight into the making of these. Thoroughly recommend it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I heard David Pritchard talking about this book on the radio and it sounded like a must read.
It is. It's a very funny book charting the rise and rise of TV chefs as the new rock and roll stars starting when Keith Floyd came to our screens and started doing cookery programmes for men.
There is no doubt Pritchard created the springboard for the TV formats and celebrity chefs of today, and the book is a laugh a page about how he created those early Floyd and Stein shows. Taking cookery out of the kitchen onto location and beyond the appeal of just housewife TV to an audience who wanted to relax with a glass of wine and not worry about the exact measurements of the ingredients- but just cook!
Pritchard relates how the shows were planned, filmed and received in the era before compliance, Health and Safety, bureaucracy and audience ratings. Stories of only one camera being used, tiny regional TV budgets, the volatile relationship between Floyd and Pritchard from start to finish (including a recent reconciliation), and the latter's reminiscences of the shocking British foods of the 60's and 70's, and how European food was, and still is, his inspiration.
So why 4 stars? Because it's a light, funny and engrossing read, but the book jacket ...it's just so awful!
It is. It's a very funny book charting the rise and rise of TV chefs as the new rock and roll stars starting when Keith Floyd came to our screens and started doing cookery programmes for men.
There is no doubt Pritchard created the springboard for the TV formats and celebrity chefs of today, and the book is a laugh a page about how he created those early Floyd and Stein shows. Taking cookery out of the kitchen onto location and beyond the appeal of just housewife TV to an audience who wanted to relax with a glass of wine and not worry about the exact measurements of the ingredients- but just cook!
Pritchard relates how the shows were planned, filmed and received in the era before compliance, Health and Safety, bureaucracy and audience ratings. Stories of only one camera being used, tiny regional TV budgets, the volatile relationship between Floyd and Pritchard from start to finish (including a recent reconciliation), and the latter's reminiscences of the shocking British foods of the 60's and 70's, and how European food was, and still is, his inspiration.
So why 4 stars? Because it's a light, funny and engrossing read, but the book jacket ...it's just so awful!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Excellent read about David Pritchard's early life and his development of TV cookery programmes from their early static kitchen base to the Keith Floyd experience, and then Rick Stein. Really honest, entertaining about how these programmes were made. He doesn't even mind recounting stories that question his judgement. If you would like to know what went on, read this.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great read.
If you were a fan of the Keith Floyd programmes, this is for you. It's actually about the director, not the chef(s), but what makes it fascinating is that it's told from beind the... Read more
Published 18 months ago by John Barlow
Great read
Super read whilst sipping a glass of wine. Made me smile - and made a poor flight really go very quickly. 5 stars from me
Published 23 months ago by Ac Pa Parrott
Great title, but the book doesn't live up to it
I was disappointed by this book. I'd heard David Pritchard talking about it on the radio & thought he was very good but the book didn't live up to expectations - it was rather... Read more
Published on 13 May 2010 by A. Garrison
Shooting The Cook
What a clever marrying of title and artwork, `Shooting the Cook', a pulp fictionesque cover featuring, to me anyway, a morphed image of both Keith Floyd and Rick Stein, complete... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2009 by William R. Edwards
Cooking with no stars
The book claims to give a behind the scenes insight into Celebrity chefs on tv. in reality I found it an indulgent self portrait packed with dull reminiscing about long gone chef... Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2009 by Hans Boisen
Shooting the Cook
Shooting the Cook As a freelance cameraman I am interested in producing TV programmes and saw this book advertised in a National newspaper and ordered it immediately. Read more
Published on 28 July 2009 by Augenblick
Great Book
I read this book like i eat - far too quickly! It's frankly brilliant, with such a modest tone that the subtle one liners could be all too easily passed by. Read more
Published on 27 July 2009 by Robin C Field
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