The Great British Bake Off and the TV history of cooking.

The Great British Bake Off and the TV history of cooking. .

You must have seen it by now. It's TV's most guilty pleasure. A couple of nights ago we settled down to watch that compulsively watchable, highly entertaining BBC mini classic. It's called the Great British Bake Off and it's all about cakes and baking, ambitious bakers, tongue in cheek presenters, two very knowledgeably professional bakers and a marquee in the middle of the country. It was the most perfect formula for a TV programme in the busy BBC autumn schedule and designed to satisfy the fussiest of appetites.

At first I approached the whole subject of TV cooking and baking with a considerable amount of scepticism because, quite apart from anything else, I'd be the first to shamefully admit that my culinary expertise extends no further than the boiling of eggs, peeling potatoes or simply putting a chicken in the oven for the further delectation of those who choose to sample my feeble attempts at cooking.

My first brief encounter with the Great British Bake Off came as a most pleasant surprise. In the last BBC series both the marvellous Mary Berry and her assistants Mel and Sue took us on a whirlwind tour of the cake baking world where members of the public would create mouth watering concoctions with plenty of cream, icing, sugar and plenty of honest effort into the bargain. The contestants would whisk the ingredients in their bowls vigorously, frantically cutting, slicing and thumping their respective doughs. Then the whole package would be shoved unceremoniously and hilariously into the oven.

I have no divine right to judge the prowess of those whose baking masterpieces would proudly decorate any business function or party. I have though nothing but admiration for those who just enjoy the process of producing their very own piece of creative cake making. Week after week we've seen four very dedicated bakers who have taken a pleasurable pastime and turned it into a BBC work of art.

My mind takes me back to the very origins of the TV cooking show. There was a rich selection of TV programmes where the sampling of well cooked, cost effective meals were proudly displayed before a hungry audience. At the time they were a revelation and novelty to those who had never seen them before. Suddenly the kitchen became the new environment for those who had yet to be introduced to a kitchen. I'd always seen my mum at her industrious best whipping up those sumptuous Wednesday spaghetti spectaculars. But the frying pan, the pressure cooker, the saucepan and the smell of soup did much to stimulate my salivating taste buds.

Many decades ago there was the eccentric Fanny Craddock with her jolly husband Johnny Craddock and Johnny brought a whole new dimension to the attractively presented evening meal. Both Fanny and Johnny were TV pioneers and brought  the most unorthodox of approaches to cooking. Cooking became much more accessible than it had ever been before. Fanny Craddock was this very posh speaking but terribly enthusiastic cook who threw herself wholeheartedly into the creation of her impeccably presented dinners. Johnny, for his part, would always be available with a glass of red wine in his hands without getting completely sozzled.  The Craddocks appeared at Olympia and Earls Court with those huge cooking exhibitions and cooking on TV had its very own unique platform.

Then towards the end of the 1960s my senses were once again heightened by another telly cooking programme. The Galloping Gourmet was introduced by the equally as effervescent Graham Kerr, an Australian cook who at times seemed to get completely carried with himself while cooking, totally absorbed in a whirl of pots, rolling pins and classy haute cuisine. Kerr would run around his TV kitchen like some very skilled middle distance runner in a hurry to get the race over once and for all. He would dash and dart around the studio as if some invisible stopwatch were timing him. Kerr was though very suave and debonair without any of the airs or graces of those who thought they knew better.

The Galloping Gourmet was a fast moving and energetic show where the TV audience would learn those very important cooking techniques and then become emotionally involved in the whole gastronomic drama of it all. In between throwing casserole dishes onto a hot stove and carefully chopping up tomatoes and onions with a very meticulous attention to detail, Kerr would laugh, joke, smile, slurp down glass after glass of wine and then after what seemed roughly five minutes proudly present the most beautifully cooked meal for two, three or even four people. Now we'd entered the age of the dinner party with just a hint of spicy conviviality.

During the 1970s Thames TV lunchtimes consisted of Farmhouse Kitchen with the emphasis firmly on home made cooking, warm bread making and comfort food meals that were easy to make and steaming with meaty flavours. Then a woman appeared on our screens whose simple and down to earth approach to cooking would leave those who were cooking novices spellbound and totally fascinated.

Delia Smith was a refreshing breath of fresh air, a smiling and informative cook with another dollop of straightforwardness and integrity that never really went away. Smith's pies, flans, stews, desserts, starters and delicately fashioned potato based dishes looked out of this world. Then the spoons, knives and forks would whip up quite literally a feeding frenzy. Soups would be left to cook lovingly on a low gas and chocolate profiteroles would leap out at you teasingly and temptingly. It all looked so easy and perfectly understandable and our Delia has been on British TV screens for what seems like an eternity. When she gave that rousing half time speech at Norwich City football club you knew that here was not a lady not to be messed with.

In recent times the likes of Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey have brought the TV cooking experience to the modern palates. Both Oliver and Ramsey are witty, humorous, enormously versatile and in the case of Ramsey, very direct. Ramsey brings a sharp tongued approach to cooking that some may regard as too offensive and unnecessary for anybody's liking. Jamie Oliver of course is bubbly, personable and utterly down to earth. Both men have reached the pinnacle of their profession and are enormously successful owners of Michelin starred restaurants. There can be no higher praise.

So now we come finally to the present day. The Great British Bake Off looks terrific fun and tailor made for those dark wintry evenings where we all find ourselves drawn to when all you want to do is wind down and relax.

The new presenters are Sandy Toksvig, comedian Noel Fielding and the already established Paul Hollywood. Toksvig, in my opinion, seemed like a fish out of water. As the new presenter of BBC's highly academic QI quiz show which tests its contestants with odd facts, Toksvig didn't seem quite the right fit for the Great British Take Off. But she does seem to have adapted to the show's very specific format and suddenly there does seem a more positive engagement with the show.

Comedian Noel Fielding is an alternative comedian with what seems a quirky sense of humour and reminds you of one of those Goth punk singers who gave the British music scene a sarcastic and irreverent dig in the ribs. With that long black hair and a face that looks as if it has been powdered over and over again, Fielding wouldn't have seemed the ideal choice for a popular TV vehicle on the joys of cooking. But the blend and chemistry does seem to be emerging quite fruitfully and the Great British Bake Off has sparked off a fizzing frisson of interest in cake baking. What would the Craddocks and Smiths have thought of today's generation of bustling bakers. Marie Antoinette would have heartily approved.