If you've ever watched Nigella Lawson or Poh Ling Yeow cooking on TV and thought to yourself, "Yes, but what would it actually be like for a regular person to make this?", SBS's is the show for you.
In each episode, pairs of Australian home cooks in their own kitchens follow the recipes of celebrity chefs on their respective cooking shows. It's like Gogglebox, but with cooking, and boy do the home cooks deliver.
WHEN TO WATCH DISHING IT UP
Dishing It Up | Episode guide
In episode 1, celebrated chef Miguel Maestre makes caramelle with pesto la Genovese. Caramelle is like ravioli or tortellini, Miguel explains. He demonstrates this by making a bonbon-shaped pasta with Chinese gow gee wrappers and a cheese filling.
"You know what it feels like?" says home cook Jeremy to his childhood sweetheart Fiona. "It feels like it's really difficult to make."
But the home cooks have no trouble following Miguel's recipe, although Sara and her mum, Magda, point out that Miguel hasn't specified how much basil to add to the pesto. When they taste it, they pronounce it as "pretty boring" and add more basil and garlic.
Fiona Ly and Jeremy Zhu cooking on Dishing it Up. Source: SBS Food
When Miguel starts to roll the gow gee wrappers into cylinders, Sara says, "It's funny how they make everything look so much easier on TV." Magda, meanwhile, is more biting: "He calls it a caramelle, but look at that," she says, waving her pasta bonbon in the air. "It looks like a little turd!"
What would it actually be like for a regular person to make this?
Meanwhile, Jeremy taps into his Asian heritage and goes rogue by making wontons with the gow gee wrappers and cheese filling. "Wontoni!" he declares.
When it's taste time, everyone is happy with the results: Magda, for example, is pleased that it tastes better than it looks.
But Dishing It Up is most enjoyable when the home cooks are universally aghast at the celebrity chefs' instructions, such as those of Jamie Oliver who in episode 2 makes "a beautiful twist on a bolognese… a British bolognese".
Mother and daughter Magda and Sara in 'Dishing It Up'. Source: SBS
"Ooh, I don't know about that," says home-cook and inner-city-parent Jen, despite being a huge Jamie Oliver fan.
And… it doesn't begin well. Jamie pops carrots and onions and celery into a pot to brown and then reaches for some mushrooms.
"It's not a meat replacement, is it?" asks Jens's worried partner, Waz.
Mushrooms, says Jamie, will add depth to the dish.
Jen and Waz feature on Dishing It Up. Source: SBS Food
"Do you know what would add depth to this recipe?" quips Hari to his friend Jonathan, "Meat."
Luckily, Jamie is on the same page and adds a kilo of minced beef.
But you know what hasn't made it into the pot yet?
Hari and Jonathan have some strong thoughts on the celebrity chefs cooking. Source: SBS Food
"What I find interesting is that he still hasn't added salt yet," says Anna to her friend Matthew. "Or garlic, no garlic!"
Jen also finds this odd and starts to take matters into her own hands. "I just like to season it as I go," she says when Waz asks her what she's doing.
Why didn't you do this two hours ago?
Anna is tempted to do this too, but is vetoed by Matthew: "Jamie's like a food god. Are you really going to argue with a god?"
When Jamie finally does add salt, Hari asks, "Why didn't you do this two hours ago?"
It's the kind of thing you want to yell at the TV, too.
The home cooks are utterly relatable, including their initial questioning when making Poh's curry puffs. Everyone grumbles at the need to make two types of pastry and then roll them together to form one pastry. But then they all admit that the curry puffs are excellent because of this. Their results feel like a triumph for everyone watching at home who's ever doubted whether they can cook like Poh. Maybe we can all make curry puffs that Adam Liaw once called "the best he's ever eaten" after all.
Some of my favourite parts of this show are the home cooks' descriptions of food and when Sara and Magda cook with bush tomato for the first time, Sara describes it beautifully: "It's like when tomato paste sticks to the pan and caramelises." *Currently ordering bush tomato as I write this...*
I think if I were to go on Dishing It Up, I'd partner with my friend, Jason. Here's an example of why we'd make a good team: when we're given the job of making fairy bread at a party, Jason will put me and my friends in an assembly line for efficiency.
When, after we've finished, he sees me brushing stray hundreds and thousands onto a plate with the side of my pinky finger, he'll hand me a paper towel: again, efficiency. Jason also happens to be an excellent baker, lover of all things Nigella and contains more sass than an entire season of RuPaul's Drag Race. I think he'd give Magda a run for her money.
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