Cooking It - Channel 4

WEEK TWO - GINA
In Week Two, Jun tries to offer some culinary tips to 47 Year old mother of two, Gina. She’s spent so many years burning food that the majority of the family meals are now cooked by her husband. She admits she can’t multi-task, she’s easily distracted and her timings are terrible – she uses the smoke alarm instead of a kitchen timer to tell her when dinner is ruined!

Before setting foot in the kitchen, Jun gives Gina a head start by showing her how to shop for quality produce and seasonal vegetables. Jun introduces Gina to some new flavours and asks her to cook a simple meal of steak and vegetables at home.

But Gina is appalled by her own food and has to spit it out, admitting it’s ‘vile’. Jun realizes that he has a long way to go with Gina.

Jun begins the serious task of teaching Gina the basics of good home cooking. He starts by showing her the basics of different cuts of beef before demonstrating how to cook a variation of that staple British fare – roast beef and vegetables.

Gina is a dedicated pupil but her concentration span is short and her timings are way off. Jun needs to get her up to speed quickly so he announces that he is coming around to dinner the very next day. What he doesn’t tell her is that he has also invited her family and older sister – whose cooking Gina has always been in awe of.

Thrown in at the deep end, Gina sets to work putting into practice everything she has learnt so far. But the arrival of her sister is a big distraction and by the time she serves up the meal, the beef is over-cooked and the potatoes are stone cold. Only her daughter is kind enough to defend of her mother’s awful attempts.

With a week to go, and needing to help Gina improve more quickly, Jun enlists the help of top chef Shane Osborn, head chef at the famous Pied a Terre restaurant in London. With two Michelin stars to his name, Shane is perfectly placed to work with Gina and share some industry secrets to give her the best chance of winning the cook off competition.

Jun asks his inept pupil to prepare an haute-cuisine variation on the roast dinner - Beef in a herbed crust. He also introduces a red mullet soup to Gina’s repertoire, a menu that Jun thinks will impress the judges.

The day of the competition arrives and Gina’s confidence starts to wobble. She’s going to be judged by some of the fiercest food critics in the country – including award-winning critic Jay Rayner. But despite her nerves, Gina is determined to win.

Jun and Shane believe that Gina has enough knowledge to win the cook off. But will our novice manage to hold her nerve and win? She’ll really need to get her timings right if she has any chance of success.

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