The Lowdown: Big Zuu's Big Eats

Great, so he’s going to show us how to make piri piri chicken...​
Maybe, although we hope his range as a chef will stretch further than that. 

What’s the show going to be about then?​
The publicity describes Big Zuu as having a ‘hidden talent’ for being a great cook; as well as his time spent manning the Nando’s grill, he’s apparently also a self-taught chef. The series, which airs on Dave in May, is set to see the musician team up with his two best mates (the aptly-named Tubsey, and Hyder) and go on the road in a street food truck to cook for a selection of the UK’s favourite comedians including Jimmy Carr, Rosie Jones, and Phil Wang. 

And what will he be cooking?​
Many of the dishes appear to be fast food-focused, with Jimmy Carr served a seitan kebab with truffle; Rosie Jones receiving a fish and chips dish created with a nod to Jones’ Spanish heritage; and Phil Wang getting a beef burger with the patty cooked in a shell of fried noodles. Other ‘signature twists’ you can expect to see include fried chicken topper with Doritos; and a Yorkshire pudding sandwich featuring an entire roast dinner as the filling.

It sounds fun, although maybe not the sort of show someone would look to for culinary inspiration​
We suspect that may be the point. And let’s face it, there’s more than enough cookery shows on TV (and now all over Instagram as chefs look to fill their time now their restaurants are closed) meeting that remit at the moment.

Such as?​
Well, this week saw the launch of Daily Kitchen Live on BBC One, a spin-off of the Saturday Kitchen format featuring journalist and author Jack Monroe and chef Matt Tebbutt. The series, which airs on weekday mornings at 10am, has been designed to provide inspiration for people struggling at home with limited food resources during the Coronavirus crisis. As well as recipes, viewers are able to pose questions and offer up their own advice for how to make different dishes.

Interesting, are there any other shows like this to help inspire us while we’re stuck at home?​
Certainly, Jamie Oliver was impressively quick to launch his own response to the Covid-19 lockdown with his ‘Keep Cooking and Carry On’ series, which began airing on Channel 4 late last month. Similarly to Daily Kitchen, the concept is designed to help home cooks manage meals with just a few fresh ingredients, with viewers encouraged to adapt the recipes where necessary based on what they have available to cook with. And as you can see from the Tweet​​  below, many are rising to the challenge…