The heat is on as The Taste comes to Channel 4 this January

24 December 2013

/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}

The Taste, the 10x60’ series based on the hit US format, will see TV cook and bestselling author Nigella Lawson and her fellow mentors American chef Anthony Bourdain and French chef Ludo Lefebvre battle it out to find the The Taste's first British winner.

Each week, a collision of fiery cookery challenges, blind-taste eliminations and simmering egos are cooked up as twelve contestants battle it out to please the palates of the professionals.  But the pressure is on as they can only give the mentors one spoonful of their food - and every tasting is done blind, so the experts never know whose food they are eating.

Each mentor guides four contestants, who face weekly group and individual challenges before the final elimination. With the added jeopardy of the blind tasting, Nigella, Anthony or Ludo could easily send home a member of their own team if their dish doesn’t deliver a taste sensation.

World-class guest chefs including the likes of Yotam Ottolenghi, Richard Corrigan, Angela Hartnett and Fergus Henderson will set and judge the weekly immunity group challenge where each mentor must coach their team to cook up the most delicious dish. The spoon deemed the tastiest will secure that person’s place in the competition for another week.  

With so much gastronomic pride at stake and the pressure of cooking for the cream of the culinary crop, who will beat the heat and be crowned winner of The Taste?
The Taste was commissioned by Channel 4 Head of Formats, Dominic Bird. The series is made by CPL Productions and executive produced by Claire Nosworthy, Murray Boland and Danielle Lux.

Channel 4 has also secured the rights to air the U.S. version of the show.

ENDS.

 

Notes to Editors:

The Taste was originally commissioned by ABC in the U.S and Channel 4 have also secured the rights to air the U.S. version of the cooking competition show. Internationally The Taste has been commissioned for a second US series by ABC. Sales of “The Taste” include CTV in Canada, Australia’s Nine Network, Germany’s Sat.1 and M6 in France.

Created by Kinetic Content, Red Arrow's US production company, “The Taste” is executive-produced by Chris Coelen, Matilda Zoltowski, Emma Conway, Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson. Red Arrow’s CPL Productions will produce the UK version for Channel 4.

 

About “The Taste” Format:

The culinary show that goes back to basics: The Taste! Both home cooks and restaurateurs are given the opportunity of a lifetime, as they sharpen their skills and train with the best culinary experts in the business.

The first episode will see 25 home cook and professional chefs whittled down to twelve as they go all out to wow the mentors with their spoons and prove they are deserving of a place in the competition.

The superstar mentors will each coach a team of cooks, who they hand pick based on their dishes alone. For those who attract the interest of more than one mentor, the mentors must do everything they can to convince the contestant to pick their team.

In each episode there are two challenges; a team challenge and an individual challenge. At the end of each show the mentors must decide together whom to eliminate.

 

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded, not-for-profit public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with over 400 creative companies across the UK every year. In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, channel4.com, video-on-demand service 4oD and standalone digital projects.

 

About CPL Productions:

CPL Productions is an independent television and radio production company run by Danielle Lux (formerly Controller of Entertainment both at BBC and C4), Murray Boland (formerly Controller of E4 and MTV UK), Heather Hampson and Janet Oakes. Formerly Celador Productions, CPL produces a range of popular entertainment, comedy and factual entertainment formats from “A League Of Their Own” for Sky 1 HD and “All Star Mr & Mrs” and “Off Their Rockers” for ITV1 while also owning a rich back catalogue of formats. CPL also has a thriving radio division regularly creating and producing comedy, entertainment and drama, for Radio 2 and 4.