Britain's Best Dish
| Britain's Best Dish | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 'Best Dish: The Chefs (2011) |
| Genre | Cooking Game show |
| Directed by | Ruth Swarbrick Adriana Caligiuri |
| Presented by |
Mark Nicholas (2007-10) Mary Nightingale (2011) |
| Judges |
Ed Baines John Burton Race Jilly Goolden |
| Narrated by |
Caroline Morris (2007-10) Rob Jarvis (2011) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 6 (Regular) 2 (Celebrity) |
| No. of episodes | 229 (Regular) 20 (Celebrity) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ed Sayer |
| Producer(s) | Ruth Swarbrick Adriana Caligiuri |
| Location(s) | The London Studios |
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | ITV Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV, STV, UTV |
| Original release | 17 September 2007 – 23 December 2011 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | ITV Food |
Britain's Best Dish is a British daytime cookery show part of the ITV Food category on ITV hosted by Mary Nightingale. Amateur cooks from around the UK compete to cook "Britain's Best Dish" and a prize of £10,000. The judges are Ed Baines, John Burton Race and Jilly Goolden. From October 2011, the competition was rebranded as simply Best Dish with new graphics and a new look studio.
The programme airs weekdays at 5pm. A book containing recipes from the series was published in 2009.
In the regional heats, Monday to Thursday, three pairs of amateur cooks compete every day to produce the best starter, main and pudding with three winners from each course going through to a regional final on Friday. The judges choose the winners each day and also select the finalists to enter the regional final. In later rounds, heats select the best of the regional winners with a guest panel of critics taking on the task of choosing the winning dishes. The contestants are refined down to compete for Britain's best starter, main course and pudding. Of these, viewers then vote to decide the overall winner of the title "Britain's Best Dish" in the series final.
The judges watch the contestants at work via a videolink and offer their comments on the preparations. The judges now taste the dishes in the presence of the cooks and offer them their comments whereas in earlier series, they tasted the dishes and conferred without the contestants in the studio.
The original host was ex-cricketer and sports presenter Mark Nicholas for series 1 to 4. Mary Nightingale took over as presenter for series 5 & 6 with the show getting a makeover with shortened opening credits and a refreshed theme tune but staying true to the main format.
In October 2011, the series returned as Best Dish: The Chefs with a new logo and slicker look with professional chefs competing instead of amateurs. It still concentrates on recipes from around the regions of the UK with short clips showing the restaurants where the competitors work as professional chefs.
The show has been sponsored by the New Covent Garden Soup Company, Uncle Ben's sauces and Red Tractor mark meats. Best Dish is now sponsored by Tesco Finest Range.
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