In the latest issue of Waitrose’s Food Illustrated magazine, celebrity chef Raymond Blanc has branded the latest craze for TV restaurant shows, aimed at “morons”, a “disaster” for the catering industry.

Blanc vented his discontent about the on-screen portrayal of the catering industry. In the article, Blanc said he thought shows focusing on “humiliation” and “degradation” could deter young people from taking up chef training.

He accused the programmes of undermining and damaging the industry. “Today, we need to bring respect to our industry,” Blanc wrote. “Of course, we are not helped in this respect by certain programmes on television which do us a great disservice,” Blanc wrote. “The onscreen impression of what happens inside a restaurant is a disaster for us. It strips people of dignity and promotes abuse.

“Yet we have eight million morons watching these programmes. The brains of the British have gone soft. We have become voyeuristic; we love sensation, extreme situations and the degradation of people,” he said.

Topics