Sunday, May 13, 2007

My First Venture on TV


That's Anthony Worall Thompson and yes the other person is me.


Hi everyone !!! I was off on a short holiday but I am back now and boy am I ready to blog. Blog about something amazing. OK OK I admit I have not kept you all updated about what's been happening these last couple of months ,but believe me I had a tough time holding back all the fantastic news I could share with all my foodie bloggo-buddies. Well I think the time has come to reveal all that has happened .

In the month of February you might have read a post on my blog about a recipe entry I sent to UKTV Food for the People's Cookbook. Well if you did'nt then take a look
here.
What happened after that is that my recipe of Sweet Semolina with a touch of Saffron was selected by UKTV FOOD.
I first got a mail from them a month later saying so. When I called their office I was asked if I was ready for a day and a half of shooting. The half day shoot was at home and the next shoot would be at the studios for one whole day. I said yes of course and the ball was set rolling.

On the 3rd of April two guys (a cameraman and a director) from Denham Productions came to my place and we had a prelimnary shoot which consisted of partly cooking the dish and a 10 min interview in which they asked me questions about the dish and about myself. I was also asked to perform a pooja which they shot and then make an offering of the sweet dish as Prashad. Besides family members I could also invite a couple of friends to eat the dish. Well the whole thing took about 3 and a half hrs but it was great fun.

After that we were asked to come to the studios on the 9th of May. The location of the shoot was actually a cookery school called "Lucy Cooks" in a very small village called Stavely in the Lake District. Now the Lake District is one of the most scenic places in UK ,so we took the opportunity and turned our trip into a small holiday .

The actual shoot was a 6 hr long affair. There were two celebrity chefs: Anthony Worall Thompson and Paul Rankin. Anthony cooked my dish with me sitting at the counter and chatting with him and Paul Rankin cooked the other participant's recipe. Both dishes were tasted by a panel of judges and one was selected to go into the People's Cookbook (which is a online multi-cultural cookbook they are creating). The downside is that my recipe did not make it into the People's Cookbook but the experience is one that I will always cherish .The number of people involved and the hard work put in, in shooting a 60 min episode is amazing.
For me it still feels unreal. I never thought I would be on UKTV Food which is one of my most frequently watched channels.
Thanks to all of them for giving me this chance.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is way cool, Anupama! Do you have a clip or two that you can share with us?

How about the recipe?

You're a TV star now!! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Anupama, COngrats on making that far!!!U did it!!

Anonymous said...

Anupama,

What an incredible experience! Congratulations!

Nupur said...

Congratulations! That is so cool!

Sreelu said...

Anupama,

Thats awesome. Congratulations !!!, do we get those channels in US, I would love to watch it if not you should put the video on your blog/you tube

bee said...

congratulations. well done indeed.

Anonymous said...

Congrats..way to go girl!

Nabeela said...

Whoa....that is waayyyy cool. Way to go lady!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

YES! I was waiting for this one! Congrats to you Anu - something like this is always a brilliant experience.
PS you are a cutie LOL!

Shammi said...

Fantastic, Anupama!!! Btw, Paul Rankin is one of my favourite chefs - how lucky that you could meet him! :) Congrats, I'm really thrilled for you!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. I am very happy for you dear. There you have kept your first step as celebrity. I wish you all the best in future.

Anupama said...

Manisha, unfortunatey I do not have a clip to share. Th recipe is right here on my blog. Its in the archives in the month of August 2006. Its Sweet Semolina with touch of Saffron

Thankyou Aruna


It was an incredible experience Ivonne


Thankyou so much Nupur


Sreelu, the channel telecasting it is UKTV Food. How does one put such a thing on the blog. I am extremely techno-phobic



Thankyou very very much Bee.

Madhuli, its so heart-warming to recieve all these good wishes.


Nabeela, thanks a ton


Meeta, I knew you would love to hear this

Hey Shammi, Watch me on TV sometime in the month of August I'll let you know the exact date

Shilpa,Celebrity sounds quite over-whelming. You can call it my 20 mins of fame

Lastly I would like to say that I dared to send an entry in the first place only because of all the encouraging comments I get from all you people out there. Thanks for visiting my blog and loving my recipes.

marriedtoadesi.com said...

Anupama,

Congratulations, as a fellow food blogger I am really proud that you represented the Indian food world! Good for you, that is a great feat.

I have added you to my food blog links! Will be checking back frequently.

Kanchana

Anonymous said...

How exciting it must be! Way to go.
Congratulations Anupama!

Anonymous said...

Anupama, That is an awesome news. Congratulations!

Please do add the link on your blog when the show airs.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!

Mandira said...

This is really great news Anupama, congratulations. BTW, you are so cute :)

Anonymous said...

great news...you must be proud...congrats

Anonymous said...

Congrats Anupama!! Must've been an exciting experience.

DEEPA said...

wow anupama ...congrats ....you are a tv star ...great going ...very proud as a fellow blogger

Suganya said...

Way to go Anupama... Congrats!!

Sia said...

thats so cooooooooooool anu...congrats...can u tell me when this show is gonna be on air? i would love to see u in TV:)

Anupama said...

Thank you all so much. For those in the UK I'll let you know the exact date of the telecast. Its sometime in August so there's still some time to go

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Anupama. Way to go!!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, lady! Congratulations and am so happy for you and can imagine how you must be feeling.

Vini K said...

Hi Anupama,

I did read your post about the multi cultural cookbook but after that somehow got very busy.And today I came here absolutely stumped.Great going dear,what a nice opprtunity to show off our indian food and your talents too of course:)goodluck dear,even if the recipe did not make it into the final,you will have the experience of having met AWT(I am a great fan of his) and Paul Rankin!

Prema Sundar said...

Hi Anupama,
Congrats.. U sure must have had wonderful experiences.. thanks for sharing it with us. What is the recipe u cooked for them....

Unknown said...

Hi Anupama,

I am writing to you on behalf of www.ifood.tv. Can you pls contact me at mathurvikrant@yahoo.com in reference to a business proposal that I have for you.

Thanks,
Vikrant

Seema Bhat said...

Anu,
Congratulations girl. Would love to watch you on TV soon.

Sharmi said...

hey Anu, thanks for dropping by my blog and letting me know about your lovely blog and great achievements. Congrats on your TV show. liked all your innovative recipes too. will be back for more.
BTW you look very pretty.

Modha said...

Hi
Sorry for intrusion.

I am webmaster of www.samasya.com


I have a section on recipies and would like to seek your permission to add your recipies to my site.
I will give you a reference to each recipie copied fom your site.
Please let me know.

Modha
webmaster@samasya.com

Raaga said...

My first time. Nice to see you got on TV... and lovely cake for Meeta. Makes me want to hide my brownies though.