It sounds like a joke but Disaster Chef is a genuine cooking competition! Created by kitchenware company Kenwood, ten contestants compete in a series of cooking challenges which they blog and photograph in an attempt to get through to the final three. The eventual winner will have shown the most improvement from one challenge to the next and cooked a set two-course menu under the watchful eye of Raymond Blanc, Chef Patron at 2 Michelin starred Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons. This must be nerve-wracking at any level, but to survive a live cooking challenge under the horrendous circumstances of, well, not being able to cook, is surely the exact reason the phrase 'glutton for punishment' was invented. So far, two out of four challenges have been completed - Tuile Biscuits and Gluten-free Banana Bread. The pictures here are evidence enough that the contestants are more than worthy of entering. The delights yet to come, assuming the judges will still be in a fit condition to do their job, are Two Way Burgers and Larb Ghai, a Thai salad.
The top prize is a wonderful culinary stay at Raymond's hotel in Oxfordshire plus some stylish Kenwood kitchen appliances. Best of all is the mightily earned title of 'Kenwood Chef 2016' that banishes all reference to being a Disaster Chef in the first place. All we can say to the aspiring Kenwood chefs is 'Go on, knock 'em dead', but we hope they don't literally do that with their cooking attempts. Take a look at some of the other contestants' efforts, and if you think yours look worse, you can always enter next year and prove it.