Fred Sirieix believes his series 'The World Cook' is "special" because it showcases "traditional recipes" from around the globe.
Fred Sirieix and Emma Willis at The World Cook launch party
The 52-year-old TV star and Emma Willis, 47, host the culinary show, which is returning for a second season on Prime Video, in which 16 professional chefs are tasked to master classic dishes from all over the world.
Reflecting on the programme’s popularity, Fred believes it is because it showcases the wonderful and unique dishes that each country has to offer.
In an interview with BANG Showbiz, he said: “I think that it is a great series. I think that what’s is that you follow the chefs and the contestant throughout the competition. You get to know them and understand them and understand what they are about and what they want.
“But it’s also a very, very serious competition. When I think of cooking competitions, you’ve got the ‘Bocuse d’Or’ in France, for example, and ‘The World Cook’ is there. It’s a one-of-a-kind.
“I think that what makes it special is that it’s being able to master traditional recipes. When you go on holiday, you don’t want to eat all of this boring food you get from chains, you want traditional cooking, which is what we are cooking.
“It’s about the identity, it’s about the person. It’s about people trying to master them. Let’s say you go to a farm in France for example, and somebody is cooking you this traditional dish, it’s cooking as well as the grandmother or grandfather whose cooking that dish. When you think about the awards, like Michelin Stars and the AA, for example, this means, for the chefs, as much as the highest accolade they can get."
The ‘First Dates’ star was also asked whether he believed 'The World Cook' would get a third season, to which he admitted he couldn’t “predict the future” but he has “fingers crossed”.
He said: “At the end of the day, we have had some of the best figures on Amazon for series one - very, very good figures which made me happy - and people loved the show. It got great comments and lots of people watching. So, we have done series two.
“I think that [it will be] judged on the merit of each series. You are as good as your last job. So, fingers crossed [a third series] is going to happen. But, I cannot predict the future. I don’t know what will happen.”
Fred then teased fans what to expect from the new season, and revealed there was one particular dish that left him speechless.
He said: “The winner, who I won’t tell you who it is, made this cake in the final. It was a pastry cake, and that pastry was so perfect - it was a filo pastry, very technical to get right because it has to be really thin and really crispy - and the filling was just extraordinary.
“It was sweet, it was moreish. I don’t know how they managed to pull that off, having that level of skill after just one masterclass, and being able to reproduce it.
“So, although you have a masterclass to show you how to do that particular dish, you need to have enough skill and enough experience to understand how to do it, because just one masterclass is not enough. But if you have the knowledge and expertise before you go into the masterclass, then you are able to adapt. If you don’t have that, you can’t do it.”
Fred and Emma were joined by celebrities and stars of the culinary world on Monday night (18.03.24) for the series launch party held at Kanishka in Mayfair, London.
Emma was accompanied by her husband, Busted star Matt Willis, while Fred attended with his fiancée Fruitcake.
The event also served as a special celebration for Emma's birthday that day and to mark the occasion she was surprised with a delightful birthday cake crafted by none other than Crystelle Pereira, renowned as both the runner-up of 'The Great British Bake-Off' and a distinguished judge on 'The World Cook'.
Fellow 'The World Cook' judge, twice Michelin-starred chef, Atul Kochhar opened the doors of his Kanishka restaurant for the bash and recreated some of the dishes from the series to showcase meals, flavours and ingredients from some of the contributors in the second season.
Attendees savoured delicacies such as Empanadas from Argentina, Herb-crusted lamb kofta from Hungary, and Stuffed naan bread from Sri Lanka, offering a tantalising glimpse into the culinary delights that await viewers.
Kochhar said: "It has been an absolute pleasure hosting 'The World Cook' launch party at Kanishka, and it feels like coming full circle for me. Throughout the season, I've been blown away by the quality and creativity of the dishes presented by the contestants. It's been a joy to judge and be a part of such culinary excellence. Recreating some of these dishes for tonight's event has been a delightful experience – it truly is a treat for the senses. I'm thrilled to see how viewers will react to the culinary journey we've curated in this season of 'The World Cook'."
'The World Cook' Season Two is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now.
Tagged in Emma Willis Fred Sirieix