September 15, 2009

Adios Keith Floyd

So farewell Keith Floyd. The broadcasting legend, raconteur, bon viveur & erratic chef went out surely in a way of his own choosing – passing quietly away after a typically understated meal of oysters, partridge & champagne. His final words apparently were “I haven’t felt this well in ages”.

I had a lot of time for Keith Floyd. I first came across him in the West Country when he did a slot on the local TV channel. His was as unique talent then as it would be today, were he still alive. He made cooking interesting and he had no pretensions at all.

There is one thing I suppose we all have to hate him a little for though. He is almost single-handedly responsible for the ghastly collection of TV chefs rustling up a cushy living nowadays. But if it difficult to hold a grudge because he appeared to be so likeable

In point of fact I remember one series where he introduced viewers to talented young chefs Gary Rhodes and Rick Stein. As Floyd went through his not entirely sober routine, they must have seen pound signs ringing up in front of their eyes as they saw a future gurning in front of a camera.

But let’s not be churlish. This is the man that made eating fish cool again twenty five years ago, thought nothing of rustling up a meal of bear, seal or whale. And never lost sight of the fact that it was the country or region and the people that inhabit it that made the recipes what they were.

In point of fact Floyd was a pioneer of that cushy staple of today’s TV chef – the freebie trip abroad, to be followed by a ghost-written book. Where would WH Smith be today without him and the dozens who followed in his trail?

In an era where complete phonies become millionaires on the back of their TV chef personas, it is perhaps a little sad that Floyd’s numerous restaurants all ended in financial disaster.

But the man lives on in his endearing programmes that seem destined to be repeated on satellite channels and free view for ever more. He was to cooking what Clarkson is to cars. And it seems somehow typical of the man that his no doubt fascinating autobiography (ghost-written of course) is due to come out a week after he died