I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Cooking For

Jamie Oliver is the quintessential charismatic chef, a true master of the thirty minute no fuss meal, and for over a decade he has changed the way we cook and think about our food. And so has every other television celebrity chef, who owns restaurants and publishes signature cookbooks.

The people at Stage Mom have addressed the Celebrity Chef overload with a new “mockumentary” style fringe comedy show, set in an authentic kitchen space in a local suburban home. An introduction by conveners Alberto Di Troia and Hannah Fallowfield, accompanied by a short video of Jamie Oliver and his thirty minute three course meal motto of easy, simple and fun, sets the farcical pace for this Fringe Celebrity Chef competition.

It’s an hour of fun and games, with audience members requested to ask the Celebrity Chef questions while he/she is preparing the meal. Di Troia is rigorous with cooking instructions, sitting on the side reading out the step-by-step method for chef to follow, while Fallowfield delivers a barrage of personal and general questions to chef including - who they voted for in the last federal election. Are they a dog or a cat person? And so on.

Improvisation is the key ingredient, with the chef juggling the desert, mains and entrée while whipping up hilarious culinary mayhem. With a different chef every night, audiences are required to rate their skills out of ten and to follow the competition, with the winner to be announced on social media after the last show.

I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Cooking Foris a funny and innovative critique on the Celebrity Chef phenomena. l recommend the experience.

Flora Georgiou