There seems to be something of a glut (pun intended) of food-related shows on telly these days. A couple of weeks ago I wrote about Jamie Oliver’s latest ill-conceived TV venture in Australia, and didn’t like it, unsurprisingly. You might be surprised to hear, however, that this week I actually have something to recommend to you. On the whole food programmes suffer from certain repeating afflictions, i.e. irritating presenters, unnecessarily energetic camerawork, and unrealistic recipes. The best food-related broadcast on our screens, in contrast, only suffers from the fact that it’s so entertaining you forget it’s actually a show nominally about grub.

Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations is fifty per cent travel show and fifty per cent food-related – in fact it’s described as a ‘cultural adventure programme’ by the producers, which is a pretty good description. Generally travelling with a skeleton crew of one cameraman and one soundman, plus local fixers, Bourdain’s territory ranges from the most obvious tourist traps to the most obscure long-forgotten back-end-of-nowhere hovels. Unlike many TV chefs who have a hyper-inflated view of themselves (Gordon Ramsay, I’m looking at you), Bourdain doesn’t. He meets regular people in their regular lives, makes friends, and eats their food. He is renowned for eating stuff that would never in a million years adorn my dinner plate. Apparently, the worst thing he has eaten is a chicken McNugget, although the unwashed warthog rectum in Namibia and the Icelandic fermented shark run it a close second and third.

One thing that I like about Bourdain is that he is unrepentingly honest. Until the birth of his daughter he had a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit which he happily demonstrated on his show, and frequently gets hammered on telly – the Russia episode is noteworthy in this regard. His dry wit travels well, although he is unfailingly polite to the cooks at least about whatever food he is served, even the raw seal eyes. He used to use cocaine, heroin, cannabis, magic mushrooms, and a dozen other narcotics. I’m not saying that’s a good thing, but his candour is refreshing. He also considers vegetarianism a first-world luxury, loves street-food, and hates ABBA, which latter fact is enough to make me think we could be good friends, at least in a disco.

As for the showing of this in Finland, it is broadcast on Jim at 7 p.m. (the ‘travel’ spot) on several evenings a week. However, since Jim’s scheduling is completely up the spout, just like its parent channel Nelonen’s, it is impossible to give a regular time, or indeed day, that this is shown. I have no idea why the schedulers can’t get their act together and provide consistent broadcast times. For example, No Reservations is broadcast on 3rd 4th and 5th November, then it has a break for a few days and is back on the 9th. Why? I dunno, and I suspect no-one does, least of all the folks at Jim. But still, stupid scheduling decisions apart, I strongly suggest you check the listings and get an eyeful of this show. Witty, interesting and honest – not three adjectives one can use about many television shows these days.

Nick Barlow