BROADCAST – John Torode’s Ireland to premiere on Food Network

John Torode and Tom Kerridge lead Food Network slate

By Alice Redman

12 May 2022

 MasterChef judge John Torode and celebrity chef Tom Kerridge are to front two travelogues for Food Network as it re-ups Gok’s Easy Asian and Michael Roux’s French Country Cooking for a second and third series respectively.

John Torode’s Ireland will see the chef and presenter travel to Ireland for a 6 x 60-minute “foodie voyage of discovery” for Food Network and Discovery+.

Hailing from Cornelia Street Productions, the series follows Torode as he takes viewers across the country sampling local and traditional Irish dishes. The series marks the London-based indie’s first food series for Discovery.

Closer to home, Tom Kerridge is set to front Bone Soup Production’s Tom Kerridge’s Sunday Lunch, which will see the chef prepare a range of multiple course Sunday lunches over eight, thirty-minute episodes.

Discovery has also ordered an hour-long Christmas special episode of the Sunday lunch series for the linear channel and SVoD.

Meanwhile, Gok’s Easy Asian has been recommissioned for a third series with an 8 x 30-minute run. The Sidney Street Productions series will return this June.

In addition, Michel Roux’s French Country Cooking will receive its second outing, giving audiences a further chance to master rustic French cuisine.

The series is produced by Outline Productions Limited.

All four series were greenlit by SVP of planning and insights, head of entertainment Clare Laycock and will be executive produced by Matt Reid for Discovery.

Reid announced the slate of commissions at the Media Production and Technology show, on a commissioning panel with Broadcast Intelligence’s Alice Redman. Laycock praised the slate of programming for creating “a unique opportunity for viewers to welcome some of their favourite UK chefs into their homes, blending inspirational cooking with breath-taking travel destinations”.