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Best-selling food writer and experienced chef Simon Hopkinson is set to take cooking at home to a tantalising new level in a six-part series for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One. Drawing on his 30-year career in professional kitchens, Simon will be sharing his top tips and advice for creating restaurant quality food, at home, with everyday ingredients.

draws on Simon's professional experience and passion for making food taste as good as it possibly can.

He believes creating delicious recipes is not just about good ingredients, it has much more to do with how you use them.  

Simon may be used to cooking in the country's top restaurants, but his passion for creating beautiful food now revolves around home cooking – but this doesn't have to mean laborious techniques, or overcomplicated dishes.

Over the series, Simon will create straightforward, timeless and above all tasty dishes to make at home. He will reveal the everyday ingredients and storecupboard staples that he can't live without and the inexpensive ways to produce the best results. 

Simon has had an extraordinary career as a food writer, critically acclaimed chef, author of cookbooks and has been described as having written "the most useful cookery book of all time".  He now brings his talents to TV for the first time. 

Simon Hopkinson says: "I'm very pleased to be given the opportunity to share my love of cookery with a ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One audience. I love to cook and eat well, and nothing gives me more pleasure than preparing good food with great care. If I am with friends, or they are at home with me, I will be in the kitchen and I hope that this series inspires others to enjoy a similar, enthusiastic approach."

Alison Kirkham, Commissioning Editor, Factual Formats and Features, says: "We're thrilled to be bringing Simon's culinary expertise to ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One. During a time when many people can't necessarily afford to eat out, Simon's series teaches invaluable cooking skills and demonstrates how you can recreate restaurant quality food in your own home.

"I'm sure he'll do a fantastic job of inspiring audiences with his ability to translate the knowledge and techniques gained through his 25-year career as a professional chef coupled with his warm and inviting manner."

Simon's genius lies in his understanding of what makes a great dish and in his desire to do things properly. Classic dishes, perfected over time are, for Simon, the secret to getting the best out of ingredients. Discover why the wine you choose is as important as the chicken in a coq au vin; why breast of lamb is such an underestimated treasure; why a simple Indian masala paste will transform a dish of baked aubergines and tomatoes.

The Good Cook has been commissioned by Alison Kirkham, Commissioning Editor, Factual Formats and Features for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ One and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Two. The Executive Producers are Pete Lawrence and Simon Knight for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Vision Productions, Bristol. The six x 30-minute series will be broadcast later this spring.

Notes to editors

Born in Bury, Simon Hopkinson left school at 17 to begin a career as a chef. He opened his first restaurant, the Shed, near Fishguard, just before his 21st birthday.

In 1983 he launched himself on the London restaurant scene, becoming chef at Hilaire in the Old Brompton Road. He swiftly found himself one of the most acclaimed young chefs in the business and his friendship with Terence Conran led to the opening of Bibendum in the restored Michelin building in 1987.

He retired as a full-time chef in 1995 to concentrate more on writing. As well as Roast Chicken And Other Stories and Second Helpings Of Roast Chicken, his books include Gammon & Spinach, The Prawn Cocktail Years (written together with Lindsey Bareham), Week In, Week Out and The Vegetarian Option.

His critically acclaimed cookery writing has won him the André Simon Award, and the Glenfiddich Award three times.

CD4