I am a big big fan of food TV. When I discovered that SBS had started a food channel I was incredibly excited – although I’ve been a bit disappointed, because I don’t love competition food. What I love is watching people in the kitchen, talking through recipes with all their faux relaxation. I’m fully aware of how staged everything is, and the fact that especially when the cook is feeding friends it’s magnificently managed. But I am, usually, capable of splitting my brain and watching it on an innocent level as well as the cynical level.

Anyway, I’ve just discovered Dinner at Tiffani’s. It’s Tiffani Thiessen having people over for dinner, and cooking for them. All the people she has over are famous (…ish…), and she talks through what she’s feeding them. STAGED. But what I have liked, around the amazing American celebrity nature of it (with Tiffani chatting to the camera in between segments), is that she often gets the celebrities to help with the cooking. And I’ve only watched… um, three… today… but the number of them who don’t seem to know anything about cooking is a bit sad. One of them asked what is that? and the answer was thyme! (who knows whether that was staged.)

The kitchen is beautiful, she takes time over place and table settings as well as the food, and nothing is ever messy. I haven’t actually seen her make anything strenuous yet but I think that’s kind of the point – because everything looks tasty and appealing, but relatively easy to make, and the celebs like it so it must be good, right?

It’s a very amusing and very tacky show and I will absolutely be working my way through every episode that SBS has currently On Demand.