Imagine a Benetton advert where everyone is wearing a chef’s hat – this is the scene I walk into on set of the F Word trailer. There are Chinese chefs and Indian chefs, French chefs, Rasta chefs and chefs with Mexican ‘taches. None of them are Gordon.

Apparently, Gordon has a reputation for being a bit late, but once he’s on set, he’s brilliant. “I worked with Gordon on a day when there was an awful story about him in the press,” says Phil, director of the trailer. “Off set he was on the phone, fuming, then he’d come on-set, say ‘What do you need me to do?’ and just nail it.”

In this series of the F Word, Gordon is on the hunt for the UK’s best independent restaurant. The trailer will show him being fed forkfuls of food by contesting chefs – which explains the cluster of ethnically diverse cooks. Amazingly, the entire range of world cuisine is being cooked up by three home economists working in a cramped corner of the set on what looks like a couple of Bunsen burners but is actually a competent, if compact, kitchen.

Chief home ec-type lady, Beth, is busy lining up spoons, forks and skewers ready to shove into Gordon’s mouth.

“Are you worried someone will stab him in the face with a fork full of curry?” I ask her

“We’ve sanded down the sticks on the kebabs so we don’t poke him,” she assures me.

By the time Gordon arrives and is taken through the script, the once-hot food has been sitting for a while. Congealed risotto? Rather him than me.

“How are those slipping down?” I ask him after the first cut.

“It’s all cold – f**king disgusting,” he moans, “cold quiche, cold goujon and ice cold raw f**king chips.”

True to form, Gordon is a real sport, swallowing 10 mouthfuls of unidentifiable food, before resorting to the spit bucket. I count at least 30 servings after that, there could have been more; what is certain is the grimace on Gordon’s face is the real deal.

“What the f**k was that?” he cries as a spoonful of frogspawn-like pitahaya is popped into his mouth by one of the chef extras.

When feeding time is over, I ask Gordon if any of the independent restaurants he’s visited so far have impressed him. “There’s a Spanish place in South London,” he muses. “And a Chinese place in Edinburgh, where they make these extraordinary dumplings.”

What about the celebrity guests – are they back this year?

“Jordan’s coming in. God help us. Kelly Brook was in looking great – especially when she was getting food out of the back of the oven.”

When the anecdotes turn to Max Beesley and a deer penis, I take my leave.

“It was about 16 inches long!” Gordon calls.

Worth tuning in for.

Watch the trailer and more from the F Word

£1,000 up for grabs for keen amateur chefs!

ITV Studios is looking for new keen amateur chefs to take part in the hugely popular Channel 4 daytime show, Come Dine With Me. In each episode, we visit a different town or city in the UK. Over the course of a week each contestant takes it in turn to host a dinner party for the others. At the end of the week the best host wins a £1,000 cash prize.

Where do I sign?
If you live in any of these areas – Sheffield, Cardiff, Dudley, Weston-super-Mare/North Somerset, Cheltenham & Gloucester, Manchester, South East London, and Darlington & Stockton-on-Tees – please contact us on comedinewithme@itv.com or call 0871 200 3939. Callers from a BT landline will be charged a set up fee of 7p per call plus 10p per minute. Mobile and other network rates will be higher.

And if you live in any of these areas – Bury, Barnsley, North East London, Warwick/Leamington Spa, East Sussex or Peterborough – please contact us on cdwm@itv.com or call 0871 244 4142. Callers from a BT landline will be charged a set up fee of 7p per call plus 10p per minute. Mobile and other network rates will be higher.

Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third party sites.

Browse all the Come Dine With Me recipes

Watch all the recent episodes on 4OD Catch-up

24 year old restaurant manager, Stuart Donnely, is the first Manchester host to fire up his oven and a little thing like food miles won’t stop him serving a feast that’s downright fabulous. The Champers is soon flowing at Stuart’s fabulous penthouse pad and the confident host thinks his night is basically unbeatable.

After the first flamboyant evening, Angela Daly is suspicious that Stuart, might cause a stir on her special night. Still, she is putting her heart and soul into her home-made menu  to show her guests how a top-notch hostess lays out a spread. Will that be enough to curb Stuart’s comments?

Eco warrior, Josh Steiner, is next up and while his guests have lost their appetite for their hosts many environmental tips, they can’t get enough of his food. Even Stuart has something nice to say about his rival. It’s not enough to keep everyone happy though and Angela has had as much as she can swallow of her fellow guests Stuart and Rachel.

On the final night it’s claws out, as Rachel Vose struggles to maintain decorum in the face of a very feisty Stuart. He has ignored the dress code but he won’t ignore Rachel’s glamour model past – as much as she’d like him to. As Stuart and Angela clash again, it’s an optimistic Josh who’s left hoping the foursome meet up again.

Watch the action Sunday 27th September on Channel 4

Browse all the Come Dine With Me recipes

Ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes on Come Dine With Me? What Dave really thinks about the contestants? Or whether he’d tuck into Big Mo’s roast lamb?

Well now you can ask him on Twitter. Dave will be tweeting at Therealdavelamb throughout Sunday’s show answering all the questions you never dare ask.

Watch the celebrities in action Sunday 20th September on Channel 4

Read 4Food’s interview with Dave Lamb

Follow 4Food on Twitter

Kicking off the parties is Bobby Davro, who throws a Hawaiian party complete with inappropriately dressed Hula girls and a tropical Elvis.

Dinner party two and Laila Morse takes a no-frills approach with a truly British menu. But the simplicity of the starter is soon overcome by her inability to manage her meringues. Dinner is disastrously delayed but Laila thinks her guests can lump it if they don’t like it.

Dinner party three sees some genuine culinary flair from Dane who has a few tricks up his sleeve and some extra chillis in mind for Bobby. Dane’s demanded a ‘funky dress code’ – he means cool but unfortunately Bobby and Laila take this to mean fancy dress.

Concluding the celebrity soirees is Dani, who immediately cheats by heading to a local restaurant for ingredients, a recipe and a cooking lesson. But the hostess’ day soon goes badly wrong as she falls ill and ends up in hospital. Will Dani even make it to her own night?

Watch the celebrities in action Sunday 20th September on Channel 4

Browse all the Come Dine With Me recipes

There’s nothing local about the first menu however, as pub landlady Sharon Craig, is keen to introduce guests to some adventurous South African flavour. Sharon is supremely confident that she’ll win the competition, but will her guests feel the same? Especially when they’re invited to try a live locust as an hors d’oeuvre.

Next to cook is Welsh patriot, Annie Haden, who thinks her traditional Welsh menu will win the day. But if that doesn’t do the trick she hopes the surroundings will – as she’s hosting the party in Dylan Thomas’ birth place.

DJ, Nick Madge, is feeling nervous on day three after swords were drawn at Annie’s house the day before. Pub landlady, Sharon, questioned her host about her smoking and then accused beauty queen, Samira, of being dull. Will the anxious bachelor be able to keep the peace?

Beauty queen Samira is sick of the arguing by day four and determined to keep her guests happy with a menu inspired by her Arabic roots. Good luck Samira.

Finally, it’s down to music producer, Colin Consterdine, to bring the week to a close in what promises to be an explosive finale.

Watch the Swansea chefs in action, weekdays from 15th June, 5:30pm on Channel 4

Browse all the Come Dine With Me recipes

Come Dine With Me
Cult show Come Dine With Me is back for a brand new series starting in September as more competitive amateur cooks attempt to outdo each other in the kitchen.

The Big Food Fight
But they’re not the only ones feeling the competitive heat: The Big Food Fight, launching in September, is a brand new food quiz with a generous seasoning of both the culinary and the comedic, hosted by comedienne Sue Perkins. Each week resident captain and gastronomic guru, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, is forced to defend his cooking credentials as he’s challenged by a different guest captain – a famous food personality – to establish who knows the most about all things edible.

River Cottage
Hugh’s swapping his quiz cards for the farmyard as he returns with a new series of River Cottage. Revelling in all that is coming good in the garden, Hugh will be drawing warmth from his chillies, comfort from his pumpkins and pleasure from his potatoes. He’ll also be keeping us up to speed with the triumphs of his Landshare scheme.

The F Word
It’s time to get sweary as Gordon Ramsay returns for a new series of the F Word. And this time Gordon’s on the hunt for The F Word’s Best Local Restaurant. With the help of nominations from the great British public, Gordon will be looking for the highest quality food at affordable prices, celebrating the very best of Britain’s independent local restaurants. Restaurateurs will be challenged to cook with Gordon in The F Word restaurant for 50 paying diners, and he’ll whittle them down until there are just two finalists battling it out in the series finale.

River Cottage Food Heroes
Gordon’s not the only one celebrating great British grub. Hugh will be blowing Britain’s trumpet in his brand new show, River Cottage Food Heroes. Whether it’s producing honey on a Hackney roof top, or creating a vineyard on a tenement block, there are examples of extraordinary culinary ingenuity all across the nation – and Hugh’s gonna find them.

Put your feet up and get comfy, next season is all about staying in.

Hungry for more? Check out all the Channel 4 food shows

Landshare scheme“>Get growing with Hugh’s Landshare scheme

In this brand new Channel 4 series, restauranteur and entrepreneur Vito Cataffo sets out on an epic quest, staking his personal fortune and his hard won reputation on a deep-set personal belief: that British food is the best in the world.

Vito launches a culinary crusade to Italy, the country of his birth. The series follows Vito as he finds a failing Italian restaurant, rescues and renovates it, and then sets about transforming it into a shrine to British food.

From managing the building project to navigating the murky world of Italian bureaucracy; from training-up local chefs and waiting staff to his exacting standards, to capturing the hearts and stomachs of the Italian public with Great British grub, Vito is facing the most daunting crusade of his life.

Starts 13th August, 8:30pm on Channel 4

More on Dolce Vito – Dream Restaurant

Vote in the 4Food poll: Which is better – Italian or British food?

As most foodie producers struggle to stay afloat in times of crunching credit this year’s awards boasts more new entrants than ever before; proving you just can’t stifle our love of cheese. Let’s hope the judging panel can keep that enthusiasm up as they wade through a whopping 900 dairy delights.

If only they’d got Joey Chestnut on the cheeseboard. Champion eater, Joey, is reported to hold the World Grilled Cheese Eating Record having scoffed 47 cheesy sarnies in just 10 minutes.

Judging by this year’s cheese entries, semi-soft and Cheddar are hot right now while flavour added cheeses are just not cutting the mustard. Apparently, this year in cheese, old is new.

So will a goat’s cheese get its time in the sun or will Caerphilly be crowned champion truckle? Watch this space to find out the big cheese hitters.

Jamie has been travelling across the US, from New York to Los Angeles, and New Orleans to Arizona, meeting all manner of American characters along the way – plus cooking and eating delicious food.

Seems he’s really getting into the swing of things Stateside…

See more of Jamie’s American outfits here

Enjoy all Jamie’s recipes here