Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off is a cooking competition coming to ITV1 that sees top chefs compete to make the best alfresco dishes, using ingredients from some of Britain’s most idyllic stately homes.
Filmed in the National Trust properties around the UK (see below for locations), each episode will see former Ready, Steady, Cook host Ainsley Harriott pit two professional chefs against one another to come up with dishes inspired by their countryside surroundings. Volunteers and gardeners at each estate will judge them on two savoury dishes and only the winner gets the honour of making the dessert.
“I love a new challenge and Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off is just that — a fun cooking competition featuring some of the country’s top chefs, all set in the stunningly beautiful surroundings of amazing National Trust estates,” says Ainsley. “The gorgeous scenery, the very freshest ingredients and some fantastic new recipes will be coming together to show off our countryside at its beautiful best.”
Here’s everything you need to know about the new ITV1 series Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off….
Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off release date
Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off is a 10-part series that starts on ITV1 from 11.40am on Saturday May 18 2024. Episodes will run weekly at the same time and also become available on ITVX. We will update if we can with any international air dates.
Is there a trailer for Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off?
Yes there's now a trailer for Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off which shows the types of historical houses the chef will be visiting and what he gets up to there! Take a look below...
What happens in Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off
Each week, host Ainsley will welcome two professional chefs into the kitchens of a National Trust estate (see locations below). He will challenge them to create dishes inspired by the countryside around them, using ingredients plucked straight from the gardens. The first two savoury dishes will be judged by volunteers and gardeners at the estate before Ainsley reveals the ingredients for the dessert course. Each chef must then pitch an inspired new recipe for pudding and Ainsley will decide who gets the honour of making it.
Ainsley Harriott interview on this series
What can you tell us about Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off?
Ainsley says: "It was really wonderful to film! We cook at different National Trust estates and in every one there were amazing kitchen gardens. We brought along all the equipment, like barbecue grills and outdoor pizza ovens, and just brought the kitchen outside!"
In each episode you pit two guest chefs against each other to come up with dishes using ingredients straight from the estates’ gardens. How did they get on?
"There are 20 different chefs – two guest chefs on every programme – and they couldn’t wait to go for it! They’re normally working in a kitchen inside where they order the ingredients, get them delivered and then get on with the cooking. So for them, it was back to nature cooking, which was a welcome escape. To be able to pick produce out of the ground 50 yards away from where you’re actually cooking… well, it just makes you feel good doesn’t it!"
What was special about the stately homes you filmed at?
"I think the real beauty of cooking at some of these amazing National Trust establishments was being able to experience the real detail that goes into preserving them. They’re magnificent properties, and the enthusiasm and passion of the gardeners and volunteers was fantastic to see."
What do you personally enjoy about cooking and eating outside?
"There’s just something about alfresco eating – your appetite grows because you’re outside, and of course you can eat with your fingers! But for me, it’s the freshness of it. When I was growing up, you had to go down to your local market where the potatoes were muddy, the carrots were muddy and everything had a little bit of soil on it. But it was all natural! My mother was also really green fingered. Even until her dying day, she still had a little vegetable patch in her back garden!"
You’ve been a TV chef for many years now. Do you still have the same passion for it?
"Yes, I still get a great buzz out of it! I'm also really one of the lucky ones. Even though it's a rollercoaster ride sometimes, the fact that I can still entertain and come up with lovely ideas about food is enough for me!"
Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off locations
Among the locations in Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off are Blickling Estate in Aylsham, Norfolk; Tyntesfield in Wraxall, North Somerset; and the Wimpole Estate in Arrington, Cambridgeshire.
All About Ainsley Harriott
Bubbly chef Ainsley Harriott shot to fame as the host of Can’t Cook Won’t Cook, which ran from 1995 to 1996, and then went on to present the hit daytime show Ready, Steady, Cook. In 2023, he sat for the painting competition show Portrait Artist of the Year and he’s had numerous series of his own, such as Ainsley’s Fantastic Flavours, Ainsley’s World Cup Flavours, Ainsley’s Food We Love, Ainsley’s Good Mood Food and Ainsley's Coronation Kitchen in 2023 for the King's crowning. Ainsley competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2015 and he’s had acting roles in shows such as Red Dwarf, Cory in the House, Davro, Mongrels and Ready Steady Bhaag.
