The MasterChef Phenomenon
The first-ever televised cooking programme was on the UK’s BBC in June 1946 – it was called Cookery and it starred Philip Harben. Recognised as the world’s first celebrity chef, Harben’s show was only ten minutes long and in the first episode, he showed his viewers how to make lobster vol-au-vents – not quite your run-of-the-mill Halaal fish dish, but a sign of the times then we suppose.

