Top daytime show This Morning had a distinctly military feel when it showcased the work of in a live TV ‘cook off’.
Chefs from the Navy, Army and RAF did battle in the kitchen as part of national Uniform to Work Day, which encouraged reservists to wear military kit to their day jobs.
Pictures: PO(Phot) Des Wade, DMC
AB David Smith chops spuds in front of a tent. Nothing unusual about that for a naval chef working in the field.
Except that this wasn’t the field, but the Southbank of the Thames. And it was broadcast live to over 1.5 million people.
The chef joined fellow cooks from the Army and RAF in a cook-off for popular ITV daytime show This Morning as part of the military’s annual ‘Uniform to Work’ day – a lead up to this Saturday’s national Armed Forces Day events.
The chefs were given one hour to produce a main course in field kitchen conditions, using nothing but official military ration packs, supplemented with a few fresh ingredients readily available on the front line. For added spice (sorry), they weren’t just competing against each other, but top TV chef Phil Vickery.
In the case of 27-year-old David, based in Plymouth, he knocked up a beef and potato pasty with baked and marmalade for dessert.
What do I do with these? Celebrity chef Phil Vickery looks puzzled as he stares at ration packs ahead of the live cook-off as reservists AB David Smith, S/Sgt Bob Oberhoffer and SAC Shimul Haider-Heming offer sage (sorry) advice
However, he was ‘beaten by a breadcrumb’ by the RAF’s SAC Shimul Haider-Heming, who served up a delicious puff pastry parcel with Asian style beef filling served on a bed of Bombay potatoes, accompanied with trimmed seasoned green beans and a side salad garnished with orange marmalade and apple chutney.
Was David downhearted? Of course not. He was happy to show off the RN’s culinary skills on national telly.
“Armed Forces Day is an opportunity for us to show the public what we do on a day-to-day basis. It’s a very important occasion for us,” he said.
The chefs weren’t the only ones on This Morning in uniform.
By day, Ritchie Wilkinson acts as the show’s studio manager, choreographing the crews, equipment and guests so that everything runs (mostly) smoothly for 120 minutes of live telly.
And on some evenings and weekends, he’s Sub Lt Ritchie Wilkinson in the Royal Naval Reserves, specialising in communications and information systems.
As a youngster he wanted to be a film director and a sailor – two careers not necessarily compatible.
“I saw an advert for the Royal Naval Reserves and realised then it was possible to have my cake and eat it and I relish the chances given to me, to learn new skills required by the Navy and combine this with my full-time career,” he said.
This Morning studio manager Sub Lt Ritchie Wilkinson is sandwiched between presenters Phil Schofield and Holly Willoughby
The junior officer is one of 2,526 men and women in the Maritime Reserve (which encompasses both the RNR and Royal Marines Reserves), 25,430 soldiers in the TA, and 1,335 personnel in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
Those going to work in their day jobs were encouraged by Sir David Richards, the Chief of the Defence Staff, to don their uniforms to impress on the nation the importance of reservists.
He added: “Reservists are a vital part of the Armed Forces. Their unique range of skills gained from both their civilian and military roles makes them invaluable Service men and women. The sacrifices these individuals make is why Churchill was right when he called them ‘twice a citizen’.”
.jpg)
