Kay's Good (ish) Cooking: the review

Hey guys, back again and today it's review time! I hope you've had a good Tuesday. Today's review is more of a recommendation I suppose. A review of Kay's Good Cooking channel on Youtube. Brace yourself.


I'm going to start off with a little definition:

GOOD- very satisfactory, to be desired and approved of

Now to kick off I will remind you of a little ITV show about Harry Hill and his alien time capsule. This show itself I find a little strange- even Harry Hill looks surprised it's getting any air time! Anyway, I digress. The comedian Joe Lycett mentioned Kay and her good cooking on the programme and once me and Matthew saw the clip of her making poached eggs on the show, we were hooked. The process she used to poach the egg was nothing like we had ever seen before, and much more to the point, it was not how an egg should be poached at all; it was cringe worthy. It was so wrong but yet it was so goddamn hilarious.

 After Harry Hill had gone away, me and Matthew decided, still high from the hilarity of the poached eggs, to delve deeper; do our own viewing and even subscribe to her channel and boy, we were richly rewarded. She certainly is no Delia Smith or Mary Berry, there are no frills to be seen-there's barely any editing going on here. However, what she lacks in culinary finesse she more than makes up for in Northern charm (and lard....lots and lots of lard) 

Kay started her channel 'Kays Good Cooking' in 2015 and has since gained over 10 thousand subscribers. Viewers can expect to see her and her son cooking up various savoury, sweet and rather questionable foods and this is usually done to the ominous title of "my way" which will, to the trained 'good cooking eye', give many a clue on the standard of the food about to be cooked. This is very back-to-basics cooking here and she herself even admits that on occasion  and she can often be heard laughing at herself. Once her Good Cooking magic is done, her son Lee then does the 'taste test'. Humour ensues, and so does the phrase 'tasteses like'. Caution: may contain lard.

Now Youtube these days is packed with punchy personalities and even many a self proclaimed chef; you need to be out there and proud with your concepts and ideas to make it. It's a saturated market of content in the land of Youtube and I think she has in a weird and wonderful way cracked it- albeit through irony alone. While her cooking and the cleanliness of her kitchen leave much to be desired, you can't fault her Kay-ness. 

Every video starts off with Kay announcing "I'm back cooking again!" as if she can smell the fear and trepidation among her viewers. This is quickly proceeded by forgetting what she's cooking and having to be reminded by Lee, to then remember and almost forget again.

Oh, and we shan't forget the rather harsh cut as if the video had been thrown together in Windows Movie Maker.

Now for the main event. This is where the fun really begins. And the cringing. And the laughter. And the many mispronounced vegetables- "honion" and "carriot" are the stand-outs. Her very Northern Kay-ness starts to become evident very quickly into the prep and cooking segment of the video and you can witness lines such as "I don't know if you can see", "as you can see", "I'm just showing you the basics" as well as various threatening quips to her son Lee who is no doubt ripping the shit out of his mothers cooking behind the camera. As you get to know Kay through her videos you can make a pretty educated guess that "I don't know if you can see" means you can most definitely see it and it's surprising to you how she thinks you can't see it. This mistake however, must fall at Lee's feet. His overly zoomed in, invasive camera work leaves much to be desired with you even feeling like you're in her baking tray yourself! 

You also get to know that she doesn't exactly use the right utensil for the right job and it's at these points, especially when she's kneading pizza dough right on her cooker top, that you realise while Kay is no Master Chef champion, and her hap-hazard cooking would even give Gordon Ramsey heart palpitations (if not for the lard) she does seem to manage and she has you gawping all the way through. It's a thrilling ride which will more than likely leave you asking more questions than before you started watching. Whether it be wondering how her food could possibly turn out edible, when in the world that cooker last got a good clean, or if she ever will murder her own son and cook him in a pie (her way).

Some of Kay's cooking highlights include the Indian favourite Samosa's (which after Kay's mispronunciation, sounds more like Somerset), the Italian dish lasagne, the humble crisp sandwich, a fast food favourite, the Big Mac (Kay's way) and of course the humble and simple poached egg (also Kay's way)

See for yourself Kay's pizza making skills:

And after the cooking, comes the taste test and this is when we get to see Kay's son, Lee begrudgingly taste all the cooking (only if it has no cheese- "my son can't have cheese" is another frequent line) and he often makes us laugh again by stating the obvious-  that the lasagne tasteses of lasagne- and ending abruptly with a thumbs up to the camera. Kay ends in the same manner she conducts all of her videos- in her way by forgetfully stumbling through her sign off "If you like what you've seen keep viewing me" and asks for a big thumbs up on her videos. Oh, and if you know someone who hasn't subscribed, get them subscribing!"

So what are you waiting for?! Go now and dine at Kay's Good Cooking; give her a big thumbs up and subscribe. Her cooking is far from perfect and neither is the camera work- I think even 'good' by definition would be a stretch too far. However there's no doubting whatever she's cooking up next, she'll be doing it her way and that is good enough for me.

*cue Frank Sinatra*

I will now leave you with Frank Sinatra in your head and to go and see more of Kay in action. Come back tomorrow for a current affairs round up (well it's shaping to be a rant at the moment!) Have a good Wednesday guys!