LIKE reality TV, there has been no stone left unturned when it comes to the cooking genre. Every format imaginable has been exploited in those dedicated food channels and on regular ones too.
Celebrity chefs, à la Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, and others, continue to dominate with fresh shows. You also have those unconventional foodies in out-of-the-box shows like the Hairy Bikers (with David Myers and Simon “Si” King) and Bizarre Foods America (Andrew Zimmern). Then there’s Heston Blumenthal, who offers a multisensory approach.
The TV landscape is saturated with people from all walks of life turning into celebrity chefs: from models (Lorraine Pascale), authors (Rachel Khoo) and bloggers (South Africa’s Sarah Graham) to columnists (Siba Mtongana). Let’s not forget J’Something making his foray with a kasi-style offering.
Now brothers Josh and Mike Green have joined the gastronomic bandwagon. They don’t proclaim to be experts and theirs isn’t sophisticated cooking. Let’s just say it’s for a more laidback crowd. Their style ticks all the boxes, too: simple, quick and easy.
Tonight chatted to the pair, who live in Brooklyn, New York, to find out how their YouTube videos culminated in their MTV show.
Josh says: “We were just cooking in New York… weekly lunches and cool food events. We had a friend – a filmmaker – and we weren’t thinking beyond having a good time. I was in a band. And so it started with us posting these fun videos (with all these different elements) on YouTube’s food channel.”
Then an MTV talent scout came across their work and thought it would be pretty cool as a TV show and, voila, here they are.
And the brothers are pretty stoked about their show. Unlike many people who grow up with fond memories of food, the Green brothers had quite the opposite experience.
Josh admits: “Mike and I had a mum who was a terrible cook. That is what drove us to cook. We were used to getting this frozen stuff. We started getting cook books and watching TV shows. I ended up learning a lot of stuff from that. Then we used to cook for friends and ourselves. The experience of feeding someone brought us so much joy.”
While their cooking exploits ran parallel, neither was aware of it as they were studying and lived apart.
Mike recalls: “It was when I took a trip to Australia that I reconnected with my passion for food. I didn’t realise that Josh was cooking in New York. Then we joined forces.”
They have also inspired their mum to cook now – and she has started enjoying it.
The siblings confess to her not being too impressed with their experiments when they were younger as they would always leave a big mess in the kitchen.
While Mike is more conventional with his style, Josh is more avant-garde.
Mike adds: “It’s interesting when you see the show: some recipes are geared towards my style and some towards Josh’s. He is just craziness. Bottom line: as long as it tastes good in the end, we enjoy doing it. It’s cheap, easy and creative food.”
Josh says: “When you grow up with no tradition, there are no rules.”
In their TV show, they explore Brooklyn, in the US, and other countries, getting a taste of the street food, and when go back home, they try to do their own interpretation.
Some of the comfort-cum-munchie food on the menu include a four-course pizza, the falafel slider, a snickers croissant and a banana bread cake. Celebrity cameos are another draw card.
Josh reveals: “We had the opportunity to cook for David Hasselhoff, Enrique Iglesias and Keisza. In Malta, they eat wild rabbit. We bought it, slow cooked it, twisted it up (in terms of how they seasoned it) and served it to Enrique.”
Firmly believing that food, music and good people is all you need in life, the party is just getting started for the brothers as they bring an interesting flavour to the mix.
• Brothers Green: EATS! airs on MTV (DStv channel 130) on Fridays at 9.15pm.