REVIEW: James Martin's stage show is a post watershed Saturday Kitchen

James Martin, Sheffield City Hall

After 20 years of gracing our screens every Saturday, James Martin has taken to the stage with his Plates, Mates and Automobiles tour. Mother’s Day saw Martin appear at a packed Sheffield City Hall - hardly surprising given the date and the chef’s status as a housewives’ favourite.

The show, essentially a post-watershed edition of Saturday Kitchen, included a series of cookery demonstrations whilst Martin reminisced about his childhood and career. A few automobile and mates stories were thrown.

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A retro smoked salmon, prawn and cucumber mousse was a taste of Martin’s home life, while his ‘best’ bacon butty had us drooling over an eggy brioche bread sandwich crammed with pancetta and gruyere. At 3,496 calories, Martin suggested we might call an ambulance before tucking into this at home, but quickly defended himself by reminding us we were not at a Weight Watchers’ convention.

As well as learning how to joint a chicken, blowtorch a mackerel fillet and deep fry a gooey egg, we were treated to a side of Martin’s cheeky personality that doesn’t make it to our screens. With digs at us wannabe chefs, tales of complainers calling Saturday Kitchen, Martin is well versed in the art of Yorkshire banter. But, perhaps the biggest treat of all was when he strapped on his guitar and closed the show with his rendition of Live Forever by Oasis.