Last updated 09:19, Saturday, 05 July 2008

He’s shabby, arrogant, addicted to his smokes, could certainly do with a haircut – and is probably Britain’s most talented chef. No wonder Marco Pierre White is so infuriating.

Marco Pierre: Charismatically passionate about home cooking

Full of his own importance, the Hell’s Kitchen devil has set out on a new crusade in Marco’s Great British Feast (ITV1 Wednesday).

He wants to celebrate all that’s good about this country’s food and steer us away from pseudo-continental-heat-and-serve-ready- meal cookery in our own kitchens.

In spite of some sneering jibes from armchair critics and phoney continental cuisine fans, White made a good fist of his passionate promotion of all foods local and seasonal – which, with food prices rising as they are, we’re all going to have to learn to love pretty darned quickly.

The chef insists it was rabbit, pheasant and fish that he grew up on in Leeds – which will surprise more than a few on the council housing estate where he lived – and now White wants to prove that British produce can make the kind of healthy, wholesome fare that Britons now wish that they could cook for themselves.

He can’t be blamed for ITV’s blatant crib of Rick Stein’s serial celebrations of the best of British and once we get past the familiarity of formula (the best ideas are always stolen) it’s clear Marco is making a good fist of his campaign.

We’re a nation of proxy cooks these days. Having watched so many TV celebrity chefs whipping up something wonderful in under half an hour, we’ve convinced ourselves we’re culinary experts... even though we most often dial a takeaway.

Of all the chefs most likely to jolt us into a spot of wholesome home-cooking, Marco Pierre White probably has the best chance of success.

Not only is he charismatically passionate about plain home-cooking, sourced from genuinely local produce... he’s also a teeny bit scary.

And few people dare say no to a scary chef.