Rachel Khoo: The Little Paris Kitchen

After watching Rachel Khoo on BBC2 tonight, I would like nothing more than to leave my currant life behind and get the next flight to Paris to live a carefree life of croissants, croque madames and coffees by the Eiffel tower.

Sadly I do not have the guts to do anything as spontaneous as that so I can only watch this slice of alluring French cookery with envy. Rachel left her life behind in Croydon and uprooted to Paris where she opened up a restaurant in a miniscule flat that can only cater for two people. The first thing I felt when watching this show was sheer admiration for someone who is clearly passionate about what they do and is determined enough to follow that love.

The second thing that grabbed me was obviously the food. What I really liked about this programme was how simple everything was. French cuisine does have this myth attached to it, suggesting it is all suagr thermometers and complicated patisserie, but Rachel created dishes that enticed through combining fantastic, fresh base ingredients. The countless market scenes, depicting the abundance of beautiful local produce aided this idea that so long as the ingredients are good, the end result will always be a mouth watering spectacle. Thick, vivid green sprigs of mint, gleaming olives and in particular a golden exlixir of city honey stimulated the eye as much as my stomach.

Not that my stomach wasn't excited by what Rachel produced. Crispy, carb-comforting croque madames, barbeque coq au vin and a fragrant mint sauce were all a delight to see being made but the stars of the show were the spring lamb stew and raspeberry and lemon madelines.

The stew looked so warm and inviting that you wanted to dive in to its herby, punchy waters permeated by juicy nuggets of lamb but what was so appealing about it was that Rachel was making it so simply; just good ingredients simmering away and melding their flavours together - no fancy tricks. The golden, flaky madelines were even more appetisiing. It is no secret I have a massive sweet tooth but these shells of buttery, lemony sponge really hooked me.

What is particularly appealing about this programme is that the style of the show is clean and simple. This is not an overproduced show. Rachel is not putting on an act for the camera and you get the sense that everything is an intimate conversation between you and her, compared to the over-stylised set ups you might get from Nigella or Lorraine Pascale.

It was just a relaxed, chic half hour of dishes that spoke for themselves. This, alongside a charming and slightly kooky presenter means I will definitely be tuning in next week (helped along by the enticing choux buns no doubt).