Several viewers of the BBC cookery show Saturday Kitchen were left up in arms this weekend after accusing one guest of using a “contaminated” item.
In the episode, host Matt Tebbutt welcomed chef Ken Hom who was on hand to celebrate four decades on British TV screens.
To mark the occasion, Tebbutt decided to welcome Chef Tong Chee Hwee to serve up the “best peking duck in town” alongside a handful of other Chinese dishes.
Kicking things off, Chef Tong created a spice blend consisting of five-spice, sugar, chicken powder, and salt as well as a sweet and sour brine to coat the duck.
As Hom watched on, Chef Tong got to work stuffing the bird with ginger and spring onion before turning his attention to stitching the bird up and sealing the skin with boiling water.
Chef Tong then returned the soaking wet bird to his workstation where he began to dab away the excess water – a moment which caught the eyes of several at home.
BBC Saturday Kitchen: Chef Tong used a towel to pat down the duck
BBC
As the cooking demonstration progressed, Chef Tong left the towel he’d just used on the raw meat sprawled on the counter.
After Chef Tong had applied the sticky sweet and sour brine to the duck, he could also be seen reaching for the towel to dry off his hands.
When the cooked duck that was prepared earlier emerged, Tebbutt reached over to remove the contaminated towel but several were still pretty disturbed by Chef Tong’s previous use.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one fan fumed about the habit: “Chef used same teatowel to dry off duck!
BBC Saturday Kitchen: Later in the show, the chef reached for the towel again
BBC
“Wipe his hands, then same one to pick up cooked duck!! Hygiene on this program is disgusting!! Running hands under tap with no use of soap is NOT washing hands, then using pre used teatowel to dry #SaturdayKitchen.”
A second similarly fumed: “These chefs on #SaturdayKitchen need to remember their basic food hygiene skills.”
While a third replied to the show’s official account after it promoted the recipe: “Pat the raw [duck] down with a tea towel, then put the towel on the worktop,” followed by a puking emoji.
And a fourth simply put: “The contaminated towel [shocked emoji] #SaturdayKitchen.”
BBC Saturday Kitchen sparks uproar over chef’s habit
BBC
However, others were simply quick to praise the delicious-looking end product after Chef Tong served the duck up to the BBC show’s guests.
“I’m definitely going to try this. Looks heavenly,” one person tweeted while a second echoed: “I think I want to go to his restaurant!!
“One of my most memorable eating experiences was at a Peking duck restaurant in Beijing! Every course was duck served in different ways.” (sic)
GB News has contacted production company Cactus for comment.
