THE best half hour on TV this week? No question, it's got to be Masterchef Goes Large on BBC2.

And no, I'm not kidding. Don't ask me why but this search for a top amateur chef has got me hooked.

It's even got to the stage that I've been taping the nightly contest in case I don't get home in time.

For the uninitiated, there's no sign of Lloyd Grossman and his collection of foodies sneering about the standards of coulis in the comfort of a studio.

No, this is a rare beast a cookery show with real people in it making real meals.

Every night four different amateur cooks have been fighting it out for the right to go forward to tonight's final.

In the first task they are presented with some ingredients and told to cook a plateful of food with them. It's a bit like Ready, Steady Cook with a competitive edge and without Ainsley getting in the way.

The cooks are judged by two plain speaking experts a restaurateur and a leading food supplier. They don't pull their punches describing occasional offerings as bland, boring and in one case a disaster'.

I have given up any pretence of trying to rationalise why I'm addicted and why I really care that a web designer from Surrey should be given the chance to embark on a new career in a top restaurant.

Instead I pass judgement on the dishes like an expert, pronouncing that the fish looks too dry or you shouldn't really mix too many flavours when using lamb.

All this from someone whose own signature dish' is the fish cake sandwich.