Saturday Kitchen TV star chef James Martin cooking in Huddersfield - video

May 19 2009 By Joanne Douglas

CELEBRITY chef James Martin cooked up a treat for students in a bid to get them to shun takeaways.

The star of BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen took to the stage at Huddersfield University to cook a three-course dinner in the time it would take to order a takeaway.

And he certainly delivered.

Cheered on by hundreds of students he cooked a pasta starter, chicken curry and a cheesecake long before the takeaway curry arrived.

James said: "The most important things to people at the moment is cost as well as healthy eating.

"But what people don’t realise is in the time it takes to order a takeaway they could have cooked a three-course meal and that’s what I’m going to show them."

The chef, who has appeared on Strictly Come Dancing, said the quickest healthy meal was a bag of pasta with a few vegetables thrown into the mix.

He added: "If people know and can see how easy it is then they’ll take the advice on board.

"The enthusiasm is still there because the cooking shows are still being watched.