She is completely baffled in the kitchen, but the star valiantly resurrects her family’s famous restaurant. Her journey is chaotic, hilarious – and deeply moving
It starts both very well and very badly does Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook. On the one hand, our host’s absolute ignorance of how food works – or pans, or knives, or plates – has a refreshing authenticity about it. Too often in these shows, in which a celebrity goes on A Journey to acquire basic knowledge in what is generally considered to be a normal field of human endeavour, their lack of exposure to it or inability therein is pretended or hammed up. But actor, rapper and comedian Awkwafina – real name Nora Lum, which is what she uses for this series beyond the title, for reasons that will become clear – is the real, wholly baffled deal.
Non-game recognises non-game, and as a kitchenphobe myself, I see the truth in her crouched stance by the oven or hob, fearful yet hostile to anything they may ask of her. We see her pour milk over a couple of eggs she has just lobbed doubtfully into a pan, the tentativeness with which she approaches spatulas and ladles, the hatred in her eyes when presented with raw ingredients – it all speaks to someone who has remained truly untouched by the culinary arts and was, at least until a commissioning editor approached with an idea, happy to remain so.