Willkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome

For my birthday recently, I received a gift from my friends Joel and Liv. Opening it from the bottom, it appeared to be a jar of pickled gherkins. My emotions quickly moved from bemusement to worriment - I was going to have to feign enthusiasm for this in front of a group of people. It turned out that they were indeed pickled gherkins, but not just any pickled gherkins. They were Barry Norman Pickled Gherkins. Knowing that I am a fan of cinema, they thought I would appreciate this. And appreciate it I did.

Over time I pondered whether I would actually eat the gherkins - when it comes to pickles/gherkins, I can't say I'm a huge fanatic, nor am I a naysayer. I came to the idea that I would eat the gherkins. Furthermore I would eat other products endorsed by celebrities, and review them. That is, review both the celebrity and the product, rating each out of 10 (for a grand total out of 20).

I'm not sure if this idea has much legs, so this is an open invitation for suggestions/recommendations. A few rules though. I'll try to steer clear of celebrity chefs, so it won't be a procession of Jamie Olivers, Gordon Ramsays and (cyclist-bothering) James Martins. The same goes for people who are famous because of their product, e.g. Levi Roots. I will end up reviewing some celebrities more than once - most endorse a range of products, and I don't think I can condense all I have to say about Loyd Grossman into one post. Finally, the degree of endorsement may vary - some, like Barry Norman, may have had a role in developing the product itself, while some may have just lent their image to the packaging. At the very least they or their name must appear on the packaging.

So join me on this journey, from the world of celebrity into my kitchen, and I dedicate these endeavours to Joel and Liv, for setting me on this path in the first place.