Vincentian family to feature on BBC cooking show

A family with Vincentian roots will be featured in a cooking show which will air next week on BBC2.

Jacqueline Codougan, 45, her daughter Chantal, 24 and son Dom, 23, live together in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. They will compete in heat six of ‘The Big Family Cooking Showdown’, a major new food show that celebrates favourite family recipes.

Jacqueline, one of seven children, was born in St Vincent. Orginally from Rose Place, Jackie, as she is known, lived most of her life at Campden Park. She attended the Lowmans Leeward Anglican School and the Intermediate High School in St Vincent.

Although she left St Vincent in 1997, she visits every year, as her mother, Yvonne Biddy, still lives here. Her father, Winston Buster Biddy, of Campden Park, died last year.

Jacqueline is very close to her mother and spent a lot of her time in the kitchen. Many her recipes and ingredients are influenced by recipes handed down from generation to generation.

Chantal has worked as a portrait artist and Dom is a mobile barber. He describes his family as “a pack of lions” – each being strong-minded and fierce, but having their own roles. Jacqueline is the chief cook; Chantal is in charge of seasoning; and Dom is the practical one. They love nothing more than dancing around the kitchen together.

“For us, it’s always a party in the kitchen. We like to make it as fun and Caribbean as we can. Hopefully, they’re ready for us!” the Codougans say, referring to their competitors, the Kings, who are a couple who have been married over 40 years and are regular visitors to the home of their daughter Jackie, 38 in Lincolnshire. Jackie will compete with them on the programme.

The Big Family Cooking Showdown is a 12-part competition involving 16 families of home cooks from across Britain.

Presented by Zoe Ball and Nadiya Hussain, the series will delve into kitchens up and down the country, showcasing family food that creates the heart within the home and brings generations together.

In search of Britain’s best family of cooks, judging their efforts are renowned cookery teacher Rosemary Shrager and top Michelin-starred chef Giorgio Locatelli. The two judges will set challenges in both the studio kitchen and home kitchens, whittling down the 16 teams of cooks over eight heats, three semi-finals and one grand final.

In each episode, two families, represented by three family members, will go head to head, tested by these three challenging rounds: The £10 Challenge – Showcasing the very best the teams can do to feed 4 with a budget of £10, in 1hr 15 minutes; Home Visits Challenge – Both families must cook a main course and a dessert for Rosemary and Giorgio in their own homes in 90 minutes; Impress The Neighbours Challenge – both families return to the studio for the deciding round, creating a starter and a main course in 2hrs 15 minutes.