Our most viewed videos of 2014

With Christmas approaching, we've looked back at the 10 most viewed videos from our channel this year - from Massimo's 'Oops! I dropped the lemon tart' to Adam Reid's ox, veal and liquorice recipes we've covered a vast amount of chefs and restaurants which we will be sure to continue in 2015. 10) Michelin-star chef Sam Moody creates lamb, heritage tomato and monkfish recipes: Starting the list at 10 with 17,021 views is Sam Moody of the Bath Priory Hotel cooking three dishes: summer vegetable salad with heritage tomatoes and goat’s cheese, crispy Brixham monkfish with spiced tomato compote and curry mayonnaise, and loin of salt marsh lamb with samphire, smoked garlic and lamb jus. 9) Chef Adam Reid creates ox, veal and liquorice recipes: Our 9th most viewed video, with 17,740 views is Adam Reid of The French by Simon Rogan cooking three dishes: ox in coal oil with pumpkin seed, kohlrabi and sun flower shoots, English rose veal with turnips, dripping potatoes and hen of the woods, and a dessert of Lancashire coals with liquorice, milk and fennel. There isn’t much going on in the comments, but user Renard LeBlanc is intrigued by the use of coal oil, which he feels is ‘sort of glossed over’. 8) Two Michelin star chef David Everitt-Matthias creates a recipe of hand dived scallops and carrots Next, with 22,313 views is David Everitt-Matthias of Le Champignon Sauvage creating seared hand-dived scallops with salt-baked heritage carrots, carrot and liquorice puree, buttermilk puree and caramelised milk crumbs. ‘The colours on that dish, wow!’ says one commenter. ‘This looks like s**t’ says another. Oh well, we tried… 7) Three-Michelin star chef Massimo Bottura creates his 5 ages and textures of Parmigiano Reggiano recipe Massimo Bottura of legendary restaurant Osteria Francescana’s first (and not final) appearance is at 7 with this video with 22,840 views, where he creates a recipe using five different ages and textures of Parmigiano Reggiano. In the comments, things were actually quite unified, with everyone being impressed with his use of the one single ingredient. 6) Three-Michelin star chef Massimo Bottura - Oops! I dropped the lemon tart recipe Massimo Bottura makes another appearance in the list, this time with 24,407 views, describing how he came up with Oops! I dropped the lemon tart, a dish that was created by accident after the version that was due to be sent out was dropped. User impressionsbysimon calls Massimo’s presentation ‘modern art’ while S. Man is keen to question the approach as he asks ‘what is cuisine? Is it art or feeding hungry people?’ ‘I don't think cuisine is art,’ he says further down, ‘it's just feeding someone when he's hungry with high quality food’. It’s certainly an interesting topic, but YouTube is probably not the best place to debate it. 5) Ruth Hinks World Chocolate Master demonstrates three chocolate ideas with Callebaut chocolate Something different here at number 5 with 24,731 views as, in a live demonstration, Ruth Hinks of Cocoa Black creates three chocolate desserts using Callebaut chocolate. Meanwhile, many commenters are amazed by how many times Ruth says ‘okay’ with one even suggesting a drinking game from it. Note: we do not endorse this. 4) Three-Michelin star chef Jocelyn Herland creates a recipe of Lobster and truffled chicken Fourth with 26,498 views is Jocelyn Harland from the three star Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester restaurant cooking the signature dish of sauté gourmand of lobster, truffled chicken quenelles and homemade pasta. Below, user Elbottoo is not happy with the portion sizes and believes the dish probably takes about ’10 bucks’ to make. Other commenters point out the amount of effort to make the pasta, and compare the dish to a painting, where the value is worth more than the oil and canvas it’s painted with. 3) Three-Michelin star chef Jocelyn Herland creates a cooked vegetables with olives and tomatoes recipe Into the top three with 29,033 views is another Jocelyn Herland video, this time of him cooking two dishes: raw and cooked vegetables, Taggiasca olives and tomato syrup and a cookpot of British terroir vegetables and Montgomery cheddar. In the comments, user Aaron Moroney points out how the first dish would be ‘a bitch to plate during busy service’ and Gabriel Martins like the fact that meat free dishes are earning Michelin stars for a change. Meanwhile, Christopher Andrews demands an explanation of why the second dish is worthy of three stars, but no one comes to his aid. Michelin star Peruvian chef Robert Ortiz cooks sea bass, scallops and octopus Our second most viewed video of the year with 29,733 views is the Peruvian chef Robert Ortiz of Lima in London cooking three dishes: sea bass ceviche, fresh scallops with peppers and braised octopus. The presentation of the dishes considering it’s a Michelin star restaurant causes concern for commenters though; JOnTHeMOnSoon says he ‘would have plated the scallops differently’ and theBraxil says they look ‘flat and messy’. And our most viewed video in 2014 was... 3-Michelin star chef Massimo Bottura - Psychedelic veal not flame grilled recipe Our most viewed video of 2014, with 42,730 views, is Massimo Bottura cooking his psychedelic veal not flame grilled recipe. He says the dish is inspired by British artist Damien Hurst, and is intended to play with your mind. Looking at the comments, the best pun goes to mikecat23 with ‘What a load of Pollock’. Fellow comedian zero123 points out Massimo’s resemblance to a certain American filmmaker with the blunt ‘woody allen is overpricing crap food’. Marcus Lion is amazed with Massimo’s dish, calling him a ‘True Italian Genius’, but dannycrankovich quotes Gordon Ramsay when he says ‘it looks like someone just threw up on my plate!’ Luckily it tasted better than that.

Keep up to date with our videos here as we will be bringing you plenty more in 2015.

By Stuart Armstrong