Even though I’m getting tired of the sheer volume of cookery shows on the box, one consistently pleasant treat is Si and Dave aka The Hairy Bikers. And last night, they appeared chortling into view with The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best (BBC Two, Tuesday, 12 January, 8pm). Many foodie gits have bemoaned the non-pro cooks that appear on our screens, but like a lot of TV viewers (I suspect… and I’m often wrong), I’m more prone to a food enthusiast than a food Nazi… something that could never be thrown at Si and Dave or Delia.

Last night, our food-buffoons were looking at picnics. Now, looking out of the window, it’s hardly pic-er-nic weather Boo-Boo… but that’s beside the point. There’s a statistic somewhere that shows that most people who watch TV food shows don’t ever end up following the advice or recipes of the things they see on television. Basically, TV chefs don’t influence us by and large.

However, on the completely unscientific findings of Me Talking To People I Know, Si and Dave have somehow managed to pass on their enthusiasm for cooking to us on the collective couch. So… picnics? Sod that, we’ll eat your wares at home where it’s warm.

Instead of trying to guide us toward sustainable this or bespoke butchery that, the Hairy Bikers have gone straight for something that all humans love… and that’s mum’s cooking. Unless your mum is rubbish at cooking. Still, people like that will still like the special recipes of someone else’s mum.

Anyway, recipes that have been passed from generation to generation are a wondrous thing and Si and Dave rolled in town to celebrate them. What we got was the usual feeling of fuzzy warm as they both talked to people like they actually liked them in a non patronising manner and the result was a load of people laughing and having fun with food (stick that in your pipe pro-kitchens).

So from (the underrated) Scotch egg, to a whole host of ace looking Indian dishes from a Birmingham mum, to the weird notion of bananas wrapped in bacon (which, I have to admit, sounds a bit grim… but curious enough for me to want to try) we got a load of lovely looking stuff that, by virtue of the fact it was made by ordinary people, felt accessible and doable enough for viewers to actually try at home.

Si and Dave don’t make groundbreaking telly… but it ain’t half pleasing.