The Best is a British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 cookery programme

Television program

A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 which aired for ten episodes in 2002 on BBC2. The series starred British cooks Silvana Franco

Silvana Franco

Silvana Franco is a British TV personality and chef. She starred in the 2002 BBC series The Best.-External links:*http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chef_biogs/f.shtml?silvana_franco*http://uktv.co.uk/food/item/aid/530570...

 and Paul Merrett

Paul Merrett

Paul Merrett is a chef and TV personality based in Godalming who is known for being a frequent guest chef on Saturday Kitchen, a resident chef on Sunday Feast, and starred in The Best along with Silvana Franco and Ben O'Donoghue. Paul Merrett owns and runs the Victoria Pub and Dining Rooms in Sheen...

 and Australian Ben O'Donoghue

Ben O'Donoghue

Ben O'Donoghue is an Australian chef and television personality. Currently he is one of the hosts and contestants of The Best in Australia airing on LifeStyle Food.-Early years:...

, who participated in friendly competition to create the best dish for each of two given categories per half-hour episode. Judging was performed by a rotating panel of three judges, who were not told who created which dish.

The sixty recipes seen in the series were collected in a 2003 book, also titled The Best. (ISBN 978-0563488538)