A town in Appalachia with high rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes gets visited by a handsome and foreign celebrity chef who aims to tell the populace how to eat better.

Bring out the pitchforks and shotguns!

It wasn't that bad, but Huntington, W.Va. -- already stung by having been described as America's unhealthiest metro area -- didn't greet Jamie Oliver with hugs.

Those dire stats are why the millionaire British chef, author and TV star came to this area -- about 280 miles south of Pittsburgh geographically, but much closer in terms of foodways and other habits -- this past fall to make a reality series for ABC. "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution" will be previewed at 10 p.m. Sunday before repeating at 8 p.m. on March 26, and thereafter settling into a 9 p.m. Friday slot.

I'm not a fan of much reality TV, but being one of both Mr. Oliver and this region, I was intrigued as soon as I heard about this experiment and followed it as best I could.

Like more than one woman I know, I've been charmed by "the Naked Chef's" cheerful manner and expert ease in the kitchen, which shine in his books and on his shows. But in recent projects, he's been more of a rabble-rouser, doing everything from shining light on dark corners of the meat industry to starting a foundation to help disadvantaged youth make it in the food business.

With his 2005 "Jamie's School Dinners" series, he helped get the British government to commit tens of millions to start improving school food. And his 2008 "Ministry of Food" series was all about improving the eating habits of the townfolk of gritty Rotherham, England, many of whom he inspired or taught to cook for the first time, as he shares in his new cookbook, "Jamie's Food Revolution" (Hyperion, $35).

That's the kind of revolution he hoped to ignite in Huntington. As he puts it on the show, "Real people, real change."

He reportedly approached the citizenry with his characteristic charisma, acknowledging that the stats that led to the "unhealthiest" tag -- in an Associated Press story based on a 2006 federal Centers for Disease Control report -- weren't that much higher than the (poor) national average. But he insisted that this is a matter of life or death, and that he wants to help Huntingtonians -- and other Americans -- live longer and better lives.

Sunday's premiere documents his and the town's first steps, some of which are backward, as when he has to defend some negative comments in a British TV interview as taken out of context.

He's out of context, too. The five "lunch ladies" he's working with, and then pitted against, during his week at Central City Elementary School are as keen on him and his fresh ingredients as he is about their highly processed food, including, appallingly to him, pizza for breakfast.

"Talk about into the deep end," he quips.

He is as disgusted by the mostly fried diet of one family he visits at home.

I cringed at the food, too -- and loved the people.

That Mr. Oliver does both, too, is what keeps him and his effort going forward.

The first episode sets up some of what viewers will see in the series, including the opening, in Huntington's Pullman Square, of "Jamie's Kitchen," where locals can drop in for cooking classes and other instruction.

Will Mr. Oliver really get to give a lesson to the local DJ who fairly sneers, "We don't want to sit around and just eat lettuce all day"?

That drama is sure to be part of the media blitz this week, as Mr. Oliver and his "Revolution" show up on "Oprah" and the like. But it's clear that Huntington should share in the limelight.

As school-cook-turned-show-star Alice Gue tellingly reminds Mr. Oliver in the show, "We said we'll try or you wouldn't be here."

I'll be curious to know what lasting impact Mr. Oliver's visit and the aftermath may have on the good people of Huntington. From reading the Herald-Dispatch online, it seems that school lunches have changed, thanks in part to a grant from Cabell Huntington Hospital for other schools to be trained, too. And what's now "Huntington's Kitchen" and its basic cooking classes have been taken over by a nonprofit called Ebenezer Medical Outreach, which is holding a fundraiser premiere at a local theater on Saturday.

Kitchen manager Jill Moore, who is girding for a surge of interest in the place, reports, "Things are going great here. We have classes that are into week four and people are really enjoying it."

Indeed, the buzz coming from Huntingtonians who've lived through all this seems positive.

"I'm really excited about having the experience," Central City Elementary principal Patrick O'Neal told the Herald-Dispatch last month after he was flown to meet Michelle Obama and talk about her new "Let's Move" anti-childhood obesity initiative. "I'm making changes myself ... and applying a lot of school recipes here in my house."

Hey, I'm all for happy endings, and anything that tries.

In that sense, I think this little series will be better -- dare I say, fresher? -- than a lot of what Americans would otherwise consume on a Friday night.

Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake

PG tested

Anyone who knows Jamie Oliver knows that he doesn't just eat salad all day. He likes meat, butter and sweets -- in moderation.

I mixed it in a food processor as he suggests and made the cake for my visiting niece. Both of us were surprised that it wasn't too sweet, though I was happier about that than she was. Yummy.

-- Bob Batz Jr.

• 7 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate (60-percent cocoa solids), or 1 heaped cup of chips
• 3/4 cup butter, plus extra for greasing
• 2/3 cup packed soft brown sugar
• 2/3 cup skinned almonds
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
• Pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic
• 1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/4 pound soft fudge
• Creme fraiche or vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Break up the chocolate, put it into a food processor with the butter, sugar, almonds, 1 tablespoon of the cocoa powder, and the salt, and whiz until smooth. Crack your eggs, one at a time, into the food processor and add the flour. Whiz again until smooth.

Get a deep baking pan roughly 10-by-10 inches in size. Butter the dish really well and sprinkle the remaining tablespoon of cocoa powder over it. Shake it around a bit so it lightly coats the whole surface of the pan. Pour the cake batter into the pan, using a spatula to scrape it all out of the processor. Break the fudge into pieces and sprinkle these over the top of the cake batter, pushing any larger pieces down into the batter. Pop the baking pan into the preheated oven and cook for 18 to 20 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and stick a fork into the middle of it. If there's a little bit of cake mixture on the fork when you pull it out, that's OK -- you want the cake to still be a little moist inside so that it's nice and squidgy. However, if it seems a bit wobbly, pop it back into the oven for another 3 to 5 minutes to firm up a bit.

Let your cake cool slightly and serve it warm and gooey. Lovely with a dollop of creme fraiche, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a bit of heavy cream. Serves 8.

-- "Jamie's Food Revolution" by Jamie Oliver (Hyperion, 2009)

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