At the time I was playing it, I always regarded the first Cooking Mama game on the DS as something of a short-lived side dish to my main course of Advance Wars, Animal Crossing and New Super Mario Bros. Nevertheless, 505 Games’ cook-'em-up proved a pleasurable distraction while it lasted, and news reached our ears today of a sequel.

Like its predecessor, this one will be served up on the Nintendo DS and Wii, and your stylus will once again double up as an all-in-one multi-purpose kitchen tool, allowing you to chop, slice, pan fry, knead, grate, mash, tenderise, mix, peel, carve, roll and much more besides. New recipes are promised, and there’ll be twice as many mini-games as Cooking Mama’s 200.

Perhaps the most noteworthy addition, however, is a new multiplayer mode that lets players challenge others to a ‘cook off’, and with Ainsley Harriot nowhere to be seen, thank heavens.

"Following on from the phenomenal success of Cooking Mama, we’re thrilled to be bringing Cooking Mama 2 to Europe," commented Ian Howe, Managing Director over at 505 Games. "Cooking Mama delivered a truly original IP and Cooking Mama 2 promises to build on its success."

Coming in early 2008 for all you aspiring Heston Blumenthals.