Best cooking show

I don't consider any of those cooking shows. I like to watch them from time to time, but when I watch a cooking show, I try to learn and emulate. It's very unrealistic for average me to afford the ingredients that the reality shows have, and have access to the kitchenware that they use. It's reality drama competitions that involve spectacular looking food.

Cooking shows that I like:

Good Eats
Everyday Italian
America's Test Kitchen (WETA/PBS)
Emerald Green

As for reality cooking bonanza's, I guess I like The Next Iron Chef because I have rooting interest in Scribo's wife's boss, Freitag.

 

This.

 

Thanks for the link. That was a great article. I really loved Jamie Oliver back in the Naked Chef days, lost interest in him when he became the uber celebrity, but I have come full circle and really have a ton of respect for the food he cooks and the work he does in the community. His cookbooks are awesome, particularly the last two (Jamie's Kitchen and Jamie Cooks Italy). My wife and I are going to try to cook everything out of his Jamie's Kitchen book over the next year. We're both Welsh rarebit fans, and the recipe he used in that book is by far the best either one of us has had.

 

I'm Marc Summers.... Welcome to.... Unwrapped.

Today on the show. We're going to have a look.......... at how stuff... gets made.

My delivery.... makes William Shatner.... look like.... the Micro Machines guy.

 

yan can cook was the best...

and on another note, eat drink man woman was the best cooking movie

 

This seems to be more about reality/competition shows. In which case Top Chef has perfected the formula. It has only been topped by Top Chef masters.

Back in the day the original Iron Chef rocked. I wish there were still reruns. The dramatic background of the contestant coupled w/ the intro made it feel like you were going to watch a heavyweight fight. Combine competitive chefs w/ Japanese kitsch and you have combination that cannot be recreated in America.

As for normal cooking shows, ditto Good Eats, and I also agree about the PBS shows - BBQ University, Ming Tsai, Hubert Keller, etc. And I am a sucker for Giada. But I've moved away from the Food Channel since it seems to be going the way of MTV/VH1; less true cooking shows and more about finding extreme foods & restaurants.

 

Thanks, but her boss is Holly Smith, who got booted off last week. She really didn't find her groove on that show. However, Holly is going to compete on Iron Chef in 2 weeks. She knows her ingredient will be grapes, bourbun, or barracuda. They pick her competitor, so she doesn't know who she'll be up against. My wife just started work last week after 4 months off for maternity leave and unfortunately won't be making the trip to NY.

I do have to say that it's frustrating to watch Iron Chef\Next Iron Chef after watching Top Chef. That show is so much better. The production values are better, there's no moronic chairman, and the challenges usually showcase the chef's cooking better.

 

Good Eats, Alton Brown's personality makes that show and it is really the only educational show on the network. You can learn something from the other shows but not much.

Iron Chef, yes, I know they have a bit more time and warning but this is the show I learn the most from. It is great to be able to watch new techniques with ingredients and I love seeing how they manage their time.

As I understand it, the chefs have five options for the secret ingredient. I have friends who did cooking competitions when we were in culinary school and inevitably you make an educated guess as to what the secret ingredient will be. You still have a detailed menu for any of your options and do dry runs for them before the competition.

When we hosted Iron Chef competitions at Urban Chef, even the professional cooks were given an hour and a half and ran out of time. We gave people three possible options for the secret ingredient one time and everyone assumed it wouldn't be the one we picked so they were slightly unprepared. One group told exactly what the ingredient would be and it didn't make the challenge much easier. We also only required three dishes. But just being part of a competition raises the bar so high that people run out of time.

That said, I still think there should be a Clutch Fans Iron Chef competition soon...

 

Is this the same guy who hosts America's Funniest Home Video or did they just go to the same school of TV hosting? Obviously, the Food Network needs more programming. It's annoying to listen to them choose the Next Food Network Star and see what their thinking is about what appeals to the average viewer. I get the impression they have a rather elitist NY view about the rest of the country (we need Sandra Lee to show us how to doctor Hamburger Helper and Marc Summers to enlighten us about how Twinkies are made and other deep questions we spend hours wondering about )

 

I think it's always been three ingredients for Iron Chef. It was for Tom Douglas (another Seattle chef who drew salmon when he took down Morimoto) a few years back. The team from Cafe Juanita is not working a single hour at the restaurant this week as they go through multiple runs on the 3 ingredients they have. I really hope she draws Batali. They're both from Seattle and both cook Italian food. I'd love to see those two throw down.

 

Is your wife on the team? I wish them the best!

 

No. She's been back at work for only 5 shifts since her maternity leave. Holly's taking her sous chef and one of the line cooks. It should be interesting. I'm very curious to hear how their practice went, and what the hell 5 course meal do you make out of barracuda?

Where do you cook? My wife worked at Aries under Jason Gold right after culinary school before we moved here to Seattle. I was sad to hear his time at Gravitas ended so badly, but not surprised because Scott Tycer is an ass.

My wife would love to compete in an iron chef like competition, but I really don't think she wants to do it on national television. Too bad we don't live in Houston so she could join a Clutch Fans competition.

 

Alton Brown's Colonel Sanders is gold. He could do a spinoff show in that character.

 

After culinary school in Chicago I worked for the Ritz Carlton and then a small catering company. When we moved to Houston almost ten years ago I started a wedding cake business. After our first daughter was born I opened Urban Chef, which offers hands-on cooking classes. If your wife loves cooking and is looking for a great way to stay in the field and still have family time she might want to consider teaching. Congrats on your new baby!

 

She's at a bit of a crossroads with her career. She's been cooking about 7 years but we now have 2 children under the age of 2. I have flexible hours, but she still wants to have more time with the kids. Teaching is something she is considering as well as opening a smaller scale cafe that's only open during the day. She'd had sous chef opportunities, but at this point, I don't think she's willing to put in the hours required (and I don't think I'm on board with that either). I'm glad you were able to find a balance. It's so hard for people with families to make it work in the food industry, and as much as I hate to say it, probably even harder for women.

 

My bad Scribo.

And sea cucumber is damned good btw.