PBS Cooking shows

Cafe Society
1

Inspired by a thread on IMHO, I thought I’d ask here in Cafe Society about some of the PBS cooking shows. About 10 or so years ago, I got into watching some of them on Saturdays. My favorites were Natalie Dupree (sp?), a lady who was in either Indiana or Illinois who did Amish-style cooking (I cannot recall her name), and a vegetarian show with a guy from California who used some spice that begins with an A in nearly every dish! LOL

Does anyone recall this vegetarian cooking show? The theme music was a Bach tune. LOL Now I can’t remember which one! The Amish-style cooking one was very interesting as well–especially one time the cook was making a dough, and as she was adding the liquid ingredients to the mixer, it splattered all over the place (guess she turned the machine on a bit too high…:)). But seriously, all the cooking shows were really quite informative, and once in a while I’d actually try something from there. I never did find that spice the veggie guy used, though!

tarragon

2

Don’t know about the spice and veggie guy, but the Amish cooking woman is Marcia Adams…

3

AHHH cooking shows, one of my favorite subjects! Settle in, this may take awile.

Sorry, I can’t say as I remember who the vegan was, I gues the 2 PBS stations near me never showed him.

** kiz** is right. Marcia Adams does “Amish Cooking from Quilt country” and “Cooking from the Heartland” These come from WBGU out of Bowling Green, Ohio. Mrs. Adams recently went through a bit of heart surgery, but is doing fine. I’ve copped some killer recipes from her over the last few years. She’s absolutly wonderfull about giving full amount of what she cooks with so it is quite easy.

Right now my favorite TV cook has got to be Dominic Garamone, or as we affectionatly call him, The Bread Brother. The Monk who does “Breaking Bread with Fr.Dominic.” Not only does he make bread looking so damn easy, he is a joy to listen to. If you’re bored go check his site, (www.breaking-bread) and find out what kind of bread you are!

Thanks to Jacqes Peppin I mispronounce "Mango’ using the short A in fAther instead of the long as plAys. Boy do I get funny looks.

I Miss Jeff Smith! He was The Frugal Goumet untill he got himself into a bit of trouble with the boys. (Methodist Minister, you know?) I never knew so much about the food products from America untill catching his series on American cooking.

As far as I can recall, over the years, and untill now, Our PBS Stations have showed the following Cooks, or shows.(sorry If I cant remeber them all but here goes.) Julia Child, Hirsch the Grill Guy, Natlie Dupree, Jeff Smith, Grahm Kerr, Dianne Weir, Michael Ciarello, Paul (From K-Paul reasturant), Justin Wilson, Gary Rhodes, Martin Yan, Ainsley Herriot (man I love that smile), The pair of female Brits who cook Italian, Cookoff America, America’s Test Kitchen, Family Kitchen, Great Food, New Jewish Cuisine, and Ciao Italia (whew!)

I recently got cable but one mUst pay extra for the Food Channel, so I’m crushed. I did love “Two Fat Old Ladies” and was broken hearted to hear one had passed recently. You gotta love anyone who can cook that well and drives a motorcycle with a side car!

** Booooooooo ** to Cooking shows who don’t do as Mrs. Adams and clearly tell what thier ingredience and amounts are! I watch you guys for a reason. How can I duplicate the recipe unless I know if that’s 1/2 or 1 tbls? Is this a cooking show or a ploy to sell more cookbooks? ** HIssssssssssssssss **

4

Yes, that was Marcia Adams–I think the program I watched was “Amish cooking from Quilt country.” She always had a quilt that she showed at the end. Very interesting recipes.

The vegetarian cooking show, I wish I could remember more about it! I did remember that the theme music was one of the Bach Brandenburg concertos, though. :slight_smile: The host was a guy, he may have been Zen Buddhist. And he did use a spice that was ashta(something) in -almost- every dish. LOL I never did try many of his dishes. All I can get my kids to try is jerk chicken and tandoori chicken.

thanks again :slight_smile:

tarragon

5

I’ve grown addicted to Rick Bayless, so much so that I bought his “Mexican Home Cooking” cookbook and have recently become the salsa queen at work due to my newly acquired skills at salsa making. Especially roasted tomatillo-serrano chile salsa. Yum!

I’m a sucker for any cooking show which is combined with a travel show. I know this thread is entitled PBS Cooking Shows, but may I be excused for a hijack to “My Country, My Cuisine” on FoodTV, in which talented chefs take you literally to their country of origin and shows where they were inspired? I especially loved the one where Roy Yamaguchi took us to Tokyo and showed us the little back alleyways populated with mom and pop restaurants. Rick Bayless made an appearance on this show as well, and took us to Mexico City and showed us the food markets and street cooking stands.

'Scuse me, but I’m off to make a mango salsa to serve with tonight’s grilled opah. Thanks, Rick!

6

Wow, some great info & input here–thanks bunches! :slight_smile: My cable has Food TV as a “basic” level, so I’ll have to check it out. I was only “into” those cooking shows for a few years, unfortunately. I had been wondering about Ms. Adams, and am glad to know she’s doing okay now. I always enjoyed her shows and will have to catch them again. Entertaining & informative! :slight_smile:

TelcontarStorm, you’re so right about the cooks not giving specific recipe amounts, and showing the recipe for long enough on screen to be copied down! That is aggravating. Nathalie Dupree was always pretty good about that, though.

I was able to find out what spice it was that the veggie chef used–it’s an Indian spice called: asafoetida, which has an onion-y taste to it, I think. Still trying to find out what his name is. I don’t think he’s on PBS any more.

tarragon

7

My personal favorites are the shows that will demonstratet he creation of a dish from start to finish, as opposed to hacking a few ingredients up on camera to “demonstrate” then turning to a perfectly prepared product that’s really the result of a food stylist backstage as opposed to something created on camera. I’ve always been partial to the “Great Chefs” series (now on TLC in the afternoons) for this very reason. Real chefs demonstrating the cooking techniques the whole way through (for the most part). I realize the constraints of filming a show within a certain time limit, but it always frustrates me when I’m trying to pick up a technique and instead of truly demonstrating it, they simply pan the camera to “one that I prepared a little earlier”.

One of the greatest shows that got me interested in cooking was Floyd on Fish by Keith Floyd. He was always so insistent on doing the dish the whole way through so that the viewing audience could see just how it turned out, good or bad.

Personally, I’m not fanatic aobut the amounts used, I’m more interested in the techniques the professionals use to create the food they do. I can find the amounts in the books, but the visual demonstration of the techinques that are used or the ideas of taste combinations are harder to gather from books for me.

Other favorites for me are anything by Julia Child, Jacques Pepin (even better when they’re in the kitchen together) and Rick Bayless. Alton Brown and Good Eats which has to be one of the funniest and most informative cooking show ever. I enjoy Mario Batalli on Food Network, he’s also very informative about the various regional differences in Italian cuisine. Oh, Tony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour, I never miss, but that might be because I absolutely loved both his books.

Oh and Iron Chef, obviously. You can’t learn a damn thing but it’s just so cool.
Shows and hosts about whom I’m not so thrilled:

Bobby Flay
Emeril
Nathalie Dupree (she had the worst knife skills. I used to watch her and marvel that she hadn’t severed a major artery every time she picked up a piece of cutlery.)
Jamie Oliver (the cockney accent was cute for a while, but I’m getting really, really tired of his whole schtick.)
Jim Schiebler from Fit Cuisine ( I hate his food. There is good low-fat “healthy” food, this ain’t it. The real reason I dislike him however is that he scares me. I’ve never, ever seen someone whose teeth actually flouresce under visible light. If that’s the result of healthy eating, bring on the cracklins. )

[sup]I watch way too many cooking shows…[/sup]

8

I also love Breaking Bread. Father Dominic is so passionate about his craft, and he always has fascinating cultural facts about each style of bread he shows us.

I also like Nick Stellino. He may not be the best teacher, but he’s so much fun to watch. He’s so…so…Italian! The show comes from my local station, and is produced by my sometime boss (I make cookbooks for some of her other shows). I’ve met the guy, and he’s just as over-the-top excited about life in person. They are taping about 2 more years worth of Family Kitchen this summer.

9

I thought it was Floyd on Food? Or maybe he had two shows. This was one of my favourite cooking shows. One reason I liked it was because, as Ankh_Too said, he’d show you the actual product of his efforts. Most cooking shows have the dish prepared ahead of time. The host makes the dish, puts it in the oven, then pulls out the already-cooked dish to show how it comes out. They do it this way because there is usually a live audience. I think shows that didn’t have a live audience did it this way out of tradition.

Not Floyd, though. He’d put the dish in the oven and then cut to a few seconds of vintage silent-movie footage. When they cut back to the studio, they picked it up when the dish was done: “Okay, now we’re going to put this into the oven, and through the magic of television…” [cut to vintage comedy footage] “… We pull the cooked dish out of the oven.” I think the old footage was accompanied by The OK Chorale singing backup.

I liked his theme music – Peaches by The Stanglers. Too bad my turntable is packed away. I have a Stranglers record around here somewhere…

And it was amusing to watch how mush he enjoyed his alcohol. Often he was quite pissed by the end of the show.

I also used to like The Frugal Gourmet. He had some good, simple meals that looked delicious. He really seemed to get excited about food. I liked his enthusiasm.

10

I have to say that I’m forever in Natalie Dupree’s debt for showing me how to make a decent pie crust using a food processor. Her method is so simple and almost foolproof. I have tried for years before using the “pasty blender” method and always had trouble. Now I make the best tasting pies thanks to her.
I am a vegetarian (had been a vegan for several years) but I never saw that show on PBS with the male vegan cook. I remember Kathy’s Kitchen, and more recently Mollie Katzan, from the Moosewood Cookbook fame. That cookbook, incidentally, has some of the best recipes, in particular the Scheherezade Casserole and the Ratatouille with polenta. Simply delicious.

11

** Saltire** Thanks for reminding me of Nick. How could I forget about Nick? What happened to him? I saw a few episodes of his show that were hosted by someone else (Face familiar, name not. Bug eyed actor) I’d heard Nick had a bout himself, but I’d never heard if he came out OK. Nick is one of those cooks I’d love to get into the kitchen with.

** Pugluver** You might also enjoy “Burt Wolfe’s Travels and Traditions” I know the local PBS shows it, but PBS being the fickle moster it is, your local station may not show it. He also does the travel and cook bit. I was a bit impressed by a trip he took to one of the U.S. Nat’l Parks and did Cowboy Cooking. (I think this was his?)

Who’s the old Italian(meebee French?) guy that can get 4 pans going at the same time and not be rattled? He wears some pretty colorfull costumes, and it getting a bit thin on top. I loved his energy and ability to multitask. I’d love to catch him on reruns if he’s on H&G or Discovery.

Great Chefs is one of those shows that alternatly amuses and annoys me. Granted, they show great technique, but the shifting from one Cook to the next, and the speed at which the show moves gives it the feeling of unfocusnessed. Of course, you know it dosn’t keep me from watching it!

Yes, Paul Prudhomme that’s him. Great spice cookies.

“HAPPY COOKING”… J.P.

12

I owe it to America’s Test Kitchen for finally teaching me how to properly pan-sear a steak and do stir-fry.

13

PBS’s most famous chef was probably Julia Child, who has the unique honor of being the first program in television history to be closed-captioned.

14

Interesting! Oh, Julia, you gotta love her. I remember seeing an episode once that showed her kitchen and pantry at home and it was amazing - she has so many cooking utensils that she has them COVERING her walls and because she can’t remember where they all go, her husband stenciled around them so she could remember where they go. And, while we’re at it, I still giggle when I think of the old Dan Akroid SNL skit where he plays Julia cutting her finger and blood is gushing all over the place.

I still love the Galloping Gourmet - Graham Kerr is a real treat to watch - he’s very charismatic and fun. His show is on oldie though - it looks rather 70’s.

Also, have to go with Cooks Tour and The Naked Chef on the Food Channel. Tony on Cooks Tour is just too New York cool and his claim to fame is that he’ll eat ANYTHING. (and, man, he isn’t kidding!)

Two Fat Ladies was hysterical, although, I always found the food that they made rather repulsive. Well, I guess that’s why they were fat. But, they were great.

-pinky

15

Today I saw some of a pbs (I think) cooking show where a male chef was making a pasta dish he was going to serve in a bread bowl lined with swiss cheese. I could not find any information on this particular cooking show on my pbs channel. Can anyone help me out with the name of the show and/or chef so I can look up the recipe? Thanks!

16

Since you started a separate thread with your question, I’m going to lock this zombie.