What's your favorite cooking show of all time?

[Sonnenstrahl]

@Fried_Dough_Ho

Simon and Minty of Posh Nosh!

That’s my vote! I remember the first time I saw them on PBS, I thought they were serious for the first few minutes. And when Simon brought out the painting to show the colour of the flower, I laughed so hard it hurt.

[maplekiwi]

I loved old NZ show Hudson & Halls. They made Graham Kerr look restrained.

Current favourite is the British version of Master Chef. I’m watching the Oz version at the moment, but its only a fill in until the Bristish one reappears.

[Hazle_Weatherfield]

Justin Wilson and Iron Chef, Japan! Allez cuisine!

[Starving_Artist]

The Frugal Gourmet and Yan Can Cook were both my favorite cooking shows and the ones I learned the most from. I thoroughly enjoyed Justin Wilson’s show and The Galloping Gourmet too and I’m sure I would’ve loved watching Julia Child and Jacques Pepin - either together or individually - but they weren’t on where I lived at the time I was watching cooking shows.

[Panurge]

For older shows it’s definitely Floyd - for more recent ones I really like Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall’s (sp?) River Cottage programs (BBC channel 4, I think).

[don_t_ask]

I have long been a fan of cooking shows and have watched thousands of hours of them over the years. There are many fine shows that have been mentioned up thread but by far the best cooking shows I have ever seen are those featuring Heston Blumenthal.

Two series of In Search of Perfection where he goes to extraordinary lengths to fashion perfect versions of kitchen classics.

Two series of Heston’s Feasts where he concocts period feasts in series one and theme feasts in series two.

Big Chef Takes on Little Chef a reality show in which he revamps the menu for an English fast food chain.

He is like a cross between a mad scientist and a chef and one of the most likable people on TV. He is the anti Gordon Ramsay, smiling and laughing in the face of things going wrong. All the shows are about far more than cooking a meal. They are fun, funny and endlessly entertaining.

Here is an excellent review of series one of Heston’s Feasts although I think 10 out of 10 isn’t enough.

[MTCicero]

@Maiira

I agree with whoever mentioned Anthony Bourdain, too. He’s a prick, but every time I watch his show, I find myself salivating endlessly.

Best TV food personality working today, period.

The only reason I didn’t bring him up in the OP is because No Reservations is more a show about food and cultural traditions and people than it is a strict cooking show. That said, it’s still, like, 719 different types of awesome.

Tony Bourdain’s a national treasure, I tell ya.

[MTCicero]

@Stoid

2. He’s a thief. He pissed me off when he presented “his” clever way to avoid tough pie crust, which is to sub out some water with alcohol. He did it for apple pie, so specified Apple Jack as the alcohol, but the idea came from one of the writers at Cook’s Illustrated not very long ago. Granted that cooks can’t really be entirely original because of the very nature of cooking, that particular idea was so clever I really thought it was pretty low of Alton to treat it like it was his idea.

Didn’t know that. Still, I’m gonna have to try that next time I make an apple pie.

[Acsenray]

1. I’m sure Cook’s Illustrated didn’t invent that technique

2. I have never seen a cook credit an operational technique like that. Have you ever seen someone attribute the technique of sifting flour or crushing garlic ?

3. Did Alron actually claim he invented it?

4. The concept of thievery is generally associated with creative Doris, not useful techniques

[Fried_Dough_Ho]

Re: Alton Brown

@Stoid

2. He’s a thief. He pissed me off when he presented “his” clever way to avoid tough pie crust, which is to sub out some water with alcohol. He did it for apple pie, so specified Apple Jack as the alcohol, but the idea came from one of the writers at Cook’s Illustrated not very long ago. Granted that cooks can’t really be entirely original because of the very nature of cooking, that particular idea was so clever I really thought it was pretty low of Alton to treat it like it was his idea.

Totally concur. I have been involved in the professional food-and-wine writing community for over a dozen years and his name is often referred to in a not-so-pleasant fashion because of how much he “borrows” from others without giving credit.

Mostly known as a poser and not well-respected within the community of professionals. That he has gained such a huge following on the backs of so many hard-working recipe developers and actual writers has been a painful thing to watch. There are so many who are enamored with Brown and he holds little respect from his peers.

[MTCicero]

Wow. Who knew that Alton Brown is the culinary world’s equivalent of Dane Cook, Carlos Mencia, and Robin Williams?

Still, Michael Symon seems to like him.

[xenophon41]

@Fried_Dough_Ho

Re: Alton Brown

@Stoid

2. He’s a thief. He pissed me off when he presented “his” clever way to avoid tough pie crust, which is to sub out some water with alcohol. He did it for apple pie, so specified Apple Jack as the alcohol, but the idea came from one of the writers at Cook’s Illustrated not very long ago. Granted that cooks can’t really be entirely original because of the very nature of cooking, that particular idea was so clever I really thought it was pretty low of Alton to treat it like it was his idea.

Totally concur. I have been involved in the professional food-and-wine writing community for over a dozen years and his name is often referred to in a not-so-pleasant fashion because of how much he “borrows” from others without giving credit.

Mostly known as a poser and not well-respected within the community of professionals. That he has gained such a huge following on the backs of so many hard-working recipe developers and actual writers has been a painful thing to watch. There are so many who are enamored with Brown and he holds little respect from his peers.

Am I being wooshed here? Or are you claiming that there’s a cohesive community of true food writers who are collectively dismissive of Alton Brown because of his supposedly unwarranted success? Do these writers specialize in the subject of grapes with low sugar content?

[Acsenray]

@xenophon41

Am I being wooshed here? Or are you claiming that there’s a cohesive community of true food writers who are collectively dismissive of Alton Brown because of his supposedly unwarranted success? Do these writers specialize in the subject of grapes with low sugar content?

Seriously. The public is “enamored” with Brown because he does what he does better than anyone else in an entertaining and educational way. While there is certainly room for creativity in cooking, cooking techniques are not something that can be “stolen” and require giving credit for, any more than sewing techniques or carpentry techniques or auto repair techniques.

[gregorio]

Canada checking in here.

I’ve really been enjoying Ricardo and Friends recently. I was dismissive when it first came on but then got hooked. It has a lot to do with how his accent mangles words like the measurement “one third” and the word “spatula”. I like his sets, his meals and his visits to the food producers and retailers.

Bitchin Kitchen is all kinds of awesome. Fun premise, fun show.

The irreverant series stars Nadia G. alongside Panos da Fish n’ Meat Guy, The Spice Agent, and Hans the Scantily-Clad Food Correspondent.

David Rocco’s La Dolce Vita. Especially the first season when it was new. I don’t like the most recent, shot in the autumn on the cheap during off-season feel of the latest ones as much, but they’re still good. Good looking scenery, food, people. Nonas, models, and pizza making brothers fighting over who’s pizza is the best.

None of these are cooking how-tos, more like cooking entertainment, but the food is there and I have tried recipies from Ricardo and they worked.

Okay now Shaw Cable, broadcast my Food TV in HD, dammit!

[DoctorJ]

The Frugal Gourmet got me started cooking. It helped that I was able to find all of his books on the cheap in used bookstores. The “Frugal” part was important because I was an undergraduate at the time.

Good Eats gave me a framework for thinking about food and cooking and helped me understand what was really going on in the pan. His actual recipes tend to be a little lacking (who the hell puts cumin in meatloaf?), but for learning the finesse points of preparing certain dishes and ingredients and the science behind it all he’s invaluable.

But I have to give it to What’s Cookin’ Now! Of course, I’m a little biased, being one of the hosts.

[MPB_in_Salt_Lake]

This may be a longshot, but does anyone remember a PBS show from around 10 years back that featured two guys from Texas or Louisiana–an uncle and his nephew–(though they were pretty close in age as I recall) who focused on a fusion between New Orleans/Cajun food and traditional Italian cuisine?

It was really entertaining, and they clearly were having a great time on the show—They teased each other a lot, like uncles and nephews will, and horsed around plenty, all while cooking up some exceptionally great looking eats…

Anyone remember these guys?

[Stoid]

@acsenray

1. I’m sure Cook’s Illustrated didn’t invent that technique

I’m pretty sure they did. Pie crust was the first baking I ever did 40 years ago and I have been obsessively looking for the perfect recipe or technique ever since. So I can testify that if anyone else ever thought of it, they kept it to themselves.

And the CI article described how they came to the alcohol, it wasn’t just announced. Which is what Kimball’s Minions do…they experiment and sample and test relentlessly to find ways of doing things better, and they come up with new methods.

The alcohol thing is a really huge innovation that was published in CI in September 2007 and Alton talked about it in February 2008.

[Stoid]

A quick google for alcohol in pie crust shows every hit is after CI published it, and they all reference CI:

Ward Street Bistro:

Cooks Illustrated is of course all over the perfect pie crust recipe. Its most recent entry is the vodka crust. Like vinegar, the (flavorless) alcohol inhibits gluten development. But vodka also has the advantage of evaporating during cooking, which means you can add more liquid initially. The moister dough, the easier it is to handle and roll out. You can check out how to make this crust on Smitten Kitchen. I’ve not yet tried this, but it seems to have many fans.

Smitten Kitchen

o begin, I want to make a note about the** zillions of pie dough recipes** out there: I barely buy it. Not the value of a recipe, mind you, but that new ones will ever come to pass. At their very base, they’re all just some type of solid fat (butter, shortening or lard) cut with powdery ingredients (flour, sometimes salt and sugar) bound with a liquid (usually water, but some folks get creative with milk, cream, buttermilk or vodka), and I’m amused that every year, so many cooking publications feel a need to pronounce that By Golly, They’ve Got It! They’ve found the perfect pie dough. In my mind, it was never lost.

**That said, Cooks Illustrated is really onto something grand this year, **so thank you to all who pointed me in this recipe’s direction. That thing is vodka, my friends. Yes, I think they’re brilliant too. But really, vodka, because it is 80-proof, will mostly evaporate in the oven, meaning that your crust gets the liquid it needs but much of it will not stay. Worried about a boozy vibe to your pie? Vodka is, by definition, colorless and odorless, so once it’s baked, you’ll forget it was ever in there. Of course (aheeeeem) if you are the sort that likes to pick up small scraps of raw dough and eat them because, mm, butter is awesome, let’s just say that things can get a little messy and leave it at that. Really, it’s not always a bad thing.

Chowhound question:

Is anyone else curious about the **unconventional **pie crust recipe in the new CI mag? The recipe advocates that you fully incorporate the fat into a portion of the flour, and then add reserved flour to make flakes. (The idea is that the flakes come from flour that is not fat coated.) Also, half of the liquid is vodka, which is supposed to keep it tender.

The Kitchn:

Have you heard of the vodka pie crust recipe? It made big news in the baking world when Cook’s Illustrated first published it last fall. Half of the pie dough’s moisture comes from vodka, which is 40% pure alcohol. The alcohol doesn’t promote gluten formation, so it helps the crust stay much flakier and more tender - a foolproof help to those of us who tend to overwork our pie dough.
So, how does this pie dough work? Is the unconventional addition of vodka worth it? We gave it a spin and here are our thoughts.

I think this is all pretty good evidence that CI DID come up with it, it was and IS a real breakthrough, AND other cooking types DO give credit. That Alton put it on TV 6 months after it was published and made such big news in the baking community without any hint that Kimball & CO came up with it…thief. Jerk.

[Acsenray]

No number of citations will persuade ms that no one had ever tried something like this before. Billions of propoe have been cooking felt for millennia with a finite set of ingredients. Barring introduction of previously nonexistent technologies, nothing is truly novel in cooking, especially in the “mix in a bit of this and a bit of ghat and throw it in the oven” type dishes.

And (2) I still don’t believe that Alton has any obligation, ethical or otherwise, to offer attributions for cooking techniques on his show.

[Stoid]

@acsenray

No number of citations will persuade ms that no one had ever tried something like this before.

There’s quite a bit of difference between no one ever trying it and it being publicized. Also a world of difference between no one ever trying it and a widely known an respected cooking publication publicizing it and another well-known cook talking about it 6 months later.

And (2) I still don’t believe that Alton has any obligation, ethical or otherwise, to offer attributions for cooking techniques on his show.

You’re entitled to your opinion, and certainly he did no harm to CI and Kimball. The harm he did was to himself, in the eyes of people like me, who think it reflects poorly on his character and makes me like and respect him less.