# Why would anyone watch a cooking show other than Good Eats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 8, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857 "2003-05-08T05:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/21 "2003-05-08T15:18:53Z")
Hell, I’m a straight woman, and I drool over Nigella Lawson. **Good Eats** is fun and informative, but for sheer enthralling entertainment, nothing beats **Iron Chef**. ---
**Author:** ![annieclaus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5a626/32.png) [@annieclaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annieclaus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/22 "2003-05-08T15:32:28Z")
Alton Brown rules! And his recipes are fantastic, too. Try his Pot Roast. It is to die for. Emeril? Meh. He’s so last year. IRON CHEF? The Best!!! Not as a food show, but as a comedy! It’s a scream! Gourmets appreciate the innards for their bitterness. ---
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/23 "2003-05-08T16:12:27Z")
I’m a huge Good Eats fan. Alton Brown is a godly hero. But I watch a lot of other cooking shows. Cooking is one of my primary hobbies and cooking shows are inspiring and informative. My current favourite (besides Good Eats) is Sugar with pastry chef Anna Olson (probably a Canadian only show). And I agree with the comments on Nigella. I’m an utterly straight chick and I still think she’s sexy as hell. I’ll watch damned near anything Food Network throws out though. The only shows I really dislike are Emeril and Christine Cushing Live. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/24 "2003-05-08T16:24:01Z")
I love _Good Eats_. I agree, Nigella is drool worthy. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/25 "2003-05-08T16:32:13Z")
My favorite Food Network show is no more… “Taste” with David Rosengarten was the pinnacle of educational cooking shows. I learned a lot from watching him. Pity they pulled it. “Good Eats” is pretty good, I enjoy it also. “Iron Chef”?? Please…it is entertaining, but not too educational. And it also looks like “Iron Chef” could have run its course…they just finished the final battles. ---
**Author:** ![Liz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/liz/32/17737_2.png) [@Liz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liz)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/26 "2003-05-08T16:39:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Please…it is entertaining, but not too educational. I don’t know about that. After all, only on **Iron Chef** would they prepare and serve a fish eyeball as a delicacy. Damned if I knew people ate fish eyeballs! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ivar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ivar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ivar)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/27 "2003-05-08T17:34:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*Some of the British ones are rather good. To augment the ones mentioned above: > > **Nigella Bites** - she’s big and she’s gorgeous. You don’t just want to boff her and eat her food, you want to marry her too. She’s also quite annoying, but when she dips her finger into that sauce and sucks it off, looking knowingly into the camera, it’s not just the sauce she’s stirring: it’s also my trouser department. \*\* I second that emotion. She is delicious! ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/28 "2003-05-08T17:49:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by QueerGeekGirl \* > \*\*I don’t know about that. After all, only on **Iron Chef** would they prepare and serve a fish eyeball as a delicacy. Damned if I knew people ate fish eyeballs! > > :eek: \*\* True enough…but they don’t tell you why fish eyeballs are delicacies, which fish have the tastiest eyeballs, the best methods to prepare fish eyeballs, where to get fish eyeballs (if you didn’t need the rest of the fish), several different fish eyeball recipes, how to serve fish eyeballs, what wine goes best with fish eyeballs, etc. You just see some fish eyeballs floating in a broth that contains (fill in the blank with a bunch of stuff I can’t find), and then on to something else. It’s of little importance to me that Japanese eat fish eyeballs unless I have some pretty dang detailed instructions on how to cook/serve them. Imagine the dinner party…“I do say, Duke ol’ boy…these fish eyeballs are horribly overdone (which I would probably be guilty of overcooking the hell out of them!) and I don’t think you used enough bean curd and spring shoots in your broth” ---
**Author:** ![deball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@deball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deball)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/29 "2003-05-08T18:22:30Z")
I like **Great Chefs of the World** simply because of the total lack of instructions, the sneering contempt and the smooth jazz format. I swear you need several translation dictionaries to complete a meal from appetizer to dessert. What audacity! I especially love the chefs on the show who look like they’d rather be throwing their copper lined pots against the wall and screaming, “You call ziss a shallot!!!? I cannot work with zuch craaaap!!!” Now those are _real_ chefs! And the meals they cook, dayyyummm… I’ve lifted any number of techniques from that show. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/30 "2003-05-08T18:29:40Z")
**Duke of Rat** : I also miss David Rosengarden’s “Taste”. I learned a lot from David. Not only did he illustrate classic recipes, he also talked about beer and wine and how to pair these drinks with food. I’m a sucker for cooking shows in which the hosts travel to foreign countries to visit food artisans, markets, and chefs. Therefore, I love these shows: _A Cook’s Tour Mario Eats Italy Wolfgang Puck Follow That Food The Food Hunter Great Chefs of the World_ ---
**Author:** ![mojave66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@mojave66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mojave66)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/31 "2003-05-08T18:50:53Z")
Nigella does nothing for me. She’s just _too_ pretty, all her friends are too pretty, her kitchen is too pretty, and her food is too pretty. She needs to scratch her butt once in a while to keep it real. Alton, on the other hand, is a geek’s geek. And Shirley Corriher? now THERE’S a REAL woman! His show is damned informative and his recipes are dead-on. My DW refuses to eat any other steak but mine, and it’s pure Alton in technique. Iron Chef does indeed rock muchly, but it’s pure entertainment. I certainly won’t be mixing coca-cola with natto anytime soon for my friends’ dining pleasure. Around my neck of the country they used to show it in the original Japanese with sometimes hilariously mistranslated subtitles. I miss those days… ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/32 "2003-05-08T20:42:46Z")
I used to watch _Taste_ but I think Alton does a better job of it, more science, and I think David was a bit dry in the entertainment department. I also love Sara Moulton, she’s just too cute. Count me in for Food 911 and Tyler’s Ultimate too. I think that Tyler Florence’s interaction with the homeowners is fantastic, and his recipes are very tasty. I consider Alton a great addition to other shows, he gives you the basics and skills to take advantage of the wackier stuff they do. ---
**Author:** ![Inky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7feea3/32.png) [@Inky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inky_1)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/33 "2003-05-08T20:58:15Z")
Hell yeah! I’m a total Good Eats addict, and when I’m not watching the re-runs I’m [reading them](http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/GEFP/EpisodeIndex.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/34 "2003-05-08T23:14:58Z")
What’s with all the Emeril-bashing? Y’all be playa-hating! Honestly, even if his schtick gets old, I still really like his recipes. Emeril is the one chef who consistently makes things I either love to eat, or would love to eat. I’ve impressed a lot of friends by following his recipes. Anthony Bourdain’s show A Cook’s Tour is awesome. It is more of a travelogue than a cooking show, but the guy is super-cool and fun to watch. He’s the biggest bad-ass on Food Network, and his book, Kitchen Confidential, should be required reading for anyone who likes to eat at restaurants. I like Mario Batali too, and the little bit I’ve seen of Alton Brown on Good Eats. Iron Chef is fun to watch, but obviously not a “how-to” show like the rest. I always thought Rachael Ray from 30-Minute Meals was pretty cute, but I had never heard of this Nigella Lawson before until now! When is her show on Food Network (assuming it even is)? She’s quite a dish! ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/35 "2003-05-08T23:29:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ego\_Mk2 \* > \*\* > “Gee, I think I want some pizza for dinner NEXT WEEK.” > > Freak. \*\* I laughed out loud:D Thanks for that! ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/36 "2003-05-08T23:35:00Z")
_Nigrella Bites_ comes on the Style channel here. ---
**Author:** ![Shana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Shana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shana)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/37 "2003-05-10T03:24:37Z")
If you’ll forgive another strange observation…I’ve always thought that Alton Brown looks just like Thomas Dolby! (The “Blinded me with Science” guy.) Am I the only one who thinks this? How could I forget **Iron Chef**? Love, love, love it. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/38 "2003-05-10T04:05:55Z")
I’m pretty sure that Alton Brown is some kind of God…he just plain rules. I went to his bio page on the [foodtv.com](http://foodtv.com) site, and found out that his first degree was in drama. I looked around his site and found out that he later decided to do a show like Good Eats, so went off to New England Culinary Institute. Cool guy. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/39 "2003-05-10T04:29:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shana \* > **If you’ll forgive another strange observation…I’ve always thought that Alton Brown looks just like Thomas Dolby! (The “Blinded me with Science” guy.) Am I the only one who thinks this?** No. I’ve thought that for a while, but completely forgot 'till you mentioned it.😃 ---
**Author:** ![TelcontarStorm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ab097/32.png) [@TelcontarStorm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TelcontarStorm)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857/40 "2003-05-10T18:20:18Z")
so you know why I watch shows other than > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by amarinth \* > \*\ ***America’s Test Kitchen** on PBS, > Which is full of insane people who care far too much - so far as I can tell…and end up with the perfect (and it’s been scientifically tested, so you know it’s perfect) whatever it is they’re cooking. > I love that show. \*\* Me too! Any show that heartily endorses _not_ squshing the grill cheese sammiches is top notch. I simply adore Julia and Adam. I miss the serie Julia Child and Jacques Peppin did together. We still have great fun at our house doing impression of the two fixing ‘fried green herbs’ (I swear they did!) Unike Julia’s kitchen, great technique in a learnable form is seriously lacking in that cookoff mess Gary Rhodes did. I’ve never turned off a cooking show faster. And don’t get me started about those “celebrity judges” :rolleyes: If you want to learn about all kinds of bread making then check out [Brother Dominic Garamone](http://www.breaking-bread.com) The man no doubt was sent by God to get you in the kitchen. My new favorite has to Michael Chiarella’s Napa. Not that I like California cooking, but Michael is pleasent on the eyes. Here recently our PBS station has been running strange little documentries, twoof which have which been on food. (Hot Dogs and Sammiches you will like) I will watch a food history program over a straight cooking show anytime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-would-anyone-watch-a-cooking-show-other-than-good-eats/173857.md?page=3)