Franklin on Food: Favorite TV cooking shows

With the new fall season about to begin, I can't think of a better time to talk about some of my favourite cooking shows, listed in alphabetical order.

Chopped (Food Network Canada)
Premise: Four chefs must take a mystery basket of ingredients and turn them into a dish that is judged on their creativity, presentation, and taste in a short period of time, anywhere between 20 to 50 minutes. The competitors are given access to a pantry and refrigerator stocked with a wide variety of other ingredients. The show is divided into three rounds, Appetizer, Entrée, and Dessert. After each round, a panel of judges critiques the dishes and decides which chef is eliminated from the competition, or "chopped". The final two chefs are then judged not only on their dessert course, but on the entire meal presented by each chef as a whole. The winner then receives $10 000.

I don't what I would do if was told to make a dessert using avocado, oyster sauce, tofu skins, and star fruit in 30 minutes. Seeing these chefs work under pressure with ingredients they wouldn't normally use, and still managing to make something that tastes and looks good is fascinating. This show is food porn at its best.

Chuck's Day Off (Food Network Canada)
Premise: Whether it's roping steers with Mexican cowboys or diving into sinkholes, the viewer gets a look into what the host does in his off hours when he's not at one of the two restaurants he's a part owner of, and sees the dishes he makes for the people he meets along the way.

I'm not buying the idea that this is what this chef does with his time off from working at Garde Manger, and Le Bremner in Old Montreal, but like any reality show, it needed a hook. I stumbled across this show when I was looking for something to watch during dinner. Host Chuck Hughes believes in a cooking style that stresses keeping things simple, fresh ingredients and having fun, and it shows with his laid back presence on the show. Don't think though that he's a cooking lightweight though, he's the youngest Canadian chef (only the third to do so) to win "Iron Chef America", defeating Iron Chef Bobby Flay.

Iron Chef (Food Network)
Premise: This defunct Japanese cooking show was a cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient.

I first saw this show when I was visiting a friend in London, Ontario while we were killing time before hitting the local bars. The over-the-top theatrics and English dubbing were what made the show for me; for that reason, I've never been a fan of Iron Chef America. Bobby Flay and Mario Batali got nothing as interesting as this opening.

Man v. Food (OLN)
Premise: Series host Adam Richman visited restaurants that offer big food offerings before facing off against a pre-existing eating challenge.

Any show that celebrates gluttony the way this show does has be entertaining, and with the help of its jovial host, the show manages to walk the fine line between fascinating and disgusting.. The show has since been rebranded as "Man v. Food Nation" as Richman has wisely decided that after three seasons, it's time to treat his body better.

Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (BBC Canada)
Premise: Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay visits a failing restaurant and acts as a troubleshooter to help improve the establishment in just one week. He then revisits the restaurant a few months later to see how business has fared in his absence.

I've been a huge fan of Gordon Ramsay ever since I saw a preview clip of his show "Hell's Kitchen" online. His fiery temper and foul mouth may be a turnoff for some, but you can't deny his passion for culinary perfection. I like the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares better than the American version because there's more of a focus on how a restaurant runs and a kitchen works, and less about the squabbles and personal lives of the people who own and work in the restaurant. Plus, I sometimes can't believe that some of people on the American version actually work in the food industry as they're portrayed so cluelessly. But I guess that's why Ramsey calls them donkeys.

Top Chef (Reality Channel) / Top Chef Canada (Food Network Canada)
Premise: Chefs compete against each other in a variety of culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode. The winning chef gets acclaim and a boatload of money.

Quickfire challenges; Elimination challenges; Restaurant Wars. There's isn't a foodie alive who hasn't watched at least one episode of this series. With the right amount of focus on the chefs themselves and the dishes they create, this is how a cooking competition is supposed to be filmed. Skilled contestants who know their craft (unlike some of the schlubs on "Hell's Kitchen") and knowledgeable judges who hand out appropriate praise and criticism make this show thoroughly entertaining from start to finish, even without the eye candy in judges Padma Lakshmi and Lisa Ray.

You Gotta Eat Here! (Food Network Canada)
Premise: In this show, the host travels across the country, searching for great comfort food at various diners, greasy spoons, and restaurants. He then interviews the people working at these establishments, and shows how some of their signature recipes are made.

This show is very similar to "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives", but with Canadian content and no sign of annoying douchebag Guy Fieri. I like how it's possible to recreate some of the dishes by watching the demos shown if the restaurant visited isn't in your area (though you may want to check a cookbook for a similar recipe to get the amounts of the ingredients correct). When they featured the Elgin Street Diner, I learned they are not only known for their poutine, but also for their meatloaf...who knew? I've been to the ESD a bunch of times and have enjoyed their poutine, but I've never seen anyone order or eat their meatloaf. I'll have to try it the next time I'm in the area.