What are some must-watch historical food shows on TV?

[Evo]

I love watching food shows. Especially historic ones. So I thought I'd share some series that I've watched. Many of these are on HULU, not sure how many are on HULU Plus.

Here is a great historical series to get started.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/430517

It's The supersizers go... Its two main characters are a famous UK food critic and a female UK comedienne. I highly recommend this series as they tromp through 2 thousand years of British food.

Please feel free to share any shows you like.

 

[jedishrfu]

How about Julia Child and Yan Can Cook?

 

[Evo]

How about Julia Child and Yan Can Cook?

Being French myself, we never watched Julia Child as she cooked "fake French" food. She really didn't know what she was doing, and as a result invented "fake french" food, which apparently Americans enjoyed? Did anyone really cook her food? I don't personally like her recipes, as I've eaten the real thing, and her recipes have no resemblance to authentic regional French food. Like her fake "ratatouille", it has nothing to do with real ratatouille, but so many Americans think that's how to make ratatouille. Reviews of it said she wanted to "update it" and make it more appealing to current American cooks. Yeah, like that recipe I found for "sausage and cheese" baklava.

Yan was very funny. I did enjoy watching Joyce Chen. "Add one tayberspoon emma essa gee" She was great. Was it authentic Chinese, probably not. But she was fun to watch. I never cooked any of her recipes, so have no idea how they tasted.

 

[Monique]

I'm addicted to MasterChef Australia, I just love the way the show is produced and all the people who participate (hosts, chefs, cooks). That Masterclasses are most fun to watch.

 

[Evo]

I'm addicted to MasterChef Australia, I just love the way the show is produced and all the people who participate (hosts, chefs, cooks). That Masterclasses are most fun to watch.

Yes! And Masterchef professional UK is about the best contest I've ever seen. The US version is terrible in comparison to those.

 

[Monique]

Yes! And Masterchef professional UK is about the best contest I've ever seen.

Really? I watched part of an episode of the UK version, but it paled in comparison with Australia. Maybe I should watch it from the beginning to get a better feel for it (or maybe I shouldn't feed the addiction further).

 

[Evo]

Really? I watched part of an episode of the UK version, but it paled in comparison with Australia. Maybe I should watch it from the beginning to get a better feel for it (or maybe I shouldn't feed the addiction further).

It was the "professional" series.

 

[Dembadon]

We have HuluPlus and need a new show now that we've finished the third season of Game of Thrones. My wife loves cooking shows and I like history, so this sounds like a nice fit. Thanks for sharing!

 

[DiracPool]

This is easy:

1. Chopped

2. Iron Chef America

3. Alton Brown

 

[Evo]

We have HuluPlus and need a new show now that we've finished the third season of Game of Thrones. My wife loves cooking shows and I like history, so this sounds like a nice fit. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, then you two should love this.

 

[jedishrfu]

In general, I don't like the food contest shows. The judges are either too highbrow or they tend to humiliate the chefs. The ingredients they give them play with seem too rare to ever be used by anyone (like the rare illness of the week in doctor shows).

I've liked some of the recipes I've seen but when they pull the fnished dish from underneath the counter I get dismayed knowing I could never cook it.

My speciality is sandwiches: peanut butter, ham n cheese with mayo, mustard and other fixings. Sometimes, I grill stuff too since its Texas after all.

 

[turbo]

I can't bear to watch the "cooking" shows, since I grew up under the tutelage of two fantastic cooks. My mother was a killer cook, as was my paternal grandmother (who spent years cooking at the housing of a large log-drive crew). Once you have learned food-prep, canning, and cooking from the best, it's hard to watch the TV shows. Worst of all, the "stars" rave about how good everything tastes, which is problematic because the viewers can't judge the accuracy of their claims.

My grandmother was heavy on the butter and cream, which was OK because those log-drivers could burn it off in no time. My mother kept things lower in fat, but everything tasted good. The best meals IMO were when we had all fresh garden vegetables coming in, and lots of them were quite conducive to steaming.

 

[DiracPool]

In general, I don't like the food contest shows. The judges are either too highbrow or they tend to humiliate the chefs. The ingredients they give them play with seem too rare to ever be used by anyone (like the rare illness of the week in doctor shows).

I've liked some of the recipes I've seen but when they pull the fnished dish from underneath the counter I get dismayed knowing I could never cook it.

My speciality is sandwiches: peanut butter, ham n cheese with mayo, mustard and other fixings. Sometimes, I grill stuff too since its Texas after all.

Have you ever seen Chopped, Jedi? Once you go chopped, you never go back.

 

[Evo]

Have you ever seen Chopped, Jedi? Once you go chopped, you never go back.

Tonight it's vegetarian, and one VEGAN guy is all upset because there is local honey. OMG, IT'S AN ANIMAL PRODUCT! BEES DIE MAKING THIS! I don't know if I can use it, do I refuse to use it for ethical reasons and risk losing?

Hey, buddy, those plants you're cooking died so you could eat them.

P.S. Bees aren't animals.

 

[jedishrfu]

oops, bees are animals:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee

unless they are robotic of course.

Honey is peculiar too in that it may have many kinds of toxins from insecticides to pollutants. My dad got sick once when he switched brands from a local one to from another state and we think it was due to that (no proof but it was the only thing he had changed in his diet).

 

[Evo]

If you have Netflix, Ramsay's Best Restaurants is very good.

http://movies.netflix.com/WiPlayer?movieid=70198115&trkid=13011611&t=Ramsay%2527s%2BBest%2BRestaurant&tctx=0%2C3%2C93d11d4c-e6ad-4921-8cec-ca43994c3e67-31982019#MovieId=70198115&EpisodeMovieId=70187339

 

[drizzle]

Chef Ramsay. [period]

 

[jackmell]

Being French myself, we never watched Julia Child as she cooked "fake French" food. She really didn't know what she was doing, and as a result invented "fake french" food, which apparently Americans enjoyed? Did anyone really cook her food? I don't personally like her recipes, as I've eaten the real thing, and her recipes have no resemblance to authentic regional French food. Like her fake "ratatouille", it has nothing to do with real ratatouille, but so many Americans think that's how to make ratatouille. Reviews of it said she wanted to "update it" and make it more appealing to current American cooks. Yeah, like that recipe I found for "sausage and cheese" baklava.

I find that hard to believe Ms. Evo. Wasn't that her point from the beginning? She went to France, learned how to cook french, then came back to America and wrote, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" or something like that. I just cannot believe she did all that and it not be authentic.

My favorite cooking show is Jacques Pepin and I like Julia with him.

 

[Evo]

I find that hard to believe Ms. Evo. Wasn't that her point from the beginning? She went to France, learned how to cook french, then came back to America and wrote, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" or something like that. I just cannot believe she did all that and it not be authentic.

From her biography

With a goal of adapting sophisticated French cuisine for mainstream Americans.

She created "Faux French" for Americans. That was her goal. That is what many chefs do, they adapt foods from one country to the tastes and food availability of Americans. My mother and I just couldn't get into her style of food. My mother was a real French chef. :tongue: But for people not raised on French food, I'm sure it seems authentic enough.

http://www.biography.com/people/julia-child-9246767

 

[jedishrfu]

Evo's analogy is right. The same is done with Chinese food. When I was a kid, my aunt gave me some dried noodle stuff that was so called Chinese. Only later after dining with friends and family, did I learn that even in Chinese restaurants, the food is adjusted based on whose ordering it from less spicy to sweetened to not even on the English menu at all.

 

[jackmell]

From her biography She created "Faux French" for Americans. That was her goal. That is what many chefs do, they adapt foods from one country to the tastes and food availability of Americans. My mother and I just couldn't get into her style of food. My mother was a real French chef. :tongue: But for people not raised on French food, I'm sure it seems authentic enough.

http://www.biography.com/people/julia-child-9246767

Faux French? That's kinda' harsh. That means basically no-French, or looks-like-French, or make-believe French. I bet nowhere in her biblography will you see "Faux French". I know her a little bit and I think she would have abhorred the term. Rather I suspect it's basically French food slightly modified to accommodate Americans.

Jacques, her dear friend, I think would agree with me.

 

[Evo]

Faux French? That's kinda' harsh. That means basically no-French, or looks-like-French, or make-believe French. I bet nowhere in her biblography will you see "Faux French". I know her a little bit and I think she would have abhorred the term. Rather I suspect it's basically French food slightly modified to accommodate Americans.

Jacques, her dear friend, I think would agree with me.

Trust me, her recipes are more than slightly modified. But if you like it, then eat it.

 

[DiracPool]

I only know about Chopped et al. because my mom is a food show junkie. I'm like, "do you really waste your time watching all those shows?" She said, yes, and made me promise to watch a couple episodes. Now I'm a junkie. So these days I make a special effort to avoid them because I get sucked in faster than Alice and Bob do to a black hole.

 

[jackmell]

Trust me, her recipes are more than slightly modified. But if you like it, then eat it.

I suppose I must trust you Ms. Evo based on your performance. I just don't like you winning.

 

[Evo]

I suppose I must trust you Ms. Evo based on your performance. I just don't like you winning.

I didn't win. It takes talent to recreate a classic, but I don't want my classics recreated. :tongue:

Funny, I love sushi, but when I went to Japan and had the "real" thing, I had to spit it out because it wasn't what I was used to. The worst pizza I've ever eaten was in Italy. Well, even my Sicilian fiancee agreed it had to be a joke, the crust seemed to have been made of quick set cement. It could not be cut, he finally was able to hammer a knife into the crust and it shattered and flew across the restaurant. His pizza was fine.