PrintEnough with the FN bashing, what about PBS?
I don't have cable and I rarely watch TV, but when I had cable, I was definitely a lover of food porn. I would watch whatever was on, especially all the demo shows like 30 Min. Meals, but never actually cook anything I saw.
This weekend I happened upon PBS' "America's Test Kitchen" for maybe the third time in my life, and after reading the latest RR/SL rant session, I wonder if any one here at SE watches ATK. It's a really accessible concept. This group of chefs and researchers test all kinds of recipes and products, then report their findings. They're genuine people, don't use cute catch phrases, and really give me hope that someday, I will cook something great.
Does anyone watch PBS' food programming? What else is out there beyond FN?
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29 Comments:
Yay!!! PBS rules for cooking instruction.
Love me some Lidia - and Hubert Keller! Everyday Food is so great. Not to mention Daisy Cooks! ATK is OK but I think it's a little condescending and I wish someone would duct tape Christopher Kimball's hands together. I sub to Cooks Illustrated and once after reading his down home-rocking-chair-on-the-porch-country essay, I dubbed him Mr. Soppypants. The name stuck on another board.
chiff0nade at 3:40PM on 04/15/08
While I love PBS, I'm not a big fan of Mr.Soppypants or America's Test Kitchen. I love the theory/concept of it just not the tone of the show. I also have a problem with the magazine when they subsituted lima beans for avocados in gucamole. That was just wrong on sooooo many levels.
evilchefmom at 3:57PM on 04/15/08
I always watch (OK, mostly, TiVo) Ming Tsai and Jacques Pepin, and will certainly stay there if I come across Lidia. I agree with chiff0nade about Christopher Kimball though - he makes ATK almost unwatchable, but there have been several epis I still managed to watch despite him (Mr. Soppypants - HEE!!!).
brooke29 at 4:04PM on 04/15/08
I watch the PBS cooking shows EVERY Saturday. I love Lydia Bastianich and Ciao Italia and American's Test Kitchen and the Martha Stewart shows and ... it's the best.
PumpkinBear at 4:06PM on 04/15/08
I love PBS on Sundays. I know it all depends on which region you live in as to what they air...but living in New Orleans, there are some great cajun cooking shows on. Justin Wilson, John Folse, and my favorite Miss Lucy. We also get America's test Kitchen (which I rarely watch) and Yao Ming who is awesome. I miss "Cooking under Fire", they never returned with that reality show. TLC, the Travel Channel and Discovery Home all have really good cooking shows as well. I don't watch FN anymore, but mainly Discovery Home.
malenky at 4:10PM on 04/15/08
PBS is constantly moving or eliminating cooking shows - so hard to find here, but I'd watch nearly anything there over most of FN, with the exception of Ina, Tyler & Essence of Emeril. Favorite PBS is Jacques Pepin. I like ATK, but (sorry chiff), Chris Kimball will always be Prig to me (thanks to LoCo). I also subscribe to Cook's Illustrated and go to the website first if I'm looking for a recipe or ideas, products or equipment. I trust them. Lidia is interesting and I have her cookbooks. The only one I really have to turn off is Ciao Italia. Was she ever an elementary school teacher? That's how she comes across and she irritates me. I also like Everyday Foods - it moves quickly and all the recipes look like quick, easy, delicious meals ilo you know who (plural) on FN.
PerkyMac at 4:19PM on 04/15/08
Basketball AND a cooking show? Yao Ming must have his hands full :)
Kerosena at 4:28PM on 04/15/08
ATK is not a bad show - it's very educational...But I basically have to tune out CK. The information on ATK is generally infallible but I must agree with evilchefmom...Lima beans subbed for avo in guacamole? WTH??
Yao Ming...
I giggled when I read this only because I pictured the basketball star standing in front of a counter that was way too low for him.
chiff0nade at 5:14PM on 04/15/08
@evilchefmom & @chiffOnade........the lima beans sub makes no sense. I've never noticed anything so out of whack on ATK or in CI. In my newly learned lingo WTF????? were they thinking? (hehe - that felt good!)
PerkyMac at 6:11PM on 04/15/08
@Kerosena! FUNNY, FUNNY.....Also, I think he is too tall to reach the cooktop!! I am still LAUGHING!!!!!!
izatryt at 6:47PM on 04/15/08
Chris Kimball annoys the little hell out of me and his nanniesm tendencies even more so. But I truly like the concept of the ATK so I tivo the show and fast forward through Kimball's remarks.
(Kimball works better on radio than TV - I caught him on the Splendid Table on NPR over Thanksgiving and he was tolerable)
bravian at 6:57PM on 04/15/08
Okay, okay...it was a long day at work. I was getting Chef Ming and Yan Martin mixed up and then through in the upcoming NBA finals and you get Yao Ming and a cook somehow.
malenky at 10:12PM on 04/15/08
Did anyone else watch Jaques Pepin making puff pastry and pate a choux this weekend? It was refreshing to see an old-school chef making old-school pastry, with not a package in sight.
beth1 at 10:20PM on 04/15/08
I was sooo excited to catch a little of Lidia at my parents house this past weekend. I sat down and watched TV with them for about 10 minutes-and didn't write a paper, study for an exam, do a project, etc...
I then started to remember when we used to watch them when I was little. I brought up the chef from Yan can Cook (Yan Martin I believe was his name). My dad proceeded to tell me he is back on air! Is this true?? I used to love watching him...
Oh yeah-PBS rules as far as cooking shows are concerned. Then again, that's what I was brought up on...
Butrflygirly at 10:30PM on 04/15/08
I am a die hard Saturday morning PBS watcher. I'm also obsessed with all things Cooks Illustrated, and happen to love Christopher Kimball. America's Test Kitchen, CI, Cooks Country, the cookbooks, I can't get enough, I think I've had one dud of a recipe in dozens I've made.
Also appreciate the Yao Ming jokes! I do love Ming Tsai and Martin Yan, Julia Child's Master Chefs, Martha Stewart's Everyday Food, and the new baking version.
Wish our PBS carried Sara Moulton's new show, but no luck yet. I choose PBS over Food Network anyday!
bobcatsteph3 at 10:39PM on 04/15/08
Lydia's food is so grounded, and always looks so delicious.
Her standard method for making pasta dishes became mine as well, several years ago.
Bob Ferrapuhls at 11:28PM on 04/15/08
Love most PBS cooking shows... America's Test Kitchen is awesome in format and (mostly) content... but... Chris Kimball???
P.R.I.G.
(no offense @bobcat...)
LoCo at 12:37AM on 04/16/08
I haven't watched ATK for a while, but when I do, I'm eerily facsinated by Chris Kimball's fork motions after he takes a bite of whatever the dish is. Presumably, he doesn't want to talk with his mouth full, so the fork dance gives us something to look at during the silence. He sort of half-stabs towards the food with his fork, then he makes a circular motion with the fork. Then he talks.
As for other cooking shows, it depends on what's cooking, but I've been trying to record all the Julia reruns for sure.
Now and the PBS will have some off-the-wall cooking show that was probably shot at one of their obscure affillates. Those are kind of fun. Not very good production, the food may or may not be good, but they're entertaining.
dbcurrie at 1:04AM on 04/16/08
I would take hours of Chris over half hour of SLOP anyday. Chris grows on me strange bow tie and all. I been a CI sub for 15 years now. Color me biased.
JerzeeTomato at 2:40AM on 04/16/08
Oh I think you are going to find that there are a lot of PBS watchers here on SE.
Some of us are on their test panel for recipes.
If you are a true "Foodie", you watch ALL of the channels.
Hunnyoil at 3:25AM on 04/16/08
I would take hours of Chris over half hour of SLOP anyday.
Hear, hear. At least we'd learn something!
chiff0nade at 7:02AM on 04/16/08
I used to spend Saturdays and Sundays chilling out and watching PBS cooking shows. Does Rick Bayless still have a show on PBS? I adore that man.
modysoul at 7:15AM on 04/16/08
CK is what I would call a "fun-sucker". It's amazing to think that as a youngin he was a deadhead, actually I think he was a personal chef to the band or mone of its members. While i appreciate the thorough research that goes into their recipes...it sees silly that it takes them 50 tries to get a pound cake right. they intentionally add the wrong amount of something, or employ the wrong technique to say oops that didn't work lets try it again.
Judyep at 9:33AM on 04/16/08
It makes me really happy to read this thread. I was also raised on PBS and now I'm so glad they have a lot of food programming I can watch as an adult.
@modysoul: Rick's show is called Mexico: One Plate at a Time (just looked it up)
LiveToEat at 9:38AM on 04/16/08
Has anyone heard when Mario's new show is coming to PBS? It was mentioned when he did not renew with FN.
beth1 at 11:37PM on 04/18/08
Regarding Chris Kimball. He is definitely a PRIG, but I really don't mind watching him and he often amuses me. Growing up near Princeton, I met a lot of him and most of them were nice guys with weird affectations. New England grinds them out by the thousands. I do think he's smart and not as prissy as he likes to appear. He certainly doesn't annoy me like some FN "stars" and I never yell at the TV when he's on - that's my annoyance factor meter. You may call the men in the white coats now and I promise to go somewhat peacefully.
PerkyMac at 11:52PM on 04/18/08
I usually watch it on Saturday afternoon, instead of RR or FN Challenge, or one of those wretched Marc Summers snoozefests are on. It's how I discovered Ming Tsao, Martin Yan, Lydia Bastianich and Daisy Martinez, who has this awesome recipe for albondigas. Ming and Martin are also cool.
BITTER at 9:58AM on 04/24/08
PS - I also like Hubert Keller.
BITTER at 10:00AM on 04/24/08
I love the cooking shows on PBS.
I do watch Ciao Italia, but it's difficult. It's not Marianne, but her voice that bothers me. Her voice can be intollerable. Sometimes I just go to her web site.
I love ATK, and I like Christopher Kimball (gasp!). I learn a lot watching the show.
Lately I've been into Jose in Spain. He's funny, and since I'm a Spanish teacher who is more familiar with Latin American cuisine, I'm really learning a lot.
I wish there was more available on my PBS channels, and I really wish they had a regular schedule. Some weeks we have no cooking shows, and sometimes we have a lot.
puppymomma at 2:39PM on 04/27/08