The INSIDER Summary:
- Food Network has produced some great cooking shows since its creation.
- Some of the classics include shows like "Cooking Live" and "Too Hot Tamales."
- Alton Brown's "Good Eats" makes it to the top of the list.
Let’s face it: we all have a special place in our hearts for old-school Food Network. Since day one, it’s brought some great chefs and food personalities into our homes, not only showing us how to prepare great meals but entertaining us at the same time. While today its competition and “lifestyle” shows tend to get the most attention, at its heart we feel that Food Network has always been about the cooking shows, and we’ve ranked the top 12.
The “stand and stir” format wasn’t invented by Food Network, but they did a great job of bringing it to the masses. For many, their afternoon programming block of straight-ahead cooking shows, where a host would stand in front of the camera and prepare a meal, walking us through each step of the process, not only introduced us to new dishes, ingredients, and personalities, but also showed us that the skills needed to cook a great meal weren’t beyond our reach either. In short, it was comfort food in television format.
Dozens and dozens of cooking shows have been aired by Food Network in the 20 years since its debut, some obviously more memorable than others. In order to rank the top dozen, we took into account several criteria: Was the show entertaining and educational? Did it attract a following? Did it introduce us to new ways of thinking about food? Did it have an influence on the culinary community at large? Was it considered “groundbreaking” in one way or another? And if it’s a show that’s been off the air for some time, is it still fondly remembered by those who tuned in?
In order to be considered for our ranking, the show needed to be aired exclusively on the Food Network, not produced by, say, the BBC and later picked up by Food Network (sorry, "Two Fat Ladies!"). We dug back into the archives to make sure that our list represented a full cross-section of their cooking shows, going back to the very beginning. So read on to learn which 12 cooking shows we consider to be the very best that Food Network has ever brought to air, and hopefully also for a trip down memory lane.
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12. “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives”
Love him or hate him, you can’t argue that Guy Fieri hasn’t been a major cultural powerhouse since his “Triple-D” debuted a full ten years ago. Yes, his spiky blond hair, backwards sunglasses, and surfer bro demeanor can wear a little thin at times, but at the core of "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" is a desire to showcase the hardworking chefs who keep America’s casual neighborhood joints going strong, and spending half an hour watching them do their thing is very entertaining indeed. It doesn’t hurt that business usually soars through the roof after Guy pays a restaurant a visit.
11. "East Meets West"
Chef Ming Tsai is a wizard of Asian cooking, and on this show, which ran for five seasons, he not only demonstrated his deep knowledge of all things Asian but also seamlessly fused Asian and Western techniques and recipes into something truly unique and entertaining. His dishes weren’t just a hodgepodge, either; they were carefully thought out and often ingeniously delicious, ranging from udon seafood cioppino to shepherd’s pie with Asian braised duck and Chinese-style smoked suckling pig with garlic-bacon grits. Occasional visits from chefs like Masaharu Morimoto and Mario Batali were icing on the cake.
10. "Tyler's Ultimate"
Debuting in 2003, Tyler Florence’s "Tyler’s Ultimate" fused the best of both worlds: travel and stand-and-stir cooking. The concept was brilliant: Tyler travels the world in search of the origins of one particular dish as well as different variations, then returns to his kitchen and prepares a definitive version of it based on what he learned. Each episode was devoted to one classic dish, ranging from sole almondine to chicken and dumplings. The travel aspect was removed for a time and the show is no longer airing, but it was great to see Florence in his element, cooking the classics.
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