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Top Five Television’s Most Influential Chefs

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Do you feel as if you’ve come to the end of television, and there’s nothing else to see? Do the cooking shows on TV get you down? Here are some of the most noteworthy shows throughout cooking show history to give you a more inspired take on TV cooking.

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1)      Julia Child – The grand dame of cooking show hosts and the author of the timeless classic The Art of French Cooking, Julia Child attributed her long and successful career in the kitchen to her love of eating good food. A delicious meal of oysters, sole meuniere, and fine wine in Paris sparked her passion for French cuisine, and this in turn led to her attendance in the cooking school Le Cordon Bleu. She later joined the cooking club Cercles des Gourmettes, and with three friends, decided to make French cooking more accessible to American audiences. Thus, her TV show The French Chef came to be. With her cooking expertise and her indomitable cheerfulness, cooking shows were never to be the same again.

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2)      Stephen Yan – Best known for his punny “wok” aprons, Cantonese accent, and quick charismatic wit, Stephen Yan has entertained and taught audiences in the 80’s on his show Wok with Yan. With his creative approach and disarming humor, Mr. Yan made cooking Chinese mainstays such as Beef with Broccoli, Chicken Chow Mein, and other dishes easier for families everywhere. His quick tips on decorative vegetable and fruit cutting are also vignettes that are not to be missed.

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3)      Alton Brown – If you want your Cooking with a generous helping of Science, Alton Brown’s Good Eats is just the show for you. Brown not only explains the steps to create the featured dish of the day, but also focuses on the scientific goings-on of the cooking process and couches it in fun and easy-to-understand terms. Alton Brown is also not afraid to let his silliness and humor shine through, and this makes watching the show all the more worth it.

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4)      Nigella Lawson – Nigella makes cooking sexy again. Dubbed the “Queen of Food Porn”, Miss Lawson’s enthusiasm shows in her explanations of the cooking steps. The way she explains the steps to each dish is seductive as it is sincere in its love. Her recipes in her TV show Nigella Express are also notable for their speedy short-cuts that yield surprising, delicious results.

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5)      Mario Batali – He regards orange crocs and shorts to be appropriate working attire in the kitchen, and who can blame him? Mario Batali whips up sumptuous Italian dishes that focus on the delectable purity and simplicity of its ingredients. In his show, Molto Mario, he regales guests not just with hot off the stove samplings of his creations, but also educational tidbits on the origins of and stories of each dish.

 

Author Bio:

While not trying her hand at fusing Mexican and Italian cuisine, Julienne loves to watch cooking and travel shows via her Direct2TV service.

Favorite Gift Roundup 3: Mario Batali Prep Bowls

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I received my first set of these on my birthday in October, and loved them so much that I put them on my Christmas wish list:

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They may look like ordinary bowls to you, but trust me when I say that these bowls are the bomb.

They’re meant for mise-en-place, which every baker worth their salt knows is of supreme importance: measuring out all necessary ingredients before starting can save you from many an “oops” moment. Now you could certainly use any old containers for your mise-en-place, but you’ll love these because:

  • They also measure. The bowls range in size from 1/8 cup to 2 cups, and are marked with half-bowl measurements as well.
  • They’re tough. You can’t tell from the photo how thick and heavy these bowls are.
  • Their exteriors are non-slip. I have notoriously slippery hands, especially when I’m in the kitchen, and have been known to drop many many bowls in my time. These bowls are easy to hold on to.
  • They’re non-breakable. If in case your fingers happen to be even slipperier than mine, the bowls won’t break when you drop them on your kitchen floor.

Please note that these bowls are not microwave-safe. They’re made of melamine- very strong melamine, but melamine nonetheless. Because they “nest”, they’re easy to store in your kitchen drawer, which is what I do.

The Mario Batali 5-Piece Measuring Prep Bowl Set is available at Amazon.