# Best cooking show currently on tv for professional cooks?



## adamburgerdavis (Apr 2, 2012)

I was looking for a good debate starter while browsing here and watching Iron Chef America.

If you truly pay attention to the food and not the theatrics (ie celeb judges, lame jokes) there really isnt a better show out there for a professional cook to watch.

I would put Diners, Drive-ins and Dives in second because of all the behind the scenes time it shows and Restaurant Impossible in third just for the humor of it.


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## chipsahoy (Sep 9, 2012)

Iron chef is great, amazing plates, different ways of cooking and plating food, love it.

Chopped is second try to think of a dish to make along with the contestants, test yourself with them.

kitchen impossible with Ramsay, lets you get a owner/operators view of how some business's could be run to be successful.


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## michaelga (Jan 30, 2012)

Hard question as I generally despise most cooking orientated TV shows.

(almost all of them leave out the details -and you know where the devil lives?)

Some are seemingly OK for creative ideas, but they don't work so much with paying customers expecting a meal.


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## guts (Jun 22, 2011)

Best for what? Knowledge, or entertainment?

Most of them are sh--.

The only ones I would currently recommend are no longer on the air.


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## rainliberty (Jun 10, 2008)

I'd recommend Top Chef to anyone who wants to see chefs who work in some of the best restaurants in the country.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

It's hard to rate these shows because you find yourself having to separate the drama from the actual cooking.

The shows expose us to new and different ingredients but technique is most always left off camera, so we don't always get to see the prep what goes on behind the scenes.


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## r6zack (Jul 23, 2012)

If I find myself watching a cooking show, it's going to be for entertainment only, so I dig the more elaborate ones. Restaurant Impossible, Restaurant Stakeout, those types. Not sure why but I can't stand more than about 3 minutes of most other cooking shows, especially Top Chef!


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## necigrad02 (Sep 14, 2012)

Top Chef- real talent, less drama

Chopped- fun to see people try to pull something together quickly

F-word- ramsays england show bbc

avec eric- eric ripert from La Bernadin in NYC...one of best


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Chopped  to see how everyones brain works differently. Also creative


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## necigrad02 (Sep 14, 2012)

Two of the best back in the 90's were world class cuisine and Great Chefs on discovery....real restaurants...


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

real documentary style shows about real chefs in real settings have all but been replaced by dramatic 

heavily edited and cut together "reality" shows. sometimes entertaning, but you cant learn from what they 

dont show you. i get more out of archived footage of julia child. the only one i consistently LEARN from is diners &

dives. and chopped, but mostly just finished product ideas from oddball ingredients.


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

This is gonna be a fun thread.

_I'm not calling anyone out. I'm not challenging anyone's opinion, or claiming that anyone's opinions are wrong. This is only conversation. Everything is all fine and good._

My two(2) top shows are, in no order except the way I'm typing, are _"Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"_, and _"The "F"-Word"_. Both shows have given me an amazing number of real usable edible affordable doable accessible recipes. On opposite sides of the coin you have _Guy the banana_, and a very _tolerable Gordon_. I've learned and swiped many dishes from these two(2) shows. 

_Iron Chef_ is entertainment, nothing more. The $$$ spent on that show are more than the GNP of many small countries. Fun, but not realistic. 

_Chopped_ is garbage. A generally bad show. The combinations they use are stupid. I see very little value professionally from that. The judges, on the other hand, are idiot morons. All things being equal ... I'd like to stab the bageebies out of almost every judge that's ever been on that show with a fork. 

_Top - Chef_ is just cool. One(1) word makes it a great show otherwise ... _"Padma"_. 

_Any show with any of the following is just fine too:_ 





  








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It shouldn't take an abacus to figure out my motivation. We're not talking _rocket-surgery_ here. 

*This is TV ... it's entertainment.* _DUH._ 

I'm sure I'll have more to say as things go on. LOL.


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## kvonnj (Aug 3, 2010)

Anything that _doesn't _include Ina Garten or Anne Burrell.


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

Awesome post iceman! What no Nadia G??

Ive been watching Nigella Bites for years. Anyone remember the one where she hunkered

down at the end of the show in the bathtub with nothin on and enjoyed a snickers bar? lol

I think you missed a few other....rocket scientists too. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

If I have time , Chopped. Spontaneous ideas, speed , their drive. I like to see pure raw talent . I have seen some pretty sad dishes but at the same time some terrific food combinations and plating skills that could make it to a lot of menus. 

Petals


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

_*Sorry.*_ She wasn't on the link that I was referencing from. Thanks for your thoughts though. 


Meezenplaz said:


> Awesome post iceman! What no Nadia G??


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## meezenplaz (Jan 31, 2012)

LOL I was just goin with the fun. Some love her, some hate her with a passion.

I find her entertaining, her recipes basic, but for the most part foolproof. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Don't You mean In your opinion chopped is garbage.?


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## Iceman (Jan 4, 2011)

I think that the _"qualifiers" _that I started off my post with explain exactly what I mean. I do that for this exact reason.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

?????


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## eloki (Apr 3, 2006)

I like Laura Calder's French Food at Home.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

chefedb said:


> Don't You mean In your opinion chopped is garbage.?


I think it's a given that any comment, good, bad or otherwise is merely an opinion.

Unless one of us has been granted the ability to judge for others.

I say chopped is garbage.

Someone else says it's great.

We're both right.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

In general, I think all the best cooking shows are in the past; The Frugal Gourmet, Julia Child, the "Great Chefs of...." series, but one of the newer ones that I have loved from the beginning is "Great Eats" with Alton Brown.  I love his humor and he almost always provides good information.  I find most of today's "cooking" shows to be rather lacking and so if I'm watching a food show it's usually more along the lines of "Drink" or "Unique Eats" or other shows that focus more on places than actual cooking.  BTW, both of those shows are found on The Cooking Channel, which I like more than The Food Network, which just seems to use the same few people over and over and over.  The Cooking Channel has it's losers also (i. e. Bitchin' Kitchen is abominable!!) but has a few more unique programs and reminds me of Food TV in it's earlier days.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

Shows that feature someone making a glutton of themselves, consuming a huge amt of food (some so spicy that even if eaten normally would have no flavor other than HOT) in under (time limit here) minutes.

The (chef?) who travels to some pretty cool places and ruins it for me by munching on some third world version of organ (and bugs, dung, cobra blood) delicacies.

I realize that in their opinion this is "great educational tv" and after exposing myself once or twice, I now leave that channel for those in my home with stronger stomachs.

mimi


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## ummwaterstock (Sep 30, 2012)

this show isn't on right now but you can find it on the net.....master chef Australia...it had two seasons I believe before it came to america.  Its ten times better than the america version.

also the exec. chef of moto is filming a cooking show right now as we speak and will be out soon to come....that should be a dope one to watch

I do like the F word by Gordon.


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## rbrad (Apr 29, 2011)

since pete has already mentioned that most of  the great cooking shows are in the past i just need to say that keith floyd will live forever.


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## robo (Sep 3, 2012)

there is no way the chefs on Iron Chef do not know what the ingredient is ahead of time. when they grab the SURPRISE product of the day, there is no conversation between chef and sous chefs, they just go about they're business.


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## adamburgerdavis (Apr 2, 2012)

s the tasting and judgment take upwards of 45 minutes to complete (although it is edited down to five to ten minutes per chef in post-production), the chef serving second is allowed to reheat his or her dishes, which was allowed on _Iron Chef_.

Several of the secrets to how the show is taped were revealed in an episode of _Unwrapped_ entitled "Food Network Unwrapped 2." It was stated that the chefs find out what the secret ingredient is about 15 minutes before the battle begins because the opening sequence is recorded many times. It is only the final taping of this sequence where the words _"Allez cuisine!"_ are said and the battle begins. Moreover, at the end of the one-hour battle, the chefs must still prepare 4 plates of each of their 5 dishes for the judges and the Chairman. This is done during a 45-minute period after the battle ends and before tasting begins. They consider this to be part of the competition, and it is timed, but it is not recorded or shown to the viewers. The plates which the audience sees prepared during the one-hour battle are the plates used to obtain close-up footage of the dish for use in the final episode. Usually, on taping days, two different battles will be taped, one beginning at about 10 a.m. and the second at about 4 p.m. A Food Network crew has about 90 minutes between each show to clean the set and prepare for the second show.

Chefs provide the producers with shopping lists for each of the possible secret ingredients. Consequently, they can surmise what the secret ingredient will be just before it is officially revealed, based on which of their items were purchased.[sup][7][/sup]

[sup]Wikipedia...believe it or not it's your choice.[/sup]


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## chadateit (Oct 16, 2012)

I am one person removed from a chef that appeared on (and won) Iron Chef America. What I heard, is that the "official" food network story isn't quite true either. This chef was given a list of 3 possible ingredients a month in advance and told the final choice a week in advance. The only thing he didn't know was what Chef he'd be going against, but said it was obvious when he walked in to the studio and saw some of the trademark ingredients of one of the iron chefs. 

I had another chef that appeared as a sous chef on a recent episode, but I haven't talked to said chef since then, so don't know.


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## veronporter (May 9, 2011)

Quote:Originally Posted by *IceMan*

_Any show with any of the following is just fine too:_ 





  








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It shouldn't take an abacus to figure out my motivation. We're not talking _rocket-surgery_ here. 

*This is TV ... it's entertainment.* _DUH._ 

Yuck! Rachel Ray?! Really? Wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole. Giada, Nigella and whoever the chick next to her is are the only ones worth looking at(especially Nigella, god she is a mega-babe!).


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## guts (Jun 22, 2011)

Between the answers on this thread, and the other recently posted thread concerning "au jus" recipes, I'm very much beginning to doubt the credibility of a number of the posters here.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

Guts,

They are t.v shows, most of them , if not all , intended for entertainment purposes and ratings, I think we can all assume that to be true. If we imbibe anything from them, all the better.

Don't fuss over the "au jus" thread, everyone is allowed to give an opinion or viewpoint.


> I'm very much beginning to doubt the credibility of a number of the posters here.


Life is short, don't lose sleep over it.

Petals.


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## Apprentichef (Oct 21, 2010)

Rainliberty said:


> I'd recommend Top Chef to anyone who wants to see chefs who work in some of the best restaurants in the country.


HA! I want to work in a kitchen with as much space as them.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Mmmmm..

We lost the remote to the TV about 8 years ago when we threw out the couch.  So I guess you could say I haven't watched many--if any--cooking shows.  I do catch the odd one every now and then. Not impressed.

Saw a good one, "Ace of cakes" or something like that, saw a few good techniques and ideas, talented people.

But-tum-ahhh, well...the show didn't mention how many man-hours went into the cake, and what it sold for.  I think this is why I get the "hairy eyeball" when a customer gives me a 20 yr old  photo of M & D's wedding and want's me to execute it in coloured chocoalte on a 3 tier cake and expects the whole thing to cost $99.00.

I wonder if any of the shows, "reality" or not, ever explain what salaries are like, or the fact that ther are no qualifications to base salaries on in the kitchen. 

Maybe I could get a double "d" size bra and get my back waxed and go on air and explain it.........


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

I watch "unique eats" on the cooking channel pretty religiously.   Its a lot like "the best thing I ever ate" that used to be on the food network but better.   Gives you a look at signature dishes from great restaurants all across the country.  No real instruction and definitely no drama, its all about the dishes.  I learn something or recieve some form of inspiration from every episode.


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