Saturday, May 5, 2007

Fun with Food on Cooking Shows



Planning meals and cooking food doesn't have to be boring, especially if you learn by watching one of the many entertaining cooking shows airing on TV. From cooking gourmet food to more average, but still tasty, fare you can have fun while getting educated. This article takes a look at two of the more interesting and fun cooking food shows on the air.

Who Is The Sexiest Chef Ever?

One of TLC's (The Learning Channel) most popular shows is Take Home Chef starring Chef Curtis Stone, a cookbook author with years of experience cooking food in fine restaurants. He is also, quite possibly, the sexiest male chef ever. Tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, this Australian import is charming, funny, and handsome. Any woman who lays eyes on Chef Curtis will no doubt agree that he is probably one of the sexiest chefs on TV. The concept of the show is simple: Chef Curtis hits a local supermarket and picks someone at random to ask if they want him to come home with them to cook a gourmet meal for the individual and whomever the lucky person intended to cook for that day.

Chef Curtis then finds out what they both like and plans a gourmet meal for them. He even pays for all the groceries! Once they're back at the person's home, he shows the general tips and tricks for cooking, and they later surprise the guests when they arrive. All the recipes from the show are available online as well (just check out the TLC website at tlc.discovery.com).

Who Is The Brainiest Chef Ever?

As for the brainiest chef ever, the title should probably go to Alton Brown of Good Eats on The Food Network. Having formerly worked in the cinematography field, Alton Brown has a degree in drama and also is a graduate from the New England Culinary Institute. On Good Eats, Alton combines his to create a show in which cooking food is part science-class, part pop culture fun. On the show, Alton explains the processes behind cooking food right down to what happens on a molecular level! Using props and fun skits, it's sort of like watching a hip mad scientist. For example, Alton once used a giant mock-up of a human tongue to illustrate the effect of capsaicin on taste buds (capsaicin being the chemical that makes chili peppers hot). He also did a parody of Misery in which he gets kidnapped by his biggest fan and is forced to cook various potato dishes for one episode. Shows like these that make cooking food fun for even the neophyte home chef who doesn't know how to use their knife, so check them out and be entertained as you learn.

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