Weekly Watch SPECIAL EDITION: Food Shows
Published on June 18, 2018, by Ailish Elzy.
I wanted to write this food show edition of Weekly Watch for a little while
now and was taking my time with it so I could watch all the shows and get a real feel for what to suggest. And then Anthony Bourdain died and it made me think about these shows more seriously.
We’ve always had the Food Network and the Cooking Channel, but we’ve
recently had an upsurge in the quality of these shows and I really think you can
trace it back to Bourdain. Whether you were an early fan of Parts Unknown or No Reservations or you just recently got into Chef’s Table or Ugly Delicious, you have Bourdain to thank for that.
There’s a lot that has been written in the past week and will continue to be
written about in the years to come because Bourdain had a profound impact on the food industry, on the food documentary and on how we see different parts of the world. I only recently got into his shows in the past three years, but I very quickly fell in love with his passion, his sense of adventure and his honesty. He was an incredibly inspiring and fascinating dude to watch.
I’m not here to talk about him in depth, mostly because I don’t feel like that’s
my place. I want to talk about the impact I’ve seen on food television because of him and his legacy. This will be a slightly different Weekly Watch. It’ll all be food shows I love and recommend watching because this is a large umbrella of a genre that’s worth exploring.
The real reason I wanted to write this in the first place was that I recently
acquired two new books. One about Wine called Wine. All The Time by comedy
writer and leisure enthusiast Marissa A Ross. A book I highly recommend no matter how much or how little you know about wine (I know very little). The other book I acquired was Cravings by supermodel and well-known internet person Chrissy Teigen. Both books are very dope and enjoyable in different ways.
Since I’ve been reading them, I’ve subsequently stopped watching scripted
shows and fallen down a very enjoyable hole of watching shows about food and wine. It’s really hard to watch these shows and not immediately think you’re a talented chef yourself. Shows about food and cooking are highly underrated in my opinion. It’s not just your mom’s Food Network anymore either, it has really expanded.
I’m sure you’ve noticed the influx of well-produced food-related
documentaries on Netflix or channels expanding on their brand and adding a
food show. It’s not even just on TV. YouTube holds some very well produced
fooding shows (which is what I feel like we should be calling them) from channels like Tastemade or Bon Appetit as well as homemade shows by regular-ass kids.
I gotta say I am totally here for this! Food shows are a wonderful break
from scripted TV. You can throw them on in the background when you’re
cleaning but you can also sit and watch them like you would any other show. You can even watch them when you’re cooking, although you might feel inferior
depending on if you’re watching Chef’s Table and if that’s the case, maybe just
throw on Nailed It when you’re making food to feel a little better about yourself. I will say the one place I don’t recommend watching these shows is at the gym. It should be pretty obvious, but I thought I could handle it and then immediately
got SO hungry and had to make a pizza.
If you need it, here are some shows I recommend, where you can find them and a solid episode you can start with if you’re unsure.
Why it’s good: This show is almost everything I’ve ever wanted a competition
cooking show to be. It’s silly, it’s realistic, it’s short, and they win money. The premise is home cooks try to recreate all those things you see on Pinterest with people making cakes that look like emoji’s or Spongebob. Nicole Byer, the host, is EASILY the best part and really the only reason to watch it!
A dope episode to start with: Honestly the first one. The episodes are short and you’ll get right into the vibe of it.
Where you can watch it: Netflix babyyy!! Also they just got renewed for season 2
Why it’s good: If you love high quality docu-series AND food, you’ll love this. It’s got that cinematic quality goodness mixed with a really heartwarming story about someone trying to achieve their dreams. They really do a good job of weaving a narrative into these people’s stories of success.
A dope episode to start with: Milk Bar. It’s fun, it’s really American, and it shows you a very approachable way to cook delicious and simple desserts.
Where you can watch it: Netflix duh!
Bonus: Pastry is the fourth season, the other three seasons focus on non-pastry foods, or what they call in the biz, food. There’s a fantastic episode about Nancy Silverton (season 3 episode 3) that has such a great dramatic arc it really seems more like a narrative show than a documentary.
Why it’s good: I was particularly drawn to this series because they focus on one type of food per episode. And they really know how to get you. Episode titles include: Pizza, Tacos, Stuffed and Fried Chicken. Honestly, unless you’re a vegan, what’s not to like? They take you all around the world. They eat the highest quality, the lowest quality (usually fast food) the weirdest and the least expected versions of whichever food they’re profiling. You’re definitely going to learn something new about a food you’ve loved. The style of this show is also particularly cool. They’ll do a parody genre, or have a section just be animated. They really have fun with it which makes you as a viewer have fun with it!
A dope episode to start with: I’d say pick whichever food you like the most and go from there.
Where you can watch it: Netflix (obviously!!)
Why it’s good: If you’re into Italian home cooking, but you’re a little intimidated, BUT you also want to learn about why you’re supposed to do the things you do while cooking, Frankie is your dude! His hyper-enthusiastic personality will draw you in, but his pasta knowledge will keep you coming back for more. I’m a HUGE fan of pizza and pasta and have had many of his meals made for me by my boyfriend who is both obsessed with his videos and the one who introduced me to
A dope episode to start with: As will become clear with a lot of these, it’s best to find the food you want to learn more about and start with that, but the one that got me into Frankie was this video.
Where you can watch it: Youtube, baby! Here’s his personal channel and here’s where you can find him on Tastemade.
Why it’s good: Another Tastemade person! Jen is such a delight. She specializes in Filipina food and comfort foods that are easy to recreate at home. Her personality is fun and authentic which can be really rare with these kinds of videos (trust me, I watched a lot). She has a lot of great videos of her getting stoned and making or attempting to make food which is so fun to watch. But I really love her videos because I feel like I learn more about Filipino food and they’re actually dishes I can eat and enjoy (I’m allergic to a lot of foods).
A dope episode to start with: A funny video to start with is this one, but a good food video is this Filipino bacon recipe.
Where you can watch it: On Tastemade’s youtube!! Or just follow those links.
Why it’s good: I think this was the first cooking show on vice that I ever watched and I really loved it. I was REALLY apprehensive about vice show at first, especially shows about food. I guess I just didn’t trust that they knew what they were talking about. Boy, was I proven the fuck wrong. Eddie is a fucking G. He really knows his shit, but he’s also really open to learning about the culture where he’s visiting. I think that’s what I enjoy most, how open and respectful he is about where he is. The food they eat is also really great.
A dope episode to start with: I personally loved the episode in Japan.
Where you can watch it: Viceland! (Either Youtube or on cable I guess)
Why it’s good: This is the type of show I actually expected from Viceland.
Something raw, lots of cussing, smoking weed and just eating a bunch of food. This show is really all over the place. It’s hard to describe, but that’s also why it’s so fun.
A dope episode to start with: A while back The New Yorker had a great write up about a specific episode which is a really solid one to start with to get a feel for what this show is all about.
Where you can watch it: Viceland probably or maybe on YouTube.
I would be remiss if I did not include an Anthony Bourdain show on this list.
There are so many good episodes and they’re all good for their own reasons. One of my favorite episodes is Season 8 episode two called Hanoi. This is the episode where he famously interviewed Barack Obama. My other favorite episode is Season 6 Episode 5 titled Bay Area. Because If Bourdain goes to Oakland, I obviously have to know where and what he ate. I was not disappointed!
I will say that the best way to watch Parts Unknown is to go through the
seasons and find either the closest place to where you’re from or the most
interesting sounding place you’ve always wanted to visit. Whether you know the
place well or you don’t know it at all you’re bound to learn a lot of new information.
