Cooking Shows

[domino harvey]

I don't know why anyone cares about Disney+ when Bon Appetit's YouTube channel is free and offers actual one-stop entertainment

[Lowry_Sam]

Does anyone else watch New Scandinavian Cooking? Its a great show - which mixes travelogue with hilariously impractical dishes - all cooked outside (usually in rain or with ingredients blowing away - once, the host lost all of his food by a sudden draft).

Thanks for the heads up. I just spent time in Sweden, Norway & Denmark in the past year & will be doing more so in the future, so this may actually come in handy. However, is this a serious cooking show or is Lars Von Trier taking the piss out of the foodie craze? I broke out laughing at the very opening of the first episode I watched: How To Make Smoked Reindeer Tacos

in one case, its stinging nettles. You can cook with those? The same thing that will give you a poison-ivy rash can be digested?

I've actually used these in salads, or at least I think it's the same thing. You can find them in health food stores here in California that carry a lot of bulk items. Not sure if they are poisonous, but they are prickly & usually already cut up into bits already so you don't have to do it yourself.

My favorite (serious) cooking show of late has been Italia Squisita since I have been trying to learn Italian. The show is subtitled in English. My favorite episodes to watch are those of Italian chefs (from actual restaurants in Italy) critiquing Youtube videos of popular Italian dishes. They will often be informative & give background how a recipe came into being & where in Italy it originated, but they are also very conservative & don't like nouvelle cuisine, so it's fun to watch their reactions to how other people around the world (and Italians) have embellished standard Italian recipes.

[colinr0380]

Also on YouTube, I have just been reminded of the great Jun's Kitchen channel by his latest video. This channel has perhaps cornered the YouTube algorithm by being about both cooking and cute cats at the same time! (He's got another channel for more freeform content).

[Andre Jurieu]

The knives he's working with make me incredibly envious (... also, the same applies for his cats).

[Lowry_Sam]

In case you haven't seen the review in The Guradian, Paris Hilton has started her own Youtube cooking channel and her attempt to make lasagne is not to be missed.

[knives]

So, among other things, it's been revealed that BA hasn't been paying minority chefs for their YouTube appearances.

[domino harvey]

They’re paid, it’s just that appearing in videos is part of their contract for salaried employees or one-offs as independent freelancers. Those personalities who have their own hosted series get paid extra depending on the host, but only one of those is led by a minority.

[Murdoch]

It sounds like Sohla El-Wahlly was having a really tough time at BA and overworked for her pay. The anecdotes she had about BA sending her to work with black chefs in Philadelphia for a feature because of her skin tone and using her as a background prop in earlier videos were particularly disheartening.

[Murdoch]

Alex Delany may not survive the BA controversy. A photo of a Confederate flag cake he made from 2010 has resurfaced online. I'm hoping his support of BLM and for Rapaport's firing will help him in this since in my mind it would be unfair to condemn him for a cake he made when he was 17. Really hoping Brad doesn't have any skeletons in his closet...

[domino harvey]

Only that he’s clearly balding and that’s why he wears the hat all the time

[soundchaser]

I don’t watch any of the BA stuff, so I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I seriously hope nobody holds me accountable for anything I may have posted on the internet as an actual teenager, living in a very specific environment that bred beliefs I don’t agree with now. This drives me up a wall, especially the smugness with which the denouncers are seemingly operating.

I’m sure there’s something to be said here about black teenagers being tried as adults, which is its own issue.

[domino harvey]

This is just Twitterati going into full “Burn it down” mode. The overlap of fandom for BA and the far left was large, which means they’re more than happy to eat their own on this one as the purity test narrows. It’s worth noting that the pic of Rappo was dug up by a disgruntled contributor who had their pitch rejected, so to say morality played any kind of part here is disingenuous— this was successful revenge. I don’t see BA coming back from this, their whole YT presence was predicated on how nice and friendly they all were with each other, now there’s doubt cast upon everything they’ve ever done and I’m not sure how they go forward from here. I imagine we’ll get more than a few hosts with their own YT channels/brands at some point, though

[knives]

I agree on the Rapport photo, which is why I ignored it in my OP, but Sohla's accusation does sound like a hefty problem with the organization which should be changed. I wouldn't want anyone fired to make the way for positive change.

[Murdoch]

Yeah, those stories she told were damning. While I can see both sides on the photo of the EIC, I do think it's good it came out since it gave Sohla an opportunity to speak out on some severely systemic issues at BA. It's a shame since I never really watched for the recipes (which leaned way too much on Italian staples) but for the camaraderie between the staff. So much ink (or bandwidth rather) was spilled over the BA test kitchen being this perfect work environment and it did seem like everyone genuinely got along. I'm kind of curious now to go back through a few videos with this new perspective.

[knives]

I'm waiting on the return, admittedly I pretty much only watched Gourmet Makes, till after the Sohla thing gets figured out.

[domino harvey]

In the wake of the BA-sized hole in my YT viewing, I’ve been auditioning a lot of other popular cooking shows to mixed results. Babish sucks, how the eff is he the most popular? Wake me when it’s over. I can’t tell the ten different but identical other white dudes cooking in their kitchen or on a campfire ~*~*bUt WiTh A tWiSt~*~* video personalities apart either, but they all feel safe and boring too. I did enjoy the guy who cooks recipes from revolutionary war-era America in period-accurate cooking vessels, and he truly seems too pure for this world, so he’s probably being memed like Bob Ross and Review Brah. But the only YT cooking videos I’ve really enjoyed are from Internet Shaquille, who I feel confident most people here would fucking hate, but one watch would prob explain why it also would be the one I love! After seeing so many garbage cookie cutter cooking videos that drag everything out, his vids are non-monetizably short and filled with about an 80/20 clever to stupid ratio of comic arrogance and some wonderfully inspired non-standard approaches to cooking (Two memorable vids: he cooks a hamburger via sous-vide and infuses sugar with pipe tobacco and cooks up Guinness caramel to make “Bar Fight Ice Cream,” topped with shards of broken candy glass— love it!) and he more than many more polished personalities seems to actually give a shit about cooking (and getting people cooking) as something more than an identity for clicks and most importantly he definitely makes me laugh and I’m never checking the time

[mizo]

If you haven't checked them out already, Epicurious and Zagat each have several series I enjoy. Frank, the pro chef on Epicurious's "FAQ," "4 Levels of..." and "Pro Chef and Home Cook Swap Ingredients" is awesome, though some of the other participants sometimes bug me. "Method Mastery," though newer, is amazing - I still consult this video as a reference all the time (fair warning though, the one about opening shellfish is kind of unsettling).

As for Zagat, looking at their channel now, it looks like most of their better shows have ended - "Sweet Tooth," "Food Tripping with Molly," "Foodways" - but they're still worth a couple hours of entertainment if you've not yet seen them. They seem to be doing a lot more one-off ultra-short (like 3-5 min.) documentaries under the "Zagat Stories" banner now. Also, on the reference-tool tip, definitely check out "Stop Eating It Wrong," through which I have, at least, internalized the "correct" way to eat oysters.

I generally agree with your low opinion of Babish (and it's hilarious to jump from a real pro to one of his videos on the same topic to see the dip in expertise) but he's usually a welcome presence as a guest on others' shows. You might know First We Feast through their gimmick interview show "Hot Ones," but they do a couple other fun shows, all covering food vaguely within the Guy Fieri wheelhouse. Babish has been on a couple of these, as has Matty Matheson, who I enjoy in small doses. Admittedly, since I've gone mostly vegetarian, a lot of these videos inspire in me a kind of cognitive dissonance - "That looks amazing, but I never want to eat it."

I sort of like this guy's historical cooking videos, though his humor can be a cheesy. Fascinating subjects though, and, for me at least, a lot of the appeal outside information in these kind of videos is their pleasantness. Fittingly, they are the comfort food of the internet, and I think this guy definitely fits that bill.

I enjoy the breakneck pace of Michel Dumas's videos, which have also allowed me to practice my comprehension of really fast spoken French. Plus, his videos will, every once in a while, have these bizarre throwaway gags in the midst of the mostly-serious instructions, like he says "Et maintenant, on ajoute des carottes dans le pot" and, in chucking in a handful of carrots, obviously misses the pot completely. Then, cut to the pot with the carrots in and he says "Impeccable!" And speaking of Frenchmen, there are loads of whole episodes of Jacques Pepin's old PBS shows officially uploaded to YouTube. (Less legally, you can also find whole episodes of Two Fat Ladies, which is always funny, though I tend to find the final products often look kind of gross.)

Lastly, I'm delighted to see Review Brah being invoked on this forum. While he doesn't exactly offer non-stop entertainment, I really enjoy checking in on his videos every once and a while, and doing so over the course of several years has given me a window into a real journey. You get the sense that finding an audience (semi-ironic though it may be) has caused this charming oddball to blossom. (I am a bit disappointed though that he no longer opens every video with "Hello everyone, this is Running on Empty... Food Reviews" delivered with scientifically precise timing - I feel like you could play every one of his old videos simultaneously and they would all sync up for that one line.)

And if you're looking for any FoodTube hate-watching, look no further than longtime Review Brah nemesis Joey's World Tour, whose fast food reviews are...challenging

[domino harvey]

Two Fat Ladies is the best cooking show there ever was. I saw every episode so many times on Food Network that when I saw the unedited original UK versions up on YouTube, I could immediately recognize all the new content even though I hadn't seen the episode in at least ten years. Like you, I'm pretty sure I can count on one hand the dishes they made that I'd want to eat. But I still think of Wonder bread et al as "Slimy white slice" or packaged cheese being "slab of soap" thanks to the duo!

I like some of the four levels and pro versus amateur chef videos from when they were in the studio and things were tighter, but I watched a recent one about burgers shot at home and God, it just went on forever (I'm not sure I made it to the end), though the non-professional chef had a nice upbeat quality that I enjoyed. Also the chef straight-up cheated and was like, "Nah, I'm not going to use these pleb ingredients"

Review Brah's greatest strength (apart from apparently having access to the world's last open Sears for his off the rack suits) is the "Is this an act or not?" question mark that greets every affect-filled video. I think at some point it stops mattering, though, and that's what so enjoyable about it. I'd put him up there with Steve1989MREInfo and Townsends the pioneer food guy as the great unironic and wholly sincere food oddballs on YT

I don't think I've seen any Zagat vids, will check some out on your suggestion! I will not be checking out Matty Matheson-- I think what I saw of him in the couple of Brad Leone videos on BA was more than enough. Also, speaking of, I was shocked, SHOCKED to discover courtesy of yesterday's Instagram live feed (which I didn't witness firsthand but saw pix of after) that my strongly held belief that Brad Leone wears a hat all the time because he's balding was FALSE and dude has a full head of hair. I was truly shook, I thought he was Dwight Yokuming it and I would have bet money on it too!

[mizo]

Haha, I was thinking of recommending Matheson, then realized I'd never actually watched one of his own videos (just guest appearances on other shows). Checked one out and five minutes in, "Yeah, nope"

[bearcuborg]

Oh man, I love Two Fat Ladies. I have them on DVD. I still watch Malto Mario, because it was super informative. When making certain things like pasta/tomato sauce-I have his ingredients/proportions memorized.

On YouTube I’ve really been enjoying Guga Foods. So much so that I spent $40 bucks on a single wagyu ribeye. Rick Bayless does really authentic Mexican food that goes beyond tacos-his recipes never skimp on proper steps/authentic ingredients.

[colinr0380]

Not to counter the praise (I have nothing particularly strongly for or against the Two Fat Ladies. It seems that the Hairy Bikers are the current version of the 'bikes and grub' concept on the BBC), but as with many subjects covered in Victor Lewis-Smith's TV Offal show from 1998 I can only really think of the cruelly libellous "Honest Obituary" segment he did about the duo! (NSFW)

[Murdoch]

The only cooking channel on YouTube I enjoy anymore is You Suck at Cooking, although it's nowhere near as bingeworthy as the test kitchen was. It's basically Babish with a hefty dose of sarcasm, not that Babish is that fun to watch.

I watched Buzzfeed's Worth It for a while but neither of the hosts have much charisma and come off as generic YouTube personalities. It can be fun to see how different restaurants price similar dishes, but it gets a bit old hearing the hosts talking about how much they enjoyed every dish and posing for the camera.

Epicurious's three levels of chefs cooking the same dish is pretty fun, but the channel's ties to Conde Nast turn me off from watching it anymore.

So I guess long story short, I haven't found anything. That pioneer cooking guy is pretty interesting but I'd take Brad Leone mutter-bombing Claire's Gourmet Makes over it any day.

[Andre Jurieu]

Babish sucks, how the eff is he the most popular?

Isn't his popularity mostly a function of starting with a pretty good initial concept; re-creating food dishes referenced in popular movies & TV shows? It's not particularly ground-breaking, but I was mildly fascinated to watch him attempt to make the SNL Taco Town taco (seriously, why is there a corn husk included?). He's not really exciting, but I check out his videos occasionally.

Looks like the Bon Appetit videos are losing some of their contributors.

[knives]

All I can say to that is, man, AVC's editorial style has gotten super terrible since I last open an article there.

[domino harvey]

Since that article, Molly Baz asked to be released from her video contract after they quit, and she is one of the true core personalities of the channel. Also Gaby Melian refuses to sign any video contract going forward. The channel is toast... as was apparent months ago when this broke