14 Cookery Shows Food Fans Will Love
Remarkable Places To Eat, BBC iPlayer
In this travel-led series, leading chefs take host Fred Sirieix to experience the restaurants they genuinely love to eat in. Expect to watch the likes of TV chef Andi Oliver taking Fred to Marrakesh to enjoy lamb and couscous at a legendary restaurant, chicken tagine for under £10 and breakfast on a pretty special roof terrace; Michel Roux Jr in Bristol for a tour of his favourite French bistro and a taste of Jamaican jerk turkey; Chris Bavin in the New Forest, where fresh local produce is king and country pubs serve the perfect Ploughman's; and Nadiya Hussain on a road trip around Yorkshire.
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Simply Raymond Blanc, ITV Hub
Like a straight-forward cooking show? In acclaimed French chef Raymond Blanc’s new series, he rustles up simple yet delicious dishes from his Oxfordshire kitchen at multi-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. Throughout the ten episodes, Angela Hartnett cooks up cep tagliatelle, while Raymond pays homage to his mother by sharing nostalgic dishes from his childhood, transforms classic dishes, such as mussels three ways and spicy slow-roasted harissa lamb, with herbs and spices from his garden, and demonstrates how to make the ultimate romantic meal for two.
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Chef’s Table, Netflix
This popular Netflix series shows the stories, characters and dedication behind some of the very best restaurants in the world. In its latest instalment, Mashama Bailey returns to Georgia to open a new restaurant drawing on the knowledge and culinary history of the African-American chefs who came before her; aspiring vet Dario Ceccini returns to save his family’s butchery business and becomes the world’s most famous butcher; Asma Khan abandons a career in British constitutional law to return to India to extract the secret recipes of her family’s royal Mughlai roots; and Sean Brock, who has devoted his career to preserving southern food crops and culinary traditions, is finally forced to reckon with the personal demons that threaten his life.
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Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, Netflix
This travel/food show is presented by the late Anthony Bourdain, who excelled at everything he turned his hand to, from cooking to writing books. Fans were particularly enamoured with Parts Unknown, a show about food, but not really about food. Beyond the cooking segments, the show saw Bourdain travel the world, looking at different cultures and how food unites communities. One stand-out episode sees him travel to post-war Libya, sifting through a mix of harrowing personal stories and food culture, putting himself in dangerous positions to get the big picture and the true story behind the history of the country. There are ten superb series to binge, with individual destination episodes a must-watch before any trip.
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Salt Fat Acid Heat, Netflix
Salt Fat Acid Heat is based on chef and food writer Samin Nosrat’s 2017 smash-hit cookbook of the same name. Each episode looks at how cooking is influenced by four basic, but necessary, elements: salt, fat, acid and heat. The show takes Nosrat to different food connoisseurs in different countries to discover how they incorporate these four fundamentals into their own food: think soy sauce and miso in Japan for her ‘Salt’ episode, and olive oil and cheese in northern Italy for ‘Fat’. Perhaps the greatest thing about this series is Nosrat herself – bright and affable, her enthusiasm for food will give even the biggest kitchen-phobe the urge to try something new.
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Rick Stein’s Cornwall, BBC iPlayer
Rick Stein’s Cornwall sees the much-loved chef share food and drink heroes, art, culture and history from around the county, alongside new recipes for viewers to recreate at home. He begins at Polventon House, Rick’s childhood holiday home that his father and uncle built on Trevose Head. Here, Rick shares stories of growing up and the dishes his mother and father would cook – including fish cakes, grilled mackerel and fresh lobster from Mother Ivey’s Bay. Rick then heads to the far southwest to meet one of Cornwall’s most famous artists, mixed media painter Kurt Jackson. And near Newquay, Rick hangs out with John Harris, who’s been head gardener at Tresillian House since 1984, for a tour of his famed apple orchard.
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Rotten, Netflix
This critically acclaimed series travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal unsavoury truths and expose hidden forces that shape what and how we eat. In a similar vein to other recent food documentaries – such as Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy – Rotten will really make you think and consider the impact of what you eat day in, day out. In the most recent series, topics of discussion include avocados, wine, bottled water, sugar, chocolate and edibles. An eye-opening look at the fraud, corruption and the consequences on our health of today’s global food industry.
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Cooked, Netflix
Writer Michael Pollan’s book Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation chronicled his journey as he learned to cook various food staples and became a top food writer. Three years after publication, his book was adapted into a four-part series. In it, the same premise applies: Pollan delves into the ways the world around us changes food and the way we cook it. Explored through the lenses of fire, water, air and earth, Cooked is a compelling look at the evolution of what food means to us through the history of food preparation and its universal ability to connect us. Highlighting our primal human need to cook, the series hopes to give viewers a more meaningful connection to the ingredients and cooking techniques we use to nourish ourselves.
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Snackmasters, All4
In this Channel 4 hit, renowned maître d' Fred Sirieix sets a challenge for two top chefs to work out the secret techniques and recipes behind some of Britain's best-loved snacks – think Snickers, Quavers, Wagon Wheels and Quality Street – before creating their own version. The chefs then present their replica to a panel of judges, comprising workers involved with the manufacture of the treat, and the chef who has most faithfully recreated the snack wins. During each episode, presenter Jayde Adams visits the factory that makes each snack, comparing how accurately the chefs are recreating the process.
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The Final Table, Netflix
If you love MasterChef, this one’s for you. The Final Table is a global competition featuring some of the world’s most talented chefs as they fight for a spot at ‘Final Table’, made up of the greatest chefs from around the globe. The series features 12 teams of two chefs from around the world cooking the national dishes of Mexico, Spain, England, Brazil, France, Japan, the US, India and Italy. Each episode focuses on a different country and its cuisine, with celebrity ambassadors and food critics eliminating teams until the finale. In the last episode, only one of the competing chefs will win a place at the table, joining the nine ‘culinary icons’ – Enrique Olvera (Mexico), Andoni Aduriz (Spain), Clare Smyth (UK), Helena Rizzo (Brazil), Vineet Bhatia (India), Grant Achatz (US), Carlo Cracco (Italy), Yoshihiro Narisawa (Japan) and Anne-Sophie Pic (France).
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Restaurants On The Edge, Netflix
In this relatively recent Netflix hit, three food and design experts travel the world to revive failing restaurants by connecting them to the local culture beyond their views – think of it as a much less expletive-ridden version of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. The experts – restaurateur Nick Liberato, designer Karin Bohn of House of Bohn and chef Dennis Prescott – tap into a restaurant's surroundings and community to remodel each business in a way that is uplifting, inspirational and positive. Destinations across the two series include Canada, St Croix, Finland, Slovenia, Arizona and Hawaii.
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Cook Clever, Waste Less With Prue & Rupy, All4
Well-loved chef Prue Leith and Dr Rupy Aujla have teamed up to help the nation become more savvy with their cooking habits. The series focuses on four different families as they work to transform their meals for good and reduce food waste. The duo teaches them recipes for easy-to-make meals using store cupboard staples and budget-friendly meal planning. And the show also features tips and expert advice for ways viewers can change their own habits and revolutionise how they consume food – for the benefit of both their health and the planet.
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Nadiya’s American Adventure, BBC iPlayer
In this charming series, Nadiya Hussain takes a tour of America's culinary melting pot. She starts in downtown Los Angeles, in a Latino neighbourhood, home to an authentic Central American night market. In LA’s trendy arts district, Nadiya meets Wes Avila, whose gourmet tacos are redefining modern Californian cuisine. And in San Francisco, she visits the last remaining handmade fortune cookie factory in Chinatown, where she is taught how to mould and fold like a pro by the grandma of this family business.
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Nigella: At My Table, BBC iPlayer
We loved Nigella Lawson’s Eat, Cook, Repeat – which aired in December – but still think At My Table is among her best series. Focused on simple recipes full of complex flavour, in these episodes Nigella shares new discoveries like her Turkish-inspired eggs, as well as old-fashioned favourites including queen of puddings, a simple chicken and pea traybake, her emergency brownies, as well as her top tips for using a spiraliser.
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