RIP Good Food Channel!

cookieee said:
Believe it or not, we actually have some real talented people here in the US. They know what they are doing and are very informative about what to cook and how to cook it.
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I'm sure there are - hopefully we'll get some of the good ones on the Food Network channel over here. From what I've seen, the Good Food Channel mostly focused on British chefs/programmes. I always like to see good quality programmes from other countries.

morning glory said:
My comments aren't about the ability of the chefs/cooks - more about the quality of the programme making and the presentation style. Its hard to explain but to take one example, I wouldn't even refer to Rick Stein's programmes as 'cooking shows'. They're part documentary, part travelogue with information about sourcing ingredients, history and so on.
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I think you explained it really well and captured how I feel as well. I like the in-depth-ness (if that's even a word *lol*) of programmes like Rick Stein's....its about the food, how to cook it and it's origins. Bonus points if it also incorporates travel to other countries :okay:
 
I'll admit, I get great joy in pointing out FN's shortcomings. Most of their "personalities" are straight out of Central Casting. They make it so easy.
 
When I was first getting serious about cooking, I was mesmerized by Food Network. What a cool thing to be able to see wall-to-wall programming about cooking!

But, as @TastyReuben has explained, it's a bit like Dorothy getting a peek behind the curtain and finding out that the wizard isn't real. You start to realize that it's an entertainment network, first and foremost.

Now, once you realize that, it's not so bad. I do watch cooking competition shows from time to time, and I actually do learn some things:
  • First and foremost, there's always some sort of time limit. Since I always cook at less-than-ideal times, this shows me that, yes, it's possible to but together an excellent meal in half an hour if you really have to do it.
  • Secondly, sometimes really great things come out of those time restrictions, such as time-saving techniques. This is why I'm so well-versed with a pressure cooker.
  • There are always cool flavor combinations that I see the (mostly) professional chefs use. Someone might decide to cook something that their grandma made when she was in Madagascar. What kind of food do they have in Madagascar? I have no idea, but seeing this makes me want to find out.
I have very little use for the shows where it's just one cook inviting you into their kitchen to watch them make something. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but I can't help but thinking, "Wouldn't it be a lot faster to just look up the recipe on-line?"
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I have very little use for the shows where it's just one cook inviting you into their kitchen to watch them make something.
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I pretty much feel the same way, and that's probably why FN has gone the personality route - you're not watching brown butter ravioli being made by Giada Delaurentis, you're watching Giada Delaurentis make brown butter ravioli (complete with her fake-as-can-be Italian accent, which mysteriously comes and goes several times an episode), and there's a difference.

About the only one-cook show I like (love, really) is any one done with Jacques Pepin. Where other cooks making food do this:

"Ok, now I'm gonna add two tablespoons of butter to the pan and let that melt, and while that melts, I'm gonna chop an onion, and now I'm gonna add that to the pan, and now I'm gonna..." - it's all "I'm gonna this and I'm gonna that and I'm gonna this again." All they're doing is reading a recipe.

Pepin tells stories that relate to what he's cooking, and he weaves what he's doing into the narrative of the memory he's sharing:

"I love mushrooms. I like a lot in this, maybe a cup or even more. My mother, she would tell me, 'Jacques, stay out of the mushrooms!' but I never did, and one day..."

That's not easy to do naturally, and he excels at it. It's like he's telling a story while he happens to be cooking, and it's so pleasurable to listen to, I'll watch him make things I'd never cook or eat, just to be entertained.
 
rascal said:
I'm currently watching rick stein in Mexico. Don't know if @CraigC gets that there? It's brill. Also get diners and an assortment of other shows. I hate Ramsay and I'm slowly going off Jamie as well. I miss Anthony Bourdain!!

Russ
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No, my go to for Mexican cooking shows is Rick Bayless's "Mexico One Plate at a Time" and a close second is "Patti's Mexican Table" (PBS's Create). I do miss "The Two Hot Tamales" back when Food Network actually did cooking shows.
 
It's disappointing when you lose some of your favorite programs. I rarely watch FN anymore. I want to see food/meals that I would actually cook. I like Ina Garten & Giada, but not much else they offer. There are a few I like on PBS, but don't tune the channel in often enough to remember the day and time slot. I wouldn't mind seeing more of Ming Tsai and Sara Moulton.
 
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CraigC said:
No, my go to for Mexican cooking shows is Rick Bayless's "Mexico One Plate at a Time" and a close second is "Patti's Mexican Table" (PBS's Create). I do miss "The Two Hot Tamales" back when Food Network actually did cooking shows.
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Havnt seen those here but I'll keep an eye out.

Russ
 
My go-to cooking shows are now all on YouTube, and most are not professional channels, but still quite good.

As for the challenge cooking shows, I enjoyed the Masterchef Australia series - which aired on YouTube, no idea if they are still there - because the focus was less on interpersonal hate and more on the food..... and they even aired episodes where the contestants learned how to cook certain dishes.

Right now my favorite cooking channels on YouTube are Chinese Cooking Simplified and Maangchi and Binging With Babish (not as much when he's trying to make some crazy thing from a TV show or movie, but more when he's doing his "Basics" cooking). I also have a certain fondness for Townsend's colonial era cooking recipes. He'll try them out and give watchers an assessment.

I wish Food Network would do more of these types of show. Probably they won't. I have NO IDEA what they were thinking when they decided to do back-to-back stuff from the same show. Lazy programming, I'd say.
 
The move to Food Network isn't quite as bad as I feared. They have bought up all the BBC content from the ex-Good Food channel plus they have some new UK food programmes. So there is a mix of US & UK content. Its bearable, although I'm getting sick of Pioneer Woman and her perfect family, which screens back to back in the morning.
 
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