Valerie Bertinelli had a cooking show on the Food Network. You might not even have been aware. Bertinelli criticized her Food Network bosses for cancelling her TV show. She pointed out that the channel should bring back cooking shows to the Food Network.
The celebrity cooking shows weren't that great, whether Bertinelli or Tiffani Amber-Thiessen or Tia Mowry or Haylie Duff or others were the hosts. Still, they were better than Holiday Wars or Worst Cooks in America (which isn't really about cooking).
We wrote some time back (2015) about how the Cooking Channel should bring back actual cooking TV shows at the expense of celebrities and their cooking TV shows. We had no hope even 10 years ago that the Food Network would rethink their approach. The beauty of Cooking Channel is that "cooking" is literally in the name. Then again, TLC stood for The Learning Channel, a channel that hasn't been about learning in a long time.
Bertinelli cited cooking TV shows from cooks who are celebrities (a different breed): 30 Minute Meals (Rachael Ray), Barefoot Conetessa (Ina Garten), and Giada at Home (Giada De Laurentiis). Only 1 of those 3 shows involves a decent amount of actual cooking (Garten).
Cooking Channel needs to bring back Laura Calder, focus less on celebrities
Decided to try out The Pasta Queen aka Nadia Caterina Munno on Amazon Prime Video. I do love Italian food but had a difficult time putting up with her antics. Would rather learn cooking from the Acid Queen (Tommy) or even a pasta drag queen.
Wondered if Munno was trying to be unintentionally funny and then finally gave up wondering.
I do love Munno's obsession to get things correct, such as guanciale for amatriciana sauce. Most Americans can't find guanciale near them so they should know that pancetta will work in a pinch. Don't use bacon if you can help it.
Ellie Krieger back on TV with Ellie's Real Good Food
Your humble narrator is going through a cultural transition where I will (finally) cut off cable TV. There are options to pick up cable TV food programming — through a service such as FuboTV or Sling TV or YouTube TV or streaming through Max.
Right now, Cooking Channel isn't even carrying Good Eats with Alton Brown, one of the few Warner Bros. Discovery shows through Max where you could learn cooking. If I thought I could get French Food at Home with Laura Calder (3 seasons 78 episodes dating back to 2007), I might subscribe to Max.
Quite frankly, I might just get my cooking TV fix via CreateTV through PBS. You might be aware of the primary PBS channel: kids during the day and cultural and news programming at night. For example, WGBH/Boston at 2.1 or KQED/San Francisco at 9.1.
You can also access arts and crafts, travel, and other type programming via CreateTV but we are concentrating on the food part. You can punch in your coordinates (zip code) to find the CreateTV channel in your area or you can access this via the Web. PBS Passport, for a pledge at a specific rate, can also be a way to access the considerable library of PBS cooking TV shows.
WGBH has CreateTV on 2.3 and also likely available on cable TV in Boston. KQED doesn't have CreateTV over the air but WTTW/Chicago does have CreateTV on 11.3 and available on cable. Your mileage may vary.
One cooking TV show you will find on CreateTV is Ellie's Real Good Food with Ellie Krieger. You might remember Krieger as a former Food Network host with Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger, which ran on the Food Network from 2006-2011. Krieger also offers nutrition tips on her PBS show, a word that almost seems verboten on that cable TV channel.
America's Test Kitchen, Essential Pepin, Fit to Eat (out of Mississippi), Pati's Mexican Table, Sara's Weeknight Meals, My Greek Table with Diane Kochilas, Simply Ming: just some of the many actual cooking TV shows you can find on CreateTV. No pseudo celebrities (sorry Valerie) known for more than just their cooking.
Amy Schumer Learns to Cook but are we learning by watching the show?
How to succeed on the Food Network and Cooking Channel: Love every single food
Podcast: Guy Fieri and his new $80 million Food Network deal
How well do farmers markets do on Farmers' Market Flip?
Yes, PBS Passport will cost some money. Given the current regime, er, government, PBS could use help. Contrary to some narrow-minded perception, very few tax dollars actually go to PBS programming. You can get the episode you want if you suddenly have a craving for a particular dish, such as the savory mushrooms with red wine and rosemary.
BalanceofFood.com television coverage
You might be fortunate to survive on cooking TV shows via Max and CreateTV via PBS, if that is your ideal option. The idea of waiting around for Food Network or Cooking Channel to realign their priorities will be a very lonely and quite long wait.
The PBS Passport can be cheaper than a month of cable, especially in my predicament. You have cooking TV dollars to spend. If you want real cooking in your cooking TV, CreateTV and PBS are diamonds in the rough.
photo credits: CreateTV/PBS; Ellie's Real Good Food
video credit: The Pasta Queen