Five Food and Cooking Shows You Can Stream Right Now to Help Up Your Quarantine Kitchen Game
Whether you want to bake with Noel Fielding from 'The Mighty Boosh' or travel the world with David Chang, there's a show for you.
When all this time inside, at home, away from bars, pubs and restaurants comes to an end, which culinary whiz will you most resemble? We know you're getting plenty of practice, hopefully making something other than just sourdough — and we're betting your kitchen skills are stepping up a level with each iso meal you whip up.
We're also certain you're eager for culinary inspiration. This isn't the time to live on two-minute noodles, grilled cheese on toast or that one dish that's always been your speciality ever since you moved out of home, after all. Whether you're eager to emulate a celebrity chef, focus on a certain type of food or just have some fun with your cooking, there's plenty available to stream to help — not only tempting your tastebuds, but your cooking abilities, too.
CHEF'S TABLE
Scrolling through Netflix, you might start feeling hungry. While the streaming service is known for many things, it has also become a hub for culinary-themed docuseries over the past few years. There's nothing quite like the original though: Chef's Table, the platform's first step into the foodie game. Created by Jiro Dreams of Sushi filmmaker David Gelb, each of the series' 30 episodes to-date focuses on a different chef, a different restaurant and a different place around the world — taking your stomach on a global tour. Watch Massimo Bottura do what he does best, spend time behind the scenes with Attica's Ben Shewry, and journey everywhere from Argentina and Sweden to Slovenia and Turkey. The US also features heavily, but this acclaimed show never repeats itself.
Chef's Table is available to stream via Netflix.
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF
Fifteen years ago, if someone had suggested that Noel Fielding host a cooking show, you would've started laughing. Or, you would've thought that they were dreaming up a hilarious scenario for a new episode of The Mighty Boosh. But co-hosting The Great British Bake Off is exactly what Fielding has been doing since 2017. He's great at it, too. And, if watching British cooks compete for glory by baking up a storm isn't entertaining enough for you, then Fielding's involvement will be. Combined, though, you're in for a big dose Fielding being Fielding, plus oh-so-many delicious-looking baked goods that you'll instantly want to whip up at home.
The Great British Bake Off is available to stream via Sky Go.
NAILED IT!
Admit it: while you've been spending all your time indoors, you've put your oven to good use. And, you've whipped up more than just bread — because who hasn't been hankering for cakes, brownies, muffins and all manner of other sweet baked goods? If you've been trying to take your cake-making to elaborate extremes, or you've always wanted to, then Nailed It! is the show for you. In each episode, the competitive Netflix series tasks three amateur bakers with creating complex cakes, then watches as they succeed and/or fail. As hosted by comedian Nicole Byer and pastry chef Jacques Torres, the show proves particularly fun when the contestants don't hit the mark. In fact, ensuring that the series is incredibly relatable, Nailed It! focuses on bakers who definitely aren't going to be jumping over to MasterChef anytime in the near future.
Nailed It! is available to stream via Netflix.
UGLY DELICIOUS
Food and travel: if there's a combination that's better suited to today's current situation, we're yet to find it. Any TV show that combines both not only provides viewers with a whole heap of culinary suggestions, but lets everyone cooped up at home indulge their wanderlust. That's the case with Ugly Delicious. It's the case with the bulk of Netflix's cooking shows, including fellow David Chang-hosted series Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; however Ugly Delicious' focus on a different type of food per episode is a winner. Chang also weaves in the history of each dish in the spotlight, so prepare to learn more about tacos, Korean barbecue, fried rice and Indian cuisine — as well as steak, fried chicken, skewered meat, and shrimp and crawfish.
Ugly Delicious is available to stream via Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4fx6V7ura0
DISHMANTLED
Given that Dishmantled's episodes clock in at less than ten minutes each — it's a Quibi show, and that's what the new streaming platform specialises in — don't expect a step-by-step walkthrough explaining how to make each dish in detail. Instead, this amusing spin on the culinary TV genre's competitive strand literally throws food at its blindfolded competitors, forces them to guess what kind of meal they're now covered in, and asks them to make said dish in 30 minutes. Expect quick meal ideas, an entertaining and enjoyably over-the-top concept, and plenty of attitude, with the latter coming from host Tituss Burgess. If his Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt character Titus Andromedon hosted a silly cooking show in bite-sized pieces, it'd look exactly like this (although it could use more pinot noir).
Dishmantled is available to stream via Quibi.
Top images: Chef's Table, Ugly Delicious and Nailed It! via Netflix.
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