Best Cooking Shows to Learn From Before Culinary School
Cooking is a popular passion. Many who love preparing fine foods are able to turn their natural talents into a profession. And there is plenty of opportunity for budding gastronomists.
Is a life of fine cooking in your future? Here are some television shows that showcase techniques, recipes, and realities that can help aspiring chefs.
Ugly Delicious
This reality adventure follows host David Chang explores traditional dishes from all across the world. Unlike similar food adventure shows, however, Ugly Delicious focuses on more than just the flavors in each dish. David Chang takes familiar favorites, like pizza and fried chicken, and breaks down the social and cultural effect these foods have had on our society. He also includes an extended history of the food, including how the recipe has changed over time and regional variations.
Ugly Delicious gives future culinary students a deeper understanding of how food affects us all. Seeing food as a cultural influence and not just something to fill the belly helps aspiring chefs craft better recipes.
Chef’s Table
Get up close and personal with some of the best chefs in the world in this beautifully composed series. The incredible cinematography makes this show a gorgeous feast for the eyes. Each episode takes you into the kitchen of a culinary heavy hitter to watch them prepare one of their favorite dishes.
A love of food is an essential quality of a good cook. Chef’s Table shows aspiring culinary students exactly what that looks like. In addition, future chefs can find sparks of inspiration to encourage them in their own culinary explorations.
Salt Fat Acid Heat
Delving deep into the science of cooking, host Samin Nosrat shows cooks how to master the most basic elements of the culinary arts. As the title suggests, this means learning how to use salt, fat, acid, and heat effectively in a variety of dishes. Each episode explores the chemistry that makes great food in the context of each of the four elements. To illustrate her points, Samin takes viewers on a culinary journey to a different part of the world.
Versatility is beauty in the cooking arts. However, experimental chefs need a solid foundation in the basics in order to create successful new recipes. By watching Salt Fat Acid Heat, students are given a thorough understanding of the background behind certain techniques as well.
The Mind of a Chef
Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain had a huge influence on popular food culture. Before his passing, he gifted the world with the Mind of a Chef series. Following a similar format to his two wildly successful food adventure series, each episode takes an up-and-coming chef on an Anthony Bourdain-type adventure. Viewers get real-life reactions and information in every scene.
It’s important for chefs to remember that the restaurant experience is supposed to be fun. How can cooks bring a sense of fantastic adventure into their diner’s experience? Watching the Mind of a Chef is a great way to get some new perspective on how each person experiences a food dish.
The Final Table
With a constantly shifting cast of judges, culinary experts, and locations, the Final Table is a smorgasbord of cooking inspiration. In each episode, teams of professional chefs compete for the prize by preparing a traditional culinary creation for a panel of professionals with extensive experience in preparing and consuming that dish. Competitors travel around the world to showcase their creative skills.
Finding your signature style can be a challenge. The Final Table features accomplished chefs who have, over time, perfected their own way of doing things. From watching the show, students get an understanding of what it means to be a chef from an artistic standpoint.
Make Your Culinary Dreams Come True
Watching cooking shows exposes food lovers to new ideas, techniques, and possibilities. However, there is no substitute for formal education. Don’t spend all of your time watching other people live their dreams. Make your culinary goals a reality with an Associate of Applied Science in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of Virginia at ECPI University. For more information, connect with a helpful admissions advisor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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