Chow Ciao

[filkertom]

One of my favorite Top Chef contestants is Fabio Viviani. Dude's overflowing with personality, and obviously loves food as much as anyone. While watching him, Leslie and I would note again and again that, even if he didn't win the big prize, he would at some point have his own TV show.

Turns out, he does. Catch new episodes of Chow Ciao every week on Yahoo.

What kind of cooking show would you have? I'd almost certainly do something with Comfort Food: variations on pizza, pasta, barbecue, burgers, sandwiches, maybe picnic stuff. But with a Really Cool And Not Too Expensive New Ingredient spot every ep, focusing on (for instance) vinegars, cheeses, etc.

Comments

[wanted_a_pony]

Mmmmmm. I'd watch that! Or any show that shows how to tweak a "common" dish so it's healthier, or has more vegetables, or has an exotic taste, or whatever. Sadly I seem to have no taste memory or imagination, so such twiddles are always a leap into the unknown for me.... ;-)

[wingus.livejournal.com]

I'd say something that'd be a cross of Epic Meal Time and Mythbusters - so I guess Man Vs. Food where cooking is actually done by the show stars rather than going all over the place.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

You mean like the episode where they cook MREs using C4 they set on fire?

[wingus.livejournal.com]

I s'pose crazy methods of cooking could be used, yeah.

[madrona.livejournal.com]

So like the guys who made the meat pirate ship, but as a cooking show? I'd see that.

[ladystarblade.livejournal.com]

Fabio is a total doll; we dropped into his Cafe Firenze in Moorpark on our LA trip this year for lunch, and he came in on his day off to say hello after my roomie tweeted at him that we were there...he brought our desserts to us and I fangirled all over the place. Made such a mess. :-) But he is a charmer and knows his stuff, so I'm not surprised at all that he has a show...betcha he's having a ball!

My own cooking show? How To Boil Water Without Burning Your Kitchen Down. And even that would be a near thing...I have no skill in that area.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

I'd do a show called "Easy Ethnic" which would be a variant of "Good Eats" but instead of focusing on an ingredient I'd show how to make dish from a non-American country using cheap, easily obtained, ingredients substituting the expensive stuff and "uni-taskers" as necessary while also talking about how its history and how it's a part of the country.

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

I'd probably take the idea for my sadly-not-working-as-well-as-I-might-hope blog, Untasters Anonymous (http://untaster.wordpress.com/), and just ask the question: "what's the big deal?"

[jss]

I'd steal a friend's concept and host Recipe for Disaster, a show that takes common kitchen mistakes and informs the viewer how to correct them. For entertainment value, I'd definitely do it "wrong" first, of course. :)

[roman-mclaze.livejournal.com]

Brilliant idea! Even if that doesn't get to be a full show, it would be perfect as a recurring segment on a larger program, or as one of those "mini-shows" that some networks used to do to pad shorter programs.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

That's what I love best about Cooks Illustrated and Cook's Country. Showing you what can go wrong and why, along with explanations of how to fix things, is not only informative but entertaining as heck.

[palenoue.livejournal.com]

Fusion Power - My show would focus on the fusion of different global foods or mixing up common dishes for new culinary experiences. For instance, I'd have an entire episode of "Stroganoff in Exile" where I take beef stroganoff around the world, like in Jamaica I'd use coconut milk and lime juice instead of sour cream, in Germany I'd use beer and mustard, etc. And "Taco Tourist" where we take the humble taco global by switching out one or two ingredients at a time, like kimchee instead of lettuce, italian sausage or moroccan tagine instead of mexican ground beef, and so on. I'd crowdsource the recipes and themes for the show by giving out prizes to viewers who send in the best ideas.

Or I'd do a show like "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" but focus on food trucks.

[alverant.livejournal.com]

There's something like that on Cooking channel called Eat Street.
Both shows are fun but neither one has done anything near my neck of the woods.

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

Back when I lived in a house with three other people, one of my friends thought it'd be funny to do a "cooking reality show" called Too Many Cooks. We have a lot of foodie and kitchen-savvy friends, so the show would focus on us trying to put a meal together with all of us working at the same time - and the inevitable "I thought YOU were watching the skillet!" arguments. =)

[madrona.livejournal.com]

Would watch this.

[virtualvirtue.livejournal.com]

Baking show where you go from the basics of ingredients to techniques.

In the Kitchen with my Kid would also be a thought as the child is getting to be a foodie and is becoming much better in the kitchen herself. She watches more FoodTV than I do. Healthier versions of "kid fare" that kids can actually help make (I was making oven baked fried chicken at my daughter's age -- 9 -- and helping out at least keeping an eye on stuff on the stove for mom by that age. That's one step away from bite-sized chicken chunks, breaded and baked -- better chicken nuggets.) My kid is learning knife skills right now, so I don't see the big deal of getting kids into it.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

My cooking show would probably be a half-hour show, starting with a Very Simple Recipe, and showing what can be done with small changes.

"Trading the lemon pepper for curry is a nice start, but it helps to give the curry something to work with. A half cup of raisins..."

[madrona.livejournal.com]

I'd do me teaching a team of total culinary yutzes how to cook the food they like to eat. First they'd tell me some food they absolutely loved. If it was a fast-food thing, I'd poke it apart and possibly be appalled for the camera. Then we'd have some gimmicky non-recipe skill or confidence building exercise, like chopping tons of onions or throwing a dozen eggs down the sink. Then we'd cook our version of this favorite food together with me explaining science and culinary terminology so they'd recognize things if they came up again. Then there would be nomming.

[ladycheron.livejournal.com]

Dinner for Six in Fifteen Minutes? Not one of those shows where the host puts the dish into the top oven and takes a perfectly cooked second dish out of the bottom oven, "Dinner for Six" would show everything in real time. The challenges of preparing a balanced, affordable, tasty meal for six people in fifteen to 20 minutes. It would include a 2 minute segment each week on "Stuff you should always have on hand".

[shinymarigold.livejournal.com]

I'd do something along the lines of The Lazy/Busy Single Person's Guide to Not Starving. Rotating features would include "Hey, That Looks Good - Toss It In!" (throwing together something edible with whatever's handy), "Is It Food Or Is It Poisoning?" (a guide to expiration dates), "Condiments: The Lazy Cook's Friend" (how to jazz up your hash with sauces and spices), "To Thine Own Chef Be True" (understanding your cooking style), "10 Dogs, 8 Buns, 1 Me" (shopping tips for the single cook), and "Oh, To Hell With It" (sometimes it's just easier to eat out). Definitely low-brow, possibly more suited to the Internet than the Cooking Channel. 8-)