Thursday, September 19, 2013

Our Favourite Aussie Cooking Shows

Cooking shows are all the rage nowadays on Australian television. Not only do they give us great ideas about what to cook up in the kitchen, but they are captivating and intense too. With celebrity chefs, nervous contestants and competitions to keep viewers entertained, it’s no wonder why there’s so many on the telly at the moment! In this article, some of the most popular cooking shows over the past few years. We’ve tried to list programs of various different kinds - as originality is always good!

MasterChef

Without a doubt the most watched cooking show in Australia, Channel Ten’s MasterChef has inspired a number of similar programs on other networks. You don’t need to be told about the premise, as we’re sure you’ve seen it many times before! Amateur chefs compete by serving various dishes to the judges, and the last man or woman standing is crowned the winner. Always one to pull at the heartstrings, MasterChef is reality television at its finest as we inevitably connect with certain contestants and the level of intensity is always high!

Featuring chef Gary Mehigan, chef George Calombaris and food critic Matt Preston, Masterchef often features celebrity special guest chefs to add to the excitement.

Food Safari

SBS’s Food Safari, hosted by the much-loved Maeve O’Meara, is all about discovering amazing cuisine from various countries around the world. In four seasons, Maeve has sampled great food from just about every continent on the planet including our own. Each episode covers food from a particular country, looking at how it is prepared and how it is enjoyed!
Featuring a wide array of specialist meals with tantalising twists, Food Safari has gone on to be one of the most successful food programs on TV to date and we’re certainly looking forward to the upcoming series.

Ready, Steady Cook

Daytime television can be tiresome at times, but Ready Steady Cook always manages to get its share of viewers. Twice nominated for a Logie Award, the program isn’t nearly as intense as MasterChef, but it still manages to put the pressure on the contestants as they are asked to prepare a dish in real time. The show has a friendly, easygoing vibe to it - perfect for daytime telly! Not to mention, Ready Steady has featured a number of celebrities over the years including Kyle Sandilands, Fizty and Josh Thomas.

Huey’s Cooking Adventures

Truly one of the classic Australian personalities, Huey’s Cooking Adventures ran from 1997 to 2010 (at which point the program’s format was tweaked), though we never got tired of watching the great man do his thing in the kitchen. As much of a charmer as any celebrity chef in the business, Huey would get around in those irresistible pants braces and cook up all sorts of contraptions, sharing his love of great love with stay-at-home Australians the country over. Nowadays you can catch him on Huey’s Kitchen, but don’t expect the dashing Huey we remember from the early days of his Huey Cooking Adventures program!