Kitchen Competitions
Who are they for? Why do we love them? What can we learn from them? Have they changed the way we cook/think about cooking?
I must confess to being obsessed with cooking competition shows. I have loved watching them for a long time, but during the pandemic lockdown I really leaned into my obsession. Of course, with all that time to focus on my obsession, I started to have some thoughts about how cooking competition shows may have affected how we think about the act of home cooking.
Cooking competition shows might be the universal reality game show. No matter what else people find interesting, or where they are from, or what they do for a living, there is a cooking competition show they will spend time watching. Just searching the streaming services for cooking shows brings this home. The results of this search are mostly competition-style shows, and there is a competition for almost every type of cooking you can think of.
This wasn’t always the case. At the beginning of cooking show history, cooking shows were meant to educate, and maybe entertain. They were kind of slow-paced, perhaps reflecting the idea that cooking at home was to be relaxing and enjoyable, preferably with family and friends.
Now, it’s competition for entertainment’s sake, and possibly learning something if you’re so inclined. In the United States, these cooking competition shows often take the form of chefs competing against each other. This inevitably leads to the emphasis being on restaurant standards of speed, skill, and plating. The impression over time, encouraged by current upscale cooking magazines and social media, is that everyone’s cooking should be like chefs’ cooking.
The effect becomes more obvious when you watch shows from decades ago, like Julia’s The French Chef, and follow social media accounts like weirdoldfood on Instagram (Jess collects old cookbooks and shares photos). You see that Julia is not especially quick or ultra-organized, and she brought each episode’s dishes to her dining room table to be served family-style. Gourmet Magazine’s photos, for example, were not of plated meals either, but of serving platters and bowls (and so many gelatin molds) presented to your guests at the table. The emphasis was on enjoying the act of home cooking, by exploring flavors and techniques that would bring pleasure to the kitchen and the table. The focus was not on whether you could (or should) make a plated meal of “restaurant quality” (a particularly vexing phrase for me).
Decades later, the pace of life has changed of course, and sometimes a “30-minute meal” is exactly what you want. But cooking fast is not always the point. One of the joys of home cooking is the chance to slow down, focus on the meal prep, place all your attention on how something smells, looks, and tastes. Letting the stress of the day drift away in the slicing, chopping, melting, sautéing, and stirring.
The majority of home cooks don’t serve plated meals, either. I know I don’t. Most often, I call my family to the kitchen to fill their own plates as they wish. At family gatherings and holidays, we pass platters, bowls, and baskets around the table so everyone can serve themselves.
Competition shows pitting home cooks against each other have begun to get some traction over the last several years. But they are sometimes part of the problem.
When I watched the first episode of “Worst Cooks In America” back in 2010, I was so appalled and embarrassed for the “recruits”, I sent an email to the head of Food Network, blasting the tone of the show, the brutal bullying of the contestants by Anne Burrell and Beau MacMillan, and the overall humiliation of a group of home cooks for entertainment purposes. I got no response, so I have no way to know whether my email had any effect, but the tone of following seasons was much more good-humored and encouraging. Whether or not I think their approach of “Cooking Boot Camp” is helpful or appropriate is another story for another time. But I bet you can guess. (For instance, teaching someone how to prepare an ingredient they have no access to in their real life is not much help, in my opinion. But it’s very “cheffy” and good for a laugh.)
When I was introduced to The Great British Baking Show (I am not sure when or how this happened), I fell in love with the whole shebang. One of the things I love most is how much time the bakers are given to create their baked goods. They are still challenged, but more often than not it’s their own nerves that get to them, not the time constraints. They even have weeks to practice. The Julia Child Challenge (Food Network) and The Great American Recipe (PBS) are also better at understanding that home cooks are not line cooks, and need more time.
The Taste (ABC) was a major network show that featured home cooks working with cooking professionals as mentors, and MasterChef (FOX) took this format for one season. Honestly, it was one of my favorite seasons, because the drama was created by the three hosts’ personal competition, not by any given home cook going down in flames on national television each week.
At some point I began getting asked by family and friends if I was going to compete. My food is really good, and I’d win, people would say. There are cooking competition shows I could wrap my brain around taking part in. So, while watching, I start trying to put myself in those kitchens. But here’s where I hit the wall. The home cooks are always asked to cook and present a “signature dish”.
I don’t have a “signature dish”.
See, I am a curious cook. A super-duper curious cook. How that shows up in my kitchen is that I often cook dishes one time, and never again. I have spent years as a member of a CSA, cooking whatever is in season at its freshest moment, and that requires an improvisational style. I do have a flavor profile repertoire. But I did not grow up cooking or eating in any specific cultural framework. I have Finnish, German, English, and Dutch ancestors, but I did not grow up eating any of those cultural cuisines. I grew up in Southern California, where it is easy to find authentic, really good Mexican and Asian food, but that was in restaurants, not cooked in my mother’s, grandmother’s, or aunt’s kitchens. My family enjoys those flavors, so I have familiarized myself with ingredients common to those cuisines so I can keep my pantry stocked with easy options when I don’t know what I want to cook.
So I am left with unanswered questions:
What makes a dish your “signature dish”?
What kind of home cook am I if I don’t have one?
Why does it matter to me whether or not I have a “signature dish”?
Why do I keep watching cooking competition shows? I can answer this one. Someone always cooks something in an innovative way that sparks my imagination. That is what brings me back. Also, the creators of these shows keep coming up with novel approaches.
Alton Brown’s Cutthroat Kitchen (Food Network) was hysterical, imaginative and instructive, Brown at his mad scientist best.
David Chang’s recent entry into this category, Secret Chef (Hulu), added some mind-bending twists that pretty much leveled the playing field for the mixed cast of home cooks and professionals.
I take pleasure in the confusion many professionals fall victim to while competing in Guy’s Grocery Games (Food Network), when they are limited to frozen, boxed, and canned ingredients, which are, of course, many home cooks’ staples.
My latest favorite is Crime Scene Kitchen, where bakers have to scour a kitchen for clues as to what the mystery dessert is, and then replicate it. Guessing the dessert correctly makes my puzzle-loving brain just dance.
Do you watch cooking competitions? Do you have a favorite? What about it keeps you coming back for another episode? Would you consider competing?
Last question: Do you have a “signature dish”? I would love to know what it is, and why you think of it that way.
Finally, a big THANK YOU to Emily, who donated to No Kid Hungry after reading the last newsletter! I have your jar of MOLA Vietnamese-Inspired Spice Blend sitting on my desk, and will get it to you ASAP!!
Thanks for reading and subscribing! As always, share freely with anyone you think would appreciate where my brain goes. I am especially grateful to have gained a few new subscribers and followers this past month. Welcome to my kitchen. :)
Thank you for telling me about this post. I can so relate. People always do ask me about my signature dishes or favorite things to make. I do love braising. I guess my food leans French and Mediterranean. But like you, I'm a curious cook always trying new things!