Menu options plentiful on Netflix smorgasbord By: Eva Wasney Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021

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This article was published 02/02/2021 (1921 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching someone else prepare a meal — even if you can’t enjoy a plate. Cooking shows, food documentaries and culinary competitions turn a basic human need into a nourishing form of entertainment that is especially comforting during the pandemic.

Netflix has cornered the market on high-quality, highly binge-able food content since the release of its cinematic original series Chef’s Table in 2015. While the streaming giant continues to pump out branded food shows, its competitors largely host productions from elsewhere. (Crave is home to Vice shows, like F*ck, That’s Delicious and Huang’s World; and Prime Video has a slate of Food Network programs.)

Keep reading for some of the best new food television on Netflix. Hot tip: make sure you have a stash of snacks on hand before you dig in.

The American Barbecue Showdown

Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 8

There are approximately 101 different cooking competitions on the air right now — and many of them are unnecessarily goofy. There’s nothing wrong with junk food TV, but The American Barbecue Showdown is a welcome palate cleanser.

The 2020 series features a motley crew of backyard grillers and up-and-coming pitmasters thrown into timed challenges designed to test their ‘cue skills’ and aptitude with side dishes.

The colourful cast of characters, and the camaraderie they develop, is the best part of the show. For one, they’re all really nice to each other. Running between a picturesque outdoor grill area and barn-turned-kitchen, the competitors — wearing everything from pearls to sleeveless muscle shirts to fishing hats — are often seen helping their neighbours with equipment and cooking techniques.

Even the four judges, including hard-nosed chef and world barbecue champion Melissa Cookston, serve up their decisions with kindness.

Well-shot interviews move the story along and each episode wraps with the winners, losers and judges toasting a glass of iced tea together. In the end, you don’t really want anyone to go home.

 

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Street Food

Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 2
Episodes: 15

Street Food is the latest offering from Chef’s Table creator David Gelb and, as with all of his work, the 30-minute episodes are a cinematic delight.

The first season focuses on street food across Asia, with visits to Thailand, Japan, India, Philippines, and beyond; and the second lands in Latin America. Viewer’s be warned, the wide-ranging culinary adventure will either take the edge off your desire to travel during the pandemic, or make the itch more unbearable.

The series focuses on popular street food items in each location and the vendors who sell them, many of whom are women working to put food on the table while keeping traditional dishes alive. The latest season kicks off with a feature on cheesy tortilla and the lesbian couple serving the gooey creation to lines of people at a popular market in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The spotlight expands to include the historical and social context of street food through interviews with food writers and academics, but the personal storytelling is what makes the docu-series more than just a string of pretty food shots.

 

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Nadiya’s Time to Eat

Where to watch: Netflix
Seasons: 1
Episodes: 7

Starring Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain, this cooking show is all about giving yourself a break from expectation and long hours in the kitchen. Hussain is a cheerleader for simple recipes, handy shortcuts and lowbrow ingredients, like canned spaghetti and potatoes.

Nadiya’s Time to Eat originally aired on the BBC and was picked up by Netflix in 2019. The program has been lauded as a much needed stand-out in the very white world of cooking shows.

“To be able to do a cookery show and be this British, Bangladeshi, Muslim woman of color — that’s a big deal,” Hussain said in an interview with The Cut.

Episodes are shot in a bright, colourful home kitchen, a compliment to Hussain’s bubbly personality, and feature meals with the host’s family. Recipes include peanut butter and jelly pancakes made in a tray, easy homemade bread, savoury French toast and meatloaf rolled in store-bought phyllo dough.

There are also fun interludes of Hussain touring local food production facilities and showing fellow Britons how to cook better meals for their families amid a busy schedule.

Nadiya’s Time to Eat is educational, empowering and a reminder that representation matters in food media.

 

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney