Air Force chef with celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse

A cooking show, cookery show, or cooking program (also spelled cooking programme in

British English British English is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United Kingdom, especially Great Britain. More narrowly, it can refer specifically to the English language in England, or, more broadly, to ...

) is a

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

genre that presents

food preparation {{catexp, articles about specific foodstuffs. See :Food and drink for more general topics relating to food. Food watchlist articles ...

, often in a

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

kitchen or on a studio set, or at the host's personal home. Typically the show's host, often a

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

, prepares one or more dishes over the course of an episode, taking the viewing audience through the food's inspiration, preparation, and stages of

cooking Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or Food safety, safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from ...

. Cooking shows have been a popular staple of daytime TV programming since the earliest days of television. They are generally very inexpensive to produce, making them an economically easy way for a

TV station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the earth's ...

to fill a half-hour (or sometimes 60-minute)

time slot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automatio ...

. A number of cooking shows have run for many seasons, especially when they are sponsored by local TV stations or by

public broadcasting Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive f ...

. Many of the more popular cooking shows have had flamboyant hosts whose unique personalities have made them into celebrities.

Production

Due to time and production constraints, most, if not all, cooking shows employ filming shortcuts such as

video editing Video editing is the post-production and arrangement of video shots. To showcase excellent video editing to the public, video editors must be reasonable and ensure they have a thorough understanding of film, television, and other sorts of videog ...

food model Food models, also known as fake foods, food figurines or "food samples" (), are scale models or replicas of a food item or dish made from plastic, wax, resin, or a similar inedible material. They are commonly used as mockups in restaurant display ...

ing and

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

, and prepared ingredients to speed up the cooking process and ensure a smooth and seamless production.

Genres

Some cooking shows, such as ''

Emeril Live ''Emeril Live'' is a television cooking program that aired first on Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a divis ...

'', are oriented towards instructional material, and others, such as ''

Trisha's Southern Kitchen ''Trisha's Southern Kitchen'' is an American cooking show that aired on Food Network from April 14, 2012 to January 29, 2022. It is presented by singer and chef Trisha Yearwood; and the series features Yearwood cooking southern-inspired meals fo ...

'', additionally focus on showcasing the personal lives of the hosts. Some, such as the '' Rachael Ray Show'', blend the genre with a

talk show A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...

format. There are also

reality competition Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

s within the genre such as ''

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...

'', ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'', and ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

'', in which contestants are given specific requirements and a time limit to prepare meals, which are then evaluated by a panel of judges, which can include celebrity chefs and other notable personalities.

Travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical Location (geography), locations. Travel can be done by Pedestrian, foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without Baggage, luggage, a ...

cooking shows such as '' Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted'' and ''

Salt Fat Acid Heat ''Salt Fat Acid Heat'' is an American cooking documentary television series starring Samin Nosrat. Based on her 2017 book of the same name, the four-part series premiered on Netflix on October 11, 2018. The show and book's title comes from Nosr ...

'' explore the culinary experiences of host chefs in various destinations. '' Chopped'' and ''

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives ''Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'' (often nicknamed ''Triple D'' and stylized as ''Diners, Drive-Ins, Dives'') is an American food reality television series that has aired on the Food Network since April 23, 2007. It is hosted by Guy Fieri, and in ...

'' are examples of reality cooking shows, and ''

Chefs A' Field ''Chefs A’ Field'' is an American Documentary film, documentary cooking series broadcast on Public broadcasting#Television, public television that focuses on the personal stories of farmers, fishermen, foragers and chefs, offering viewers a ne ...

'' and ''

Chef's Table ''Chef's Table'' is an American documentary series created by David Gelb', which premiered on video streaming service Netflix on April 26, 2015. The series takes viewers inside both the lives and kitchens of a variety of acclaimed and successful ...

'' represent some of the

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

cooking shows.

History

Until the 1940s, most cooking shows were performed on the radio. The first radio cooking show in the United States, ''The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air'', debuted in 1924 and featured the fictional character

Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 to give a personalized response to consumer product questions. In 1954, Gener ...

, voiced by

Agnes White Tizard Agnes White Tizard (July 10, 1895 – March 28, 1979) was an American home economist and nutrition consultant who worked for General Mills and was associated with the brand character Betty Crocker. Tizard was the voice of Crocker on the radio for ...

United Kingdom

One of the first television cooking shows, ''

Cook's Night Out ''Cook's Night Out'' is a 1937 British television series which aired on the BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally establ ...

'', aired on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on 21 January 1937.

Marcel Boulestin Xavier Marcel Boulestin (1878 – 20 September 1943) was a French chef, restaurateur, and the author of cookery books that popularised French cuisine in the English-speaking world. Born in Poitiers in France (Poitou region), Boulestin tried a ...

, who became famous in the English-speaking world for his cookery books on

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

, demonstrated the preparation of an omelet as part of the 15-minute program. ''Cookery'', which was hosted by

Philip Harben Philip Hubert Kendal Jerrold Harben (17 October 1906 – 27 April 1970) was an English cook, known for his radio and television programmes about food and cooking. With no formal training as a cook he ran a restaurant in Hampstead in the 1930s a ...

and aired from 1946 to 1951, is considered by ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' to be the first cooking show on television. On the show's debut, Harben demonstrated the preparation of lobster '' vols-au-vents''.

United States

In 1940, ''Sunday Evening Supper'' was produced by Edward Padula for the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

station

W2XBS WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...

. ''

I Love to Eat ''I Love to Eat'' was a live television series on NBC that aired from August 30, 1946, to May 18, 1947, and was a cooking show hosted by chef and cookbook author James Beard. The show is notable for having been the first network television cookin ...

'' was a

live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television where all viewers watch the same stream simultaneously, rather than watching vide ...

series hosted by

James Beard James Andrews Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef, cookbook author, teacher and television personality. He pioneered television cooking shows, taught at The James Beard Cooking School in New York City and Seaside ...

that aired on NBC from 1946 to 1947. In 1963, ''

The French Chef ''The French Chef'' is an American television cooking show created and hosted by Julia Child, produced and broadcast by WGBH, the public television station in Boston, Massachusetts, from February 11, 1963 to January 14, 1973. It was one of ...

'', one of the first cooking shows in the United States, was launched, and it was hosted by

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (Birth name#Maiden and married names, née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American chef, author, and television personality. She is recognized for having brought French cuisine to the American pu ...

, co-author of the cookbook ''

Mastering the Art of French Cooking ''Mastering the Art of French Cooking'' is a two-volume French cookbook written by Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, both from France, and Julia Child, from the United States. The book was written for the American market and published by Kno ...

''. In 1973, the cooking show ''Frugal Gourmet'' was launched on

KTPS-TV KBTC-TV (channel 28) is a television station licensed to Tacoma, Washington, United States, serving the Seattle area as a member of PBS. Owned by Bates Technical College. KBTC-TV maintains studios and transmitter facilities separately in Tacom ...

, and was hosted by Jeff Smith, a chef from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. In 1993,

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

launched as a

cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

devoted primarily to cooking shows and other programming relating to food.

Australia

The Chef Presents ''The Chef Presents'' was an early Australian television series, which aired from 1957 to 1959 on Melbourne station HSV-7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial te ...

'', one of the first cooking shows in Australia, ran from 1957 to 1959 and was hosted by Willi Koeppen. '' The Jean Bowring Show'', a cooking show aimed at women, aired from 1957 to 1960.

Brazil

The first cooking show on

Brazilian television Television in Brazil has grown significantly since the first broadcasts in 18 September 1950, with the (now defunct) Rede Tupi by Assis Chateaubriand, becoming one of the largest and most productive commercial television systems in the world. I ...

, ''Veja como se cozinha'' (English: "Watch How It's Cooked"), first aired from 1951 to 1958 with Marialice Prestes as its host, and then again from 1961 to 1963 featuring host Ofélia Anunciato. Helena Sangirardi hosted ''Sirva-se de bons pratos'' (English: "Help Yourself to Good Dishes") in 1956 and ''A Alegria de Cozinhar'' (English: "The Joy of Cooking") in 1957. '' Cozinha Maravilhosa da Ofélia'' (English: "Ofélia's Wonderful Cuisine") was hosted by Ofélia Anunciato and aired from 1968 to 1998, becoming the longest-running Brazilian cooking show.

France

In 1953, Jean d'Arcy, a French television director, was inspired by a cooking show in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and brought the idea to France, resulting in the debut of the show ''Les Recettes de M. X'' (English: "The Recipes of Mr. X"). Hosted by comedian Georges Adet, it was the first cooking show to air in France, starting in 1953 and ending a year later. '' Art et magie de la cuisine'' (English: "Art and Magic of the Kitchen"), hosted by chef

Raymond Oliver Raymond Oliver (27 March 1909 – 5 November 1990) was a French chef and owner of Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, one of France's great historical restaurants. Oliver detested '' nouvelle cuisine'', preferring the rich ingredients favored ...

, was another one of the first cooking shows to air in France, running from 1954 to 1967.

Germany

On 20 February 1953, ''Clemens Wilmenrod bittet zu Tisch'' (English: "Clemens Wilmenrod Invites You to the Table"), the first cooking show in then-

, was broadcast, with television chef

Clemens Wilmenrod Clemens Wilmenrod (July 24, 1906 – April 12, 1967) was the first German television cook. His pseudonym was derived from the municipality Willmenrod in the Westerwald region, where he was born as Carl Clemens Hahn. Wilmenrod is considered the ...

presenting recipes for foods such as Rumtopf and

Toast Hawaii Toast Hawaii is an open sandwich consisting of a slice of toast with ham and cheese, and a maraschino cherry in the center of a pineapple slice, baked so that the cheese starts to melt. It was made popular by the West German TV cook Clemens W ...

Japan

In 1953, , one of the first cooking shows in Japan, was broadcast, with Hatsuko Kuroda presenting

chicken salad Chicken salad is any salad with chicken as a main ingredient. Other common ingredients include mayonnaise, hard-boiled egg, celery, onion, pepper, pickles (or pickle relish) and a variety of mustards. Description In Canada and the United State ...

New Zealand

Graham Kerr Graham Victor Kerr (born 22 January 1934) is a British cooking personality who is best known for his television cooking show ''The Galloping Gourmet,'' which aired from 30 December 1968 to 14 September 1972. Early life Kerr was born in Bron ...

was one of the first celebrity chefs to appear on

New Zealand television Television in New Zealand was introduced in 1960 as a state-run service. The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1989, when the Government allowed competition to the state-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ). There are currently three form ...

, when the medium was introduced to the country in 1960. Kerr was later followed by

Alison Holst Dame Alison Margaret Holst (née Payne, born 1938) is a best-selling New Zealand food writer and television celebrity chef. Biography Alison was born in Dunedin, and graduated from the University of Otago, then a constituent college of the Uni ...

, Des Britten, and

Hudson and Halls Peter John Hudson (8 November 1930 – September 1992) and David George Halls (14 October 1936 – 24 November 1993) were a television chef duo, whose cookery show, ''Hudson & Halls'', ran on New Zealand television from 1976 to 1986. They gaine ...

Popular culture

Sue Ann Nivens Sue Ann Nivens is a fictional character portrayed by Betty White on situation comedy ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Casting The role of Sue Ann Nivens was not specifically written for White, but script #73 of the series (" The Lars Affair", aire ...

, a character played by

Betty White Betty Marion Ludden ( White; January 17, 1922December 31, 2021), known professionally as Betty White, was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vas ...

in ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 ...

'', is the host of WJM's ''The Happy Homemaker'', a fictional cooking show. In the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' episode "

Pilling Them Softly "Pilling Them Softly" is the first episode of the fourteenth season of the animated sitcom ''Family Guy'', and the 250th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2015, and was written by Hayes Davenport and direct ...

", Quagmire starts his own cooking show called "Quagmire's Kitchen".