What food and drink shows are you watching at the moment?

Let's share the knowledge

Image credit: BBC (fair use)

My brother recently recommended I watch Chris Cooks Cymru, an old-school style food show set in Wales. I devoured it (pun intended) in one sitting.

Call it homesickness after nearly five years of living abroad, or call it a desire for nostalgia, but I loved watching a BBC-commissioned cooking show about my Welsh homeland. It also made me realise I’ve not watched enough food or drink shows recently.

Much of this, I suspect, is because the way we watch TV has changed.

The Gentle, Comforting Allure of 1990s Food TV

During my 20s and 30s for instance, the Food Network would be a constant comfort watch. It was just…there. Ready to be watched 24 hours a day.

But I no longer have terrestrial — or satellite — TV. Everything I watch is through streaming services like Netflix or Apple.

Now that I’m no longer flicking through the channels, I’m no longer landing on the Food Network. Now the BBC is no longer on in the background, I’m not catching shows like Chris Cooks Cymru by accident.

I have to seek out food shows now, and whilst there are a few gems, there are a lot of bad shows out there too.

Food competition shows for instance are plentiful and whilst some are good — I’ve always been a Masterchef fan and Netflix’s Barbeque Showdown was an education in a style of cooking we don’t really have in the UK — many are overly dramatic and poorly made.

So I’d love to know:

What food and / or drink shows have you recently watched and would recommend?

Or even, which ones should we avoid?

They can be food shows, documentaries, fictional shows around food and drink, old or new, whatever you like. The floor is yours.

Today’s thread is open for everyone — I’ll kick off the conversation with my current recommendations: