With everyone pulsating with culinary creativity, here are some gastronomic visual feasts to inspire the inner chef and food entrepreneur in you.
Breads, cookies, cakes, and brownies. The social set has been quite busy. With more than three months of free time, you can’t expect these circles to be idle. As evidence of how the enterprising mind truly works wonders, homemade businesses have started popping here and everywhere. And we’re not complaining. The food gods must be pleased. With the weekend just hours away, a binge is definitely on the itinerary. If you’re still half-baked about joining our merry band of business-minded homemade chefs, we rounded up some shows to Netflix and Chill to while you R&R this weekend.
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The Art of the Craft: Chef’s Table
For the sheer artistry of the entire production of this show, beautiful is an understatement. Catch famous chefs from around the world make masterpieces from the simplest to the rarest of ingredients. Watch it for the amazing cinematography and the encouraging stories and insights of these driven kitchen gods. The series has six seasons of 4-6 episodes each and one season for its French iteration. If you need a carrot stick to start working in the kitchen, this is the perfect come-on.
Watch the trailer here.
The Fundamentals of Taste: Salt Fat Acid Heat
The fundamentals are essential when starting your own pantry-based business. And if you do not find yourself having the time to read Samin Nosrat’s eponymous James Beard Award-winning book, thank Netflix for green lighting this four-part series. The show takes you to an exciting journey to Italy, Japan, the Yucatán, and Berkeley’s Chez Panisse (the setting of her culinary career beginnings). Eliciting a ton of aha moments, she explains the unnoticed behaviors of the palate, demystifying several central principles of cooking.
Watch the trailer here.
Manners Maketh Food: Cooked
Attune the craft to the four natural elements (fire, water, air, and earth) as you navigate between the worlds of ancient and modern cooking. It is a clarion call to understanding the deep connections of man and food, its cultural roots, and its universal purpose of nutrition and nourishment. A pairing of food history and science, it highlights our primal need to cook and urges viewers to reclaim lost traditions and discover mind-blowing evolutions—even at the cellular level. Educational, riveting, and for four episodes, definitely worth the view.
Watch the trailer here.
A Literal Tour de Force: Ugly Delicious
Discover a newfound appreciation for international cuisines as another James Beard Award winner, David Chang, tours the world with several colorful personalities in the quest to understand what makes each culinary tradition unique and different. His humble approach is warm and inviting, putting him almost at the same level as the viewer. Follow him as he breaks cultural barriers, discusses common misconceptions, and provides a much-needed spotlight to local cuisine and its experts and enthusiasts.
Watch the trailer here.
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Serving Imagination in a Platter: Crazy Delicious
For those bursting with creativity, a few self-imposed challenges may do the trick. Watch three amateur chefs go head-to-head in a high adrenaline battle of culinary wit. With an esteemed panel of judges: two-time Top Chef alum Carla Hall; molecular gastronomy expert and Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal; and Swedish chef and restaurateur Niklas Ekstedt, you’ll find one creative challenge after the other. Discover inventive and innovative ways of preparing food. Maybe you’ll find yourself making the next best food fad.
Watch the trailer here.
Gatherings We Know So Well: The Big Family Cooking Showdown
If cooking is a nerve-wracking family tradition, this show will surely resonate with you. Imagine Thanksgiving Day potlucks and Christmas Eve celebrations where an 80-sqm kitchen is not enough for a family of epicures, all vying for food prepping space. Like many typical British reality shows, the camaraderie between contestants is friendlier than their American counterparts making it less stressful. The competition uncannily and funnily finds its way among family members, much like real life.
Watch the trailer here.
Going Beyond Fishballs: Street Food Asia
If not being able to travel has been dampening your mood since the lockdown, this series will inspire you to make your favorite Asian delicacies. Walk the streets of tourist hotspots and remember the sights, sounds, and smells of what makes each locale special. With the final episode about the Philippines, you’ll find there’s more to our street food than fish balls and balut—it is a part of our history and our culture. And perhaps, you’ll also find yourself searching for the tastes as well—making servings minutes after each episode.
Watch the trailer here.
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Now, This is Top Chef: The Final Table
Pit Michelin-starred chefs against each other in a global competition and find yourself realizing that well, nobody can get too comfortable in the kitchen. Even master chefs get unwanted results, make mistakes, or underuse ingredients. For business owners, the biggest takeaway is that it doesn’t take a specialist to beat the competition; it takes a skillful adaptation to the challenge. And as each episode unfolds the stories of these world-acclaimed chefs, you’ll find yourself realizing that not all beginnings have to be big—it all starts with a purpose.
Watch the trailer here.
The Happy Eater: Somebody Feed Phil
If you’re looking for the ideal customer, Phil Rosenthal is the holy grail for every business owner. The man will lap up everything you serve him and end a meal with a big smile on his face. Learn how to make your diners and patrons happy as you watch Phil go from country to country and immerse himself in the culture, not without his wisecracking talents of course. The series is a heartwarming reminder on the purpose of food as a bringer of joy. It is heartwarming, witty, and absolutely entertaining.
Watch the trailer here.
There’s Always Someone Worse: Nailed It!
Now, now. We can’t all turn into gourmet master chefs with a single flick of a whisk—but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while doing it. Catch the hilarious antics of comic Nicole Byer and renowned chef Jacques Torres as they (with special guests every episode) guide some kitchen disaster-prone contestants to a cash prize and a claim to winning a baking show for non-bakers. It’s the perfect motivation for those who need some schadenfreude to feel better after a batch of wasted test ingredients. If you can not get enough of it, a holiday season and four international homologs are just as exciting.
Watch the trailer here.
