Well, here we all still are three weeks into a quarantine with the end too far away to contemplate and still retain sanity. Although I’m finding things to occupy my time, I’ve entered a state of brain fog. I’m fairly certain that Jeopardy and People magazine’s crossword are all that’s keeping my little gray cells from going on strike.
With full kudos to those who feel equipped to tackle Gravity’s Rainbow and the like right now, I find myself seeking the pop culture equivalent of a mug of tea. One sector of TV that helps accomplish that is food programming.
Girl Meets Farm, Food Network, Sundays at 11 am EST, streaming on foodnetwork.com
Molly Yeh’s cooking show presents a delightful take on modern Midwest cuisine. Rather than whipping up entrees dictated by gourmet trends in a kitchen the size of an entire apartment, Yeh cooks family dinners in a modest kitchen on she and her husband’s farm. Her casseroles and desserts will remind you of your grandparents’ cooking (if you were lucky enough to have foodie grandparents) in the best way possible. Yeh also often features her take on the Chinese and Jewish cuisine she grew up eating with her family.
The show’s ability to evoke the cozy domesticity of previous generations while avoiding hackneyed Stepford Wives stereotypes is rare. Yeh’s excitement and energy come across as genuine rather than manufactured and represent a new generation of millennial home cooks.
Last week, I made her taco hot dish for my quarantine crew. It was a) elegantly simple b) featured easy-to-find ingredients (even with quarantine-era grocery supplies) and c) completely delicious.
Somewhere South, PBS, Fridays at 9 pm EST, streaming on pbs.org
Vivian Howard, best known for A Chef’s Life, writes and hosts a new PBS show about the cultural connections forged through food. Each episode focuses on a single dish. For example, last week Howard explored many different kinds of hand pies.
What impressed me most about the show was Howard’s inclusive version of today’s American South. The first episode moved from sweet, fruit-based hand pies like applejacks to pepperoni rolls created by Italian-American immigrants in West Virginia to various kinds of empanadas made by Latinx home cooks and chefs across the South. My favorite section featured three generations of a family making turcos, a Mexican-inspired South Texas empanada, and explaining the complex roots of their family and this dish. Warning: this show will make you hungry! Have some snacks ready!
The Big Family Cooking Showdown, streaming on Netflix
Featuring a cooking tournament among everyday British families, The Big Family Cooking Showdown highlights home cooks’ talent and passion for food. Early episodes feature two family teams competing in three challenges with only one team moving forward. My favorite part about the initial round is that instead of cooking only on the set (a gorgeous converted barn) the families must prepare and serve a meal to the judges in their own home. Teams that make it into the semi-finals then face all new challenges like a dessert round where judges select the dish they must make. Bonus points: the show is co-hosted by Nadiya Hussain, a Great British Baking Show winner!
In addition to the typical cooking show fare of recipe chat and food history, you get the added bonuses of a house tour and family drama. There is some sniping among families and between teams early on but that decreases as the competition progresses. If quarantine’s got you tired of your own family togetherness, swap it out for someone else’s family dynamics!
(Disclaimer: Season two of this show ditched everything I loved about it. I didn’t finish more than one episode of the second season.)
Wired Wordsmith 