Thanks to Television, people are learning to eat healthy and cook better. Australia has fallen in love with food reality cooking shows and competitions. TV ratings are going through the roof with some shows commanding massive audiences and garnering major sponsors.
{my kitchen rules}
Many shows have lovingly captured the art of making food on film before, but few TV shows turned the kitchen into a cooking battlefield like My kitchen rules.
The 10 Best Cooking shows in Australia ( in no random order)
My Kitchen Rules
Broadcasted: Seven Network
My Kitchen Rules #mkr has been going strong since 2010. The Cooking Game Show consistently puts teams of contestants from different states of Australia to compete against each other. The show features the celebrity chefs Peta Evans and Manu Feildel as judges, and every season has different guest judges.
Contestants must prepare a three-course meal—composed of entrée, main, and dessert—in less than three-hours. They’re also responsible for the serving and presentation, which make the competition far more challenging. In the end, the last two teams face off in a Grand Final to receive the prize.
Link: https://7plus.com.au/my-kitchen-rules
MasterChef Australia
Broadcasted: Network Ten
Based on the original MasterChef, the Australian Cooking Game Show has been airing since 2009 and continues to put aspiring contestants in the spotlight.
The show follows a format unlike the original MasterChef: The first round is made up of a large selection of aspiring contestants, picked individually from across Australia—They must “audition” by submitting a food dish before the judges to get one of 50 places in the semi-finals; the interesting catch is that entrants must be over 18-year-olds, and their main source of income cannot be professional food preparation and cooking.
The prize of this competition is not just money: it includes chef training from professional chefs, a chance to publish their own cookbook and, of course, money.
Link: https://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/masterchef
Food Safari
Broadcasted: SBS TV
This practical cooking show features the varied cuisines brought to Australia by its immigrants. The show is featured by Maeve O’Meara, a celebrity chef who has traveled the world in her quest to discover new dishes and ingredients.
Each episode covers the cuisine from a particular culture—usually starting with the ingredients and where to find them in Australia—and moves over to the preparation of the favorite dishes, desserts, and sweets. The success of the show has given life to two spin-off series co-hosted by O’Meara, Italian Food Safari and French Food Safari, hosted by Guy Grossi and Guillaume Brahimi, respectively.
Link: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/program/food-safari
Luke Nguyen’s Vietnam
Broadcasted: Good Food (UK), SBS One (Formerly)
The Cooking Show follows Luke Nguyen, a Vietnamese-Australian celebrity chef, as he travels through Vietnam’s cuisine and culture.
He cooks in the way Vietnamese street vendors cook and features the hidden local delicacies that don’t get to the spotlight in restaurants. The preparation of the dishes is often done in the same local fashion.
The first season of the show was screened on SBS One, but Luke’s culinary quest is now broadcasted on Good Food, a UK food TV channel.
Link: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/program/luke-nguyens-vietnam
My Sri Lanka with Peter Kuruvita
Broadcasted: SBS One
This cooking show, presented by the Australian-Sri Lankan celebrity chef Peter Kuruvita, showcases several popular tourist destinations in Sri Lanka. Besides this, Peter prepares a dish unique to the area in each episode.
Kuruvita travels to the different corners of his ancestral homeland to experience the wide culinary range of tastes, textures, and colors of the Sri Lankan cuisine.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kuruvita
Jamie’s Kitchen Australia
Broadcasted: Network Ten
Starred by the international celebrity chef Jamie Oliver and Tobie Puttock, Jamie’s Kitchen Australia is based on the former Jamie’s Kitchen, which aired in 2002.
25 youths were selected for the 10-part television show, and they were trained to become part of the staff of the Fifteen restaurant in Melbourne. The training of the young apprentice chefs prior to the opening of the restaurant took place at Box Hill Institute of TAFE.
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie%27s_Kitchen_Australia
Iron Chef Australia
Broadcasted: Seven Network
The Australian cooking game show is based on the original Japanese Iron Chef and its American Adaptation, Iron Chef America.
Each episode sees a challenger chef compete against one of the resident chefs in an hour-long cooking competition, based on a theme ingredient.
The show is produced by the same production company of Network Ten’s MasterChef Australia, Shine Australia. It was recorded in Melbourne, at Docklands Studios, and was hosted by Grant Denyer.
Zumbo’s Just Desserts
Broadcasted: Seven Network
The Australian baking reality competition TV show was developed by the creators of My Kitchen Rules, the popular cooking game show. The show is hosted by the celebrity Australian chef and pâtissier, Adriano Zumbo, and the British Cook and Broadcaster, Rachel Khoo.
Several amateur Australian chefs compete to impress Adriano and Rachel with their own sweet creations, and the winner takes a $100,000 prize!
Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zumbo%27s_Just_Desserts
Gourmet Farmer
Broadcasted: SBS TV
The show takes viewers to Matthew Evans—a trained chef, restaurant critic, and now farmer—as he undertakes his new life in a small-farm in Tasmania.
Evans believes we should be more involved with our food, be it growing and rearing our food, or getting it directly from the source: local producers. In the show, Evans visits several artisan food producers and farmers scattered in the island’s lush valleys, coastal fringes, or tiny towns to learn about their traditional methods of farming, living, and cooking.
Link: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/programs/gourmet-farmer
Shane Delia’s Spice Journey
Broadcasted: SBS One
Shane Delia—a successful restaurateur and chef—goes on a journey to discover Middle Eastern food traditions. His travel takes him to Malta, Lebanon, and Iran, as he explores the spices and produces these regions can offer.
His culinary pilgrimage covers the culture behind the cuisine and uncovers the tales behind the spices used in the Middle East throughout time. This show transcends the kitchen to show us a side we all share, no matter where: the love of food!
Link: https://www.sbs.com.au/food/program/shane-delias-spice-journey
Ratings are monitored year-round for tv shows, however viewership figures are only officially counted for 40 weeks during the year, excluding a two-week break during Easter and ten weeks over summer. Thus, the majority of locally produced programming and popular international shows on commercial networks are shown during the ratings period.
In 2007, for the first time since 2000, the Seven Network overtook its rival Nine Network in terms of average viewers and have remained ahead of Nine and Ten every year since.And, as of 2017, Seven Network has won the last eleven years of ratings consecutively.
Netflix Food shows 2018
Netflix is soon replacing TV viewing and there are some nice food shows on Netflix that is gaining new viewers as well. Some good shows among the food and coooking shows on netflix are
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- Testing The Menu
- The Great British Baking Show
- Avec Eric
- Food INC (DOCO)
- Chef’s Table
- Cooked
Article originally published in May 2018.
Updated 28 May 2021
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