Food Network: 10 Throwback Cooking Shows You Forgot You Loved

Food Network has been in business for nearly three decades, and the channel has steadily grown into the premiere destination for food celebrities. From intense professional chef challenges to relaxing home cooking shows, there’s always something entertaining happening on Food Network.

While the network still has many great shows, there are others that fans miss dearly. Even kids of the 1990s and 2000s might remember watching some of them with their parents. Hopefully, many of these old favorites will be on Discovery+, a new streaming service launching in January 2021.

10 East Meets West

Chef Ming Tsai has an impressive resume, from Yale to Le Cordon Bleu to pastry training in Paris and sushi training in Osaka. In 1998, Ming became a restaurant owner and hosted his own show on Food Network, East Meets West. Viewers would love to know more about this early milestone in the channel’s history, but they can always check out Ming Tsai’s many cookbooks.

9 Sara’s Secrets

Sara Moulton was one of Food Network’s first celebrity chefs. She came to her series, Sara’s Secrets, as the executive chef of Gourmet Magazine. Sara’s show was full of tips and tricks to create fantastic meals at home. She sometimes shared the screen with special guests (fans would definitely remember Elmo’s appearance), and the show ran from 2001 to 2006.

8 Food Network Star

Titled as both The Next Food Network Star and Food Network Star, this competition show was one of the highlights of the network every summer from 2005 to 2018. It was one of the most dramatic reality cooking shows ever.

Fans loved watching a flock of culinary hopefuls compete in the kitchen. People from all over the country fought for a chance to earn their own show on Food Network, and the judges could be pretty cutthroat (especially the main ones, Bobby Flay and Giada di Laurentiis). Perhaps the new Discovery+ platform could reboot the show eventually.

7 Big Daddy’s House

Aaron McCargo Jr. was the 2008 winner of The Next Food Network Star. Aaron strongly competed throughout his season while hurting over the fact that his son had run away. Despite the usual setbacks and curveballs, Aaron’s season of Food Network Star was one of the channel’s finest. On Big Daddy’s House, Aaron shared his favorite family recipes with his winning smile and easygoing demeanor.

6 Semi-Homemade Cooking With Sandra Lee

Just as HGTV shows of the 2000s thrived on thrifty and time-saving decorating techniques, Food Network sought to offer viewers quick and economical recipes. Sandra Lee was one of the first to popularize the “semi-homemade” idea, taking shortcuts in cooking that made sense and still offered a satisfying finished product. From 2003 to 2011, Sandra’s first big show was relaxing to watch and threw in a little bit of design inspiration with different tablescapes (table settings and centerpieces) in every episode.

5 Emeril Live

From 1997 to 2010, Emeril Lagasse entertained his live studio audience and viewers at home on Emeril Live. The energetic chef is known for his catchphrase, “Bam!” The live music, the guests, and the recipes were such a great combination. Fans sure miss watching Emeril kick it up a notch.

4 $40 A Day

Most Rachael Ray fans know the star as the host of 30-Minute Meals and her own talk show. The famous cook also got to travel around the world to eat out on a budget. $40 a Day was such a unique idea, even if it’s hard to imagine surviving on that much money every day on vacation in some countries.

Rachael Ray took the audience on adventures to restaurants that they might never have found on their own. The series ran from 2002 to 2005, and fans would love to revisit its great stories.

3 Unwrapped

Unwrapped is a true staple of Food Network. The show featured popular host Marc Summers from 2001 to 2011 and was rebooted with Alfonso Ribeiro (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) from 2015 to 2017. The purpose of the series was to give viewers a tour of all the factories that create their favorite food products. It was fascinating to hear the hosts recount the history of various items, especially treats like classic candies.

2 Down Home With The Neelys

Down Home with the Neelys brought the incredible taste of Memphis barbecue to Food Network. Pat and Gina Neely came to the series in 2008 as restaurant owners, and they happily shared their delicious family recipes for several years. Their show always stood out because of the Neelys’ loving and fun atmosphere. Sadly, these delightful hosts divorced in 2014, but they’ve both found success in their own separate ventures.

1 Aarti Party

Aarti Sequeira won The Next Food Network Star in 2010 and quickly began work on her series, Aarti Party. The show was a hybrid of American food dishes and Indian flavors, brought together with Aarti’s warm personality and skill in the kitchen. It was sad to see the show come to an end, but Aarti continues to shine as a food star and published cookbook author.

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