“Uncooked Secrets: The Food Network Shows You Never Knew Were Axed!”
Everyday Italian
Everyday Italian was Giada De Laurentiis’s show that combined traditional Italian with an American dish. During each 30-minute episode, Laurentiis covered a different recipe of varying difficulties, from spaghetti to lamb chops to chocolate-ricotta pie.
Both Laurentiis and the show won Daytime Emmy awards and two nominations. During the show’s initial run in 2002, the episodes were shot live, but they were later recorded. Everyday Italian eventually ended in 2008, but its popularity spawned two cookbooks and future Food Network shows for Giada De Laurentiis.
East Meets West
From 1998 to 2003, East Meets West aired with host Ming Tsai. As a Chinese-American chef, Tsai aimed to combine Asian cuisine with European influences. His show won a Daytime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Service Show Host.
Each episode was only 30 minutes long, and the opening credits showed Tsai doing various activities from tennis to yoga to shopping at an Asian market. Although East Meets West received positive reviews, Ming eventually left to host another show called Simply Ming, which still airs today.
Good Eats
Good Eats was a Food Network show created and hosted by Alton Brown. Instead of focusing on travel or recipes, Brown focused on the science of cooking, Bill Nye-style. The show lasted from 1999 to 2012, with 15 seasons and 256 episodes.
Good Eats was the Food Network’s third longest-running show, coming on every Monday or Wednesday. It was later nominated for James Beard Foundation’s “Best T.V. Food Journalism Award” in 2000. In 2013, Brown announced a revival of Good Eats, which debuted in August 2019 and continues today.
Food Detectives
Hosted by Ted Allen, Food Detectives first aired in 2008. The show scientifically tested food-related myths, such as the five-second rule. Allen received help from “food techs” and researchers from the magazine Popular Science, who also sponsored the show.
In Mythbusters style, Allen tested which food stains teeth the fastest, whether moldy cheese is edible, and how much smell affects taste. But after two seasons, Food Detectives went off the air. Allen went on to become a judge on Top Chef and host Chopped.
Molto Mario
From 1996 to 2004, Mario Batali hosted a travel food show called Molto Mario. In each episode, Batali brought viewers along a culinary tour of Italy. He made a few other shows with the same concept, but none lasted as long as Molto Mario.
Molto Mario earned Batali a lot of recognition and eventually and induction into the Culinary Hall of Fame. He traveled across Italy, pointing out spots on a large map, and tried many authentic dishes. Batali moved on to be a judge on Iron Chef and host The Chew.
Taste
Anyone who watched the Food Network between 1994 and 2002 probably caught wind of Taste. David Rosengarten was the host, and he not only taught people recipes; he also shared his extensive knowledge about each dish and how it was put together.
Taste is regarded as one of the original recipe-based Food Network shows. At the end of each episode, Rosengarten would say, “Remember, life is a matter of taste.” After an eight-year run, Rosengarten left Taste and co-hosted In Food Today with Donna Hanover.
Wolfgang Puck
In 2000, Austrian-American chef Wolfgang Puck hosted a self-titled Food Network show, Wolfgang Puck. In it, Puck showed the cuisine secrets of his world-famous restaurant, Spago. The show only lasted for five seasons but won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2002.
Puck did not just cook meals in the show; he sometimes caught prawns in the Pacific or made goat cheese in Napa. Anything that fit Italian gourmet cooking was on the table. Since then, Puck has appeared as a guest judge on some cooking shows, including Iron Chef America: Battle of the Masters and Master Chef.
The Best Thing I Ever Ate
The Best Thing I Ever Ate featured chefs pinpointing the best dishes they ate throughout the United States. Notable chef appearances include Guy Fieri, Ted Allen, Boby Flay, Alex Guarnaschelli, Wolfgang Puck, and Jamie Oliver.
After eight seasons, the series ended in 2008. However, it was brought back on the Cooking Channel in 2018. On the Food Network, The Best Thing I Ever Ate was so popular that it finally launched a spinoff show in 2020, All-Star Best Thing I Ever Ate featuring the channel’s most famous chefs.
