Review: United Tastes of America
I finally got a little quality time with the Cooking Channel so I am attempting to review several of the shows I have not seen. This time around United Tastes of America.
When season five of Food Network Star drew to a finale there were to Wannabe TV Chefs left standing – gourmet chef Jeffrey Saad and home cook Melissa d’Arabian. I said at the time that either was a good choice for the Network but for me the choice was Saad. For Food Network it came down to who best filled a niche and that was d’Arabian. Her accessible recipes for the busy family on the go were what Tushman felt his network was missing.
However there was another niche that was being neglected by the Food Network and that was recipes for the professional or advanced cook. In fact so neglected was this demographic that to make up the gulf Scripps created a whole new network called the Cooking Channel and it is there that we have found Jeffrey Saad.
On United Tastes of America Saad, “delves into the amazing history, process, science and pop-culture that have transformed America’s favorite foods.” At least according to the Cooking Channel web site anyway. It goes on to say that Jeffrey, “takes viewers on a wild trip to the belly of what makes Americans hungry. In each episode, Jeffrey focuses on one iconic American food classic — donuts, pizza, meatballs, burgers — to discover how a simple food notion evolves to mythic proportions … and how some of today’s hottest chefs reinterpret these icons in amazing and delicious ways.”
Though United Tastes of America isn’t the cooking show I was looking for from Saad it is a terrific food-travel show that gives you the history of a themed item, shows you how chefs across the country are treating it and explores it’s many possibilities. It is A+ food porn. Hopefully that Saad-driven cooking show is on the horizon. Until then United Tastes of America airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET.
