Top Ten Food Network Programs

Cooking and food specialty shows have become increasingly popular over the last few years. In fact, the Food Network is completely dedicated to cooking and food related shows. You can find shows on food history, food science, food competitions and of course food preparation. Here are ten of the most popular Food Network programs:

1. Emeril Live

Emeril Lagasse is owner of several restaurants in New Orleans and tapes his live cooking show in New York City. Complete with a band and interactive audience, some of who sit at Emeril's "cooking bar" and get a close up view of the action and food samples too! Emeril get's the crowd worked up when he uses his popular catch phrases, "Let's kick it up a notch", followed by "Bam!" as he agressively throws spices into his dishes.

2. Good Eats

Good Eats is hosted by Alton Brown, often compared to Bill Nye, The Science Guy. Alton shows his viewers the science behind the cooking and has an unbiased opinion of what works in the kitchen and what doesn't. His product recommendations often steer away from gimmicky gadgets and focus more on the practical, tried and true, or even "jerry-rigged" ways to make cooking easy, fun and delicious. Each episode focuses on a theme such as soups, cookies, or even something as specific as lettuce.

3. 30 Minute Meals

In this show, Rachael Ray cooks up an entire meal with main and side dishes in just 30 minutes. Rachael focuses on fast, homemade meals, sometimes using convenience items like bagged salads or boxed mixes. She has been criticized by serious chefs for "dumbing down" the cooking process, but Rachael appeals to real home cooks who would like to find the time to make more home cooked meals. One of Rachael's trademarks is her heavy use of catch phrases, some of which include: "How good is that?", "Yum-O", "Insanely Good", "Good to go", "Figure-friendly", and "E-V-O-O" as an abbreviation for extra virgin olive oil. She also has "cute" names for a few dishes and utensils: "Sammie" is a sandwich, "Stoup" is a soup/stew combination, and a "Spoonula", for a spatula and spoon combination.

4. Iron Chef America