I don’t watch much broadcast television. My homemade antenna gets me three channels for the occasional half hour of local news and a bit of background noise for the cats on rainy days. Yes, one of my girls actually watches characters on the screen like stalking a mouse, not that she’d know what to do with either if she caught them. The point is I’d rather be in the garden or at the stove but even I have to admit that winters here are long so I appreciate the chance to bank some free entertainment to fill in between eventual blizzards.
One of those free-to-air national channels, GlobalTV, recently began running a few food shows on weekday mornings that caught my eye. A little investigation revealed that they’re all Canadian-produced programmes that originally aired on the pay channel, Food Network (Canada). I clarify that because while very similar in design to its namesake in the US, it’s actually owned by a different company and has somewhat different programming than what you’d see down south. Sure a lot of the titles you see on either are shared across both channels as well as sister channels like The Cooking Channel but the edits of the shows themselves often end up being tailored for different audiences. Canadian channels also seem to import more from non-US sources but I’m only gleaning that from a scan of their listings since I’m not a subscriber. Your viewing mileage may vary.
It’s actually a curious study in cultural differences when you look a bit closer with American editors preferring a rapid-fire, short segment approach whereas the Canadians lean towards longer segments and less shouting. Mind you most of this difference is created in the editing room after filming so ostensibly you’re getting the same show but the final results can be measurably different to the keen eye. Not to mention each leaves as much content filmed within their respective borders intact rather than dropped on the cutting room floor ‘for time reasons’, aka more advertising breaks. While I’ve not paid into cable TV coffers for more than a decade thanks to lack of interest in most of what sells to the mass market’s lowest common denominator viewership, I’ve often read in food circles about the decline of all of these channels over time. Most observers say they’ve descended into a morass of shortcut cookery and food competition drivel most of which I wouldn’t care to watch even if it was free. Or for that matter if they paid me. The proper cooks and kitchens I prefer more often come from media in the UK and Australia with only a few notable exceptions like Alton Brown or Ina Garten found stateside.
This is why I was surprised by the more likeable content of these recently found few shows. The fact that they were originally Canadian produced with the help of Ontario film industry tax credits given for ‘original Canadian content’ mandated by broadcast law likely helps account for the variance from the norm. Theoretically those rules are meant to keep Canadian-ness intact in the media landscape and in these cases there certainly are more Canadian locations/features included compared to a typical American show. While I’m not sure how wise it is to try to legislate a culture into being, that also probably explains why now a few years later you see them migrating from pay channels to free broadcast formats. Makes me wonder if that was part of the original tax bargain and now that the shows are slightly aged it’s time to give back to the public at large rather than private subscribers? No matter why, it’s good news for viewers like me who didn’t even know what I was missing over the past half decade.
And here’s why I’m bothering to tell all of you about this no matter where you are in Canada and (hopefully) even farther afield. At least until some executive decides otherwise, which could happen anywhere between tomorrow and never, all of these shows are now streaming free online at the Food Network Canada website. No need for even basic cable or a homemade antenna if you have net access with the added bonus that you don’t have to wait for the daily schedule or suffer through endless advertising in the middle of the shows when viewing online. High definition, full length, Canadian edit versions of practically every episode although sometimes the site navigation on a few select pages fails.* With patience they can all be found online free for the clicking.
* Tech note: When a video doesn’t appear next to an episode listing, try searching Google or similar for the specific title then find the search result from foodnetwork.ca with the word ‘video’ in the link. Also, back up to each show’s ‘main’ page and scan the carousel listings for each season. Basically, their site navigation is a mess but only a small handful of episodes are actually ‘missing’ from their servers.
I have no idea if this is a permanent or temporary situation but with the way broadcast rights work and how fickle network executives and accountants think I’d suggest you *ahem* avail yourselves of any you’re interested in while you can. I’ve no idea if people in America, England, or Mongolia will have the same access as those of us on Canadian soil (anyone? feedback?) but clever types know how to get around that online fence as necessary. ** cough cough VPN cough **
Curiously similar in style, the four series I’m talking about here are each made by different production companies as far as I can tell and all apparently became popular starting around 2010. Luckily for me, recipes and kitchen ideas don’t go stale quickly and I can still find entertainment no matter how the current landscape has changed from the time they were shot. Below I’ve linked directly to the ‘episode guide’ of each since the Food Network site can be a bit of a maze. Peek at the short descriptions of each show/episode and I’m certain you’ll find at least some small bit of entertainment that suits you amongst the windfall of free programming. Enjoy.
(edit: To save particularly keen viewers the trouble of wading through the site to see titles/synopsis as well as for my own archives, I cleaned up the episode guides into a download-friendly set of five pdfs. If you find mistakes in them, blame the lack of caffeine this morning but you’ll get enough info to find the bits you want to watch.)
“You Gotta Eat Here“ (2010-2015): Visits local restaurants around North America oftentimes recommended by viewers. A personable comedian, John Catucci, acts as the non-chef everyman’s host and guide but the focus is most often on the food with actual line cooks and chefs showing how they make their signature dishes. What I like most is that this isn’t generally haute cuisine and shows real working kitchens, local restaurateurs, and the food people are really eating, not all of it particularly healthy. Proper working chef have been so eclipsed by the ‘celebrity chef’ craze over the years I think it’s refreshing to see how kitchens really work in the field. Series 5 (2015) was announced as the last but there are still 150 episodes to enjoy each lasting 22 minutes. Some episodes are compilations of specific foods from other episodes (e.g. breakfast, pizza, burgers, BBQ, poutine, etc.)
“Food Factory” (2011-2016?): Shows how commercial food products of many scales are made. From 10 billion servings of dry pasta to handmade ice cream treats. I find factory processes like this mesmerizing and still manage to learn some answers to “how do they do that?” in every episode. The voice-over hosts are hokey but manage to not interfere with the interesting bits. Think of the series “How It’s Made” only for food exclusively with lots of Canadian representation. Currently 142 episodes of 22 minutes each but it’s unclear if new episodes are still being made.
This series has spawned a US version with fewer segments per episode (3 vs 4) which focuses solely on US companies. There are more ‘breaks’ in the edit noted by a ‘trivia question’ on either side of the pause to allow for adverts demanded by US broadcasters but if you watch online they are mercifully commercial free. The 46 episodes (2014-2015) are available on foodnetwork.ca as it’s produced by the same Canadian company as the original, Cineflix.
“Eat Street” (2010-2014): Much like YGEH above but focused solely on mobile food trucks. All the local colour of oftentimes short-staffed and cramped working kitchens that crank out a huge variety of food daily on the streets of North America for hungry paying customers. The host, comedian James Cunningham, interacts only minimally with the guest trucks, i.e. his link segments are filmed separately and edited into the show with his voice over commentary as main presence. Apparently no longer in production but 95 episodes of 22 minutes each already in the viewing food bank.
“Carnival Eats” (2014-2017?): This is the closest I’ll ever get to watching trash television. The host, Noah Cappe, pushes my limits for shouty lad TV with lots of “Awesome!” and “Oh Man This Is Good!” but to be fair to him it perfectly fits the content which a descent into all the fat, sugar, and cheap melted cheese people consume at fairs and festivals around North America. All the calories you expect from ubiquitous funnel cakes to deep fried pork balls filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. Behind all the hype however you have real cooks in real situations trying to please crowds for a living with whacky foodstuffs. And I readily admit it’s a good litmus test of how to satisfy basic human food cravings… on a stick. To date there are 78 episode each of which generally covers two different fairs or events in twenty minutes. Select episodes are compilations of specific foods or ingredients (e.g. donuts, berries, bacon, stuffed things, etc.) from earlier shows.
