Ten Best Alternatives to the Food Network

October 1, 12:45 PMFood ExaminerEric Burkett

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Simon & Schuster

Call me a curmudgeon, but the Food Network leaves me cold. While I would hesitate to describe it using terms such as vapid, precious, or blatantly commercial, I would suggest turning it off and getting back to basics. To help, I’ve assembled my list of the ten best alternatives to the Food Network, in no particular order.

• Joy of Cooking. A classic, and still one of the best sources of basic cooking technique information for the home cook.

• Chow.com. If you’re looking for how-to videos, imaginative recipes, and lively discussion, Chow.com is the place to go. Of course, the Internet is overflowing with well done, informative cooking and food blogs and sites, and a fair amount of turkeys. Viewer discretion is advised.

She cooks circles around perky little Rachael.

• The works of Julia Child. And by her works, I mean her books and her television shows. She was a master at making the seemingly esoteric attainable and practical, she was entertaining and funny, and she did it without any cute gimmicks.

• Cooking parties. Do you have talented friends who love to cook? Hold a cooking party, whereby everyone agrees to cook one dish for the party at the host’s house. It’s a great opportunity to learn from one another and eat great food.

• Cooking classes. Admittedly, a little harder for those of us with jobs and lives, but cooking classes are great ways to learn the fundamentals and the fun stuff. Plenty of people offer classes in their homes specializing in everything from basic cooking to the finer points of ethnic cuisines. Be sure to check out your local community college, as well. They’re often a great source for exactly this type of offering.

• Your church, mosque, or temple. Worship communities are great places to share food and learn from one another and they’re frequently a wonderful place to learn more about ethnic cuisines or to get back in touch with your roots culinarily.

Read, cook, and read some more.

• Clubs. Ditto. Someone has to feed all those people at their various functions.

• Cookbooks. Yes, yes, Food Network puts out plenty of titles, but I’m talking about books that aren’t published to promote a personality or business enterprise. You needn’t buy brand new cookbooks; used bookstores and thrift shops are great places to build up your cookery book library, and the public library is a tremendous resource for investigating titles before committing your wallet to them. In addition, churches and civic groups have published countless numbers of cookbooks to raise money.

• Family. There’s a wealth of knowledge and experience among home cooks. Talk to the family members – aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents – who love to cook. Chances are good they’re eager to pass on what they know.

• Examiner.com. You’ll find plenty of Examiners at the local and national levels who have plenty to share.