The Top 100 Cooking Shows of All-Time

For a good laugh, watch an older episode of "Emeril Live" — especially his introduction and the opening music montage that features Emeril out on the town.

It feels like, having not been sure what a cooking show should look like, the producers took a generic daytime talk show template and put Emeril in.

It's clear he loves his audience and seems to enjoy what he's doing, but the food almost takes a backseat to all the antics.

There are few Jewish cooking shows on the air, but this is a good one. "Jewish Cooking in America" explores the deep-seated and delicious traditions of many famous Jews from the Sara Lee namesake to the wife of Wolfgang Puck.

The show may not hold the attention of the non-Jewish viewer, but for those with an interest in Jewish culture, it is a nice collection of stories and recipes steeped in history.

Not a particularly well-known chef these days, Earl Peyroux was the author of several cookbooks and worked in the shadow of Julia Child. He had one cooking show that was aired nationally on PBS and was adored by thousands. His show was known for its disorganization and the fun he has on set.

The silly intro is characteristically nineties, as is the live studio audience.

But the enthusiastic host is a pleasure to watch and the dry British humor makes you forget entirely that you're watching a cooking showing and instead gives the feel of a decently written sitcom.

You may ask yourself: Why is some white guy teaching me about Mexican cooking? And Rick Bayless has the answer for that.

It's clear that Bayless loves Mexican cuisine and that he's been working with it for a long time. The plates are always varied and he takes you all over Mexico for high as well as low cuisine.

However it's hard to love him as much as he loves himself — by his unnecessary shirtless scenes in a cooking show and his skintight attire.

Please Rick, just cook.

Rocco is another Italian-American who exploits his Italian roots for cooking legitimacy. His foods are pretty tasty and he generally explains his theory well, but his staged candidness makes the viewer embarrassed for him.

Also, his nasally voice can only be handled in small doses.

"To The Queen's Taste" was one of the earliest broadcast cooking shows.

Hostess Dione Lucas was singular in that she was the first woman ever with a cooking show and the first woman to graduate from Le Cordon Bleu. She was truly a pioneer, a great woman and a great TV chef.

For the truly curious cook, "America's Test Kitchen" provides answers to questions the weekend chef may not ask himself.

But what it proves in education it lacks in entertainment. The hosts are instantly forgettable and their nearly affectless voices don't provide much to hold our attention. "Cook's Country from America's Test Kitchen" is a nearly identical spin-off.

Emeril sheds his traditional chef garb for more lax attire and it does help make his dishes more approachable.

The show lacks the energy from the earlier "Emeril Live" shows but, on the plus side, it comes off a little classier and the recipes a bit more sophisticated.

As with most cooking reality shows, "Celebrity Master Chef" doesn't teach you much about cooking. But it sure has a high entertainment value.

"Celebrity Master Chef" is further avatar of shows like "Master Chef" and "Master Chef Professionals." It's a solid show and there's obviously a market for the franchise.

This show was created as a response to our current economic recession and it does a good job of it.

Melissa d'Arabian, winner of the fifth season of "The Next Food Network Star," keeps to her promise and provides the viewer with affordable meals that don't skimp on quality.

All the meals look great and don't require that you buy corn syrup-infused pre-made ingredients to make them.

It doesn't get much better than cooking around the open fire. Larry Wiseheart and Pam Alford show you how to do it in "Campfire Café."

The meals are fairly simple and rustic, but delicious and healthy. Not a lot of corn syrups or GMOs here.

Lieberman is a good cook. He's probably not quite to chef status, but his meals are good.

He has a calm demeanor and he explains what and why he's doing something nicely.

"The Restaurant," starring Rocco Dispirito, took viewers on an inside look of the restaurant industry.

Though the show was quite popular and drama-filled, it was doomed to failure due to low profitability and poor relations between Rocco and financial backer Jeffrey Chodorow.

Although the viewer might pick up a few cooking tips here and there, it really wasn't designed for much more than entertainment.

"Ace of Cakes" is a reality show with cake making going on in the background.

The characters carry the show so, if you're looking to learn something about cake making, this probably isn't the show for you. But it's pretty entertaining and, if you're a cake person, you'll really enjoy it.

Rachael Ray gets a bad rep due to overexposure, but her show is pleasing to watch, accessible and thoroughly explained.

Her strength is that she's an every woman's woman and she really gives the viewer the impression that she can cook.

Zarela isn't the most exciting chef, but you can rest assured her recipes are authentic and that she learned her skills on the line and not behind a desk.

She has a very matter-of-fact way of presenting that might not engage some viewers, but her recipes look great and the flavors are assuredly robust.

Gian Franco Romagnoli, an immigrant from Rome, hosted "The Romagnoli's Table."

Quite the renaissance man, Romagnoli was equally adept at holding a camera as he was standing behind one. He also authored a book about his time in Italy during the Second World War.

His recipes are good and simple and endearing to anyone that can appreciate rustic Italian cuisine.

You won't learn too much about cooking from this show — many of the tools used by professional chefs aren't available to the amateur. But if you pay close enough attention, you can pick up on a thing or two.

The idea behind this show is spotlighting some of the best foods in the world in their respective categories.

For this reason, you can be assured that each dish is a delight.

The premise is pretty fun: A celebrity chef walks through the aisles of a supermarket and invites himself to an unwitting person's house so that he may make dinner for them.

Curtis Stone does it well, though it seems that he only takes home very attractive women. That adds a certain tension, though Curtis does manage to prove that anyone can cook, especially with a pal to lend a hand.

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