Life and Times
This is a timeline showing what television cooking stars appeared when, and where. If a star made a debut in more than one country, that is counted as a separate entry for him or her. It is currently dated up to 2009.
The first televised cooking programme in the world was in the United Kingdom on the BBC on Wednesday, 12 June 1946 at 8:55 pm. The programme, called simply “Cookery”, starred Philip Harben and was 10 minutes long. In this very first episode, he showed how to make lobster vol-au-vents.
The next televised cooking programme to hit the air was just a few short months later across the Atlantic, on Friday, 30 August 1946 in America. That one, called “I Love to Eat”, starred James Beard, and was 15 minutes long, showing from 8:30pm to 8:45pm.
This list is constantly being updated. For a detailed timeline of all of an individual personality’s television shows, please see their separate biographies linked to below.
1946. Philip Harben. “Cookery” (UK) [1]
1946: James Beard. “I Love to Eat”. (America) [2]
1947: Alma Kitchell. “In The Kelvinator Kitchen”. (America)
1947: Marguerite Patten. Cooking expert on “Designed for Women”. (UK)
1948: Dione Lucas. “To The Queen’s Taste” / “The Dione Lucas Cooking Show”. (America)
1949. Joseph Milani. “Chef Milani Cooks”. (America)
1955. Fanny Cradock. “Kitchen Magic”. (UK)
1959. Graham Kerr. “Entertaining with Kerr”. (New Zealand)
1963. Julia Child. “The French Chef”. (America)
1966. Joyce Chen. “Joyce Chen Cooks”. (America)
1968. Graham Kerr. “Galloping Gourmet”. (Canada) [2]
1972. Justin Wilson. “Cookin’ Cajun”. (America)
1973. Delia Smith. “Family Fare”. (UK)
1982. Jacques Pepin. “Everyday Cooking with Jacques Pepin”. (America)
1982. BBC Two. “Food and Drink Programme.” (UK)
1982. Madhur Jaffrey. “Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery”. (UK)
1983. Jeff Smith. “The Frugal Gourmet.” (America)
1986. Martha Stewart. “Holiday Entertaining with Martha Stewart.” (America)
1993. Food Network starts in America, with cooks such as Emeril Lagasse (America)
1994. Gary Rhodes. “Rhodes About Britain”. (UK)
1996. Sara Moulton, Gourmet Magazine. “Cooking Live”. (America)
1996. Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson. “Two Fat Ladies”. (UK)
1997. Emeril Lagasse. “Emeril Live.” (America)
1997. Ainsley Harriott. “Ainsley’s Barbecue Bible”. (UK)
1997. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. “Cook on the Wild Side”. (UK)
1998. Gordon Ramsay. “Boiling Point”. (UK)
1998. Nigel Slater. “Nigel Slater’s Real Food Show”. (UK)
1999. Alton Brown. “Good Eats.” (America)
2000. Nigella Lawson. “Nigella Bites, Series 1.” (UK)
2001. Rachel Ray. “30 Minute Meals.” (America)
2002. Anthony Bourdin. “A Cook’s Tour.” (America)
2003. Rocco DiSpirito. “The Restaurant.” (America)
2005. Gordon Ramsay. “Hell’s Kitchen.” (America)
2005. Gino d’Acampo. “Chef v Britain” (partnering with Claire Sweeney), “Too Many Cooks”. (UK)
2007. Guy Fieri. “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.” (America)
2009. Marco Pierre White. “The Chopping Block.” (America)
[1] “Cookery (from 12 Jun 1946) — One of television’s singular creations which introduced Philip Harben as the television chef, on 1 Sep 1947.” — Currie, Tony. A Concise History of British Television, 1930-2000. Kelly Publications. 2004. Page 33. Currie further clarifies: “Philip Harben made his first appearance in the programme billed simply as “Cookery” on 12th June 1946. (The show went out at 8.55pm and ran ten minutes – he made lobster vol au vent.) It was on 1 Sep 1947 that his appearances were billed as being by ‘the television Chef’ and it was from that date that he was described as such in his own programme.” [Correspondence with Cooksinfo.com on 19 October 2013; on file at Cooksinfo.com]
[2] First episode broadcast on Friday, 30 August 1946, 8:30pm to 8:45pm
[3] 1969 in America
Radio
1924. Betty Crocker. (America)
1926. Aunt Sammy. 15 minute programmes for the USDA. (America)
1930s. Katherine Caldwell Bayley. “The Ann Adam Cooking School of the Air”. (Canada)
1933. Mary Ellis Ames. “Cooking Close-Ups” (America)
1942. Philip Harben (UK)
1944. Marguerite Patten. “Kitchen Front” (UK)
Sources
Collins, Kathleen. The Origins of the Cooking Show. Retrieved October 2013 from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/02/magazine/20090802_COOKING_INTERACTIVE.html