Your Guide to the Best Food Shows

Ace of Cakes
DUFF GOLDMAN
VARIOUS TIMES/FOOD NETWORK

Pastry chef Goldman may run the shop at his Baltimore kitchen Charm City Cakes, but Cakes, now in its eighth season, would be nowhere without the hilariously deadpan executive sous-chef Geof and the wry manager Mary Alice. And let's not forget the decorators — like Anna, Mary, and Elena — who match their winning personalities with truly spectacular artistry, from a massive Hogwarts cake for a Harry Potter premiere to a fortune-cookie cake used as a marriage proposal. Indeed, while most culinary TV shows spotlight a single celeb chef, Cakes stands out as a true ensemble, not unlike Lost, which celebrated its 100th episode with, yep, a cake decorated by the Charm City crew. —Adam B. Vary

Good Eats
ALTON BROWN
VARIOUS TIMES/FOOD NETWORK

Take one part cooking show, a big dash of high school chemistry, sprinkle in some goofy community theater, and — voilà! — you have Good Eats. Brown specializes in the nuts and bolts of cooking — why chopping onions makes us cry, how to make a perfect piecrust (helpfully documented with in-oven cameras), and why gadgets from the toolbox are preferable to expensive kitchen gizmos. Brown can fill an entire episode on popcorn, teaching you how to MacGyver a nifty, cheap popper (hint: a stainless-steel bowl and some perforated foil). Good stuff, and yes, good eats. —Beth Johnson

Lidia's Italy
LIDIA BASTIANICH
VARIOUS TIMES/PBS

Whether she's bustling about a Tuscan market or her own kitchen, Bastianich makes it clear she loves to eat — sampling fruit, dipping her spoon into bubbling sauces, nipping bits of fresh pasta. In the latest incarnation of her show, Lidia's Italy, cooking is once again about nourishing the soul as well as the body, featuring Italian comfort food at its best: fritters, soups, stuffed pastas. Like Julia Child, Bastianich can reduce complicated recipes to a series of simple instructions. And like Child, she is given to gentle scolding (regular viewers know that they must never use a garlic mincer, but simply whack cloves with the flat blade of a knife to release the juices). At the end of each show, Bastianich pours a hefty glass of wine and sits down to tuck into the mouthwatering dishes she's just prepared. We'll mangiamo to that! —Tina Jordan

The Martha Stewart Show
MARTHA STEWART
VARIOUS TIMES/SYNDICATED

Since its 2005 launch, Martha has been the GPS guiding viewers to the intersection of domestic excellence and absurdist comedy. What other show has served up bucatini with bottarga while also painting the vivid picture of its host sucking the head off a crawfish as a bewildered Ben Vereen and Liza Minnelli wrangled a bowl of the squirming crustaceans? Sure, Stewart struggles to interact with Hollywood types — watch in fascination as she incorrectly guesses Grey's Anatomy star T.R. Knight's grandmother was Japanese because of her penchant for adding sugar to her scrambled eggs! — but after you've road-tested one of the show's consistently high-quality recipes, you'll learn to love the air of chilly superiority she brings to the kitchen. —Michael Slezak

Giada at Home
GIADA DE LAURENTIIS
VARIOUS TIMES/FOOD NETWORK

They say never trust a skinny chef, but it's hard not to believe in the beauty and talent of De Laurentiis. The granddaughter of legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis trained at Le Cordon Bleu, and first whetted appetites with 2003's Everyday Italian, where she'd whip up treats like shrimp fra diavolo. Her current series focuses on entertaining with more accessible dishes flavored with touches of her native cuisine (see: waffles with fresh pancetta). The main reason to tune in, however, is the obvious passion Giada pours into cooking, enticing viewers to join in. Her sultry authentic Italian pronunciations don't hurt either. —Tim Stack

*Times are Eastern Daylight and subject to change. For shows airing at various times, check listings.

Giada's Pop Culture Menu

Frozen TV dinners? Not for the Food Network chef, who shares her go-to entertainment and food pairings fit for a (couch potato) king. —Archana Ram

Entourage
''I think of the guys, Queens, and Italian food,'' she says. Her comfortfood spread: cold beer, fried zucchini, and a huge antipasto platter, including salami, parmesan, marinated artichokes, and Sicilian olives.

30 Rock
De Laurentiis pairs different paninis — caprese; butter-raspberry; and fontina, prosciutto, and salami — with a side of Liz Lemon for her Thursday nights. ''They're simple, light, and happy, just like 30 Rock.''

The Godfather
For her annual viewing, the chef uses leftovers for a ''baked'' caprese salad: tomato, mozzarella, and basil on a crostini. ''It's street food in southern Italy, where it's a tradition to re-create meals out of what you already have.''