Enough! Here's Who Foodies Should be Watching on YouTube

Most of the straight white males on YouTube are annoying... Do better.

Do you know what’s more annoying than Adam Ragusea explaining why brownies have a weird crust? Ethan Chlebowski trying to “perfect” one of Ragusea’s other recipes. Or Joshua Weissman’s belligerent attempts to define that “best” recipes and methods (Hint: like Gordon Ramsay, it’s Joshua’s).

Let’s face it, YouTube has become a big swinging dick-fest of straight white male home cooks attempting to outdo each other in the kitchen.

It’s time to change your diet.

Ragusea is everything that’s wrong with NPR. And, y’all know what I mean. I love me some non-biased, intelligent newsgathering, but I hate some smug, straight white male lecturing. What’s weird? Even Ragusea knows he's doing it.

Early on, I didn’t have a problem with Ragusea’s delivery and presentation, I mean, shit, I’ve been trapped in my car on the NJ Turnpike listening to WYNC during rush hour, what are you going to do?

But, recent efforts to explain the science of culinary alchemy are less charming and informative and more pedantic and irritating. And, I’m not the only one with this opinion.

Old Dogs, Old Tricks

Matty Matheson is disgusting.

There, I said it. And I’m what’s called in the gay demimonde, a “bear” or “chubby chaser”. But, honestly, when I watch his videos, I want to take a shower. And get a hepatitis shot.

I know, I’m a terrible person. Save it for the comment section and/or Twitter.

Matheson’s recipes are terrible, his presentation, an insult. It’s a parody of “down-home cooking” and “rustic charm”. Bring back Paula Dean, at least her sons were both smokin’ hot and knew their way around a kitchen. (And, apparently, a shower.)

Binging with Babish is the Japanese pornography of cooking shows—all mannered, cooly distant cinematography serving up often questionable media-mentioned recipes with an air of smug detachment.

No, when I want a Croque Monsieur, I’m not going to bake a loaf of fucking bread.

Maybe it’s lockdown or pandemic fever, but over the last 18 months or so, it’s become easier to see the cracks in the veneer of what can only be described as each of these YouTubers’ “schtick”.

Babish has never inspired me to make one of his recipes. I tried Ragusea’s pot roast and it didn’t make the menu. Chlebowski? When people complain about cultural appropriation as a crime against their food and culture, his anodyne attempts to “perfect” recipes is the poster child.

That’s why I’ve found these YouTubers, who, for a greater or lesser degree, have avoided the pitfalls of the aforementioned food bro’s.

Interesting Alternatives

First up? Marion Grasby’s Marion’s Kitchen.

This half-Thai/half-Aussie TV presenter and home cook has created an amazing little food empire originally based out of Thailand before the pandemic, and her pan-Asian cookbook, production values and genial, big sister, best girlfriend Friday-vibe makes even the least experienced cook want to attempt Asian recipes.

Tired of a traditional Sunday roast? Try out this simple recipe. Vietnamese Beef Stew.

Bringing it back to American shores, I can’t tell you how much I enjoy Stephen Cusato’s NOT ANOTHER COOKING SHOW.

Maybe it’s his Brooklyn charm or his no-nonsense approach to cooking basics, but over the last two years, Cusato has created a gold mine of “how-to” videos that begin with some basic recipes and skills that, as the show progressed, allow you, the home cook to up your game, learning to improvise all the while becoming better educated about flavor combinations and technique. As Cusato says, “you, do you.”

This is where it began for me, his basic Weekday Sauce:

Now, if you like a little mystery in your cooking or something akin to a mood-enhancing screensaver that lets you dip in and out of cooking shows between Zoom calls, I highly recommend Alvin Zhou, mostly for his aesthetic than his recipes.

Zhou’s warm, rich visual palette and use of ambient sound and music give his videos an odd, almost voyeuristic quality, punctuated by his humble, humorous visual commentary.

His 100-Hour Lasaga might be padded with a lot of dead-air time, but it’s gloriously lush and beautiful:

Over in the UK, the wonderful Chetna Makan, who like Marion Grasby’s way with Asian recipes, takes the mystery out of cooking Indian food.

Formerly from the fashion industry, this amateur baker rose to prominence in an early season of The Great British Bakeoff, and now has a few cookbooks and a great YouTube channel, Food With Chetna.

She is delightful, and I love how sometimes when she’s talking about her inspiration for a recipe or her memories of a time and place, you see her kind of float off for a second with the memory. Her street restaurant chicken curry is a gem!

There are two fantastic Chinese food shows on YouTube that should become part of your kitchen arsenal, Jeremy Pang’s London-based School of Wok and Mandy Fu’s Souped Up Recipes.

Pang’s a professional chef who runs a cooking school in Covent Garden and has published a few cookbooks. His approach is very methodical, with a strong emphasis on Cantonese and Singaporean Asian cuisine. His Hainanese Chicken Rice recipe is a master class in making not only something delicious and healthy but explains the basic flavor profile of a lot of cooking from that part of China.

While originally hailing from Guangdong Province—home to the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong—Fu’s menu covers many traditional, regional Chinese cuisines.

With her big, broad, welcoming smile, bangs, and big glasses, I just love her and her personality. While she is informative, and often to the point, she’s not afraid to go long, with really complex recipes that can go on for more than 15 minutes or even take several days to prepare. She is educational about Chinese food, but not condescending. Her Hot and Sour Soup is killer:

Finally, and some might consider this a cheat, but at the end of the day, when you need a recipe and a guide to help you make the most of weekday dinner, a party, or a treat for yourself, the granddaddy of all YouTube cooking shows is still, by and large, the best, John Mitzewich, the Chef John of Food Wishes.

Chef John’s personality—his bad puns, his cayenne pepper addiction—and most importantly, his focus always on the food and the process, is what makes his channel work. It’s about making what might seem difficult, a lot easier than it might look for the home cook.

Food Wishes is where you go to get to the point. He’s posted hundreds of recipes, but I think this simple Tuscan Fish Stew captures his style best; it’s truly inspired by the ingredients at hand and a memory of a wonderful meal.

It’s About the Recipes

Ultimately, for me, what sets these home cooks apart from a majority of the food bros is that these folks haven’t lost sight of the fact that it’s the food that comes first. Not the obsession with gadgets or obscure, expensive, or hard-to-come-by ingredients. Not the celebrity name-dropping or the academic posturing.

Even Zhou, with his Zen-like approach to filming, has solid recipes. His fluffy ice-cream-based pancake is delicious and fun and incredibly easy, but the journey also has an intimate feel as if he’s sharing a secret with a friend. He wants you, the viewer, to make it, too.

The best YouTube home cooks are more interested in educating you, the viewer, than celebrating themselves.

Now, go break some eggs.