A
Canadian spin off of the original
Food Network in the
U.S. It is similarly available on
cable or
satellite.
Their web site at foodtv.ca contains a recipe archive from all of the shows. This is a great reference, even if you don't watch any of it on TV.
The network features many of the same shows, but a good chunk of Canadian content as well. The show lists below are from August 2002. (Feel free to /msg if I miss any future changes.)
These are the shows that are unique to the Food Network Canada. Some of these have aired on Food USA in the past, or on other networks, but most are Canadian productions.
Shows shared with the Food Network USA:
These shows are only on the American Network. A lot of these aren't shows that I really miss, but there are a couple that I'd really like to be able to see.
In creating the above lists, what I noticed was that both networks (USA and Canada) have a lot less actual cooking than the used to. In the beginning, there were a bunch of shows like Hot off the Grill and East Meets West that were primarily cooking shows--not old-school Galloping Gourmet or Julia Child, but new, lively cooking shows. These were shows you could watch and think "Yeah, I'd like to try making that."
Recently, a lot of stuff like Cooking School Stories and My Country, My Kitchen has been added. These shows are about food, but not about cooking. Don't get me wrong, I like these shows, and enjoy watching them, but sometimes, you just want to flip the TV on and see somebody pan roast a sea bass.
Something I don't understand about the Food Networks is their recycling of hosts. In Canada, Rob Feenie and Christine Cushing have both had a couple of shows and in the US, Emeril, Booby Flay and Ming Tsai have atoo. Are we to believe that this is it? Are there are no other personable chefs in North America, forcing them to take these few around the block again?
Show lists culled from foodtv.com and foodtv.ca.