Tune In Now: 5 Best Latin Cooking Shows

We know your secret: your DVR is full of cooking and travel shows, each with their fair share of slow-motion footage of oozing cheese. We love it too! Allow us to enable your addiction. From chef-guided tours of Mexico and Argentina to chef versus home cook cooking competitions, here are some of the best Latin cooking shows on TV. If only smells and tastes could be transmitted via TV screen…

Food Fighters

Saying Lorena Garcia is a TV veteran is a serious understatment. The celebrity chef has served as host, participant, and guest and resident judge on several English and Spanish language shows. Her most recent gig is NBC's Food Fighters. This cooking competition asks the question: "Is the best home cook good enough to beat a culinary pro?" Show host and food expert Adam Richman introduces cooks to the Food Fighter arena where they then battle a champion for a total prize of $100,000! Sweat it out while Garcia rushes to plate her creations, rapid-fire Spanish exclamations rolling from her tongue all the while. Garcia has that fighting spirit, but as she recently told our sister site Latina.com, she’s also rooting for the contestants. “I am sure this money can make a huge difference in their lives,” she explained.

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Pati's Mexican Table

Pati Jinich, Latin American policy analyst turned chef, hosts her own cooking and travel show on PBS, Pati's Mexican Table. Currently in its third season and revving up for its fourth, viewers can take a trip through Mexico with Jinich and learn how to use traditional ingredients in modern kitchens. In addition to the tours of Michoacan and Mexican street food vendors, we relish hearing Jinich tell stories about her family and her work in keeping the Latin sense of community alive. 

The Kitchen

Which show can teach you how to make DIY mosquito-repellent candles from orange peels? Only The Kitchen. This Food Network talk show/cooking show hybrid has us salivating every Saturday morning. Hosted by Sunny Anderson, Geoffrey Zakarian, Katie Lee, Jeff Mauro, and Marcela Valladolid, each chef brings a unique take on each segment's theme. This show has something for every type of foodie: little-known food prep tricks, tips for creative hostessing, and even product reviews of new kitchen gadgets. Oh and did we mention the recipes? Valladolid does a spectacular job introducing viewers to authentic Mexican cuisine and modern Latin-inspired fusions. We're still dreaming of her Spicy Oregano Burgers and Grilled Avocado with Black Bean Salsa!

Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana

Chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, food television host, product developer, and merchandiser, Zarela Martinez is a trailblazer who paved the way for Mexican cuisine in the English-speaking world. Her 2001 PBS series (which you can catch on reruns), Zarela! La Cocina Veracruzana, has a lot to do with that. This 13-part series showcased the James Beard Award winner's passion for Mexican cooking. More than just a demonstration of recipes, each region-specific episode imparts the kind of historical and cultural information that only comes from years of careful study and first-hand experience. 

My Country, My Kitchen

Each episode in the two-season run of this Food Network documentary series follows one of the world's most critically acclaimed chefs as they revisit their homeland or region of expertise. Some episodes hone in on culinary landscapes as far away as southern India and China, while others focus on home cooking here in the USA. Follow Chef Rick Bayless through Mexico City as he cooks with his mentor and Mexican culinary legend, Carmen "Titita" Ramirez Degollado, owner of the Mexican chain El Bajío, or join chef Michelle Bernstein as she ventures back home to Argentina for views of the lakes in Patagonia and beef empanadas that look much too good to be true.