Those of you who occasionally venture away from ESPN and MTV may stumble across a cooking show or two. The Food Network, in particular, is always serving up a wide variety of cooking programs that not only teach you how to cook, but are entertaining, too. At the very least, they can be funny and provide some tasty ideas for dinner. Some of the more popular programs that I?ve come to like include “The Iron Chef,” “Emeril Live,” “The Naked Chef,” “East Meets West, and “Two Fat Ladies.” All of the shows air almost every day of the week on The Food Network. Check local listings or www.foodtv.com for times.

?”Yomigaru Iron Chef,” loosely translated, means “Arise, Iron Chef!” If you like “Ultimate Fighting Challenge,” Japanese food and Bruce Lee, the Japanese hit “Iron Chef” is the cooking show for you. Quickly developing a cult-like following, the show fills a stadium with the wares of two Master Chefs. After a surprise ingredient is revealed, the challenger and the Iron Chef face off in a frantic, timed culinary battle. The surprise ingredients range from bananas to giant eel to yogurt. The translations and commentary make Bruce Lee audio dubbing sound top quality

?Emeril Lagasse of “Essence of Emeril” and “Emeril Live” was one of the first cooks to get me hooked on food TV. Emeril is a chunky Portuguese guy who seems to like yelling an, “kickin? it up a notch” with his patented shout of “BAM!” as much as cooking itself. The show is performed in front of a live audience by Master Chef Lagasse who owns world renouned restaurants in New Orleans, Las Vegas and Orlando.

?”The Naked Chef” is a semi out-of-control cooking sensation from England. The Chef is not actually naked (sorry for any disappointment). The title “The Naked Chef” refers to the style in which Chef Jamie Oliver prepares his dishes: stripped down recipes with only the bare essentials. Now 26 years old, Oliver is currently the food editor for British GQ magazine and is happily married. Sorry, ladies.

?”East Meets West With Ming Tsai” presents a functional mix of style and American new cuisine. The recipes Ming prepares are unique and relatively easy to prepare. Ming?s dishes marry basic flavors from Western and Eastern traditions and turn out nicely. Ming?s childhood hero was Speed Racer and his greatest influence was from his parents. How cute?.

?On occasion a network will air an old recorded version of “Two Fat Ladies.” The two robust femmes would still be on the air today jolting viewers with humor, political incorrectness and cooking savvy had co-host Jennifer Paterson not passed away in 1999. Jenifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright, literally two of the largest characters to emerge on the TV cooking scene, prepared traditional British home cooking and clearly had fun doing it.

Matt Szura is a Public Relations major at Sacramento State and the State Hornet?s food columnist. His column can be read weekly at StateHornet.com and regularly in the State Hornet newspaper. He can be contacted at [email protected].