No Kitchen Required
Positive travel/cooking contest with some hunting, language.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this TV show.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that this positive cooking competition series focuses on highlighting the different culinary traditions of communities living in remote areas of the world more than it does the competition itself. The overall content is pretty mild, but it contains some occasional (mostly bleeped) language, as well as images of animals being hunted, killed, and dismembered that some viewers may find difficult to watch.
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What's the Story?
NO KITCHEN REQUIRED is a unique reality competition featuring three talented chefs leaving the comfort of their kitchens to prepare outstanding food in wild environments. Each episode, which is hosted by Shini Somara, stars private chef Kayne Raymond, Michelin Star chef Michael Psilakis, and winning Chopped chef Madison Cowan being dropped off by helicopter into a remote location of the world, where they must create a locally inspired meal that reflect the area's culinary traditions. From the stormy beaches of Dominica to the mountains of Chaig Dao, Thailand, the chefs must compete for and hunt, forage, and collect the ingredients they will use in the dishes to be served to local judges. To infuse the meal with their own flavors and styles, they are each allowed to use one additional ingredient that they have brought from home. It's definitely challenging, especially when they can't acquire important ingredients and are forced to cook in primitive environments. But learning a lot about different cultures, unique foods, and their ability to adapt their cooking skills to any situation definitely makes their unique journey rewarding.
Is It Any Good?
Unlike many reality cooking competitions, these chefs are not in it for titles or grand prizes, but the sense of pride that comes from cooking food that honors a community's local practices and culinary traditions. While watching the judges taste and react to their food is fun to watch, the show's real drama comes from the chef's attempts to hunt for illusive animals with the help of patient locals.
Travel fans will enjoy seeing the places being featured here, and foodies will find the discussions of ingredients and preparation appealing. But what makes this show worth watching is the positive messages it sends about respecting different communities and cultures.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about food from around the world. How does food help us think about who we are and where we come from? What does food tell us about different communities and the geographic regions they live in? Do you think associating certain groups of people with specific foods is a kind of stereotype? Why or why not?
What are some of the unique foods you've tasted when you've gone traveling? What did you like or not like? If someone from a remote location of the world came to your house to try new foods, what would you feed her?
TV Details
- Premiere date: April 3, 2012
- Cast: Madison Cowan, Michael Psilakis, Shini Somara
- Network: BBC America
- Genre: Reality TV
- Character Strengths: Curiosity
- TV rating: TV-PG
- Last updated: October 14, 2022
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