Sixteen chefs from across the country culminated in the Niagara wine region to relentlessly cook meal after meal in a fierce competition on new reality series; The Pressure Cooker. In short time periods teams are handed unforeseen ingredients, and have to do their best to impress as chefs independently compete for the coveted title of number one.

A panel of judges scrutinizes each dish in areas of presentation, menu design, wine pairing and taste. The result is a clash of strong personalities, hot tempered cooks, and zero tolerant judging akin to Hell’s Kitchen (minus the F-word). Shot in HD format it is a gripping fly-on-the-wall revelation of the egoistic madness that saturates every great Chef?s kitchen.

If you are a foodie who enjoys watching delicious meals swing into action or simply love a fiery drama – then check out the first season of Pressure Cooker on Sunday nights. The series, now half way through has reached boiling point, and judges aren’t afraid to single out dead weight. Did we mention that the competing Chefs are equipped with wireless heart monitors that provide real time readings? The oven mitts are off! Watch as their blood heats up.

Backed by Food Ontario, and local wineries – this is also the perfect pairing of locally grown foods with familiar LCBO wines. Viewers can learn a lot about the intricacies that happen behind the kitchen while also getting terrific insight on whether an earthy merlot, fruity rose or dry white will make or break a dish.

Last week, the French Canadian got booted for being a poor head chef, taking too much time to figure out how to cook the meat. Other teams lost points for weirdo presentation, menu transparency issues and deeming a dish cassoulet when it was clearly not!

Of course, we are cheering on Chef Therese De Grace, our resident Bitchen Kitchen writer – who admitted to playing dumb at times in an attempt to fool sexist male chefs, who are well known for stereotyping female culinary talent as sub par. De Grace described the entire experience of being locked at local Niagara cooking school for days on end, as exhausting, challenging and full of conflicting personalities.

A sumptuous delight to watch, with just the right spice for intense post dinner entertainment. We weren’t sure how to handle Sunday nights, now that Mad Men is gone, but we’ve fallen in love with The Pressure Cooker and are hungry for more!

SUNDAY, 10PM -11PM, SUN TV
TUESDAY, 7-8PM, MEN TV