Food Network Challenge

World Pastry Cup

Go behind the scenes of the exclusive World Pastry Cup, an 11 hour marathon in which 45 International teams of Pastry chefs compete for the title of Wold Pastry Chef. Follow the Canadian and American team as they work there way to this Championship.

The Road to Bocuse d'Or

Go behind the scenes of the upcoming Bocuse d'Or 2001 competition as two young North American chefs try to break the stranglehold held by the European powerhouses of cuisine over the past decade.

Gordon Elliott's Door Knock Dinner College Cook-Off

Jim White of Casa Vieja in Corralis, NM, and Paula Deen of the Lady and Sons Restaurant in Savannah Georgia joins Gordon as he invades the fraternity and sorority-rich Union Street at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

Challenge: World Pastry Championship

Premier pastry chefs from twelve different countries travel to Las Vegas for a two-day competition that’s known for setting new standards in the industry. Each team shows its artistic talent with a sugar showpiece and a chocolate showpiece, and its culinary prowess with pastries

Challenge: Pizza Battle

Pizza Challenge: five teams meet at the Great Big Food Show in Cleveland to show off their tastiest pies and throw some dough.

JUDGES:
Chef Mario Batali
Big Dave Ostrander
Ed Levine

COMPETITORS:
Team California: Chef Ted Rowe, Tony Gemignani
Team New York: Chef Francesco Ilardi (ILARDI), Joe Calucci
Team Chicago: Chef Marc Stolfe, Chris Green
Team Ohio: Chef Sean Brauser, Michael Shepherd
Team South: Chef Santo Bruno, Silar Chapman

IMAGES:

Team South chef Santo Bruno works on his "Friday" pizza, which is topped with tuna, along with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

Michael Shepherd, acrobat for Team Ohio, shows his award-winning moves to an enthusiastic hometown crowd.

The man to beat, Tony Gemignani from Team California, shows the form that won him five past world tossing championships.

The dough used for competitive tossing is real pizza dough, made with high gluten and high protein flour. Competitors sometimes practice with rubber dough forms.

New York pizza chef Francesco Ilardi presents his "humble" pie to the judges. He finishes his "Holiday" pizza with tri-color pasta.

Celebrity judges, including Mario Batali, rate the pizzas on three criteria: the bake, the presentation, and the taste.

Challenge: Spooky Cake & Candy Cook-Off

Haunted houses, ghostly pumpkins and edible eyeballs make for a Halloween thriller, when five top cake teams gather for an intense cake and candy competition. Elaborate cakes, some weighing 80+ pounds, must impress a panel of tough judges with their delectable craftsmanship and creative use of candy decorations.

COMPETITORS:

Cheryl Lew
Owner, Montclair Baking
Oakland, Calif.

Bronwen Weber
Executive Chef, Frosted Art Bakery & Studio
Dallas, Texas

Duff Goldman
Owner, Charm City Cakes
Baltimore, Md.

Norman Davis
Owner, The Sweet Life
Annandale, Va.

Carol Murdock
Owner, Classic Cakes
West Hartford, Conn.

Food Network Challenge: Holiday Cake-Off

Forget the good cheer, these cake artists just want to win! Six of the nation’s top cake teams come to Sea Island Georgia to make the best holiday cakes they can create in just six hours. The icing is flying and the air is sparkling with glitter as the nation’s best create grand holiday masterpieces

Challenge: Reno Rib Cook-Off

Twenty-five barbecue teams are invited Reno, Nevada to compete for a $16,500 purse in one of the biggest rib cook-offs in the country.

Challenge: America's Bread Battle

For the first time in America, the top bread and pastry artists join forces to compete in a two-day competition that showcases both their unique talents and combined creativity.

Challenge: Fire & Ice

Four teams compete in a unique competition that combines ice sculpture and pastry art. Each team consists of two competitors. Our experts have to come up with a sculpture that combines two very different elements under the umbrella theme of Fire and Ice. There will be many forces at work against the teams .heat, the clock and for some, almost no time to practice.

COMPETITORS:

Patricio Lavilla, Green Valley Ranch Resort,
Las Vegas, Nev.

Regis Courivaud, Le Monde,
New York, N.Y.

Stanton Ho, Chocolates a la Carte (previously at Las Vegas Hilton),
Valencia, Calif.

John Hui, Caesar’s Palace,
Las Vegas, Nev.

Dale Fox, Las Vegas Hilton,
Las Vegas, Nev.

Judges:
Rob Bleifer, Executive Chef for the Food Network Kitchens, New York, N.Y.
Patrick Coston, Executive Pastry Chef at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nev.
Kevin Roscoe, Owner of Cascade Crystal Ice Sculptures, Inc., Seattle, Wash.

Challenge: Wedding Cake Classic

It's a bride's fantasy and a cake decorator's dream. Dozens of decorators travel to Tulsa to compete for a cut of the $10,000 purse. Art is the name of the game at this show, only these sculptures and paintings are done with sugar and icing. It is three days packed with taste, style and beauty, making for one grand reception with a sweet reward in the end.

Gingerbread Championships

Beautiful homes, amusement parks, rustic barns, and ornate churches all made of America?s favorite holiday treat: gingerbread! A record 300 gingerbread creations (decorated with gum drops, Necco wafers, and chow mein noodles!) were brought to this 12th annual championship in Asheville, North Carolina. Watch as participants spend months planning their structures and then cringe with every pothole as they drive their creations to the show.

Challenge: World's Best Bartender

Their moves are mesmerizing, and their speed and accuracy mind-boggling. They're the top bartenders in the country, and they're in Las Vegas to flair their way to fame at the World Bartending Championships. Bartenders go through three grueling rounds of speed, accuracy, and flair tests, cheered-on by a huge crowd. The eleven who make it to the finals get a chance at the title and the grand prize of $6,000.

Al Roker's BBQ Showdown

It's the biggest BBQ event in the nation - And our own Al Roker - a BBQ expert and cookbook author -- has entered the contest! See how Al's ribs stack up against the real pros, and see what it takes to compete in one very tasty cook-off.

Great Chowder Cook-Off

Who has the best "chowda" in New England, or dare we say, the world? More than 20 teams bring their secret chowder recipes, and their pride, to The Great Chowder Cook-off in Newport, RI.

America's Best Pastry

12 teams of 3 pastry chefs create delicate masterpieces in sugar and chocolate, all representing the theme of "Broadway Musicals." The stakes at the National Pastry Team Championship in Las Vegas are among the highest in the competitive food world.

Great Garlic Cook-Off

Eight seasoned chefs come to Gilroy, CA for one of the nation's best-loved cook-offs. Selected from hundreds of entrants, cooks will have two hours to prepare spicy specialties for the $1000 first prize. The delicious dishes all promise to be treasures.

Big Beef Battle

Fort Worth, TX - the heart of beef country. Twenty competitors were picked to come and cook up their tasty dishes and a chance to win $50,000. Will the granger beef and noodle bowls wow the judges? Or will it be the Beef Tikka with Coconut Raita?

Chili Bowl

See the many varieties, spices, and heat that each contestant puts in their chili at the annual International Chili Society World Championship in hopes of becoming the World Champion!

The Great American Pie Cook-Off

The nation's best bakers gather in Celebration, FL to enter their pies in the "grandmother" of all cooking contests. It's a cook-off to determine who has the best crust, and who is just flaky. Don't want to miss out on a visit to the Endless Pie Buffet.

Varsity Cook-Off

This cook-off makes "Home Ec" look like history. The best high school cooking teams in the country gather in Denver, CO for a high-intensity food test. Thousands of dollars in scholarships are at stake but it may be the beginning to a promising career.

The Spam Cook-Off

Celebrating its 25th year, the Annual Spam Cookoff takes place in Austin TX. Delve into the world of spam creations from spam sculptures to spushi, spam sushi. And don't forget the spam cram eating contest, the spam call and the spam toss.

World Pizza Challenge

It's a high-flying, dough-tossing extravaganza as Italy throws the world's biggest pizza party and six American chefs are invited. Does Team USA have what it takes to beat the Italians in their own backyard? The World Pizza Championship awaits!

Wild Game Cook-Off

The top wild game chefs in the country gather in Springville, Alabama for an afternoon of "grills gone wild"-you'll be amazed how fancy a caribou dish can be. We'll visit a wild game fine dining restaurant, and the market if you want to find yak filets!

Best Young Chefs in America

Ten of the nation's best chefs under the age of 27 come to Miami, FL to compete in a high-end "mystery basket" cook-off for the American title, and the chance to represent the U.S. in the International Young Chefs compeition in South Africa.

Culinary Champions

Six American chefs come to Chicago to take on ten of the world's top cooking teams. Team USA overcomes sleepless nights and long hot days in the kitchen to try to prove they are the world's Culinary Champions.

Here Comes the Cake

The Sugar Arts Championship is a bride's dream-as some of the nation's top professional bakers and cake enthusiasts gather in Tulsa for the ultimate cake-crazy cook-off.

The Great Steak Cook-Off

Secret marinades, heavenly fires, specially-designed grills and great cuts of beef-the grilling teams in Magnolia Arkansas pull out all their tricks because they know what's at "steak" at the World Championship Steak Cook-off.

Royal BBQ Battle

The American Royal is commonly refered to as the World Series of BBQ: two days, state and regional winners from across North America, and over $60,000 in prize money! Join us in Kansas City, MO for the one of the biggest BBQ competitions in the world.

All Fired Up!

The Fiery Foods Challenge is a huge gathering of hot foods, vendors and aficionados. Watch as people sweat while they test the hot foods. Also, spend time with some of the Fiery Food vendors and see what new fiery flavors are in store for us.

Extreme Pastry

Pastry stars Alain Roby, Susan Notter, Janet Allen, Martin Howard and Andrew Shotts are attempting their biggest pastry project ever: life-size sculptures, edible outfits and mind-boggling treats big enough to feed hundreds.

Cowboy Challenge

A taste of the old west, literally. More than 20 of the nation's top cowboy cooking teams have a culinary showdown in Ruidoso, NM. Meals and dessert are carefully prepared over open fires. We'll also ride home to see how they cook back at the ranch.

Big Pig Jig

Over 100 teams from all over the country load their wagon trains and grills and head south to Vienna, Georgia to compete for over $12,000 in prize money at the Annual Big Pig Jig, Georgia's oldest and largest pig cooking contest.

BBQ Chili Challenge

Only in Las Vegas could two heavyweights this hot duke it out with such delicious results. Eighty-eight champion barbecue teams and more than a hundred top chili teams gather at the Mandalay Bay Resort for a weekend of spicy competition.

The Great Cake-Off

At the Accubake Unique Cake Contest, ten contestants are flown to Atlanta to cook their unusual family cake recipes, and the favorite cake baker will take home $5,000 and a new oven.

Slam Dunk Skillet Showdown

Join us in San Antonio, where Competitive Sports meet Competitive Cooking: the Slam Dunk Skillet Showdown. NCAA Coaches and Local Star Chefs join forces for a day of high flying hoops and sizzling skillets.

World Bartending Championship

Get ready to shake, shake, shake. Food Network takes you to the Bartender Championships in Las Vegas! Witness feats of technical skill as 75 of the world's most talented bartenders convene to compete for the coveted title of Legends Champion.

Challenge: Gilroy Garlic Cook-Off

More than 100,000 garlic fans stroll through the festival grounds, trying everything from garlic bread to garlic ice cream. There's even a Mr. Garlic. But the highlight of the festival is the cook-off. At this competition, the stinking rose is a sweet smell people just can't get enough of.