NEW Vol. 1-season 1 (DVD)

This DVD was an almost complete waste of money. All it contains in a bunch of self-congratulatory young chefs running around frantically around a studio kitchen, and then eating their own cooking and praising their own abilities. There is very little to be learned on these DVDs. The one good bit was the chef making risotto, and it was good only for its comic effect, as he ran around the counter from pot to pot to pot. I don't think even an advanced chef has much to learn from this, and it's a total waste for a beginner. Instead, spend your money on DVDs by Julia Child or Lidia Bastianich or Jacques Pepin, chefs who actually teach something.

Cook like a Chef is without question the best and most engaging cooking series I have ever watched for a number of reasons. Like many other people I have cooked at home all my life from a young age and enjoy it immensely as well as being pretty skilled at it. Yet almost every episode increases my knowledge, shows me a new technique or broadens my appreciation of the art of cooking in some way.

Head chefs from top restauraunts and institutions across Canada demonstrate techniques and some different ways to cook using the episodes featured ingredient/method/style with their own personal touch - they even bring along their own kitchen assistants. Most of the chefs have great personalities and an obvious passion for cooking which makes for a very engaging learning experience. Anyone who thinks these chefs are inexperienced or overconfident either has no idea about cooking whatsoever, or holds a couple of michellin stars.

It's true they do not give exact recepies however that is not the idea of this series - if you need recepies buy a good cookbook as well. This is a teaching show on the many aspects of how to cook like a chef - the purpose built set kitchen is easily as well equipped as 'Iron Chef' if not better, and is designed to allow unprecedented camera access to the preparation area with plenty of room to move. The camera work and editing are top notch - the viewer can see exactly what the chefs are doing from multiple angles with great close-ups on important techniques or critical stages of cooking. Unlike other shows with one fixed offscreen camera that's quite far away from the action, the 4 or so cameramen on this set are always in plain view of eachother and moving around, which gives the feel that you are right there yourself.

The chefs don't waste time making you watch basic or lengthy mundane processes, but rather get it started and then delegate to the assistant(s) as would happen in a commercial kitchen - instead they get on with demonstrating preparation of the next stage or dish. As soon as something goes into the oven or onto the stove, the pre-prepared one comes out with perfect timing, giving the show a nice fluid feel that's often missing from regular cooking shows.

Cook like a Chef has aired literally hundreds of episodes on foodtv.ca so this first season is only a small fraction. Given the age of this tv series they should have all been released to DVD already, so unfortunately I doubt there will ever be a release of the rest which is a real shame.

In conclusion, this show will not disappoint novices or experienced home cooks alike - as one of the chefs say, you never stop learning about the art of cooking. If you're a fan of cooking shows, it doesnt get any better than this.

When purchasing any kind of cooking video/lesson, you anticipate that recipes will be included with the lesson... There were no recipes included, and these cooking videos were extremely disappointing. As one of the other reviewers mentioned, the instructors are all very young chefs who are VERY fond of their cooking. I did not learn anything and was not happy that I purchased these videos.