…The Food Network and, more recently, www.foodtv.com changed that forever. Now the likes of Rachel Ray and Emeril Lagasse have become the rock stars of cooking. Ray is one of the busiest people on television. She's part Oprah Winfrey, part Martha Stewart, and part Energizer Bunny. Besides her shows on the Food Network, she also has a syndicated talk show produced by Winfrey's Harpo Productions, over a dozen cookbooks, a popular line of cookware, and a monthly magazine. Lagasse is the star of two Food Network programs, Essence of Emeril and Emeril Live, in which he cooks before a live audience. The New Orleans-based chef and restaurant owner brings a BAM to everything he touches, including the Emeril Lagasse Foundation which he established in 2002 to help young people. Emeril has published 12 cookbooks and has a line of cookware and spice blends.

No discussion of the Food Network would be complete without mention of Iron Chef America, one of its most popular shows. Iron Chef borrows liberally from the Japanese program on which it is based. Like its parent show, this Food Network production is a contest that pits a regular stable of chefs against a guest challenger. Participants have 60 minutes to work before a live audience in a so-called kitchen stadium and devise five dishes based on a theme featuring a secret ingredient. A panel of three judges the offerings and crowns a winner as the Iron Chef.