OWN debuts ‘The Big Holiday Food Fight’ and ‘The Great Soul Food Cook-Off’

October 21, 2021

The following is a combination of press releases from OWN:

“The Big Holiday Food Fight” premieres Tuesday, November 16, 2021, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, moving to its regular 8:00 p.m. ET/PT time slot on Tuesday, November 23, 2021. It’s “knives out” (but in a good way) when “The Big Holiday Food Fight” makes its debut on OWN this November. Hosted by Kym Whitley, this exciting holiday-themed cooking competition series from SallyAnn Salsano and 495 Productions (“Peace of Mind with Taraji,” “The Real,” “Jersey Shore” “Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Party Challenge”) celebrates the holidays with traditions, family recipes and a side order of fierce competition. In each episode, we crown a new King or Queen of the holiday table and put a little jingle in their pocket with enough cash to tackle some fierce Christmas shopping.

Three home cooks will bust out their most beloved holiday family recipes and ‘jingle bell rock’ the kitchen in a multi-stage cook-off that will leave only one home chef standing at the end of each episode—and the winner of a $5,000 stocking stuffed with cash.  Appetizers, side dishes and desserts take center stage each week as our cooks are challenged to whip up their best family-favorite recipes to wow our accomplished judges Gina Neely, Darnell “SuperChef” Ferguson and James Wright Chanel. At the end of each round, our panel of judges will decide who stays for the next round and who gets booted out in the cold.

Discovery+ and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced “The Great Soul Food Cook-Off,” a first-of-its-kind soul food cooking competition series celebrating Black chefs and the Black culinary traditions that are the cornerstone of American cuisine. The six-episode, one-hour series debuts on discovery+ on Saturday, November 20, 2021, with new episodes every Saturday through December 18, 2021.

Today, we see Black culture recognized like never before in music, film, fashion, TV, sports, and more, but that same cultural recognition remains long overdue in the kitchen. OWN has partnered with discovery+ via the original series, “The Great Soul Food Cook-Off,” in a cooking competition that finally spotlights the culinary contributions of Black chefs with challenges designed to highlight the past and present of soul food. Eight chefs will go head-to-head throughout the show in this high-stakes, spiritual, and emotional competition, but only one competitor can take home the grand prize of $50,000.

“Soul food originated in the earliest African American communities and describes a style of cuisine that represents the creativity and skill of Black cooks from many cultures within the African diaspora,” said Tina Perry, president, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. “Our audience cherishes time together as a family around the table and many have passed down favorite family recipes for generations. This series is a celebration of long-standing traditions we hope to introduce and spotlight for new and existing viewers as we shine a light on a few of today’s most talented Black chefs and culinary curators.”

“The Great Soul Food Cook-Off” is hosted by acclaimed chef and television show host Kardea Brown. Brown will be joined by some of the world’s best chefs, Eric Adjepong and Melba Wilson, as they critique the chefs’ weekly creations.

Additional judges that will join Adjepong and Wilson include:

· Tanya Holland – (Episode 1)

· Alexander Smalls – (Episode 2 & 6)

· BJ Dennis – (Episode 3)

· Tiffany Derry – (Episode 4)

· Millie Peartree – (Episode 5)

· Kwame Onwuachi – (Episode 6)

“The Great Soul Food Cook-Off” contestants are:

· Chris Scott, 53 (Chef/Owner, Butterfunk Biscuit Co. – Harlem, NY)

· Dorian Hunter, 47 (Chef/Caterer, Elevated Soul – Atlanta, GA)

· Fred Fluellen, 32 (Private Chef/Caterer, Fluniversity – Atlanta, GA)

· Jamarius Banks, 28 (Private Chef – Atlanta, GA)

· Jermaine Smith, 48 (Chef/Owner, Henry’s Soul Cafe – Washington, D.C.)

· Razia Sabour, 40 (Private Chef/Caterer, Fuller Foods – Atlanta, GA)

· Shacafrica Simmons, 47 (Private Chef/Caterer, Southern Fusion – Tallahassee, FL)

· Tirzah Love, 38 (Private Chef/Caterer – Oakland, CA)

The competition premieres with a Soul Starter Challenge paying homage to the foundational “meat and three,” a meal featuring a portion of meat and three sides that are African American community must-haves. In this first challenge, “The Great Soul Food Cook-Off” chefs form teams and are challenged to a Meat N’ Three Knockout, preparing smothered pork chops, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and a potato salad. The winning team then holds an advantage going into the main Cook-Off Challenge, where the chefs create innovative dishes with staple ingredients. So who will dig the deepest and draw inspiration from their ancestors to win, and who is going home?

“The Great Soul Food Cook-Off” is produced by Good Egg Entertainment, the company behind Food Network’s hit cooking competition series “Chopped.” Michael W. Twitty, the esteemed culinary historian, educator, and James Beard Foundation award-winning author of The Cooking Gene, will serve as culinary historian and consultant for the series. OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is overseeing production.

ABOUT KARDEA BROWN

Kardea Brown is a contemporary Southern cook born in Charleston, South Carolina. She is of Gullah/Geechee descent, a term used to describe a distinct group of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia who have managed to preserve much of their West African language, culture and cuisine. Her love for cooking started in her grandmother’s kitchen, learning to cook Gullah dishes that were passed down from her mother. Although she loved cooking as a hobby, Kardea did not envision herself pursuing a career within the culinary field. Instead, she obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and embarked on a career in Social Services. But in 2013, she switched gears and began to pursue cooking. She created The New Gullah Supper Club, traveling from state to state cooking traditional Gullah dishes with a contemporary twist. Kardea has since made dozens of guest television appearances on shows such as ABC’s The Chew and Food Network’s Farmhouse Rules, BBQ Blitz, The Kitchen, Chopped Jr., Beat Bobby Flay, and Cooks vs. Cons. Additionally, she has her own show on the Food Network, Delicious Miss Brown, which is currently in its 5th season.

ABOUT DISCOVERY+

discovery+ is the definitive non-fiction, real life subscription streaming service. discovery+ features a landmark partnership with Verizon that gives their customers with select plans up to 12 months of discovery+ on Verizon. discovery+ has the largest-ever content offering of any new streaming service at launch, featuring a wide range of exclusive, original series across popular, passion verticals in which Discovery brands have a strong leadership position, including lifestyle and relationships; home and food; true crime; paranormal; adventure and natural history; as well as science, tech and the environment, and a slate of high-quality documentaries. For more, visit discoveryplus.com or find it on a variety of platforms and devices, including ones from Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku and Samsung.

ABOUT OWN: OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is the first and only network named for, and inspired by, a single iconic leader. Oprah Winfrey’s heart and creative instincts inform the brand and the magnetism of the channel. OWN is a leading destination for premium scripted and unscripted programming from today’s most innovative storytellers. OWN connects with its audience wherever they are, inspiring conversation among a global community of like-minded viewers on social media and beyond. Launched on January 1, 2011, OWN is a joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery, Inc. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform Oprah.com. Access OWN anytime on Watch OWN and discovery+ across mobile devices and connected TVs.

ABOUT GOOD EGG ENTERTAINMENT

Good Egg Entertainment is a New York-based, unscripted production company that’s committed to creating innovative, energetic and positive content for all ages. Best known as the producers of Chopped, with almost 900 episodes of the series to date, the Good Egg team has proven its capabilities in making long-lasting premium television. Focused on entertaining formats with international appeal, especially food-forward content for streaming and linear platforms, recent Good Egg productions include Money Hungry with Kal Penn for Food Network/Discovery+, Dishmantled with Tituss Burgess and Eye Candy with Josh Groban for Roku Originals, and The Great Soul Food Cook-Off for OWN/Discovery+. Individually, the leaders at Good Egg have built their careers on the development and production of seminal series that include Queer Eye, Pawn Stars, the Emmy-winning Zimmern List, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego? and Legends of The Hidden Temple.

Food Network debuts Southern-style cooking show ‘Delicious Miss Brown,’ hosted by Kardea Brown

June 24, 2019

Kardea Brown
Kardea Brown (Photo courtesy of Food Network)

The following is a press release from Food Network:

Born and raised on the Sea Islands of Charleston, South Carolina, cook and caterer Kardea Brown grew up in a big family with a love for food, especially the cherished recipes they passed down from generation to generation. She began cooking as a child in her grandmother’s kitchen, where she learned to make the traditional dishes of the region. In “Delicious Miss Brown,” Kardea shares the family events, culture and recipes close to her heart – including Sunday supper after crabbing on the dock, a low country boil at the beach and shrimp boating to prepare for the ultimate Shrimp Fest. The brand-new series premieres Sunday, July 28 at 11:30 am (all times ET/PT) on Food Network.

“‘Delicious Miss Brown’ is the perfect show for summer – the recipes are just right for a sunny day grilling outdoors or a fresh seafood meal by the water,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network. “Kardea’s personality is as irresistible as her food and our viewers are sure to enjoy getting to know her.”

Kardea Brown is a contemporary Southern cook born in Charleston, South Carolina. She is of Gullah/Geechee descent, a term used to describe a distinct group of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia who have managed to preserve much of their West African language, culture and cuisine. Kardea created the pop-up New Gullah Supper Club, where the menu pays homage to the dishes her grandmother and mother passed down to her. She is host of Food Network’s upcoming series “Cupcake Championship” and has appeared on “Beat Bobby Flay,” “Chopped Junior,” “Cooks vs. Cons,” “Family Food Showdown” and “Farmhouse Rules.”

Viewers can go behind-the-scenes with Kardea in a series of exclusive interviews and culinary challenges on Food Network’s Facebook and Instagram pages and share favorite dishes on social media using #DeliciousMissBrown. Fans can also get closer to Kardea’s kitchen on the South Carolina coast and find her recipes and videos at FoodNetwork.com/DeliciousMissBrown.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment spanning 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

Food Network debuts ‘Cupcake Championship’ series

May 30, 2019

Amirah Kassem (guest judge), Nacho Aguirre (guest judge), Kardea Brown (host) and Maureen McCormick (judge) in “Cupcake Championship” (Photo courtesy of Food Network)

The following is a press release from Food Network:

Food Network showcases the country’s most creative cupcake makers this summer in the new five-episode series Cupcake Championship, premiering Monday, July 1 at 9pm ET/PT. Hosted by Kardea Brown, each episode features four world-class cupcake experts battling to achieve new levels of edible ingenuity in two rounds of competition for a $10,000 cash prize. Judge Maureen McCormick is joined by a revolving panel of guest judges, including Nacho Aguirre, Lerome Campbell, Amirah Kassem, Stella Parks, Gesine Prado and Joshua John Russell, to determine who is named each week’s Cupcake Champion.

“The cupcakes may be small, but the artistry these bakers accomplish is huge,” said Courtney White, President, Food Network. “Our viewers will marvel at the creativity of these cupcakes – they are truly spectacular.”

Each episode kicks off with the Designer Challenge where the four contestants must create cupcakes to celebrate an event or theme, and the judges send the least successful baker home. The three remaining contestants then proceed to the Imagination Challenge, an amped-up battle to create a three-dimensional cupcake tableau with bigger displays and multiple flavor components.

In the premiere episode, the cupcake makers are challenged to make succulent plants out of cupcakes…but things get prickly when one cupcaker is eliminated by judges in the first round. The three remaining competitors take on the delicacies of beautiful flower bouquet designs to see whose flower-bouquet cupcake display will earn them the title of Cupcake Champion and the $10,000 prize. Additional challenges during the season have the competitors making edible snow globes, incredibly detailed pet designs, savory ‘food imposters’, mythical beings and even an entire planet made out of cupcakes!

Go online to find out more about this delicious competition, and head to Food Network’s Instagram page to get to know host Kardea and judge Maureen as they reveal fun facts about themselves. Stay tuned to Food Network’s Facebook page for over-the-top cupcake designs and sweet tips for making dessert masterpieces at home. Join the conversation anytime using #CupcakeChampionship.

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FOOD NETWORK (www.foodnetwork.com) is a unique lifestyle network, website and magazine that connects viewers to the power and joy of food. The network strives to be viewers’ best friend in food and is committed to leading by teaching, inspiring, empowering and entertaining through its talent and expertise. Food Network is distributed to nearly 100 million U.S. households and draws over 46 million unique web users monthly. Since launching in 2009, Food Network Magazine’s rate base has grown 13 times and is the No. 2 best-selling monthly magazine on the newsstand, with 13.5 million readers. Food Network is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment spanning 220 countries and territories; the portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, HGTV, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

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