Cooking Shows

Intro

Do you need to figure out how to cook? Do you dream of making gourmet food someday? Do you want to try new cuisines? You could go to the store, buy your ingredients, and find some recipes on the internet. Or you could sit down in front of the TV and take a cooking lesson first.
TV cooking shows are very popular. Master Chef, Top Chef, and Cupcake Wars are competitive shows in which people cook food for judges. The person who cooks the best food wins. Watching these TV shows is a fun way to improve your own cooking techniques. And if you cook great food already, maybe you can go on TV and win.
Andy can’t stand TV cooking shows. Listen to today’s English lesson to hear what Dominique thinks.
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Dialogue

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Andy_H: Oh man, Dominique! I just came back from a family reunion. I spent about 7 hours with my aunt, watching every single cooking show.
Dominique:  Oh my gosh, Andy. That sounds like heaven!
Andy_H:  No, no, no! It doesn’t!
Dominique:  Yes!
Andy_H:  Why can’t we just cook and eat food? It made me so hungry!
Dominique:  I think you’re talking to the wrong person. I love cooking shows. Master Chef, Top Chef, Cupcake Wars, all of them. I love them! I love getting recipes. I like to figure out different ingredients. It’s amazing.
Andy_H:  I like to cook, and you can get techniques, you can figure out new cuisines... how to make something gourmet. But I can’t stand these competitive celebrity chefs… “I’m going to yell at you because the sugar level was too high.” It’s just a little too much.
Dominique:  I think I know what the problem is. Is it, probably, that you can’t cook? Those are the type of people usually that don’t like those shows.
Andy_H:  I can kind of cook.
Dominique:  I knew it! You know what? Come on over, and I’ll help you out.
Andy_H:  All right. But do we have to watch a show?
Dominique:  Yes. Or we can pretend to have our own show. You’ll thank me later.
Andy_H:  OK.
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Discussion

Andy can’t figure out why cooking shows are so popular on TV. He watched hours of cooking shows together with his aunt, and it only made him hungry. Andy can’t stand how people yell and become competitive on these shows. He thinks it’s better to eat gourmet food than to watch it on TV.
Dominique thinks that the reason Andy doesn’t like watching these shows is because he can’t cook. Dominique loves cooking shows. She likes learning about different cuisines and different techniques for making them. Andy admits that he’s not a very good cook, which gives Dominique an idea. Why not go to Dominique’s house for a cooking lesson?
What are your favorite recipes and ingredients? Do you watch cooking shows on TV?
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Grammar Point

Gerunds and Infinitives

If a cooking show is on TV, Dominique will watch it. She explains to Andy, “I love getting recipes. I like to figure out different ingredients. It’s amazing.” Dominique uses both a gerund and an infinitive in her sentence.
Gerunds and infinitives are both verbal forms that act as nouns. Gerunds end in -ing, such as swimming, walking, or laughing. Infinitives are the basic verb form with the particle to, as in to swim, to walk, or to laugh.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to know whether it’s best to use a gerund or an infinitive in a sentence. Here are a few rules: Both gerunds and infinitives can follow a verb, as in, “I don’t like losing,” or, “I don’t like to lose.” They can also both be the subject of a sentence, as in, “Catching a chicken is difficult,” or, “To catch a chicken is difficult.”
Because a gerund or an infinitive can follow the verbs love and like, Dominique could make a sentence using only gerunds or using only infinitives. She could say “I love getting recipes. I like figuring out different ingredients. It’s amazing.” She could say “I love to get recipes. I like to figure out different ingredients. It’s amazing.” Or, she could use both a gerund and an infinitive in her sentence.
But only gerunds follow prepositions. For example, it’s correct to say, “I can’t leave a painting without finishing it,” but it’s not correct to say, “I can’t leave a painting without to finish it.”
Which is correct, “He learned to cook by to watch TV,” or, “He learned to cook by watching TV”?

Vocab

figure out v.
Definition

understand; learn
Example

I wish I could figure out how to fix my car so I wouldn’t have to pay someone else!
gourmet adj.
Definition

of very high quality; excellent
Example

That restaurant serves only gourmet food. It’s amazing.
cuisine n.
Definition

style of preparing food; way of cooking; type of food
Example

I like French cuisine because it contains so many good sauces and it’s not too spicy.
ingredient  n.
Definition

one item mixed with others to make something, usually food
Example

In my mom’s french onion soup, the most important ingredient is cheese.
recipe n.
Definition

instructions on how to cook something
Example

My mother has a great recipe for meatloaf.
competitive adj.
Definition

trying to do something better than other people
Example

Tony isn’t a very competitive person. He thinks people should work together instead of against each other.
technique n.
Definition

way to do something; method
Example

He’s reading a book about the best technique to catch a fish.
can't stand v.
Definition

strongly dislike
Example

I can’t stand rude people.
kind of adv.
Definition

a little; more or less
Example

I kind of like mango, but it’s not my favorite.
pretend v.
Definition

act like something is real or true when it is not
Example

When I was a kid, I liked to pretend to be a superhero.