Our house has watched a lot of food related programming since the start of the pandemic. We consume recipe based instructional institutions like America’s Test Kitchen, excuses for travel like Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, Bourdain inspired journalistic trips around the globe like Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and David Chang’s Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, deeper dives into under appreciated culinary scenes like High on the Hog, the future of food like The Next Thing You Eat and the fast food equivalent of game show related competition like Nailed It! and Chopped. If you consider YouTube television, the NYT Cooking channel is our most visited page. But the best food related programming, the programming that incorporates everything from the aforementioned shows, is in a children’s television show and always clocks in at under 6 minutes: Monster Foodies on Sesame Street.

For the childless, Monster Foodies is a frequent segment on the current iteration of Sesame Street. Gonger and Cookie Monster are chefs. They run an on demand food truck. A request comes in via tablet, they check their food stock, discover Cookie has consumed a key ingredient, Gonger has a completely warranted freak out over Cookie’s lack of self control, Gonger calms down, the two head to a farm or factory to learn about and obtain the missing ingredient. Once back in the truck they cook whatever was requested, ship it out and finally, Gonger shares a small portion of whatever the duo created with Cookie.

In roughly five minutes, Monster Foodies does everything I enjoy about food related television.

Like America’s Test Kitchen, Gonger and Cookie follow directions.

Like Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, Gonger and Cookie explore new places.

Like Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi and Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, Gonger and Cookie meet new people from around the world.

Like The Next Thing You Eat, Gonger and Cookie see new ways food is produced. 

Like High on the Hog, Gonger and Cookie make food that you didn’t typically see on television even a few years ago.

Like Nailed It! and Chopped, Gonger and Cookie make a mess in a hurry.

Like the NYT Cooking channel, Gonger and Cookie have a large catalogue, giving you hours of cooking related content. 

Without explicitly saying it, my kid is learning about where ingredients originate, supply chains, farm to table cooking, delivery systems, ghost kitchens, mixing, measuring, following directions, sharing, moderation and self control. 

On its 52nd birthday and the day before the season premiere of season 52, most people thinking and talking about the show are focused on it’s tallest bird, Big Bird, and its spookiest character, Count von Count. But it’s Gonger and Cookie that are doing the most while being the most entertaining. 

Kudos to Chefs Gonger and Cookie. Like all of the food programming we’ve consumed over the last two years, you’re providing a feeling of togetherness and education in an unsure time. Unlike all of the other food programming, there’s no sense of dread about what’s next. 

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