Cooked With Cannabis’ Review

Photo Courtesy of Netflix

Television viewers have always had a bevy of cooking shows to choose from at one point or the other. A lot of shows take the traditional route of regular foods with contestants and prize money. Netflix has changed that narrative with its hosting of cannabis-based cooking competitions in Cooked with Cannabis.

Cooked With Cannabis: Showcasing the Culinary Benefits of Cannabis

Cooked with Cannabis is a culinary competition series that premiered on Netflix on April 4, 2020 as a successor to the company’s 2018 series Cooking on High. It is hosted by former singer Kelis (who happens to be a trained chef) and an expert on cannabis cuisine, Leather Storrs. This six-episode show boasts celebrity judges (tasters, if you will) and $10,000 in prize money.

In each of the episodes, three professional chefs with experience in cooking with cannabis are given a theme and designated time to come up with an appetizer entree and dessert. The contestants know the theme ahead of time, and the levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to be used (2-4mg), so they’ve come prepared with THC-infused ingredients. Each episode features nine dishes that are consumed by both hosts and the guest judges (typically comics, ex-athletes, and actors). The themes vary from backyard BBQ, wedding, comfort food, and holidays, among others.

The chefs take the competition seriously, and there are excellent dishes to show for it. We were amazed by the variety and complexity of the dishes they created. Some of the meals cooked on this show include ghee-infused ribeye with charred octopus and charred vegetable BBQ sauce and chickpea Akara (with 2 mg of THC); an “Elevated Croque Madame” with CBD-infused bechamel sauce, fried quail egg and tomato chutney (with 25mg of CBD); and savory baklava with CBD honey sriracha, soyrizo, vegetable protein, bourbon-rehydrated cherries (a total of 3mg of THC and 5.5 mg of CBD). 

Few people will be able to replicate the marvels the chef-contestants have been able to create on the show even if they have a history with cannabis like the show’s contestants. What they do goes beyond sprinkling a little CBD or THC on top of a meal. Each of the meals, appetizer, main course, and dessert are made with careful considerations of the dosage of THC and CBD to be added.

Putting the Spotlight on Cannabis

Cooked with Cannabis is a vicarious viewing experience that steadily introduces mainstream viewers to information about the connection of weed and food with clear explanations on flavour and potency. The show provides an educational atmosphere where people get to learn a thing or two about cannabis. The viewers get all this information from the interactions between the hosts and the guests who eat the food.  

The contestants are professional chefs who know a lot about what they’re doing with cannabis and dosage. One of the interesting things we liked about past episodes of the show was that the contestants knew enough about the kinds of highs produced by certain strains. It was this knowledge that they brought to bear on the courses they made. They also let the viewers in on some of this knowledge in their chef interviews.

This show was strategically designed to put a shining spotlight on cannabis. The producers of the show also provided insights as they furnished viewers with all the explanations necessary via graphics. Some of the informative graphics include: “THC is the part of the plant that gets you high, and CBD has medical benefits like helping with anxiety,” and “THC & CBD Combined: THC reaches its full potential with CBD — known as “The Entourage Effect”. These are bits of info that the average mainstream viewer may not have access to. All thanks to Cooked with Cannabis, mainstream viewers now know a thing or two about the nitty-gritty of cannabis.

Why Cooked With Cannabis Could Be A Staple Show

This show brings something new to the cooking show space. We find it refreshing that everyone on the show is there to have fun—after all, there is some cannabis involved!