Oprah's New Cooking Competition Aims Right For The Soul

There's an abundance of fun cooking competition shows out there, and joining the lineup is one that specifically celebrates Black cuisine. The Oprah Winfrey Network and Discovery+ are bringing viewers The Great Soul Food Cook-Off on November 20, reports People.

The Great Soul Food Cook-Off will feature eight chefs putting their own twist on soul food cooking for a chance to win $50,000. Presumably it will follow the typical competition-show format of eliminating one contestant each week, because keeping track of eight chefs cooking all at once every episode seems like a lot.

To judge the feast, Oprah and Discovery+ have recruited Top Chef alum Eric Adjepong and Harlem restaurateur Melba Wilson, and Food Network's Kardea Brown will host the show. I've never had soul food, but looking at the roster here, I'd gladly eat any dish that makes these expert judges happy.

The trailer for the new series shows some truly mouthwatering plates and confident chefs who obviously love what they do. In fact, while watching the trailer, I noticed one of the contestants is no stranger to cooking competition shows. Dorian Hunter, 2019 winner of MasterChef, shows off her soul food skills in what I assume is the first episode of the show. I'm used to watching some pretty cutthroat cooking competitions, like Hell's Kitchen, so it's always surprising (and at times refreshing) to see contestants laughing and smiling while competing.

Solely (get it?) based on the trailer, this show looks like a fun way to introduce newbies to the ins and outs of soul food and to celebrate the people who have built a career cooking this cuisine. I hope the crew gets plenty of samples. "Honey, sorry I'm late, but I brought home some Michelin-star-worthy leftovers from work again!"