GastroPreneur Week – What’s Cooking on the Web?

I’m not sure whether it’s the downward economy or an increased interest in cooking, but I’m finding people dining out less often and eating at home more frequently. There has always been an interest in food and cooking back to the days when Julia Child had her infamous cooking show. But lately, there has been a surge of interest in home cooking.

Certainly some credit goes to The Food Network, but I’m wondering if there’s more to it. Perhaps family nights are seeing a resurgence. Or maybe people just want to eat healthier. Whatever the reason may be, all the necessary ingredients for creating some incredible dishes are available online. There are a bounty of cooking and food related websites, some more popular than others.

In taking into consideration their offerings, recipe database and informative articles and tips, we’ve put together for GastroPreneur week a Top 3 list of the Best Cooking/Food Websites. These are the ones that we really think are cooking:

#1 – All Recipes.

This is just a great overall site for everything pertaining to cooking and food. Browsing for recipes is quick and easy with category searches broken down further into more specific types. What’s nice about All Recipes is the global community it fosters because recipes are submitted by home cooks from around the world. As a result, you get many different variations on a dish depending on the submitter’s country, region, or ethnic traditions. A plus is that each recipe is rated and reviewed and conveniently lists prep time, cook time and ready in time. Kudos go to the Farmers Market section with articles and recipes that encourage home cooks to use locally grown fruits and vegetables. What puts All Recipes at the top of the list is its appeal to people of all ages and cooking ability. There are how-to videos, daily blogs, contests and giveaways. You can even download recipes to your iPhone for free, a nice feature for people on the go. This site is really packed with great recipes, cooking tips, fun ideas and valuable resources.

#2 – Epicurious.

This is a popular foodie site, with an extensive collection of recipes from top publications like Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Self, Parade and Cookie. Its presentation is professional and sophisticated, with advice from experienced chefs on a variety of topics, such as tips on food and wine pairings. The extensive technique videos library is extremely valuable for novice and advanced cooks. It gets top marks in presenting recipes in text and video and in its accessibility with its Facebook app and podcasts.

# 3 – Foodtv.com.

This is the accompanying website to the mega popular food cable channel, The Food Network. It features all the recipes from the shows, although searching is a bit cumbersome and takes several clicks to get through to more options beyond the featured recipes. While recipes are presented in text and video format, be prepared to have to navigate through side information promoting merchandise and shows. Video commercials that begin playing as you click from page to page are another minor annoyance. Still, The Food Network website offers some great cooking ideas and is on the mark with food trends and seasonal ideas.

So that’s our Top 3. Now we want to hear from you. Where do you turn for cooking and food recipes and tips? Leave your suggestions in a comment.

Matthew Toren