| Genre: | Cooking |
| Presenter: | James Beard |
| Runtime: | 15 minutes 30 minutes (April–May 1947) |
| Country: | United States |
| Channel: | NBC |
I Love to Eat was a live television series on NBC that aired from August 30, 1946 to May 18, 1947, and was a cooking show hosted by chef and cookbook author James Beard. The show is notable for having been the first network television cooking show to air in the United States.[1]
The show came after several successful one-off TV cooking segments featuring Beard alongside other chefs, including on programmes like Radio City Matinée (May 1946) and For You And Yours (June 1946).
When the show started, each episode was 15 minutes long and presented at 8:30 p.m. EST on Fridays, immediately before The World in Your Home at 8:45 p.m. However, this was later changed to 30 minutes (April–May 1947) as more complicated recipes were demonstrated and prepared.[2]
The Borden-sponsored program opened with a sketch of Elsie, the famed Borden cow. Then Beard, appearing behind a kitchen counter, took over to demonstrate the preparation of some of his unique dishes for the live television audience.
The program also featured Elsie de Wolfe, who was described as a "Manhattan socialite".[3] The producer was Patricia Kennedy.[3]
No footage from the show remains, since methods to record live television such as kinescopes were not invented until 1947. However, an audio recording of one episode survives. As documented in the Library of Congress archives, the audio recordings of episodes from I Love to Eat (as recorded from live TV broadcasts over WNBT-TV in NY in 1946-47) include a 1947 episode featuring a ski report and ski luncheon discussions by Beard. This is followed by prolonged[4] live commercials from Borden, including Elsie the Cow as show sponsor, while Beard recounts his dream about Elsie as part of the show.