This week A Taste of The Past investigates the rise in popularity and power of TV cooking shows. Host Linda Pelaccio looks into the origins that have resulted in today's obsession with food TV, with hundreds of shows on a multitude of dedicated food and cooking networks, they find the catalyst in the impossibly original and witty Julia Child. With the help of NYU Cinema Studies professor Dana Polan, who has written a book about the subject, discover how Julia transformed America's views of home cooking and made us enamored of French cuisine. From her refusal to use any product placement to harnessing the power of PBS, learn about this food icon and the food media empire she help give birth to. This episode is sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

Kathleen Collins, author of Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows, talks about the past, present and future of food television.

Mark and Francis welcome Jon Taffer, star of the Spike TV show Bar Rescue to the show. In addition to hosting Bar Rescue, Mr Taffer also runs a successful consulting business. Conversation ranges from discussion about the show, about how Mark, Francis, and Jon approach consulting jobs, how consulting is different in front of the camera under a 5 day time constraint and about what these restaurants are like after the cameras leave.