COOKING SHOW MANIA >>>

It would seem that the South Sound region is making it big as far as culinary broadcasts are concerned. Two weeks ago, Guy Fieri bopped around Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup and Lakewood. This past week celebrity chef Roger Mooking visited Olympia.

Canadian chef, and super approachable Mooking is a man of many talents. Mooking is the co-owner and executive chef of several fine-dining establishments in Canada. He's authored a cookbook. Hell, the man even has an R&B album! Not to mention being host to several cooking shows, Everyday Exotic, Heat Seekers (with co-host Aaron Sanchez also on the popular Chopped series) and Man Fire Food.  In each endeavor he seems to genuinely have a good time.

"I like to make things whether it's a dish, a cookbook or an album," Mooking told me over the phone. "Being able to do the two things I love so much is quite a blessing."

The Cooking Channel's Man Fire Food is exactly what it sounds like. Mooking visits locations throughout the nation discovering different ways that man (and woman) use fire to cook. Open flame, smokers, BBQing and other options use the primal element to infuse flavor into our feasts. While in Olympia, Mooking and crew visited with the Nisqually Tribe for a MFF episode centered on seafood feasts.

"It was really amazing to get a sense of what happens locally there," said Mooking. "The Nisqually Tribe has been cooking this certain way for centuries and generations and preparing these king salmon. They catch them from this body of water, skin them and smoke them over a fire. They let us in on that world, which was really special." 

They also prepared clams, mussels and oysters underground - much like a clambake.  

He referred to the Seattle and Portland areas - a forgivable blanket term used by out of towners to designate all of us here in the Northwest - as a "vibrant food city" and talked about how every region he visits has a totally different energy that conveys itself in its culinary community.

I was hoping he had the opportunity to discover some other gems while here in Olympia but Mooking says, "The shooting schedule is really aggressive, we are in and out."

You can catch his visit with the Nisqually Tribe on the Cooking Channel Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.