Hulu is firing up its foodie lineup this fall with a holiday-centric season of Padma Lakshmi’s “Taste the Nation,” a new futuristic-food docuseries from David Chang and a fresh baking competition that pits amateurs against pros, the streaming service revealed during its presentation at the Television Critics Association’s virtual summer press tour Friday.
A festive-themed followup to the first season of “Top Chef” host Lakshmi’s food-travel docuseries, “Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition” will premiere, Thursday, Nov. 4.
The show follows Lakshmi as she “takes audiences on a journey across America, exploring the rich and diverse food culture of various immigrant groups and seeking out the people who have so heavily shaped what American food is today. From indigenous communities to recent immigrant arrivals, Padma breaks bread with Americans across the nation to uncover the roots and relationship between our food, our humanity and our history—ultimately revealing stories that challenge notions of identity, belonging, and what it means to be American.”
In the four-part holiday edition, “each episode will highlight unique traditions through the lens of different immigrant cultures and cities, like Korean New Year in Los Angeles and Cuban Christmas in Miami.”
From Chang comes “The Next Thing You Eat,” a six-episode docuseries that “explores the seismic changes happening all around us and what they mean for the way we’ll eat in the future.”
Launching Thursday, Oct. 21, the show features Chang and “a diverse cast of characters” as they “dive headfirst into what lies ahead, including everything from robots, to lab-grown fish, to insect farms, to artificial intelligence calling all the shots,” per Hulu.
“The Next Thing You Eat” is executive produced by the creators of Netflix’s “Ugly Delicious,” with showrunner Dominic Musacchio.
“Taste the Nation: Holiday Edition” is executive produced by Lakshmi, along with Part2 Pictures’ David Shadrack Smith.
“Baker’s Dozen,” which will debut Thursday, Oct. 7, features “passionate amateur bakers” going “head-to-head with seasoned professionals in each episode.”
Here’s Hulu’s description for the new competition: Join hosts Tamera Mowry-Housley (Emmy-award winning host of “The Real,” Fox’s “The Masked Singer” and Hallmark’s “Christmas Comes Twice”) and Bill Yosses (author and former White House Pastry Chef) for this fast-paced competition series that will determine the best baker of all! Which of the 13 bakers has what it takes to create the next viral baking sensation, win the golden rolling pin and take home the cash prize?
“Baker’s Dozen” is executive produced by Sandy Varo Jarrell, Suzanne Rauscher, Justin Rae Barnes, Tara Seiner and Scott Mlodzinski for Bright Spot Content, an All3Media America company.