Cooking shows
Lagasse first appeared on television on the show Great Chefs where he was featured on ten episodes, including Great Chefs, the Louisiana New Garde, New Orleans Jazz Brunch and Great Chefs — Great Cities. From 1993 to 1995 he was the original host of Food Network's How to Boil Water. After several appearances on several other Food Network programs, Lagasse hosted his own show, Essence of Emeril. "Essence" in the title refers to Emeril's Essence, the name of a spice blend of his own concoction that he frequently uses in his cooking, and which is commercially available in several flavors. He also often suggested that viewers of his show create their own spice blends that reflect their personal tastes and be unafraid to use them to customize the dishes he would teach.
In early 1997, Emeril Live began production. Later that year, the show won a Cable Ace Award for "Best Informational Show" of 1997.
Lagasse was one of sixteen chefs featured in the 1993 Julia Child series Cooking with Master Chefs.
He also appeared on Shop at Home Network (which, like Food Network, was owned by Scripps Networks), on the From Emeril's Kitchen from 2005 to 2006. The program was discontinued after Scripps liquidated Shop at Home's assets to Jewelry Television in June 2006.
On television, Lagasse is known for his light and jovial hosting style as well as several catchphrases, including "Bam!". Emeril's signature catchphrase began simply as a means of keeping his studio crew awake, alert and focused. When Emeril first began at Food Network, he would tape seven shows a day, from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon. The interjection soon proved a hit with viewers. "Kick it up a notch", "Aw, yeah, babe" and "Feel the love", are usually said before or after adding something spicy to a dish, or after the reaction to adding something. When frying or making dishes like sausage, Lagasse advocated using genuine lard, boasting, "Pork fat rules!" This style developed fully, and Lagasse became more comfortable when a live studio audience was added in the change from Essence of Emeril to Emeril Live.
Lagasse hosted a daily series, Emeril Green, which aired on Discovery Channel's eco-lifestyle network Planet Green. The show focused on cooking with organic, locally grown and seasonal produce, and was filmed on location at Whole Foods Markets across the United States.
From April to July 2010, Lagasse hosted the weekly variety program The Emeril Lagasse Show, which aired on Sundays on Ion Television.
In September 2011, he hosted the Hallmark Channel show, Emeril's Table. It was cancelled after one season. In 2013, Lagasse began hosting the Cooking Channel show Emeril's Florida. The show aired for five seasons, from 2013 to 2017.
Starting in 2022, Lagasse hosted the series Emeril Cooks on The Roku Channel. He also hosted the series Emeril Tailgates for The Roku Channel.
