"MAN FIRE FOOD" RETURNS WITH A SMOKING-HOT NEW SEASON WITH HOST ROGER MOOKING

Season Premiere Tuesday, May 30th at 9pm ET/6pm PT

NEW YORK - May 23, 2017 - As temperatures rise outside, Cooking Channel is heating up with a smoking new season of Man Fire Food, kicking off on Tuesday, May 30th at 9:00pm ET/6:00pm PT. On the 13 half-hour long episodes, Chef Roger Mooking continues his search for the most fascinating ways to cook with flames. From cooking over open fire, to grilling over charcoal, or barbecuing low and slow, to smoking in the pit, Roger discovers all the inventive ways pitmasters and local chefs create sizzling hot, flavorful dishes. Come along as Roger follows the smoke signals across the country learning how to play with fire.

Fans can get recipes and tips for summer grilling at CookingChannelTV.com/ManFireFood, and they can watch new digital-only videos to find out where to get the best BBQ in the country. They can share their own grilling tricks online with #ManFireFood.

Trinidadian-born Roger Mooking is no stranger to combining various influences to new and exciting culinary adventures. He is the host and co-creator of his internationally broadcast television series Everyday Exotic. His award-winning cookbook, based on the show, explores pairing ingredients from all corners of the globe with everyday meals. Mooking co-hosted Heat Seekers on Food Network, and was a recurring judge on Chopped Canada. He recently opened Twist By Roger Mooking, a restaurant that incorporates global flavors into locally sourced, North American comfort food, making him a third-generation restaurateur. Taking his talents outside of the kitchen, Roger released his most recent album, "Feedback Acoustic". For this Juno award-winning recording artist, the music and epicurean world are seamless. One feeds the body, the other the soul; it is all food in all its various forms.

Episodes Include:

Premiering Tuesday, May 30th at 9pmET/6pmPT - SEASON PREMIERE! "Old School, New School" Roger Mooking gets schooled by two pitmasters changing the barbecue game in Charleston, S.C. One has an impressive new pit room where whole hogs get cooked low and slow, before hitting the hogs with his secret "come back" seasoning and splashes of tangy vinegar sauce. The other is making Tex-Mex with smoked meats from a massive smoker. Roger chows down on a plate of brisket nachos and gets a taste of a loaded pulled pork burrito smothered in green chili made from peppers blasted by flames in a spinning roaster!

Premiering Tuesday, June 6th at 9pmET/6pmPT "Swine Dining" Roger Mooking heads to the Liberty Kitchen in Houston, Texas, to check out their monster wood-fired hearth. There he helps prepare a Balinese-style whole roasted pig cooked over mesquite coals and coconut shells. The wood fire is also used for Mexican pork asado tacos made on an edible rig. Next, Roger heads to Hickory Nut Gap Farm in Fairview, N.C., for a fiery farm feast. On the menu is porchetta that is stuffed with spicy Italian sausage and lush kale pesto, hung over a bed of hot coals. On the side, heirloom grits cooked in a coal-fueled cauldron, and finished with roasted spring onions.

Premiering Tuesday, June 13th at 9pmET/6pmPT "Generations of Smoke" Barbecue is in the blood at two family-run institutions where the dedication to perfecting smoked meats spans decades. Burns Original BBQ in Houston, Texas, is the definition of a family business. Roger Mooking is welcomed into the family and learns the ropes of East Texas style 'cue, including succulent chicken, juicy pork rib sandwiches, and brisket for football-sized, fully loaded baked potatoes. Next, Roger heads to Poche's Market & Restaurant, which is a one-stop shop for smoked meats in Breaux Bridge Louisiana, where he enjoys a sampling of their legendary 'cue prepared in their 40-year-old wood-fired smoker.

Premiering Tuesday, June 20th at 9pmET/6pmPT "Out of This World BBQ" Roger Mooking meets a pitmaster with a PhD in Louisiana who is preserving the time-honored tradition of cooking whole hogs Carolina-style. He and Roger break out the heavy machinery to dig a pit, build a raging fire in a towering burn barrel and cook a pig low and slow.

Premiering Tuesday, June 27th at 9pmET/6pmPT "Fueling the Fires in Texas" Roger Mooking's quest for lip-smacking smoked meat leads him back to the Lone Star State. In Houston, Texas, Rogers meets an award-winning pitmaster whose specialty is Central Texas barbecue, but he likes to think outside the firebox and cooks up special cuts of meat. Then, Roger meets up with a chef in Austin, Texas with a one-of-a-kind rig. They prepare whole chickens with a green peppercorn rub and hang them to slowly spin over coals. To complete the meal, they stuff whole squash with a medley of hearty vegetables and farro.

Plus, many more new episodes this summer of Man Fire Food.

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COOKING CHANNEL (www.cookingchanneltv.com) is an entertainment brand dedicated to today's passionate food lover. For food people, by food people, Cooking Channel is the answer to a growing hunger for more content devoted to food and cooking in every dimension from global cuisines to international travel, history and unconventional how-tos. Cooking Channel is part of the media portfolio of Scripps Networks Interactive (NASDAQ: SNI), which also includes Food Network (www.foodnetwork.com), HGTV (www.hgtv.com), DIY Network (www.diynetwork.com), Travel Channel (www.travelchannel.com), and Great American Country (www.gactv.com).