MTV serves up 'House of Food'

The one key ingredient to cooking shows these days? Not kale — drama.

Top Chef, Iron Chef, Master Chef, Hell's Kitchen, Chopped, The Taste – they all feature pressure-cooker situations, a race against the clock to come up with that just-right, delectable dish to win over judges.

And despite the many that already exist, viewers are hungry for more.

The Today show this week expanded its cooking segments to a full hour, streaming live online as part of a special Spring Cookalong series. The Food Network kicks off a new competition series April 13, searching for America's Best Cook. And now even MTV is crowding into the kitchen.

The network has already mastered the art of drama-filled reality series The Real World, putting people in a house and watching them combust. But now MTV is serving up its first foray into the cooking arena with House of Food, premiering Monday at 10 p.m.ET/PT.

A group of aspiring twentysomething chefs with no real experience move in together and go through a boot-camp type of culinary-school experience.

"Our audience grew up on the Food Network," says Susanne Daniels, president of MTV programming. "We know they're obsessed with food, with good restaurants, with cooking, with chefs. It's so funny: My teenage son was on a flight to Santa Fe and he came home and said, 'Mario Batali was on my flight! I didn't know he even knew Mario Batali."

She says House of Food "feels relevant to our audience – millennials who are into the food movement." While "there's definitely drama," she says the show is more about "passionate kids who are aspiring chefs."

Translation: Backstabbing in the house, and yelling in the kitchen.

The competitors get some intense training from three Los Angeles-area chef teachers and judges, Casey Lane, Brendan Collins and Brooke Williamson. And they do not mince words.

At one point, when one of the young cooks speaks up, Lane says, "You're talking?!"

Collins says the judges are simply trying to mirror real life. "We wanted to make sure from the very get-go they knew that we were here for business. We're not here to mess about and act like children. I have had brutal chefs in my time. A lot of people don't know what the industry is about – the long hours, the hard work, the level of stress."

And he insists his harsh words were not for the cameras. "None of the drama was manufactured when it came to the chefs."

Celeb chef Alex Guarnaschelli, who won Iron Chef America in 2012, will mentor a team on America's Best Cook, and promises tense moments.

There's a "sporting gladiator" feel to it, she says, as 16 cooks compete for $50,000 and the title. They're divided geographically into four teams, mentored by Guarnaschelli, Cat Cora, Tyler Florence, and Michael Symon. "There's a lot of pride involved," she says, adding, "There's a lot of smack talking."