Mr. Batali is tossing in grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. He doesn’t measure. He asks Mr. Bittman, “Was that a quarter cup?” Mr. Bittman tells him it was more like a half cup. Mr. Batali says, “That’s why your books work and mine don’t, I guess.”  The series is enhanced by its unpretentiousness. When the wardrobe department called, Mr. Bittman must have been out wringing the neck of a chicken. His attire is mostly baseball caps, jeans and horizontally striped T-shirts — sometimes with long sleeves, sometimes short.  The script department also seems to have put in limited time.  In “Rice With Things” he’s seen in the harbor of Valencia, Spain, driving a speedboat — add that to his accomplishments — and quipping, rather appallingly, “But we’re not here for the fast boats — or even the fast women.”  Later in the show Mr. Danko says, “No doubt about it, Mark, your food always is cheesy.” Actually the scripted dialogue is the cheesiest part of the series. Unprompted moments, when Mr. Bittman is one on one with farmers or chefs or, best of all, Mr. Batali, are amiable and often delightful.  Mr. Bittman does a particularly workmanlike job in Program 2, “Pure Porcine Pleasures,” chatting with Fergus Henderson, the chef of St. John Restaurant in London. Mr. Henderson has Parkinson’s disease and is difficult to engage in conversation. I know. I’ve tried.  Mr. Bittman’s patience, aided by his obvious admiration for Mr. Henderson, prevails.  Thankfully, not a great deal of hard-core cooking goes on. That’s quite an achievement, inasmuch as the title of the series makes it sound as if it would be about nothing but preparing recipes. Not only are the cooking segments rudimentary, they’re not even particularly practical.  That paella expert in Spain will teach you how to control a fire made from the wood of orange trees. I doubt that’s of value unless you happen to live in central Florida.  The idea of the series, you eventually learn, is for the viewer to go to a Web site, thebestrecipesintheworld.com, for specifics on how to make the dishes. Then you can make authentic paella with rabbit and snails, should you be so inclined, or Mr. Bittman’s concoction of leftover rice, freshly grated zucchini, butter and two kinds of cheese. An unimpressed Mr. Danko says it tastes likes rice and cheese. He also points out that it’s fattening. Mr. Bittman doesn’t seem to mind.  “The Best Recipes in the World” is really a traveling celebrity chef show, a concept currently in vogue. (Episode 4, “Wide World of Wine,” opens with Mr. Batali lurking in a vineyard with a scarf hiding his face.) Much as in Mr. Bittman’s cooking columns, you’ll pick up random bits of interesting information; in Episode 1 he tells you that half the people in the world eat rice at least twice a day.  Unlike the wardrobe and script departments the people in charge of locales did well. The shows are scenic and evocative, and you’ll surely wish you were with Mr. Bittman, wherever he happens to be.  As a cook, he’s always been a kind of culinary handyman, absolutely reliable, incapable of letting you down. You suspect he’d be just as valuable as a traveling companion.  THE BEST RECIPES IN THE WORLD  With Mark Bittman of The New York Times  On some PBS stations (tonight at 9:30 on WLIW, Channel 21, New York; check local listings).  Produced and directed by Charles Pinsky. Supplied by Frappé Inc. and presented by American Public Television through the Exchange service.  Alan Richman is the author of “Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater” (Harper Perennial).  A version of this review appears in print on , on Page E6 of the New York edition with the headline: A Down-to-Earth Chef Who Wanders the Globe. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Mark Bittman is unremittingly understated, primarily as the Minimalist in the Dining section of The New York Times and now as the host of this 13-part public-television series.