American Masters, this week and next, is serving up a quartet of shows that food-loving cooking enthusiasts will enjoy. One new program will be paired each Friday with one related rerun, and tonight the new production is James Beard: America’s First Foodie. That title may sound like a stretch, but in TV terms, it’s absolutely and incontrovertibly accurate: His first TV series about food and food preparation, NBC’s I Love to Eat, was a 15-minute show that was shown in 1946, as one of only 12 shows on the brand-new TV network’s weekly schedule. James Beard’s Beard on Bread book taught me how to bake when I was in college, and I still remember how well-written, and encouraging, it was. Watch his enthusiasm here as well: It’s the secret sauce slathered over everything he touches. Check local listings.