PRAKRITI ROY looks into what makes food shows such a rage in India
The phenomenon of cooking shows on TV has been around in western countries for quite a few years now. However, it is only recently that these shows are gaining popularity in India as well.
This popularity is not limited to merely watching someone like Sanjeev Kapoor cooking and then learning the recipe and trying it out on your own. Rather, a much more involved format of cooking shows have started which hold the audience’s attention for an entire season. And not only do they watch it, they also pick favourites.
One may wonder why an international show like MasterChef Australia/Canada/Asia on Star World or Top Chef on AXN has such high viewership in India, which does not have much to do with the kind of food cooked by these home cooks (in MasterChef) or professional cooks (in Top Chef).
But Gail Simmons, a celebrity cookbook author and judge on Top Chef, has an answer for you:
These kinds of shows become so successful because food is something that is universal and so is competition. Almost like sports! Everyone can relate to it even if they are not great cooks because of the competitive format of these shows.
Simmons also says even within these kinds of shows, there is a huge difference between the show which has home cooks and those which have professional chefs. And even then, the quality improves each season. “It’s a totally different ballgame as their skill sets are different. Home cooks are not very well-acquainted with professional equipment, and a professional chef is all about consistency and volume,” she says.
She adds that even within Top Chef, with which she has been since the first season, they have changed certain things to improve the quality of the show and the talent, which has only gotten better over the years. Although these shows are meant to cater to the national audience of a particular country, their immense popularity has inspired a lot of spin-offs, a case in point being MasterChef India, which went beyond the original format to suit Indian audiences by going totally vegetarian one season.
A factor that has contributed a great deal to this phenomenon is the changing food scene world over, greater acceptance of other cuisines in India and the acceptance of Indian cuisine in other countries, what one might call a global approach to food.
Simmons tells you that while her show is made keeping a North American audience in mind, the sheer size of the Indian population there is something that cannot be ignored. Apart from the intrigue that people have for Indian food, they also have a bit of fear to try out new things. “We have a huge Indian population here and lots of great Indian food. People are slowly starting to realise that even Indian cuisine has a lot of variety from various regions like Madras, Delhi, Goa. Experiments with modern Indian food are also happening,” she says.
The article also got published in The Pioneer Newspaper – http://www.dailypioneer.com/show-time/food-for-thought.html
Photo by pocketwiley 
