Food shows are here to stay

Ever since less-than-one-minute food videos featured on pages like Tasty and Tastemade — on Facebook (FB) are creating a buzz on social media, food lovers seem hooked up to the social media portal, calling them “addictive” and “perfect fix to midnight cravings.” Recipes like Cookie butter cake, Meatball sub bake and Pizza bread boat are not only tempting to watch but are also easy-to-cook and quick to prepare.

But these videos cannot pose a competition to the food shows aired on TV, which will continue to retain their charm, say experts.

Chef Kunal Kapur, who hosts My Yellow Table on NDTV Good Times is now thinking of starting a YouTube channel, where he wants to post similar quirky and short food videos. However, he feels that these videos cannot challenge food shows.

“If we look at the bigger picture, TV and internet battle is much larger and TV is entirely being taken over by the internet. But food shows these days are getting clearer and are more concept centric. They carry the ‘old world charm’ which takes the viewers go back in simpler times,” he tells Metrolife.

What also works as an advantage for these FB videos is the minimal time-frame, where in a minute’s time, we learn something easy and simple, while scrolling down our newsfeeds.
Similarly, food shows are now focusing on having shorter recipes with prepared ingredients.

“Life has become hectic and everyone has less time, hence the type of recipes being shown on food shows are changing. Today, small and quick recipes are preferred,” says chef Rakesh Sethi, who is popular for hosting Tea Time on FoodFood.

He further adds that the food shows incur some modification and shortening of the cooking time, by preparing certain ingredients to reduce preparation time.

Seconds Arati Singh, saying that the “format of food shows have changed for the better”. “Viewers earlier were interested in knowing a recipe (preferably Indian dishes) and inter-regional cuisine but now they are equipped with more information on international cuisines, ingredients and cooking techniques and are open to experimentation. The new food shows are catering to all this,” says Singh who is the channel head of NDTV Good Times.

In the meantime, while the videos on FB are engaging enough to make people watch them without sound, it is the personality of the person who hosts food shows, which makes audience keen to watch them.

“Very often, food shows are not just about cooking, but are also a source of entertainment. Just like people watch dance shows but they don’t really want to dance, the same is with food shows where even the personality hosting the show will make people like them. And this is not the case with quirky videos on FB,” explains Kapur.

One of the other features that a food-lover ponders on the food shows and videos is the easy availability of ingredients. While the easy-to-make two to three ingredient dishes on FB are a hit, food shows try to feature recipes with both relatable and exotic ingredients.

“There are times when people want to learn about an alien ingredient, but will not necessarily want to try it. For instance, the Fugu fish from Japan is known to be the most poisonous fish. Even though I don’t want to eat this fish, but I want to see ki ye banta kaise hai,” illustrates Kapur.

So when the oozing out cheese and chocolates in three-ingredient dishes tempt people to cook them, viewers also enjoy watching alien ingredients and their innovative uses wherein a simple dish takes new twists and turns.

Singh also mentions that the “food revolution is just picking up” and with “food videos available digitally, the interest level among the consumers is increasing”.

“With more people now becoming aware of global culinary trends and opening up to different cuisines across the globe, we believe that food shows are here to stay for long. Growing number of niche food channels is a testimony to this fact,” she says.