Food is the new nirvana. Recent years have seen as many as 40 food shows on television.
For India’s popular lifestyle television channels, food shows seem to rule the roost. On every third show on these channels, food is the protagonist and the kitchen is an arena. What’s more — though they refuse to divulge names and numbers as yet — these channels are brainstorming over newer food formats for upcoming shows this year. This is worth acknowledging since between Discovery’s TLC, Discovery Health, Zee Cafe, NDTV Good Times, Star World and Fox History & Traveller, there are around 40 shows that have come up in the last five years.
You may tune in to Star World’s Masterchef Australia to witness exasperated chefs swear and cuss. Why? Well, their toffee hasn’t caramelised properly and their chicken is over-cooked. On TLC’s Nigella Feasts, an attractive Nigella Lawson looks directly into the camera and admits to the world, “I would even eat food off the floor,” as she licks the sugar off her peach melba. You may even catch highwaymen Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma exploring the different dhabas across the nation on NDTV Good Times’ Highway on my Plate, endorsing their belief that “a city is only as magnificent as its food”.
TLC plays with different formats — devoting a whole episode to trace the trajectory of beer or rice on A Matter of Taste with Vir Sanghvi, or exploring local flavours and unusual delicacies with adventurous eater Andrew Zimmerman on Bizarre Foods 4. In Man Vs. Food, host Adam Richman tests the “big food” of an American city before taking up an eating challenge at a local restaurant. Emmy winner Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations depicts the American chef, affably called Tony, being treated to culinary and cultural delights. Tony visits the famous catacombs of Paris, tries out some Absinthe and studies the local meat market; in Sicily, Tony is treated to tripe at the II Capo Market, after he samples a spleen sandwich with the governor of the island. And, of course, Tony attempts to find out where you can get the greatest cannoli.
Food shows have also tapped into the successful reality show format — the anxiety of the contestants (which is expressed in the form of censored curses), their attempts to sauté their dishes to perfection (the failure of which usually results in a tearful breakdown before the camera) and the awaited decision of the judge (usually a celebrity chef) adds to the entertainment quotient. The new season of Hell’s Kitchen premiered on September 20 on TLC, depicting a terrifying Gordon Ramsay putting aspiring restaurateurs though hell to weed out the “weaklings”.
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Dubbed by critics as “the queen of food porn”, TLC’s Lawson reinvents a day in the life of a home-maker for women across the globe in Nigella’s Kitchen. Dressed in her trademark colours (red, pink and blue mostly), she makes no secret about the fact that she loves eating and entertaining as she invites viewers into her spotless kitchen to cook a treat for one or a feast for an entire tribe. But don’t Lawson and Bourdain have a limited audience in India? No, claims Rahul Johri, senior vice-president and general manager, South Asia for Discovery. “These shows are very well-received by a universal audience. Nigella and Anthony are household names today.”
You will, however, not find the clichéd cookery show format anymore, “with a pretty girl standing next to a chef, doing nothing more than adding sugar to the dish,” believes NDTV Good Times programming vice-president Monica Narula.
For instance, on Italian Khana, restaurateur and author Ritu Dalmia visits Italy to rediscover the nuances of Italian food, be it the eggplant, wine or the universally-loved pizza. Swearing off meat for two months before the show was aired, chef Vicky Ratnani (he later became a full-time vegetarian to do justice to the show) makes vegetarian food more exciting on Vicky Goes Veg. “Indians needed to know that there’s more to vegetarian food than aloo and paneer,” says Narula matter-of-factly. Referring to onion alternately as pyaaz and kaanda and to potato as aloo and batata, Ratnani appeals to his North Indian viewers as well as his Maharashtrian roots.
Having devoted his life and career to India’s “wealth of cuisine” as he puts it, Rocky Singh of Highway on my Plate is very emphatic about his obsession with food. “In India, food is a passion, not just a need. Food gets you right in the guts,” he claims. With a successful run of four years, the show recently kicked off its new season wherein the duo eats at a dhaba of an ardent fan’s choice. With a book out in stores (Highway on my Plate: The Indian Guide to Roadside Eating by Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma) and several fans writing to them, the show seems to be extremely popular.
Discovery Health’s The Truth About Food uses science to bust myths about food. On Fox History & Traveller’s Twist of Taste with Vineet Bhatia every Sunday night, the Michelin Star chef and his wife Rashima travel to 13 Indian cities including small towns like Amritsar, Jodhpur, Guwahati, Mcleodganj and Manali. Bhatia adds his signature touch to local flavours, transforming them into exotic sought-after dishes — Gajrela Malai Martini in Delhi, Tandoori Champaen in Amritsar and Uttapam Lasagne in Chennai.
Viewers who look to replicate these chefs’ dishes in their kitchen will be disappointed, since they will not find many of the key ingredients in the Indian markets. And this is true despite the growth of modern retail chains such as Big Bazaar and Reliance Fresh. “In comparison to foreign markets, our markets lack in fresh produce of fruits, vegetables and even some spices,” feels Sharad Dewan, director, food production at The Park, Kolkata. The poultry market, he believes, is “dismal”.
With the boom in the hotel industry, the chef has become a popular figure — not just confined to the kitchen but a connoisseur of food and culture. No wonder then that Lawson, Bhatia and their ilk have become the flavour of the season.