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BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Food Chain

Factual: Food & Drink

Examining what it takes to put food on your plate

The Food Chain examines the business, science and cultural significance of food, and what it takes to put food on your plate.

How did TV cooking competitions get so big?

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The Food Chain: How did TV cooking competitions get so big?

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08/06/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - The Food Chain, How did TV cooking competitions get so big?

We delve into the global success of the cookery competition on television.

Television cookery competitions are big business – drawing audiences in their millions over multiple series. How did they become such a successful format?  

In this programme we go behind the scenes with competitors and judges. Ruth Alexander speaks to chef Simon Wood, who won the BBC’s 'Masterchef' in 2015 and today runs two restaurants of his own in the United Kingdom; New York based chef Marcus Samuelsson, who has both competed in and appeared as a judge in multiple different shows including 'Top Chef', 'Iron Chef' and 'Chopped'; and food writer Gail Simmons, judge on 'Top Chef' in the United States for all twenty seasons to date.  

Tasha Oren is Associate Professor and Director of the Film and Media Studies Programe at Tufts University in Massachusetts, United States. She describes how food television has evolved over decades.  

And Ruth speaks to World Service listeners Mutinkhe Kaunda in Zambia and Andrew Laverghetta in the US about what they look for in a TV cooking competition.  

Clips from 'Iron Chef Japan' used courtesy of Fuji Television Network, Inc.  

If you’d like to contact the programme you can email – thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk   

Presented by Ruth Alexander.  

Produced by Beatrice Pickup. 

(Image: a hand holding up a trophy. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

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