Small screen servings

Little wonder then,that Star Plus,the channel which is launching the show is so optimistic about its chances. “We’ve come to realise that food shows attract not just women and those who traditionally cook the meals in a household,but everyone else,” says Uday Shankar,CEO Star India. MasterChef also marks the debut of an Indian food show on prime-time on a general entertainment channel. Even Khana Khazana,Zee TV’s popular and long-running cooking show,has not managed to find that time slot.

The competitive MasterChef India is only the latest format in television food shows in India,whose history goes all the way back to recipe shows where prim ladies would show the viewers—primarily women—how to cook a diverse range of dishes. Since those days,both the shows and the viewers have evolved in a more sophisticated way.

The shows themselves seem to have gone from being simple cooking shows —where well-known chefs like Tarla Dalal and Sanjeev Kapoor came to replace the anonymous female cooks—to more leisure-based food shows,like Kunal Vijaykar’s The Foodie and sommelier Magandeep Singh’s Around the World in 85 Plates,where the focus is less on learning or teaching a recipe and more of the whole experience of food. With MasterChef,it’s a whole new ball game as food becomes the focus of competition. As Shankar says,“It’s not a cookery show. What we’re actually doing is demonstrating that through great food comes great drama.”

The evolution of food-shows is strongly linked to the evolution of the audience. Vijaykar points out,“The audience is more well-travelled now and is exposed to different kinds of food. They also eat out more and it has expanded their horizons.” Vijaykar’s The Foodie has seen the host travel to different corners of India to explore not just food,but also the culture around food. He notes,“The point is not simply to teach people how to cook,but to immerse them in the experience. I myself don’t cook,I just eat and enjoy myself. It’s this enjoyment,this pleasure that I take in food,that connects with the viewers.”

Also relevant to the developing tastes of the audience is the advent of channels like Discovery Travel and Living,now called TLC,which placed a special emphasis on food-based shows. “People have watched Jamie Oliver and Anthony Bourdain have a great experience with not just cooking,but also eating. They too now want to do the same,” says Vijaykar.

Perhaps the most important way in which the audience has changed is that it no longer comprises just women. Kapoor,whose show has been running for the past 17 years,says,“Over these years,I’ve seen than it’s not just women who write in or talk to me about the food on the show. It’s also men and even youngsters who show such an interest in cooking and of course,eating.”