We wrote a book about ‘food discourse,’ the language of food on cooking shows on Food Network, one of America’s most influential all-food, all-day television channels.
Food Discourse of Celebrity Chefs of Food Network is published by Palgrave Macmillan and released December 2019. The book focuses on four types of language: recipe telling, storytelling, evaluations, and humor, which illustrate how celebrity chefs instruct, entertain, and inspire viewers to cook at home. Watching cooking shows is an entry into other people’s stories and becomes part of your own story, whether as the next meal or not.
Food Discourse examines a variety of cooking show genres as a way to understand how food is being talked about, by whom, and in what ways. Shows such as Pioneer Woman and Barefoot Contessa are how-to cooking shows with a single celebrity chef in a domestic kitchen. Chopped is a competition cooking show that has four chefs compete in a three-round contest using ingredients from a mystery basket. Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-ins & Dives is a travel show that features family-owned eateries around the country. Four hosts on the talk-food show The Kitchen discuss the latest food news, feature guests, and cook everyday dishes. Reality TV merges with cooking and competition on Next Food Network Star, an annual show featuring celebrity chefs in training. By examining these different types of cooking shows, Food Discourse shows how food is made, eaten, shared, and evaluated.
While cooking shows are of everyday activities, their performative nature makes them engaging. Viewers intuitively know that the show is a performance. The waffle maker is already hot, the oven light is on, and ingredients appear on the counter. Hosts signal transitions to manage the show’s narrative while also creating the illusion of an interpersonal relationship with viewers.
For example, in a how-to cooking show, host Bobby Flay on Brunch @ Bobby’s makes strawberry waffles. With a friendly smile and engaging dialogue, he keeps viewers tuned in. Before a commercial break, he says,
“Alright, don’t touch the waffle iron. Let it cook away. When we come back, we’re gonna make a really nice lemon curd cream to go with the strawberries. And an open face omelet, some cream cheese flavored with some fresh dill, and some smoked salmon.”
The overview of the dishes whets viewers’ appetite and sends meaning on what consists of brunch and a ‘really nice’ dish. Waffles topped with strawberries and lemon curd and omelets made with fresh herbs and smoked salmon make for a bountiful and flavorful brunch.
Viewers feel like they are in the kitchen with the host. Bobby’s direct gaze and interchanging use of second person (“you”) and third-person collective (“we”) pronouns add a sense of intimacy. Further, the building of co-presence consists of references to immediate context (“now,” “we’re making some strawberry waffles today”) and physical surroundings (here; when we come back; don’t go anywhere), drawing viewers closer into the host’s narrative and into the kitchen.
In this example and others, Food Discourse helps us to understand why talking about food has become both more public and personal. Hosts share their cooking knowledge that is made personal through video framing and language choices. More food media than ever before invites dialogue on food. A waffle is never just a waffle; a recipe is never just a recipe. Rather, the recipe, story, or whatever is produced reflects those individuals, embodying their identities, concerns, and values.
We hope you enjoy our book! Thank you!