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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 Â鶹Éç’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/Â鶹Éç)

Available now

34 minutes

Last on

Thu 8 Jun 2023 22:32GMT

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  • Thu 8 Jun 2023 03:32GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 2023 10:32GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 2023 17:32GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 2023 21:32GMT
  • Thu 8 Jun 2023 22:32GMT

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