On a recent rainy afternoon in Lockdown, I found myself looking to watch the early news at 4pm but instead discovered not one but two cooking shows on air at the same time on different channels.

Our Aussie obsession with cooking shows is seemingly growing by the day!

On Channel Ten I found Good Chef, Bad Chef, an interesting twist on meat loving dishes and vegetarian fare.

Meanwhile the ABC was broadcasting The Cook & The Chef, one of my all time favourites. Maggie Beer is an absolute inspiration. She appears so enamoured with her fresh, whole foods much of which is locally produced. Her passion for creating home style cooking that’s down to earth, wholesome yet rich looks as amazing as I’m sure it tastes. She is truely captivating. Not the least of which is because she is a self taught cook and restauranteur. The show is counter balanced by Chef Simon Bryant who creates equally amazing dishes with a more profession edge. The respect they have for each is very endearing.

Conveying the taste, texture and smell of food on television is quite a feat.

When we start to feel hungry our stomach and mouth begin producing acid, enzymes and saliva in preparation for eating a meal. From a television perspective, showing all the elements that go into making a dish, lights up the pleasure centre of the brain and increases the excitement of seeing the the final dish. Not to mention motivating the audience to replicate the dish in their own kitchen. Desperate to get a taste of what they have just seen.

Perfect lighting and camera work shows off the Piece De Resistance and the meal is devoured by the cast as a mouth watering treat.

The Masterchef juggenout is in a league of it’s own with it’s high degree of difficulty and competition basis for creating astonishing dishes.

And there are many other cooking shows, both locally made for Australian TV and international shows which captivate audiences week in, week out.

My favourtie international shows are anything with chefs Nigella Lawson or Jamie Oliver. Their ability to simplify meals to make it accessable to all is what makes them so appealing. The audience thinks if that if it’s really that easy then maybe I can make it too.

But Nigella and Jamie have the Maggie factor too. They just love their ingredients. And loving ingredients and wanting to make meals to celebrate them, is what it’s all about.

I must confess that while I never follow a recipe, I am inspired by what foods are in season and what I can make with them. Often times I am just experimenting to see what’s possible based on little tips I’ve seen on TV!

My first introduction to cooking shows was working on a channel 9 program called What’s Cooking with French Chef Gabriel Gate. It was my job to type up the recipes, do the credit roll and provide any other text or graphics needed for the show. We would tape five shows for a whole week, starting at 6.30am and finishing at around 3pm and then I’d go and do the news or weather.

The beauty of seeing ingredients become dishes on camera is magical. But best of all was when the crew got to eat the leftovers and the ones prepared earlier!

I was living at time with flatmates and I seldomed cooked. I ate at the staff canteen and shift work made it difficult to have a regular food routine.

Years later I began to cook more and I believe that cooking shows have helped me to become more adventurous and confident in the kitchen. Food is essential and when you can make it more enjoyable, amazing things can happen!