The food, the cooking and the chef : a comparative study of food representation in British, French and German mainstream cooking programmes

• Main Author: Simon, Daniela Patricia
• Published: Canterbury Christ Church University 2016
• Subjects: 791.45; PN1992 Television broadcasts
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709556

This thesis is a comparative study into contemporary mainstream cooking programmes on British, French and German television, which explores how food and cooking are represented. Since food is an expression of identity (Corti 2012; German 2011; Montanari 2006; Scholliers 2001) this study argues that food representation on television is influenced by national culture. Cooking programmes have become increasingly popular in many countries, and recent years have further seen the emergence of a variety of formats, the characteristics of which also influence how food and cooking are represented. This study applies a multi-method research approach which explores the influence of country of production and format on food representation. While a qualitative grounded theory analysis focuses on the key functions and characteristics of the food, the cooking and the chef, a quantitative analysis explores the food groups represented in the programmes to establish a sense of healthiness. The quantitative analysis has found that 'fruit and vegetables' and 'non-dairy protein' are the largest food groups in the majority of programmes across all countries of production and all formats. The qualitative analysis highlighted that country of production is a determining factor on how food and cooking functions are represented, as the three countries feature considerable differences in these areas. The data further revealed three kinds of chef, as well as a mixed chef scenario each using one of three instruction styles. The analysis showed that the format determines the type of chef presented as well as their instruction style. It further confirms that some programmes are highly instructional, whereas others focus more on celebrity and entertainment. This study thus contributes to our understanding of food representation in contemporary British, French and German cooking programmes and its cultural significance.