Television

Do you long for your clients to be on television? Is that a measure of success that translates into increased business and opportunities? Or does it just mean that they get asked for more selfies while they are out and about…

Food on television is an interesting prospect and there still seem to be a few gaps in the programming.

There’s been much sighing and grumbling this week about Gordon Ramsay doing “yet another” show in which he berates chefs and shouts about their cooking. Is that out of step with the times and with an industry trying to rebuild?

There’s Stanley Tucci looking suave and living the dream around Italy but, as some have pointed out, are we really learning anything about Italian food? And there’s the enduring ‘chop-and-chat’ format which keeps the weekend shows going, in which the recipes are whizzed through at breakneck speed.

I admire Great British Menu because it shows how real restaurant chefs work; there should be a gap between this and GBBO/Masterchef but the programmers seem hell-bent on making home cooks into sous-vide and isomalt experts.

The PR for Tilda rice sent me a release at the end of last week about a survey which reveals that a quarter of Brits wish they spent less time in the kitchen… so they’re not getting inspired to actually cook by what they watch. If you have a food client who doesn’t do Reels and YouTube videos perhaps it’s time to start them off.

I’m working on the first steps of an online skills programme for home cooks with The Telegraph and making a list of the food professionals with the right mix of communication skills and expert know-how. I think that’s potentially more of an opportunity than a photo-shoot.