How to make a TV cooking show
The Food Chain
BBC
4.7 • 545 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We find out the secret recipe that goes into some of the TV food shows watched by millions around the world.
From hiring snake wranglers in South Africa to fending off flies in Sweden, three top producers lift the lid on what it takes to serve up a feast of culinary entertainment.
Seasoned professionals Avril Beaven (Great British Menu), Irene Wong (Man Fire Food) and Jane Kennedy (Masterchef South Africa and My Kitchen Rules South Africa) explain the people skills needed to manage big personalities. And open up about the gruelling schedule that goes into creating televised cooking shows.
If you would like to get in touch with the programme, email thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk.
Presenter: Ruth Alexander
Producers: Sam Clack and Hannah Bewley
(Image: Jane Kennedy, Irene Wong and Avril Beaven)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, I've just nipped in before your BBC podcast starts to tell you all about |
| 0:03.3 | You're Dead to Me. We're the comedy podcast that takes history seriously, also from the BBC |
| 0:07.8 | and presented by me, Greg Jenner. I should have told you that at the beginning, sorry. |
| 0:11.9 | Anyway, like many other BBC podcasts, such as Desert Island Discs, Evil Genius, or In Our Time, |
| 0:17.2 | your Dead to Me is available first on BBC Sounds, a whole month earlier than anywhere |
| 0:22.2 | else in fact. So if you can't wait another day to hear the very latest in history and loads |
| 0:27.4 | of other good stuff, then listen first on BBC Sounds. Have you ever wondered what goes on |
| 0:32.8 | behind the scenes of your favourite TV cooking show? Suddenly, one of the cameramen's ghost kind of white, |
| 0:39.6 | hanging above the chef's head is what we call a boon slung, the equivalent of a green mamba snake. |
| 0:50.2 | On the food chain this week from the BBC World Service with me, Ruth Alexander, three |
| 0:55.5 | program makers are telling us what it really takes to get their shows to air. |
| 1:00.5 | When you have fish outside in the summertime, flies are going to come. They've invited to the |
| 1:07.3 | party. Whether you like it or not, they're there. So what do we do? We douse the entire |
| 1:13.1 | fish with deat. We'll hear about ice cream dramas, sickness on set, and the management of |
| 1:19.5 | sizable egos. We always say it. No one's bigger than the show. And why it's all worth it in the end. |
| 1:26.2 | That sparks, that thing that happens when human being touches their innermost vulnerable dream potential space. |
| 1:35.1 | When that happens, it's magic. It's absolute magic. |
| 1:38.1 | Agreeing to give up their secrets of success today are Jane Kennedy, a director and executive producer in South Africa, who's worked |
| 1:45.4 | on a wide range of shows, including Master Chef South Africa. |
| 1:49.1 | Avril Bevan, the series producer of the Great British Menu on the BBC in the UK, and Irene |
| 1:54.2 | Wong from New York City, who's produced a variety of travel and cookery shows over her 25-year-plus |
| 2:00.0 | career. I began by asking Irene what a typical |
... |
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