The Power of The Cooking Video

 People around th eworld have been transfixed by cooking videos for the last sixty some odd years. Now a new generation of home chefs are not only warching but creating their own series thanks to You Tube and especially TikTok. Are they as popular as their predescessors? Absolutely!

Regular contributor Priya Krisna and Tiktok contributor Umi Saim wrote this interesting guide in today's New Yorkm TImes wednesday Food section. There have always been some form of cooking show, first starting in the early 1950's/ These were usually relegated to local news shows that occassioanlly showed a ten or fifteen minute cooking or baking how to. Julia Child suhered inthe first of cooking shows with her "PBS "French Cehf " series. There was also JOyce Chen. Most cooking programs were relagated to  public broadcasting howeve that all dramtically changed in the Nineties. The Food Channel was born and with  ti a whole new era of celebruty chef. This was the era that birthed Emeril Lagasse along with Good Eats  and a host of other fascinating shows.A decade later You Tube was born in 2005.It was a platform for all sorts of chefs , from Paula Deene to home chefs.It's still popular with people drooling over the pastas and other home cooked recipes of The Nonnas.

Yet it was YOuTube first created in 2015 and then arriving a year later in 2016 to the States. The videos were extrememly cheap to make. All you need is lighting and a camera. The pandemic three years ago accelerated this as people stuck at home discovered the joys of home cooking and baking. It was also a boon to home chefs eager to share favorite and family recipes.Unlike other cooking demos fo decades and years past TikTok allows viewers to stitch and duet, adding their input to the original video. There are three different ways to cook on Tiktok if you;re thinking of brining your brand and style to the platform. There's the turbocharged MC like Hetal Vasavada. Their's is an in your face with food video.It's composed mostly of quick shots. Then there is the gentle storyteller Althea Brown. She seems to have the  most traditional video, brining stories to the screem much like JUlia Child or Graham Kerr.If you want wild then go to for the mad scientist approach. There's usually a twist to a traditional recipe that a surprise.

Will TikTOk replace the traditional cookign show? Not really. There will always be home chefs who want a good half hour show to enjoy. Like any platform. Tik Tok enhance the medium. but doesn;t overpower it.