Cooking vicariously through 'Top Chef'

Walk down any hallway in a Columbia dorm on a Wednesday night, and you’re likely to see students crowded around a TV watching an episode of “Top Chef.”

Despite having under-stocked kitchens, tight food budgets, and cravings that err on the side of golden-fried rather than sous-vide , everyone is enthralled. Somewhat unexpectedly, “Top Chef”—and other food competition shows—have become popular with the college crowd. But what is it that has our fellow students hooked?

Most reality shows frequently take amateurs and put them in unfamiliar situations—whether it is in modeling, dating, or surviving. “Top Chef”—and other food competition shows—are a different sort of reality. “With cooking shows, you can replicate the experience, which is unlike ‘24’ or ‘Heroes’,” remarked Libish Frydman, a student at the school of General Studies.

“Cooking shows are like watching art being created; some of the best chefs on the planet creating amazing, complex, and delicious dishes. It is, in a way, like reading escapist literature or fashion magazines. It’s this image of perfection that I can’t hope to achieve with my cooking but that other people can, so I can enjoy their talents vicariously,” said Marley Weiner, BC ’10.

“It’s weird that I watch it because I obviously can’t discern between dishes for myself, whereas in singing competitions you can objectively judge for yourself. But it interests me because there is such a high level of skill that goes into it,” said Molly Gordon, CC ’12.

Scripted and unscripted programs alike are, as a whole, forms of escapism. Students do not watch “America’s Next Top Model” to break into the fashion world any more than they watch “Gossip Girl” because they want to go to high school on the Upper East Side. “Top Chef” and other cooking shows are no different.

Their appeal lies somewhere in between familiarity and fantasy. Cooking shows depict a real-life experience with which we are famliar—eating—in an entirely unrealistic context (one replete with competition, time limitations, and unlimited ingredients). Furthermore, cooking shows offer something new every week. Their basic premise is the same—taste and presentation of the food are both highly important in the competition—but the challenges are new and exciting. It provides a good break from the studious, sometimes monotonous lives of Columbia students.

Emily Rood-Matza, BC ’11, has a simple reason for watching culinary programs: “I like to look at the food. It makes me hungry.”

Peter Day, CC ’12, not only watches the shows for the beauty of the food, but also takes away something instructive in the process. “You sometimes get tips for how to make stuff in the dorm room.” While most students may not have the skill of cooking show contestants, watching the shows inevitably adds to a student’s culinary knowledge base.

With “Top Chef” on in the background, perhaps instead of ordering that perennial pizza, a student might be inspired to cook something.