Yes, Wil! Yes! I couldn’t help but nod along in agreement as I read this.
Social media has changed our consumption of food and changed our expectations surrounding cooking: from an in-depth craft to just an enticing yet flavorless bite. (In many ways, social media’s treatment of food mirrors the desire meal kits and delivery services aim to satisfy for so many…) With the short-form format of these “cooking” videos, no one bothers to savor the technical details or the “why”. Food has become just a prop, in many ways.
I truly feel that only long-form food content, like cooking shows or books, really savors the whole experience and process of cooking, honors it. And only someone immersed in that world/process (like a chef) can truly understand it from start to finish. (That’s not to say the home cook can’t learn a thing or too, but they have knowledge gaps a chef doesn’t.)
And when you task a short-form creator to create long-form content (like a book), those gaps in knowledge show. When food content creators who don’t have formal culinary training or bother to become truly self taught and proficient get book deals, they don’t understand the depths of the world and knowledge that they’re being tasked to put into words.
This trend in publishers jumping to offer book deals to content creators/just anyone with a built-in audience is disheartening. And it’s sad to know that there are some really talented writers and/or people with a deep knowledge of a certain craft or topic who will likely forever be overlooked by publishers simply because they aren’t seen as valuable, in the sense that they don’t already have an audience. Social media has enticed publishers to just follow the numbers. It seems they don’t want the challenge of sifting through all the writers out there and then marketing a book from scratch. Instead, they’d rather find an internet celebrity with a built in audience and coax them into writing a book to then be able to call them an author. Is that type of authorship well earned? Does anyone really benefit from reading what they write? Maybe some, but in large part I think it just creates more dampening, soundless noise. It’s bad enough the internet is so full of noise…now bookshelves may become a reflection of that reality.
All my rambling to say, this piece hits home, was validating to read, and the ideas are applicable beyond the food space. Cheers!
1) I like that you brought it full circle with the potatoes in the end. 2) I have zero patience for the "ugly" outrage farms that populate social media. 3) The "bad" aren't "quite" as irritating, possibly because they mask their cynicism and disrespect for food slightly better. 3) Everyone seems to be in a hurry to be famous without putting in the time and effort and, yes, publishers are just as much to blame. I was going to say "Don't get me started, Wil" but I'm all riled up now and that's not necessarily a bad thing. This was a thoughtful piece, I enjoyed reading it (sometimes there is a strange comfort in indignance), and now I should really go start thinking about what monstrosity I'm going to create for my next Tik Tok shocker. Cheers, MCP
Sorry to be a comments hog, but I also wanted to sing the praises of long form recipes for experience-honed “simple” dishes. I found a recipe for salt & pepper tofu online a couple of days ago which explained in detail the rationale for timings, ingredients and process. It made the difference between a soggy mess and the beautifully crisp, flavourful nuggets I produced for lunch yesterday.
Cooking is an art, baking is a science. If you enjoy horror films produced by people who don’t know the difference between bread flour and pastry flour, check out the baking videos. Every time I see one my hair goes up in flames.
Marmite on a steak? Like, what the literally hell is going on here. People have lost their minds. This was a great read and I’m so happy someone is calling it out. The bad food along with the life story about how a Pad Thai changed someone’s life and you have to scroll endlessly to get to the recipe has always bothered me. You’re doing the Lords work my friend.
That For The Chefs page is gold. I live on that page!
I wanted to close my iPhone like an old clam shell phone when I read the line about the steak marinated in Nutella 😂
I loved this post. I was worried it was going to be a curmudgeonly rant about “kids these days” and their “little apps”, but I appreciated the nuance and thoughtfulness you brought to the discussion. Your points made me consider how much of a grey area social media cooking can be. I agree with the examples you provided of cooks with no training sharing recipes that skip important steps, and I feel lucky that I’ve been able to avoid that ilk. When it comes to connecting to culture and heritage, though, social media cooks can be a powerful bridge, especially for those of us who come from cultures that use the “dash a dis, and dash a dat” method of passing down recipes 😂 not many West Indian recipes are written down in cookbooks, and often what is published is a bland watered down mess that appeals to the Western palate, but would never be served in a West Indian home. I appreciate the West Indian social media cooks I’ve found on YouTube and TikTok because they’ve helped me find recipes from the islands that I love, but didn’t know how to cook. Maintaining a connection to my heritage is important to me because it’s so easy to lose it when you don’t live there. I love having their recipes in my recipe book right next to the ones my mother and grandmothers gave me because it helps me keep the connections.
It feels like a recent social media generated phenomenon but in reality this stuff has been going on for a long time. Jack Monroe is a classic example of someone utterly incapable of making a decent plate of food who was platformed in the papers for her poverty cooking and given a deal which has resulted in seven (yes, seven) books of inedible rubbish. Andy Lynes reviewed her last publication if you wanted to explore further. I’m resolutely only buying cookbooks that have been recommended by a trusted source, that come from a trusted author or that I’ve had the chance to give a thorough going over in my local bookshop! Still have way too many though …
Publishers definitely are enticed by what is hot. And obviously social produces many of these hot right now moments/people. Hopefully this fad will fade or evolve.
Btw, the confit potatoes were learnt by Shaun at St. john, before he put his minor tweaks and served them in the style that QCH are known for now. Some say the St. John version is a modified pomme paillasson, but I'd say it's clearly a large enough change to be it's own thing.
Loved this read this morning! Me - I love the long form- and the fast world of tiktok is not for me! This is because I am not a video creator- I am me with my own voice and a happy, confident self taught home cook. And loving that substack can be a creative platform for me to share my stories, love of food and personal transformation through food. More of this good common sense please. So very grounding! Bravo 🙌
You were quite generous with the “good” content creators. I‘d be very interested in a more detailed critique of their videos, just like with the cornflour thing. Or maybe just what techniques distinguish a professional cook from these content creators. Or do you think the short form makes it impossible to show recipes on that higher level?
Anyways, very nice and balanced article with great recommendations ☺️
Such an interesting read! Short-form content is so complex and at times, chasing the 'next viral thing' is tempting! I've fallen for it. However, this piece has encouraged me to keep going with my home culinary school. I like the idea of really earning accomplishments the old fashioned way and want to move away from instant gratification. Also, can you and Will maybe do a collab newsletter? :)
Interesting thanks. I love Rick Stein but always laugh about how everything he eats is the best thing he’s ever eaten! I agree, I wouldn’t buy a cookbook unless I’d seen and liked the chef’s style. As for people playing with processed food and calling it cooking….!
Thank you for writing this it has sparked so much in my brain this morning. At first, I thought, these weird 'uglies' are just being funny no? But then I read further and totally understand your point! Also I thought why do these things to food which is such valuable thing but that's a different story. It feels so complex as there is so much more to one thing that anyone realises and it seems endless. And it isn't just one person who has to take the blame like the plagiarizing lady and shame on the publishing house too!! Social media is just bonkers with what it does and lately I have been thinking of the more good side of it where it can be inspirational in ways to entice people to do good stuff. For me, I just love saving recipes and making them but I guess your newsletter has me thinking about it more deeply about origins, credit, time, experience and all and all...
I SWORE I wasn't subscribing to another newsletter but you got me! Newsletters are consuming me like I desperately want to consume those potatoes and some (A JUG) of Keith's wine but god forbid it has just gone 10am! That video with Keith and French Cook Lady is brilliant! Thanks for that!
ALSO... Some of these comments are so entertaining! I can't read them all as my cat is licking my elbow to get up from bed to feed her no doubt.
This is a great post I thoroughly enjoyed reading with a eye smile ever growing across my face and the screen scrolled! I’m so pleased and grateful you took the plunge!
PSA: At least 20% of my motivation for writing this was so I could post that video of British food hero Keith Floyd.
Yes, Wil! Yes! I couldn’t help but nod along in agreement as I read this.
Social media has changed our consumption of food and changed our expectations surrounding cooking: from an in-depth craft to just an enticing yet flavorless bite. (In many ways, social media’s treatment of food mirrors the desire meal kits and delivery services aim to satisfy for so many…) With the short-form format of these “cooking” videos, no one bothers to savor the technical details or the “why”. Food has become just a prop, in many ways.
I truly feel that only long-form food content, like cooking shows or books, really savors the whole experience and process of cooking, honors it. And only someone immersed in that world/process (like a chef) can truly understand it from start to finish. (That’s not to say the home cook can’t learn a thing or too, but they have knowledge gaps a chef doesn’t.)
And when you task a short-form creator to create long-form content (like a book), those gaps in knowledge show. When food content creators who don’t have formal culinary training or bother to become truly self taught and proficient get book deals, they don’t understand the depths of the world and knowledge that they’re being tasked to put into words.
This trend in publishers jumping to offer book deals to content creators/just anyone with a built-in audience is disheartening. And it’s sad to know that there are some really talented writers and/or people with a deep knowledge of a certain craft or topic who will likely forever be overlooked by publishers simply because they aren’t seen as valuable, in the sense that they don’t already have an audience. Social media has enticed publishers to just follow the numbers. It seems they don’t want the challenge of sifting through all the writers out there and then marketing a book from scratch. Instead, they’d rather find an internet celebrity with a built in audience and coax them into writing a book to then be able to call them an author. Is that type of authorship well earned? Does anyone really benefit from reading what they write? Maybe some, but in large part I think it just creates more dampening, soundless noise. It’s bad enough the internet is so full of noise…now bookshelves may become a reflection of that reality.
All my rambling to say, this piece hits home, was validating to read, and the ideas are applicable beyond the food space. Cheers!
1) I like that you brought it full circle with the potatoes in the end. 2) I have zero patience for the "ugly" outrage farms that populate social media. 3) The "bad" aren't "quite" as irritating, possibly because they mask their cynicism and disrespect for food slightly better. 3) Everyone seems to be in a hurry to be famous without putting in the time and effort and, yes, publishers are just as much to blame. I was going to say "Don't get me started, Wil" but I'm all riled up now and that's not necessarily a bad thing. This was a thoughtful piece, I enjoyed reading it (sometimes there is a strange comfort in indignance), and now I should really go start thinking about what monstrosity I'm going to create for my next Tik Tok shocker. Cheers, MCP
Sorry to be a comments hog, but I also wanted to sing the praises of long form recipes for experience-honed “simple” dishes. I found a recipe for salt & pepper tofu online a couple of days ago which explained in detail the rationale for timings, ingredients and process. It made the difference between a soggy mess and the beautifully crisp, flavourful nuggets I produced for lunch yesterday.
Cooking is an art, baking is a science. If you enjoy horror films produced by people who don’t know the difference between bread flour and pastry flour, check out the baking videos. Every time I see one my hair goes up in flames.
Marmite on a steak? Like, what the literally hell is going on here. People have lost their minds. This was a great read and I’m so happy someone is calling it out. The bad food along with the life story about how a Pad Thai changed someone’s life and you have to scroll endlessly to get to the recipe has always bothered me. You’re doing the Lords work my friend.
That For The Chefs page is gold. I live on that page!
I wanted to close my iPhone like an old clam shell phone when I read the line about the steak marinated in Nutella 😂
I loved this post. I was worried it was going to be a curmudgeonly rant about “kids these days” and their “little apps”, but I appreciated the nuance and thoughtfulness you brought to the discussion. Your points made me consider how much of a grey area social media cooking can be. I agree with the examples you provided of cooks with no training sharing recipes that skip important steps, and I feel lucky that I’ve been able to avoid that ilk. When it comes to connecting to culture and heritage, though, social media cooks can be a powerful bridge, especially for those of us who come from cultures that use the “dash a dis, and dash a dat” method of passing down recipes 😂 not many West Indian recipes are written down in cookbooks, and often what is published is a bland watered down mess that appeals to the Western palate, but would never be served in a West Indian home. I appreciate the West Indian social media cooks I’ve found on YouTube and TikTok because they’ve helped me find recipes from the islands that I love, but didn’t know how to cook. Maintaining a connection to my heritage is important to me because it’s so easy to lose it when you don’t live there. I love having their recipes in my recipe book right next to the ones my mother and grandmothers gave me because it helps me keep the connections.
It feels like a recent social media generated phenomenon but in reality this stuff has been going on for a long time. Jack Monroe is a classic example of someone utterly incapable of making a decent plate of food who was platformed in the papers for her poverty cooking and given a deal which has resulted in seven (yes, seven) books of inedible rubbish. Andy Lynes reviewed her last publication if you wanted to explore further. I’m resolutely only buying cookbooks that have been recommended by a trusted source, that come from a trusted author or that I’ve had the chance to give a thorough going over in my local bookshop! Still have way too many though …
Publishers definitely are enticed by what is hot. And obviously social produces many of these hot right now moments/people. Hopefully this fad will fade or evolve.
Btw, the confit potatoes were learnt by Shaun at St. john, before he put his minor tweaks and served them in the style that QCH are known for now. Some say the St. John version is a modified pomme paillasson, but I'd say it's clearly a large enough change to be it's own thing.
Loved this read this morning! Me - I love the long form- and the fast world of tiktok is not for me! This is because I am not a video creator- I am me with my own voice and a happy, confident self taught home cook. And loving that substack can be a creative platform for me to share my stories, love of food and personal transformation through food. More of this good common sense please. So very grounding! Bravo 🙌
You were quite generous with the “good” content creators. I‘d be very interested in a more detailed critique of their videos, just like with the cornflour thing. Or maybe just what techniques distinguish a professional cook from these content creators. Or do you think the short form makes it impossible to show recipes on that higher level?
Anyways, very nice and balanced article with great recommendations ☺️
Such an interesting read! Short-form content is so complex and at times, chasing the 'next viral thing' is tempting! I've fallen for it. However, this piece has encouraged me to keep going with my home culinary school. I like the idea of really earning accomplishments the old fashioned way and want to move away from instant gratification. Also, can you and Will maybe do a collab newsletter? :)
Good piece!
Interesting thanks. I love Rick Stein but always laugh about how everything he eats is the best thing he’s ever eaten! I agree, I wouldn’t buy a cookbook unless I’d seen and liked the chef’s style. As for people playing with processed food and calling it cooking….!
Thank you for writing this it has sparked so much in my brain this morning. At first, I thought, these weird 'uglies' are just being funny no? But then I read further and totally understand your point! Also I thought why do these things to food which is such valuable thing but that's a different story. It feels so complex as there is so much more to one thing that anyone realises and it seems endless. And it isn't just one person who has to take the blame like the plagiarizing lady and shame on the publishing house too!! Social media is just bonkers with what it does and lately I have been thinking of the more good side of it where it can be inspirational in ways to entice people to do good stuff. For me, I just love saving recipes and making them but I guess your newsletter has me thinking about it more deeply about origins, credit, time, experience and all and all...
I SWORE I wasn't subscribing to another newsletter but you got me! Newsletters are consuming me like I desperately want to consume those potatoes and some (A JUG) of Keith's wine but god forbid it has just gone 10am! That video with Keith and French Cook Lady is brilliant! Thanks for that!
ALSO... Some of these comments are so entertaining! I can't read them all as my cat is licking my elbow to get up from bed to feed her no doubt.
This is a great post I thoroughly enjoyed reading with a eye smile ever growing across my face and the screen scrolled! I’m so pleased and grateful you took the plunge!