Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English, I’m Neil.
And I’m Rob.
And in this programme we’re discussing food.
Food, glorious food! There’s only one thing better than talking about food and that’s eating it.
Well, I know you are a bit of a gastronome – someone who enjoys and knows alot about high-quality food. But today we’re talkingabout photographing food, not eating it.
That is a shame because I am on a see-food diet. If I see food, I have toeat it. Get it?!
Yes, Rob. Very very funny. But in the social media-addicted world, justseeing food not eating it is big business as I will explain shortly. But shallwe feast on a question first, Rob?
Yep, if it tastes good!
It does. So, do you know the name for the person who’s usuallysecond in charge in a restaurant kitchen after the head chef and has lots ofresponsibility for running it? Is it the… a) Pastry chef
b) Commis chef or
c) Sous chef?
Hmm, well, I’m not a chef expert but I』ll say c) a Souschef – it sounds important!
Well, I』ll give the answer later in the programme. Now let me explain moreabout food and photos. These days, how well a dish –that’s a noun for food prepared for eating – is photographed can matter more than how it actually tastes.
And I suppose social media platforms are the best way for sharing foodphotos on, aren’t they? And I have been guilty of taking a picture of my food on mysmartphone – but only when eating some amazing food at a posh restaurant.
Which isn’t very often I suppose! But by sharing images across social media,people see them and think the food looks delicious, I must go to thatrestaurant and eat it!
You could argue it’s about style over substance, meaning the look ofsomething is better that the content or product.
Maybe, Rob, although I’m sure sometimes the food tastes just as good as itlooks. Anyway, the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours, has been looking intothis. They spoke to several influential Instagrammers and bloggers. Influential』 means having the power to make people change what they think. Here’s one of them – Rebecca Milford, who edits awebsite called Bar Chick. What does she think about this new trend?
It sounds very cliche that a picture speaks a thousand words but it reallydoes. and I』ve got friends now that instead of doing what you used to do andgoing on to the website of a restaurant to see what they were serving,then you』d go onto their Instagram account and check out their images, andchoose what you want to eat literally based on what you’re seeing. So it has to be presentable I suppose.
Rebecca used a well-known and well-used phrase there – one that is usedso much it has become boring – what we call a cliche. The phrase is 』apicture speaks a thousand words』.
Yes, and even if it is a cliche, it is so true. You describe a fantasticmeal in a long blog but you can quickly see how it looks from a picture andthen create an idea in your mind of how it tastes. So when you’re promotingfood, a photo is everything.
And that’s why some restaurants pay PR companies, lots of money to takestylish photos that can be shared on social media. It’slike a fashion photoshoot for food.
Yes and Rebecca said the food has to be presentable – that’s looking good enough for people to see. Because people are makingchoices on what they see. I』ve also heard that somechefs and restaurateurs have adjusted their menus to produce meals that lookgood on a smartphone camera. A restaurateur, by the way, is the name of aperson who owns and manages a restaurant.
Now, while there is a risk that good-looking food on social media accounts,such as Instagram, might not match how it tastes, there is a theory your brainmight trick you in to thinking it does tastes good. The You and Yours programmealso heard from Professor Charles Spence, an Experimental Psychologist fromOxford University, about how this happens…
We see the food first, or the drink in the glass, and our brain’s already imaginingwhat it’s going to taste like. And the more beautifullyit’s presented, the more artistically, that sets betterexpectations and they kind of carry over and anchor the tasting experience.
Right, so a great photo of food can possibly make us think it tastes bettertoo. We create an idea in our head of how it will taste which influences ourexpectations when we actually eat the food.
And 』expectation』 means the feeling thatsomething good is going to happen.
Right Rob, I’m sure you’re expecting the answer to thequestion I set you earlier. I asked, if you knew the name for the person who’s usually second in charge in a restaurant kitchen after the headchef and has lots of responsibility for running it? Is it the… a) Pastry chef b) Commis chef or c) Sous chef? What did you say, Rob?
Well, I said c) a Sous chef. Am I right?
You are, Rob! Give that man a job, here, maybe in the BBC canteen!
Come on Neil, I think I could do better than that! But before I do, let’s remindourselves of some of the vocabulary we』ve discussedtoday. Starting with 』gastronome』 – that’s someone who enjoys and knows a lotabout high-quality food – someone like me!
Yeah, Maybe, Rob. We also discussed the word 』influential』, meaning having the power to make people change what they think.
We also mentioned 』cliche』 – a well-known phrasethat is so over-used, it has become boring. Like for example 』a picture speaks a thousand words.』 Younever use cliches, do you, Neil?
Absolutely never. Let’s move on to 』presentable』– that describes something that looks good, is smart and isgood enough for people to see. A bit like me in my smart new jumper. Do youlike it?
Very nice! Well, a presenter has to be presentable, Neil! Our next word was』expectation』, a word that describes the feeling that something good is going tohappen. I have an expectation that people will love this programme!
Well, let’s hope so!
Yes, and that brings us to the end of this programme. Don’t forget tocheck out our social media platforms. See you soon, byebye.
Goodbye!