Power to the Foodcast
A brief history of food podcasts
Once considered niche, the food-themed podcast or “foodcast” has officially entered the mainstream, touching on all aspects of the food world — from food history programs and personal narratives about food to inspiring conversations on diversity in the field. But what exactly attracts listeners to “foodcasts” and how did such a visual topic become so tantalizing for the ear?
FROM RADIO TO TV AND BACK
The first food-themed radio programme, launched in Paris, France in 1923. The show, Cooking with Pomiane, aired on the TSF, the earliest version of wireless terrestrial radio, and was hosted by Édouard de Pomiane, a noted scientist and doctor-turned chef. Pomiane’s show explained the technical aspects of cooking and gave listeners recipes to follow at home. He later published dozens of cookbooks with simple recipes that were translated and read the world over. Pomiane’s American counterpart, The Betty Crocker Cooking School of the Air, hosted by a fictional Betty Crocker, launched around the same time to help America’s home chefs navigate their post-war kitchens.
These first food broadcasts gave people a sense that they, too, could be chefs by explaining the complexities of recipes to listeners in a way they could understand. The recipe-focused cooking format was so popular that it was used as a basis for food-themed television programming. Enter Julia Child’s eponymous cooking show and today’s dedicated food networks: The Food Network and The Cooking Channel, not to mention the international popularity of programmes such as Top Chef, Iron Chef and Master Chef which have all been adapted into dozens of languages.
Food television showed every onion being cut, every dough being punched, and of course, every mouthwatering meal brought to the table.
Food broadcasts in audio-form never stopped though. They were often broadcast as specials, or as food-themed episodes around the holidays. But every now and then radio documentaries about food culture and lifestyle programs would break into the mainstream.
Programs like The Kitchen Sisters’ Hidden Kitchens series (broadcast on NPR) gave listeners a peek inside the everyday cooking routines of average Americans. Hosted by Frances McDormand, the program served as kind of audio tour through America’s home cooking, bringing listeners a vision of American food from sea to shining sea.
Food shows became so popular that dedicated stations like The Heritage Radio Network launched, sharing hundreds of food-themed broadcasts since it’s founding in 2009.
Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s original Splendid Table (now led by award-winning food journalist Francis Lam) gave listeners more than just a cooking show, it gave them deep insight and knowledge into food culture. A typical episode can touch on a myriad of topics, ranging from different cooking methods to the complex relationship between food and mental health, and more. The show, now in its 24th year airing on Minnesota Public Radio, and its accompanying podcast, brought those interested in food from all over to the audio table. Television stars were often guests, bringing food tv back to audio once more: Julia Child was often a guest, and the late great Anthony Bourdain made an audio appearance as well.
When podcasts became more mainstream in 2015, it was only natural that telling stories about food in this medium should follow.
Just as the podcast boom was starting, Christopher Kimball’s public radio show and podcast Milkstreet Radio gave listeners a chance to enjoy food culture in a variety show format that mixes interviews with narrative storytelling. In launching his foodcast, the founder of America’s Test Kitchen went even deeper into subjects that television just couldn’t cover in a 22-minute programme.
“With TV, you have the visuals to keep people interested. But with audio, you have to keep giving listeners new and interesting things to tune into. There’s also so much more freedom: You can talk to anyone, anywhere in the world on any topic, and that gives you an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to content, ” said Kimball.
FOODCASTING TODAY
The latest additions to the foodcast world have everyone from food journalists, to famed chefs, and even home cooks taking on the food beat from all kinds of angles: From the upscale to the everyday, these shows give listeners a different vision of the food and restaurant world.
The 2019 James Beard Food Podcast award winner was Copper and Heat, a narrative podcast that explores the inner lives of female chefs, as reported by chef Katy Osuna. Inspired by other food podcasts like Dan Pashman’s The Sporkful and The Splendid Table, Katy and her co-producer Ricardo Osuna decided to give chefs a platform to talk about their experiences in the kitchen — from the good to the bad, and everything in between.
“We wanted to have conversations about food with the people making it. No one was talking about cooks so we felt like the show could give them a platform to talk. It’s actually the perfect medium to talk to cooks because that anonymity helps them feel comfortable which helps us bring people into the kitchen without having to show it,” said Katy Osuna.
And it’s not just famous chefs using the medium to tell stories. Foodcasts address important and often overlooked issues affecting the industry. Racist Sandwich, founded by Soleil Ho and Zahir Janmohamed, discusses diversity in the food world, allowing chefs and food entrepreneurs of all origins to share their stories.
“The food conversation is inherently a visual one, but what makes audio interesting is that it lets you have that conversation with no distractions, so you can get to what’s real. That’s my favorite thing honestly,” said Racist Sandwich producer Juan Diego Ramirez.
These foodcasts dare to take on difficult subjects and often tackle questions that those in the industry have difficulty addressing so earnestly in other mediums. Rather than glamourize the job with the perfect end result, the audio medium makes it real. By stripping the content to the essential, the food podcast breaks down the barriers between the perfect final product that goes up on Instagram, and the time spent thinking about and preparing it.
SPONSORS GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT
With that much impact, it’s no wonder that some of the most popular podcast sponsors are focused on food. Advertising revenue in the podcasting industry is set to hit the $1 billion dollar mark in the next few years. And, though they don’t just sponsor food-themed podcasts, brands like Hello Fresh and Blue Apron have seen the potential in the audio medium as a tool to talk about food.
According to a recent Edison research report, 50 percent of listeners listen to podcasts while cooking or baking.
But monetization remains a challenge, even for the most popular shows. All of Racist Sandwich’s producers work full-time jobs in addition to making the show, and though they’ve successfully funded several short series (including an upcoming one on food in France), the show is now on hiatus.
“I do wanna say, please invest in foodcasts because there are food conversations that people can learn from. [As] an editor, it’s really hard: it’s our labor of love. We spend hours working on it and our Kickstarter supporters helped keep us going over the years, helping cover equipment and production costs. It’s the people’s podcast and we’re proud of that,” said Ramirez.
AROUND THE WORLD IN A SOUNDBITE
According to Chartable, today there are 4,879 food-themed podcasts in the Apple Podcasts library. Though most foodcasts are in English (81.2 %), there are food podcasts in quite a few other languages as well, including French, German, Swedish, Japanese and Chinese.
Foodcasts have come full circle, using sound to bring us back into the kitchens of the past, and present. And what of the birthplace of food broadcasts, France? Well, since the podcast boom touched French shores in 2017, food podcasts are among the most popular shows in France’s Apple Podcasts listing, with independently produced shows ranging from narrative shows on everyday food culture like Culture Miam and Plan Culinaire, to interview shows like Bouffons Podcast or Casseroles Podcast that explore stories behind our favorite foods.
Wherever they are in the world, foodcasts are succeeding at making us listen to food in the same way we watch it.
For a list of foodcasts to listen to while cooking, check out our curated playlist with Radio Public.
Lory Martinez is an independent podcast producer based in Paris, France. She makes a lot of foodcasts in French and English including: A Poêle Podcast on chefs’ inner lives, Dinner for One podcast, on getting over a breakup one solo dinner at a time and the upcoming Wine School Dropout podcast, on demystifying the wine world.
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