A few years ago, there were only very few cooking shows that we see on TV. There are those featured on home and lifestyle networks when cable TV could only offer less than 80 cable channels. Some were Chinese cooking shows where no one could really understand what the person was actually saying. And home TV shopping networks selling brand new innovations in Teflon and that famous stainless steel canteen of cutlery to protect all your kitchen utensils.

Today, TV shows have suddenly mushroomed into a worldwide craze. Instead of the usual house kitchen setting and white uniforms, cooking shows offered a more informal view of the culinary arts. But why did it suddenly balloon into its current state?

All throughout our history, people have always been curious about food. Why not, experts suggest that eating is a lot like making love. It creates that unique internal feeling of holistic fulfillment and satisfaction. No matter what place, culture, religion or race, everyone sees eating as an important and sacred part of life. Somehow, TV networks and all those creative minds behind today’s cooking shows, have seen the potentials of exploiting our interest in food.

Every time we turn on our televisions or head off to a magazine stand or bookstore, we will always see something about food. It’s probably our innate fascination with eating. For some people, it’s the art involved in preparing intricate meals and garnishing. Others see the importance of food for our health, not just as a source of nutrition but as a form of alternative medicine.

As kids, we see food as a form of reward, in this sense, most of us grow up learning to love it in a way that it becomes a source of comfort. As we watch cooking shows, we experience the same thing.

In a broader perspective, cooking shows offer us a sense of understanding of the different cultures that exist around us. It helps us travel all to the different places we’ve never been to and appreciate the uniqueness of every place around the world.

I guess we could say that cooking shows, somehow, created a connection between people. And its unexpected popularity is just proof of how much we all wanted to close that barrier between races while satisfying our “appetite” for curiosity.