I have to admit it – I love food shows. Recipes, competitions, travelogues; if it has anything to do with food, I’ll be glued to the TV with the passion of a tennis fan during Wimbledon. And why not? After all, isn’t Jamie Oliver’s wrist action as he nonchalantly flips a pancake every bit as smooth and deft as Roger Federer’s backhand?

Now some may find this an odd hobby for a person who can’t cook, but think of it this way: of the millions of fans who cheer Manchester United against Arsenal (or vice versa), how many have actually shot a goal. Or for that matter, how many of Federer’s fans know how to wield a racquet? To tweak an old saying ‘those who can, do; those who can’t, watch.’ And though football, tennis and cricket fanatics may take umbrage, the soaring popularity of food shows proves that, for the time being at least, cooking is the world’s most popular spectator sport.

Of course, cooking shows are not exactly new. From the moment Dione Lucas, the first female graduate of Le Cordon Bleu, went on air with ‘To the Queen’s Taste’ in 1948, food preparation became a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Back then, however, and for several decades after that, cooking shows were actually about …well…cooking. Julia Child taught the Americans to prepare French cuisine, Delia Smith taught the British to boil an egg (hey, now that’s the show I should have watched) and Martin Yan revealed the secrets of Asian food to the whole world.

But in the early 1990s someone felt that food shows that merely taught people to cook were missing the point. This someone was Reese Schoenfeld who founded The Food Network based on the idea that cooking should be entertaining rather than educational. And so the reality cooking show was born, where a chef could be expected to do anything – sing, dance, ride a motorbike. Oh and cook, of course.

This revolution took a while to reach our shores, and local channels continued to dish out generally bland fare that – apart from ‘Marina’s Kitchen,’ which introduced the concept of celebrity guests – was about as exciting as mashed potatoes (and everyone knows that while creamy mashed potatoes with loads of butter are the perfect comfort food, they are not precisely exciting).

And then we tuned in to BBC Food.

Suddenly, what had been a purely functional activity turned into a highly specialised art. Gifted chefs took a colourful palette of ingredients and whipped, stirred, tossed and sautéed them into a sumptuous masterpiece. Food was no longer just cooked; it was lovingly crafted, sculpted and adorned. Local channels tried to follow suit, but, sadly, our cooking shows are still more about the chefs and their fan calls than about food. And when it comes to cooking shows, it’s all about food (again).

But whatever the quality, there is no doubt that our appetite for food shows is growing by the day. At last count the Food Network had a presence in over 150 countries with a viewership that runs into many millions. In fact, the trend is spreading to the big screen as well; Ratatouille (2007) and Julie and Julia (2009) both got a warm reception at the box office, which means that Hollywood will definitely be dishing up more of the same in the future.

So what is it about food shows that keeps us coming back for more; what is it that gives them such universal appeal? Japan’s ‘Iron Chef’ became a cult classic in America and many cooking programmes have been adapted for different countries. Generally, one of the main factors behind the success of a show is the charisma of the host and this has, in turn, given rise to an entire generation of ‘celebrity chefs.’ But at the end of the day, I’d argue that it’s the food itself. Or rather, its presentation.

Smoked, seared, iced, garnished, glazed and dressed to the hilt, recipes prepared on television are like contestants in a beauty parade – dolled up to look their best . Sure, you might pick up a good recipe and it may even turn out delicious, but that’s just a bonus. The main purpose of a food show is to provide a feast for your eyes rather than your palate. And that, my friend, is why I say that food shows are for those of us who can’t, won’t, or don’t cook. For those who do, I recommend a cookbook.