BBC Learnings · Section 12

Making food photo-friendly

I'm Neil. And I'm Rob.

Level: B1 · 102 sentences

Transcript

1. I'm Neil.
2. And I'm Rob.
3. And in this programme we're discussing food.
4. Ah, food!
5. Glorious food!
6. There's only one thing better than talking about food and that's eating it.
7. Well, I know you are a bit of a gastronome someone who enjoys and knows a lot about high quality food.
8. But today we're talking about photographing food, not eating it.
9. That's a shame because I am on a seafood diet.
10. If I see food, I have to eat it.
11. Get it?
12. Yes, Rob.
13. Very, very funny.
14. But in the social media addicted world, just seeing food, not eating it, is big business, as I will explain shortly.
15. But shall we feast on a question first, Rob?
16. Yep, if it tastes good!
17. It does.
18. So, do you know the name for the person who's usually second in charge in a restaurant kitchen after the head chef and has lots of responsibility for running it?
19. Is it the a pastry chef, b commis chef or c sous chef?
20. Well, I'm not a chef expert but I'll say c a sous chef.
21. It sounds important.
22. Well, I'll give you the answer later in the programme.
23. Now, let me explain more about food and photos.
24. 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.
25. And I suppose social media platforms are the best way for sharing food photos on, aren't they?
26. And I have been guilty of taking a picture of my food on my smartphone but only when eating some amazing food at a posh restaurant.
27. Which isn't very often, I suppose.
28. But by sharing images across social media, people see them and think the food looks delicious.
29. I must go to that restaurant and eat it!
30. You could argue it's all about style over substance, meaning the look of something is better than the actual content or product.
31. Maybe, Rob, although I'm sure sometimes the food tastes just as good as it looks.
32. Anyway, the BBC Radio 4 programme, You and Yours, has been looking into this.
33. They spoke to several influential Instagrammers and bloggers.
34. Influential means having the power to make people change what they think.
35. Here's one of them, Rebecca Milford, who edits a website called Bar Chick.
36. What does she think about this new trend?
37. It sounds very cliché that a picture speaks a thousand words, but it really does.
38. And I've got friends now that instead of doing what you used to do and going onto the website of a restaurant to see what they were serving,
39. Then you'd go onto their Instagram account and check out the images and choose what you want to eat literally based on what you're seeing.
40. So it has to be presentable, I suppose.
41. Rebecca used a well-known and well-used phrase there, one that is used so much it has become boring, what we call a cliché.
42. The phrase is, a picture speaks a thousand words.
43. Yes, and even if it is a cliché, it's so true.
44. You describe a fantastic meal in a long blog, but you can quickly see how it looks from a picture
45. And then create an idea in your mind of how it tastes.
46. So when you're promoting food, a photo is everything.
47. And that's why some restaurants pay PR companies lots of money to take stylish photos that can be shared on social media.
48. It's like a fashion photo shoot for food.
49. Yes, and Rebecca said the food has to be presentable that's looking good enough for people to see, because people are making choices on what they see.
50. I've also heard that some chefs and restaurateurs have adjusted their menus to produce meals that look good on a smartphone camera.
51. A restaurateur, by the way, is the name of a person who owns and manages a restaurant.
52. Now, while there is a risk that good-looking food on social media accounts such as Instagram might not match how it tastes,
53. There is a theory your brain might trick you into thinking it does taste good.
54. The You and Yours programme also heard from Professor Charles Spence, an experimental psychologist from Oxford University, about how this happens.
55. We see the food first, or the drink in the glass, and our brain's already imagining what it's going to taste like.
56. And the more beautifully it's presented, the more artistically that sets better expectations and they kind of carry over and anchor the tasting experience.
57. Right, so a great photo of food can possibly make us think it tastes better too.
58. We create an idea in our head of how it will taste, which influences our expectations when we actually eat the food.
59. And expectation means the feeling that something good is going to happen.
60. Right, Rob.
61. I'm sure you're expecting the answer to the question I set you earlier.
62. I asked if you knew the name for the person who's usually second in charge in a restaurant kitchen after the head chef
63. And has lots of responsibility for running it.
64. Is it the a pastry chef, b commis chef or c sous chef?
65. What did you say, Rob?
66. Well, I said c a sous chef.
67. Am I right?
68. You are, Rob.
69. Give that man a job.
70. Here, maybe in the BBC canteen.
71. Come on, Neil.
72. I think I can do better than that.
73. But before I do, let's remind ourselves of some of the vocabulary we've discussed today,
74. Starting with gastronome that's someone who enjoys and knows a lot about high-quality food someone like me.
75. Yeah, maybe, Rob.
76. We also discussed the word influential, meaning having the power to make people change what they think.
77. We also mentioned cliché, a well-known phrase that is so overused it's become boring.
78. Like, for example, a picture speaks a thousand words You never use clichés, do you, Neil?
79. Absolutely never.
80. Let's move on to presentable.
81. That describes something that looks good, is smart and is good enough for people to see.
82. A bit like me in my smart new jumper.
83. Do you like it?
84. Very nice.
85. Well, a presenter has to be presentable, Neil.
86. Our next word was expectation, a word that describes the feeling that something good is going to happen.
87. I have an expectation that people will love this programme.
88. Well, let's hope so.
89. Yes.
90. And that brings us to the end of this programme.
91. Don't forget to check out our social media platforms.
92. See you soon.
93. Bye bye.
94. Goodbye.
95. Thanks for watching everybody.
96. Did you enjoy that?
97. Of course you did.
98. Now, for more stuff like that, all you need to do is subscribe and leave a comment down here.
99. And there's plenty more of this type of thing over here.
100. Don't forget.
101. Don't forget.
102. Don't forget.