Have you ever noticed what does the chef do with the food after filming it?

Have you ever noticed what does the chef do with the food after filming it?


Having been filmed for a TV show, done food demos, and prepared food for food photography for cookbooks, I can tell you that anything other than baked goods is pretty much always thrown in the trash. Meats and fish are rarely cooked to full “doneness” because they simply look more attractive at a certain under-done point in the cooking process. Dishes often sit out at room temperature or under hot lights for hours at a time. Sometimes non-food items are used to make things look better - e.g. substituting shaving cream for whipped cream because it won’t melt under the lights. You know the photographs you see on cans of soups or stews, where all the vegetables are sticking out of the soup? Does yours ever look like that? No. That’s because the food photographers doctor it up. They put marbles in the bottom of the bowl, pour the soup liquid to cover the marbles, and then put chunks of barely-cooked vegetable on top of the marbles so it looks more colorful and shows above the surface. Baked goods on the other hand are usually fully cooked and safe to eat at room temperature and are usually enjoyed by the crew working on the set.