Food has never featured so highly in popular culture. Once a topic reserved for chefs, restaurant critics and ambitious home cooks, the stuff we eat is now endlessly discussed, dissected and displayed through every medium imaginable. There’s an endless flow of new cookery books and kitchen-based television shows – it’s been estimated that across all the channels there are 18 days’ worth of food-related TV in a single week.
But has this deluge of food-related content made us more knowledgeable about what we eat? After hearing chefs talk non-stop about the integrity of their dishes made with local, seasonal food, are we more discerning about our ingredients?