During my vacation in France, I had the opportunity of stumbling upon a charming, brand new little restaurant called Cook n’ Saj that was owned by a Syrian family. Ahmed, the oldest brother, managed the finances, advertising, and service of the restaurant while all the products in the restaurant were made by his younger brother and mother. Despite being very small, the restaurant had a cozy vibe that made it very welcoming with blankets, couches, twinkling lights, and fireplaces. Even better, the food was absolutely stellar. I found myself falling in love with a restaurant I hadn’t even planned on visiting. It made the whole day a little better. This made me realize one thing: food is a form of entertainment.

We normally think of food as just an additional component of an entertaining event or just part of our daily survival routine. However, in many cases, food is part of the entertainment itself. Imagine going to the movie theater without getting popcorn, watching an American football game without chips, or a birthday without cake—it’s difficult, right? The food is part of the appeal of the moment. It is part of what you look forward to. Being a foodie, finding out that the event is lacking it’s perfect food is like waiting for the next episode of a show only to find out your favorite character got killed off screen. Meeting someone who has the same favorite food as you can be a great conversation starter. In addition, food can be a way to connect to a different culture. Just like watching a foreign film, it can give you a brief glimpse into part of someone else’s culture.

Cooking can also be great fun. Ever since I was a kid I always loved baking sweets, and many people share that enthusiasm. Baking cakes with my friends just to eat the batter, making dinner with mom, and preparing the perfect sweet concoction for that Netflix marathon are just a few of the many reasons to get into the kitchen to become entertained.  

The entertainment level of food, however, goes beyond cooking and eating. I spend hours scrolling through all the recipes in Buzzfeed Tasty, watching video after video of people making food. Of course it makes me hungry, but many people, including myself, can’t resist the satisfying sensation of watching someone smoothly ice a multi-colored cake. In fact, cooking videos have become quite trendy with several YouTube channels, like How to Cake it, Tastemade, and SortedFood. In fact, even some YouTubers who are not on cooking channels recognize the appeal of the food videos and have a few in their repertoire. Beauty gurus, such as CutiePieMarzia and Zoella, are a couple of examples, as are the channels Simply Nailogical and CinemaSins. It goes to show that you don’t have to be an expert to simply enjoy food.

On the other hand, this has not been a new trend on television. Brazilian T.V. show Mais Você has always had a cooking segment, and it has been airing for over 15 years. The United States has an entire channel dedicated to food called Food Network where all the shows somehow relate to food whether it’s cooking, baking, or learning from where the many ingredients commonly used in the kitchen come. It shows how the love for food spreads across countries and has captured the interest of many people over the years.

In fact, it seems that there is a term already coined for people with an extra affinity for food: foodie. If you agree and have participated in some of the activities listed above, chances are that, like me, you are a foodie as well. You probably will agree that food is in fact not only one of life’s greatest pleasures, but also a brilliant source of entertainment.