Exclusive | Swati Mohan of FOX Intl Channels' fresh take on food

FOX Traveller has launched a new show recently. Aptly named, The Taste, the first episode was aired on Friday 18th October at 9 pm. The show brings to the channel some of the biggest names in food and travel like Nigella Lawson and  Anthony Bourdain who have teamed up for the first time ever to get down to what truly matters. It has been FOX Traveller’s, constant endeavor to bring exciting and premium quality content to viewers through a right mix of global and local productions. Food as a genre has a wide appeal in India and viewers are sure to thoroughly enjoy the unique format and powerhouse personalities of ’The Taste’.

The show revolves around four hosts cum mentors. These four form their own teams and the members of each team have to cook up a dish. These four mentors who then play judges have no idea of what is being cooked or who is cooking it. The main concept of the show however is that whatever the contestants cook has to be brought down to just one taste, meaning one spoon of the prepared dish. So even if it is a dish like a steak with salads and cream, it has to be crunched down to one spoon. Later the four judges taste it without knowing which member has cooked which dish and have to judge the same. So they may in the process even eliminate a member from their own team.

With an aim to explore how  food over the years has become a popular genre amongst the Indian audiences and their growing appetite for interesting programming concepts and to also know more about the new show, Adgully caught up with Swati Mohan, VP-Programming and Operations, FOX International Channels.

Briefing us about the new show, Mohan said, “The most electric combination in the world of food celebrities come together here: Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson. Joining them is a Fox Traveller veteran: Ludo Lefebvre. They put their food expertise against each other as they select the best cook based solely on The Taste. They are judging blind: no contestant names, no fancy decorations, no dish names- just a spoonful of food.”

The question arises: How would it stand different in the robust food genre? Answering that Mohan said, “It's a  contest format on two levels; one is that every dish in every round is judged solely on how a single spoonful tastes:  not the description or not even who cooked it and secondly the judges are as interested in the outcome, since they are the  mentors of each team, and every win or loss is theirs as well.”

'Food' is probably too broad a term to club so many distinct shows. Fox Traveller has shows that showcase food in unusual ways from travel shows focused on what to eat and where (Eat Street), to cookery shows simplifying world cuisine to its most delicious (James Martin's Mediterranean), to studio shows de-mystifying celeb cookbooks (Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag) to celebs letting their hair down on a road trip across Australia (Boys Weekend) to pop-up restaurant reality series (Ludo Bites America) and now a full-on cookery contest with The Taste hence FT programs are not only restricted to travel but also explore other dimensions such as lifestyle etc.

Elaborating further and adding her view on the above made point, Mohan said, “A Travel show on Fox Traveller is often more than introducing a viewer to a destination. We focus on experiential travel, so lifestyle becomes one of the ways to lens it. Sound Trek took urban musicians on a journey across the country to collaborate with folk and classical stalwarts. The List sees people around the world make their one dream come true whereas The Outdoor Room has families getting their backyard redesigned in the style of an international city and Style and the City has a fashion designer put together a creation inspired by a city.”

When asked which genre according to her would grab most eyeballs at the channel, Mohan said, “We would like to embrace all these genres and more. As for eyeball grabbing, we feel that ‘genre’ might be a segregation that we as broadcasters give to shows – and not necessarily how viewers watch them.  It's important to find ingredients that bring people to the channel and shows. Exciting hosts, people following their passion, great visuals, high energy and pace, an attitude that wants to live life to the fullest - these are the ingredients of any Fox Traveller show, irrespective of the genre.”

FOX Traveller has always been instrumental in building the travel and food genre through iconic shows like Twist Of Taste, David Rocco’s Dolce Vita, It Happens Only in India and now The Taste and the new show will surely take the essence and ethicality of the channel ahead.