TASTE TEST vs. Top Chef/MasterChef/Chopped, etc.
15 days until TASTE TEST meets the world!
I’ve always been a huge fan of “food TV” — the Food Network, in particular, but the show Top Chef as well. When I came up with the idea for TASTE TEST, it was due mostly in part to the enthusiasm many students at my high school showed for the county’s “Commercial Foods” program. Led by a former chef, multiple students enrolled in Commercial Foods and greatly enjoyed the ability to excel at something as tangible as cooking.
The “inspiration” for TASTE TEST was that group of students and how I felt that type of show would play out if teens were on it.
I want to be clear about something that has caused a little confusion — TASTE TEST was not written about a particular reality cooking show. In fact, I’ve never seen MasterChef. I’ve seen bits and pieces of Chopped, but I don’t think I’ve watched an episode in its entirety.
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TASTE TEST wasn’t written about those shows or as a tribute to those shows. TASTE TEST was written as a tribute to teens who cook.
Now, obviously, I understand why the comparisons have been made — I mean, the book is about a reality cooking show. I’m not sure how MasterChef is set up, but on Top Chef, the contestants live together — that, and the idea of dorm life, is what I based my contestant’s lives on between tapings.
Writing a book about a reality show was challenging because it needed to establish the same kind of momentum. That’s why I used different genres of writing — interviews, recipes, emails, etc. to create a multi-faceted approach. I like compiling various forms into a novel because I think it breaks things up a bit. With something like a reality show, you want the read to be somewhat fast-paced, especially since the show is a competitive one.
In my perfect world, readers would read TASTE TEST without any preconceived notions — but that’s an awful lot to ask in a world full of food television! So, instead, I hope that readers will keep an open mind. When writing a book, it is impossible to directly replicate another type of entertainment, like music or movies. It’s a challenge to find a way to translate it and I can only hope I’ve done it some justice.
