Recently, chefs have been gobbling up Korean television airwaves with their cooking programs that are becoming more popular among the Korean public. From programs with straightforward titles such as “Three Simple Meals a Day” to more nifty concoctions, including “My Little Television” and “Teacher Baek’s House Rice”, the television entertainment industry has been cooking up quite a number of interesting food-related programs that are thriving with growing audiences.

The purpose of these programs is quite simple: to cook all types of simple cuisines and demonstrate the cooking process to the audience as vividly and scrumptiously as possible. While the concepts may be similar, the shows are as diverse as the foods they cook. Some shows have different chefs from different culinary fields compete with each other to showcase their cooking skills with mouth-watering “do-it-yourself-in-five-minutes” segments.

“Take Care of the Fridge” is an exemplary show of this social phenomenon, in which different professional chefs compete against one another on television. On “Take Care of the Fridge,” chefs compete by cooking a meal in less than 15 minutes while only using materials taken from an actual guest’s refrigerator. Not only do these scenes illustrate how skillful the chefs are at creating dishes from almost anything, but also show how eclectic types of foods, ranging from simple pastries to fancy steaks, can be cooked right at home with just a handful of ingredients. Another prominent feature of these new shows is the vicarious nature of the culinary arts that these chefs are now bringing to the screen. In other words, people are merely satisfied with watching the whole cooking procedure and the finished products.

As more and more chefs are appearing on screens and expanding their profession, people may begin to recognize the need and viability of pursuing more creative career choices. It is an indisputable idea that most Asians prefer jobs that seem to be highly set in today’s society. Yet such cooking programs are increasing the value of not only the chefs but also generally opening a way for students to seek creative jobs. These shows are essentially hinting at how each and every job holds its own value.

While such benefits do weigh up to a certain extent, every issue mirrors a corrupt side. People are simply complaining how these starred chefs are gradually slipping away into the taste of stardom. Abandoning their original motives and workplace can be a possible threat to not only the chefs’ overall reputations but lack in trust as well.

Although some audiences may find discomfort in watching how chefs are abandoning their original purposes of occupations, the general public still seems to find these programs enthralling. As the chefs are over dominating the entertainment industries in Korea, it seems like they are killing two birds with one stone: popularity with these shows and acknowledgement of ingenious jobs.