Hey there!
I LOVE food YouTubes. Love them.
Sam the Cooking Guy, The Food Ranger, Mike Chen, countless Munchies shows like The Pizza Show. The production values here are super high. Great editing, great camerawork, engaging content. They all deserve their huge success.
But recently, a mate (Mike) recommended a show for me called Not Another Cooking Show, which led to a rabbit hole of 7 videos on the bounce, all cast to the bigger TV screen and I even got Angelique to watch it. And she hates watching cooking shows that I like. It was that compelling!
Angelique said something that struck me. “I like the way he explains why a certain ingredient works over another” eg. why use Pecorino Romano over Parmesan Reggiano for some dishes (it has slightly more saltiness). Or he’ll insist on having only San Marzano tomatoes from a can and processed through a hand food mill for a tomato sauce. Or a certain type of salt or a particular type of extra virgin olive oil. (He lurves his DOP designated balsamic vinegar.)
He (Stephen Cusato) really goes into the detail and specifically the detail that helps you, the viewer. Other shows do this to an extent, but none I’ve seen that goes to this level of detail or this level of helpfulness.
It shows that even in a saturated market, you can stand out by being even more helpful than others are.
Here’s some great vids from Not Another Cooking Show:
His basic tomato sauce recipe:
Before watching this vid, I would have used normal chopped tomatoes from Sainsbury’s. BUT NOW, I’m only going to use San Marzano tommies, certified from Italy. He uses a food mill to smooth out the tomatoes but I’m more like the way that Sam the Cooking Guy does his - he scrunches them up with his hands - see this vid at 5:40:
Another vid where we see just how helpful, and detailed Stephen is his one where he walks you through everything he has in his pantry:
So what’s the TLDR? Be more helpful than everyone else to stand out in a saturated market!
Quote for the week
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.
- Atticus Finch”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
Have a great week ahead!
Best, Ed