The travelogue cooking show in a sub-state nation: Representing Scotland in British food television

Abstract

Food television offers a new and unique lens on national identity, the Anglo-Scottish relationship, and their cultural representation in contemporary Britain. This paper is based on analysis of three British travelogue cooking shows, first broadcast between 1995 and 2011, about Scotland and its food. The programmes analysed exemplify and reinforce longstanding cultural constructions of the relationship between England and Scotland as sub-state nations of the UK, as well as illustrating and creating new national scripts, notably in relation to class and gender. These “homeland” travelogue cooking shows consistently associate Scotland with a defined set of local and traditional foods, closely associated with a Romantic construction of Scotland, its history, and landscape. However, the programmes also indicate wider changes in British and Scottish food culture during this period, including the rise of the local food movement and the increasing economic success and cultural confidence of the Scottish food and drink industry. The paper highlights the role of celebrity chefs in the cultural construction of contemporary British sub-state national relationships.