'EAT: The Story of Food,' a new six-hour documentary miniseries, to debut on National Geographic (2024)

"EAT: The Story of Food," a new six-hour documentary miniseries debuting Friday (Nov. 21) at 8 p.m. on the National Geographic Channel, opens with a long, luscious sequence of foodie foreplay that sets the table for what's to follow. The subtitle of the episode is "Food Revolutionaries" (for the culinary pioneers saluted during the hour), but there are intentional references in the opening tease to erotic pleasure.

"The whole idea of looking at food on TV has become this voyeuristic, sexy, entertainment-driven thing," said Pam Caragol Wells, one of the project's executive producers. "And I think there was a little bit of pulling on that theme."

It's a theme the miniseries thoroughly, um, embraces, at least in its opening minutes.

"Food is the sexiest thing in the world," said Simon Majumdar, author ("Eat My Globe"), TV cooking-competition personality ("Cutthroat Kitchen," "Iron Chef America") and one of the film's expert talking heads. "My wife said she never has to worry about coming home to find me watching p*rn videos, because I'm usually watching people cook on YouTube.

"It is a sexy, sexy thing. I'm not a great fan of the phrase 'food p*rn,' but I am a big fan of the fact that food is sexy and sensual."

The project gets down to serious (though entertainingly presented) history and science pretty quickly after the steamy opening sequence, examining the contributions made by Julia Child, Christopher Columbus, Auguste Escoffier,chef Hector Boiardi and others in changing food history.

Michael Pollan, Harold McGee, Nathan Myhrvold, Ruth Reichl and almost 70 experts are interviewed, VH1 "I Love the (Whatever)"-style, the difference here being that these talking heads know what they're talking about.

Later episodes look more closely at meat ("Carnivores," Friday at 9 p.m.), sweets ("Sugar Rushes," Saturday, Nov. 22, at 8 p.m.), seafood ("Hooked on Seafood," Saturday at 9 p.m.), processed food ("Guilty Pleasures," Sunday, Nov. 23, at 8 p.m.) and grains ("Baked & Buzzed," Sunday at 9 p.m.).

Antoine's Oysters Rockefellergets a brief nod in the seafood episode, which momentarily (and forgivably) lapses back to the mood of the series' opening minutes asPadma Lakshmi enthusiastically limns the pleasures of oyster-eating.

Throughout its episodes, "EAT: The Story of Food" navigates between such zippy, attention-holding entertainment and lessons in science and history. The network's brand, after all, is National Geographic.

The TV project is accompanied by rich supplemental websites --natgeoeat.com andnatgeofood.com -- a months-long series in National Geographic magazine, anexhibit in the National Geographic Museum in Washington, and education curriculum for schools.

"Technology and innovation were always key themes in this series," Wells said. "National Geographic really likes to talk about topics of change and science.

"We all as producers went out and thought about, 'How has what we eat and the way we eat it changed? How has it changed us and civilization, and how is it going to change us in the future?'

"And, of course, the other question was the 'who.' The 'who' was interesting as a narrative arc because it's about us and who we are.

"The whole idea of the series is not just to make you hungry and want to eat, though I usually do get hungry when I watch the rough cuts. It's also meant to make you hungry to learn more."

In that way, "EAT" is a departure from the current food-TV norms of dump-and-stir cooking shows and cooking competitions.

"One thing that excites me about National Geographic going into the food world is, I'm a college graduate, and I like thought-provoking, intelligent programming," said Eric Greenspan, a Los Angeles chef who conducts his talking-head segments for "EAT" in a kitchen, cooking-class style. "There are so many elements of the world of food that are interesting to people -- from a travel perspective, from an education perspective, from a science perspective."

Greenspan will host his own new National Geographic show, "Eric Greenspan Is Hungry," debuting Nov. 24 at 9 p.m. In that show, Greenspan and a sidekick travel to explore exotic protein (wild turkey, wild hog, buffalo), and the premiere season twice brings them to Louisiana (for crawfish and goat).

Like Majumdar, Greenspan (Los Angeles' The Foundry and The Roof on Wilshire) has participated in cooking-competition shows.

"It's fun to watch people cook, and it raises the game," Greenspan said. "But there are so many different aspects of food that are as interesting as watching us dudes butcher a chicken really fast and come up with a dish.

"I'm excited that a channel that is into thought-provoking subject mater, like National Geographic, has decided to take food on, too.

"I think the viewership will show that it's something a lot of people want to see."

Got a TV question? Contact Dave Walker at dwalker@nola.com or 504.826.3429. Read more TV coverage at NOLA.com/tv. He's @DaveWalkerTV on Twitter, and Dave Walker TV on Facebook.