The best person for the job is clearly the person who knows most about the subject, no? You wouldn't necessarily want a baker unblocking your U-bend or an electrician trading on the stock market (although many might think "Hey - let's give that a whirl"); you would naturally turn to those whose expertise naturally defined them for the role. Given that, it's therefore been rather interesting watching Waitrose take quite a lot of flack on social media websites for their recent 'expert' appointments.
Exhibit A: First the case for the offence. Pippa Middleton - she of the position of 'sibling to royalty' and 'admirable bottom' - who recently lost her publishing deal because of the incomprehensible failure of her first book 'Celebrate', has just been lured into contributing to Waitrose Kitchen magazine, one of the more 'foodie' of the foodie magazines, by that sly snake-charmer, editor William Sitwell, who is full of uncharacteristic gung-ho enthusiasm for his new recruit. The more curmudgeonly amongst us might wonder what Pips has to offer in such a high-calibre setting (although frankly we hope for more of the same) - she hasn't exactly set the world alight with 'her' recipe for Quail Egg Croustades. However, be that as it may, she is still offered up as the sacrificial lamb/shining light of the publication. Now, far be it from us to be cynical (although we are) and we wish Pips the best in her new venture (we really do), but one wonders about her credentials for the job. Does she blog obsessively about food? Did she tweet during The Wedding compulsively and greedily about the wedding breakfast? Does she regularly post wonky shots of her home-made food on Pinterest or Instagram? Has she EVER displayed any signs whatsoever of being any more interested in food than your average posh person with a bum to maintain?
Exhibit B: The case for the (almost) defence. Waitrose have also appointed TV presenter Philip Schofield as their wine expert. He will be presenting short clips on the Waitrose website with two other experts, namely a recognised wine expert and a chef (currently one of Heston's). He's not so much an expert, we see, as a middleman. Someone Waitrose have deemed personable, with a certain demographic of following with whom they wish to engage, who can clarify, question and generally disseminate the wine choices on offer to go with the food cooked and presented. He is known to be interested and probably a bit more knowledgeable about wine and whisky than most, but we suspect it's more to do with whom he brings to the table (ie lots of middle-aged women who don't generally have much to do with wine-buying) than his expertise, which he nevertheless has to some extent. Waitrose are clearly thinking laterally about their product and how to engage different parts of the population and bring them on board and in-store. Whom they expect to follow Pippa is a bit of a mystery, given her pals probably have accounts there, but time will tell.
The role of middleman is an important one, in fact. Who knows how much more incomprehensible John Torode or Michel Roux Jr would be without Gregg (the Egg) Wallace there to rugby-tackle their kerr-azy kitchen jargon into the ground and turn it into a form of English (only) he understands in order to communicate it to the wider audience (thus you have John/Michel: "Your beurre blanc is a fine balance of acidity and nutty butteriness". Gregg's translation: "I'd like to sleep with it". We all understand it). In all seriousness, the middleman plays a bridging role so that we can make an informed choice. A good sommelier or waiter is one of the most important middlemen - with their help you can make informed and delightful choices about your food and accompanying drink; when they're rubbish, you can sometimes feel at a complete loss and even humiliated, patronised or overwhelmed.
Food bloggers have taken over the role of middlemen, particularly with regards the food critic role. Many of us no longer trust the outdated, anachronistic, obfuscating Michelin Guide at one end of the spectrum and at the other end food bloggers often review in a way that makes us feel comfortable with choosing where to eat without any confusion of condescension. They are, in a way, more real to us and therefore their experience and review is more trustworthy. Trust is in fact a key component these days. The food industry and its experts have lost our trust with the horsemeat scandal and the basic fact that we cannot trust what we read has been very damaging, both to them and to us.
Jargon, obfuscation, complicated ways of telling a basic truth all mean we rely less on experts and more on 'people like us' to tell the truth - the rise/fall of TripAdvisor tells its own story. Is it then the case that the actual proper experts are the ones we don't trust these days? Are they using language we don't understand or are their unknown allegiances too murky to place confidence in? Do we need middlemen to tease out the plain truth or uncomplicate ideas, despite them having fewer credentials which should make us trust them less? Or is it patronising and unnecessary in these times when we all undoubtedly know more about food than ever? Although which side of the line Pips sits on, we have yet to decide...
