The Rules of Cooking Anime
This list has been developed by watching 3 cooking animes: Cooking, Baking, and Desert. Note that all these themes exist in all of them.
Cooking is inherently boring. While there are indeed a few people in a few discrete areas of the earth who actually like to see the cooking process, they are actually one of few. Just watch Ace of Cakes, not an anime, and see how none of it is actually the process of making a delicious and good looking cake. Thus several steps must be enforced to ensure your cooking anime is good.
1) The main character must be new: While you may be an expert in cooking, your audience isn't. Thus your character must either just started cooking or just started cooking in the real world. This way you can have plenty of exposition without dumping it on characters who would know any better.
2) The main character must have a near supernatural talent: Whether it is really warm hands, super-taste, or simple being an extreme Mary Sue your character must have some sort of supernatural talent. As well they have to be capable of some sort of supernatural feat such as super fast cutting, hands that glow like the sun, or having mystical magical fairies that bend the laws of matter.
3) The main character MUST have a love interest: It doesn't matter if they never show much interest in each other, it is required by LAW that there be a love interest.
4) The main character cannot simply lose to a better opponent: If the main character loses it is because they didn't know how to cook that specific meal, messed up, or the opponent cheated.
-The Alternative to the rule is that the Main character doesn't have to win because his food is better either.
5) Eating good food is akin to taking hardcore drugs: The best way to simulate great food in the characters is to copy and paste the symptoms of any known drug. Hallucinations, sweating, convulsions, loss of control, pupils dilating, screaming, anything that would normally be a sign that someone needs a doctor is an excellent sign.
6) All techniques should seem rare and obscure: Even if a technique has been done many times before all the characters should react in awe and amazement as if it was the most obscure cooking technique that ever existed.
7) Villains have all the food, Heroes don't have any: The villains should always have all the high class extravagant food. If the heroes have access to equally extravagant food they either have to scrounge it up or it is supplied by the villain or the arena. Never is the hero allowed to have a stable supply.
If Girls are great then the anime is for girls: Girls are not allowed to be continuously competent unless the anime is for girls. The best women are dead women! If this is an anime for girls then most of the characters will be women.
9) Feminine Men: No cooking anime is complete without at least ONE rather feminine man. He can be homosexual, suave, or just good looking. This man will always cook womanly with WOMANLY COOKING!!!
10) No older men allowed: Cooking is for the young. Despite characters attempting to topple world organizations and climb the ranks there should be very little older men actually taking part in the cooking process. Anyone older then 30 should be treated as sagely or too old to cook. Avoid them at all cost
11) Think big!: The scope of a cooking anime should rarely be the trials of tribulations of a single shop and how it effects their community and the lives of those around them. That would be horrible! No instead the anime should somehow encompass entire countries or even the world in their struggle for cooking dominance no matter HOW contrite it is. Is a secret organization of EVIL chefs trying to take over the world? Are you trying to revive cooking's artistic side? Are you trying to inspire and entire country to your particular love of food?
Well that is all I have for now