There is an art and a skill to filming food. You have to keep it bright, shiny, and juicy and you have to surround it with people who are passionate about food. You can paint that hamburger with soy sauce to make it pop, but you also need people to eat it, praise it, savor it, and make it come to life. That’s one of the things I’ve learned anyway, working as a production fixer and location specialist on four food shows for the Travel Channel.

Last spring, I assisted in the production of two new food shows for the Travel Channel. In the picture above, Carlos Vega, owner of Ceviche Express, a popular local chain of tiny snack booths in parking lots across Managua, walks us through the menu: octopus, conch, fish, shrimp, or “mixed.” That’s it, and that’s enough.