NEW YORK — It's the bread and butter of entertainment.

Food, that is. A boned duck — plus succulent boeuf bourguignon — are the stars of "Julie & Julia," Meryl Streep and Amy Adams' ode to gastronomy and the transformative power of delicious cuisine, starring Streep as master chef Julia Child and Adams as the blogger who becomes obsessed with her. On Bravo, tough yet cuddly chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio challenges aspiring culinary geniuses to wow him with their confections on "Top Chef," which returns to Bravo on Aug. 19 at 7:15 p.m. Gwyneth Paltrow is writing a cookbook due next year, with the working title of "My Father's Daughter," and recently aired a video on her lifestyle blog, www.GOOP.com, showing her whipping up her version of fast food: roast chicken, potatoes and a simple spring salad.

Food, says Anthony Bourdain, chef, author and host of the Travel Channel's "No Reservations," "is a fundamental thing. Food and sex: They're not that separate, although I don't think they should ever be combined."

Indeed, food is universal. Everyone has to eat. And? "It's a very interesting subject matter. Everybody wants to know good things, and food is just the easiest to know. It's great," says kitchen guru Martha Stewart, who now has how-to videos on her Web site showing how to make cherries jubilee and lemon cupcakes.

Twenty years ago, cooking shows were pretty much confined to public television. Now, the Food Network is entirely devoted to the subject of legumes and langoustines, and Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay are saute superstars. It's largely thanks to Child, who made complex cooking accessible to the "servantless" with her groundbreaking 1961 cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and subsequent public television series, "The French Chef."

"It's just a groundswell. With the popularity of food TV, people are keying into personalities behind the shows," Colicchio says. "What happens is people decide that cooking could be a hobby, and like any hobbies, you start out buying some tools. You start building on it, and dinner is the main event now. It's been coming on for a long time."

Stars, too, are putting on their aprons and opening up their kitchens. Paltrow says in her video that she started to learn how to cook when she was 19 and gushes about arugula and a "beautiful purple spring onion." Cooking, she says as she preps her chicken like a pro, has "become a major passion." And tattooed Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, who might not be your expected gourmet, ate and critiqued Thanksgiving dinner on "Top Chef" in 2008.

"Cooking appeals to a lot of people, whether you're a celebrity or not. I don't think celebrities have different viewing habits. I'm surprised at the amount of celebs who watch the show," says Colicchio, whose show moves to Las Vegas this season and features celebrity guests, including Natalie Portman.

"People from Kate Winslet to Seth Rogen to Beyoncé and Jay-Z tell me they watch the show."