History Main / ThroughHisStomach

* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'' uses the trope in a roundabout way with two of the titular quintuplets. Nino is a SupremeChef, but given that she started out on the wrong foot with Fuutarou, she tends to use her cooking in order to distract him or otherwise get away from studying. Miku, on the other hand, quickly takes to like Fuutarou and despite being a LethalChef decides to try and learn to cook well in order to gain his affection. [[spoiler:CharacterDevelopment leads to Nino falling for Fuutarou and begin to use the trope for real, while Miku manages to make pretty good dishes, and is almost as good as Nino by the series' end]].

* Nicely done in ''LightNovel/SaiunkokuMonogatari'', in which Shuurei's cooking wins Ryuuki's heart twice over. In the backstory of the series, Shouka shared the food Shuurei cooked for him with Ryuuki whenever Ryuuki visited the Archives, effectively becoming Ryuuki's ParentalSubstitute since he was neglected and abused by the rest of his family. Later, when Ryuuki and Shuurei first meet in person, she shares her tea and sweet bean buns with him; he recognizes her cooking, and falls in love with her in very short order.

* Parodied in ''Manga/AhoGirl'', where it's revealed in flashbacks that protagonist [[IdiotHero Yoshiko]]'s crush on her childhood "friend" Akuru was initiated by an ''unintentional'' case of this; Yoshiko had just broken into Akuru's room while he was studying, and, feeling hungry, was begging him for food. Akuru, who just wanted to study in peace, fed her a banana so she would leave him alone already. Unfortunately for him, she turned out to find the banana absolutely delicious, and became convinced he was using this trope on her. [[AbhorrentAdmirer She has been madly in love with him ever since- much to his chagrin.]]

** Also, when Rosette first met Chrono, he was very weak--so she offered him some cookies and candies she had in her pocket. Chrono was deeply touched by her kindness and instantly took a liking to her after that--and, when she grows older, they become the series' OfficialCouple. (However, Rosette tries to actually ''cook'' for Chrono later in the series, and [[LethalChef the result is less successful]].)

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': On multiple occasions, Kaguya has attempted to give Shirogane food, but -with the exception of a single slice of birthday cake- something always happens to prevent him from eating it [[spoiler:until after they've already been dating for several months.]]

** A common plot in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Ranma really ''does'' think with his stomach a lot, and Akane is very determined to cook for him (as a LethalChef, HilarityEnsues). Her rivals, Ukyo (an expert Chef) and Shampoo (works in a Ramen cafe) often use food as a way to gain an advantage over Akane in their pursuit of Ranma. In particular, the anime Christmas episode has Akane wondering why Ranma is late - and then she imagines Shampoo tempting him with a turkey, and Ranma responding "I always wanted to eat a whole turkey". It was rather amusing CharacterDevelopment, because it showed that Akane now realized that Ranma would not be tempted by Shampoo's body but rather by the food.

** Also mentioned in Vimes and Sybil's marriage—she can't cook worth beans, but luckily, Vimes actually enjoys bacon he can shatter and rubbery bits in his eggs.

** Soon after Mac and Christine start seeing each other in season 8, they decide to meet at her restaurant for dinner one night, but he ends up calling to cancel because of work...again.

** The first episode of the 4th season "The Way of the Warrior" begins with Captain Sisko welcoming his girlfriend Kasidy Yates back to the station with a gift and an extensive romantic dinner that is, unfortunately, interrupted very quickly.

* Jam cooks for Ky Kiske in one of her endings in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear XX''. Granted, she is a professional cook and [[TheCape he]] helped her to find who had nearly destroyed her beloved restaurant, but her [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WroZYR25hCU#t=8m10s facial expression and body language leave no doubt about her intentions.]] [[spoiler:Though this ends up subverted in that Ky ultimately falls for ''someone else'' -- Dizzy.]]
* In ''VideoGame/Persona4'', the main character can occasionally cook for his friends. If the food is good, this will cause an increase in RelationshipValues.
** Yukiko and Rise both attempt to invoke this throughout the game. They are outright {{Lethal Chef}}s however. Though Rise wouldn't be that bad [[FireBreathingDiner if she laid off the spices]].
* In the portable version of ''VideoGame/Persona3'', a female main character can opt to cook Ken Amada's favorite dish for him. However, the context in which this scene takes place is entirely up to the player. Interestingly, you level up the rank before you get to the discussion on why she made the meal.
** More generally, during [[LethalChef Fuuka's]] Social Link the female protagonist can also make a number of sweets which can be given as gifts during weekend dates; these always go over famously.
* Parodied in one of the female troll joke emotes in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': "Da way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but I go through da ribcage."
* In the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' games, you can raise affection points with many characters by giving them the kind of food they like.

* In ''VideoGame/TheSims3'', romantic interactions often trigger the wish to cook the lover's [[YourFavorite favorite meal]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Aquapazza}}'', Tamaki tries this with her romantic interest in her ending... by adding [[MindControl Aquapazza]] to the dish.
* Akito feeds Girard some of his home cooking in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsBX'', and she loves it. [[spoiler:If you want to unlock Girard, Akito needs to be one of the people to convince her.]]
* One of the proposed ways of sabotaging Osana's attempts at winning Senpai's affections (not programmed into the game yet, but planned) in ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'' involves this trope. Osana's made an extra lunch for Senpai to have with her to invoke this trope. Yandere-chan can, if she so chooses, poison Senpai's meal with an emetic to make him sick and less likely to accept her love confession. Or she could poison Osana's meal in an attempt to get her alone and kill her quietly. Of course, she ''could'' just straight up poison Osana's meal with a lethal poison, but having Senpai witness his childhood friend die in front of him may have...unintended consequences.

* In ''VideoGame/FairyFencerF: Advent Dark Force'', in the [[spoiler:Vile God timeline, Dorfa gets Fang to be a figurehead president]] by giving him food.
-->'''Fang:''' Honestly, I'd kinda lost all my memories at the time. I was starving, but I didn't have any money. They offered to buy me lunch...\\
'''Eryn:''' So they bribed you with food. I should've guessed...
* ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'' has quite a few (generally) platonic examples:
** Souma is a very skilled cook who often prepares food for his friends - his management conversation with Keito features him talking about how happy it makes him to know that he can please other people with his cooking. In particular, Kanata often asks him to cook [[TrademarkFavouriteFood fish]] for him, which works out very well given that Souma is always looking for things he can do to help him out. And in ''Greek Legends'' he offers to make bento boxes for his friend Adonis given that the latter often only eats anpan for lunch.
** Kuro also often cooks, particularly for his beloved younger sister and his karate club junior Tetora. On the other hand, Tetora would like to cook for Kuro, but he's a LethalChef so he has a lot of practicing to do before he can.
** Ritsu likes to bake, but while his creations are inevitably delicious, they always look ''awful'', so people are usually ''very'' reluctant at first to try anything he makes.
** Hajime, on top of knowing a great deal about making tea, also bakes, particularly for his Tea Club seniors to eat during together club meetings; they are always very happy to enjoy the efforts of their cute and hard-working junior.
* The current video example is a familial variant from ''VideoGame/DontStarve Together'': Warly briefly jogs his mother's failing memory by feeding her a meal she used to prepare for him.

* When she officially moves into the protagonist's apartment (on her romantic path), the title character of ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' cooks him a candlelit dinner, and serves it on the building's rooftop.
* Kotonoha in ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'' tries this. She's a LethalChef, but unusually enough actually seems to get better at it as the show progresses... [[FromBadToWorse sort of]], at least in the anime and manga. (The Visual Novel is something else)
* A recurring theme throughout ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'' is that all of Rin's potential girlfriends try to win him over by cooking. Despite this, it is a coincidence that the best cook ends up winning him over. In the anime, when he stops eating Kaede's food, it is a sign that he is neglecting her. [[{{Yandere}} And we know where that brings us.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', this comes up a few times: Haruka cooks for Riki multiple times in her route, partially to earn his affection [[spoiler:and is really distressed when she realises that he's been unknowingly eating Kanata's food as well, and even preferred hers.]] Kurugaya also offers to make bento for Riki, though after they've started going out. Masato turns it around - his idea for how a guy should confess to a girl is to just go up to her and declare 'from tomorrow, you're going to be making me bento every day!' All of his demonstrations of this line fail, however.
* In ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', in Rin's route Hisao learns that her TrademarkFavoriteFood is oranges. A later scene shows him bringing oranges, peeling them and feeding them to her.
* In ''VisualNovel/TrueLoveJunaiMonogatari'', if you go into a date with [[CuteBookworm Remi]] [[TheOjou Himekawa]], she'll arrive late. It turns out she was making a ''bento'' for him, with this trope on mind, and it turns out to be [[SupremeChef really tasty.]]

* Discussed in ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'' when Akane and [[ShipperOnDeck Carlos]] are locked in the pantry. When Akane mentions baking cookies as a child, Carlos asks is she made heart-shaped cookies for Junpei filled with love. She asks him to stop teasing her, but doesn't deny it. At another point when they're making gelatin as part of a puzzle, Carlos suggests that making some for Junpei and giving it to him with the words "I made it just for you" would instantly win his heart.

* At one point, Faye of ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' turns this on it's head, proclaiming that "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. That way, you don't have to chop through that pesky ribcage." Also [[ShipTease kinda]] played straight [[http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=207 here]].
* In ''Webcomic/ImpureBlood'', [[http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib056.html Janna the innkeeper likes keeping her guests fed.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'', [[http://www.erstwhiletales.com/allfur-13/#.T2_Ifdm6SuI the king is much taken with All Fur's soup.]]
* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100616 Snaug brings Moloch a snack.]]

* ''Webcomic/MagickChicks'' had this twice: Faith [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/regain_your_energy made some food]] twice for Tiffany, who saved her [[spoiler:from an enraged vampire -- [[BullyingADragon which was Faith's own fault]] -- by giving her own blood, and got drained too much -- which ''also'' was entirely Faith's fault]] -- both to fix blood loss and to seduce her. But she is a [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/a_terrible_cook terrible cook]]. (To be fair, liver and spinach are common {{Stock Yuck}}s, which may be more of a factor than her cooking skill.) Jacqui later made some [[http://www.magickchicks.com/strips-mc/want_some_waffles waffles]] for her fallback boyfriend (and Faith's brother) Paul.
* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff900/fv00858.htm Helix observes that canines -- like Florence -- only need to be fed to be loyal.]]
** [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1000/fv00924.htm Sam notes that eating together is obviously a deep need for Florence.]]
** Somewhat justified; as Florence repeatedly points out in the early strips, canines apply social rank based on who eats first. [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1000/fv00915.htm This, she points out, can lead to some interesting differences from human rank structures...]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'',
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0890.html Mr. Scruffy's dream of the perfect life is one where Belkar is endlessly readying fish for him.]] [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold It's Belkar's dream too]]
** The first flashback to Durkon's mother ends with her preparing a grilled cheese sandwich for him at his request.
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0962.html The second flashback to her revolves about her cooking a meal, as she did every other Wednesday for years, for five friends and their mates and children.]]
** [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1037.html Oona's worg really likes the treats.]]
* One ''Webcomic/{{Polandball}}'' comic [[http://i.imgur.com/oEjJ3Xa.png features a female Canadaball]] winning over Americaball with its favorite food [[spoiler: oil]].
* ''Webcomic/CursedPrincessClub'': Unintentionally by Gwen. Her attempts to talk to Frederick are fraught with misunderstandings and accidents, but when he first tastes her cooking her natural warmth and kindness finally become clear to him, opening the way for him to take the first step towards actually getting to know his fiancée.

* In a ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseWorks'' short, Minnie becomes tired of eating the same sandwiches at picnics because Mickey can't cook. When Mickey later sees Minnie talking to José Carioca (of all people) about how he's going to prepare her a gourmet meal, he panics (thinking that Minnie wants to date José because of his cooking ability) and tries to learn how to cook. Minnie tells him that's not necessary, because she was just hiring José to cater their picnics. Guess what José prepares...
* Attempted in ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' by Berry to Bloo, with snicker-doodles. Fails miserably, [[HoYay it seems Bloo only has eyes for Mac]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': Larry often tries to serve Tuddrussel exotic and often bizarre food that he prepared, such as a turkey stuffed with gravy and with a single cherry on top. He declares at one point during an argument over the food, "I was trying to do something special."
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has a platonic (or [[LesYay not quite]]) example when Applejack butters up Twilight by offering her a huge selection of treats in exchange for the second ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala. It doesn't work.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'', Dexter's dad claims that his wife's muffins are the ''reason he married her.''

* Parodied on ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', where an episode opened with Mr. Turner "falling in love all over again" when his wife makes her new dish: cold cereal and milk.
* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Escaping Expulsion". When Luz comes back to school for the first time since the previous season's finale, Amity gifts her with a homemade fairy pie—in which the ingredients are ''very'' fresh. Luz is unable to digest most witch food so she probably can't eat it, and is viscerally disturbed enough by the [[BlackComedy still twitching and protesting faries]] [[ForeignQueasine baked into a pie]] that she almost certainly would not do so if she could, but at least the thought counts.

* One of ''Glamour'' magazine's best known recipes is "Engagement Chicken', a lemon and herb roast chicken dish, discovered by one of its writers in 1982. The recipe earned this nickname after many women who prepared the dish and served it to their boyfriends--starting with three of the editors at the magazine -- were engaged soon afterward. Even shock-jock Howard Stern proposed to his girlfriend after she served him the dish.

* Pictured above: Mikoto from ''Anime/MyHime'' gets all starry-eyed the first time she tastes a bowl of Mai's ramen. The two become good friends afterwards, and it helps that Mai is [[SupremeChef very good at it]], having learned how to cook at a young age.
** Shiho tries to win points with Yuuichi this way in the CookingDuel after seeing that he's one of the judges. Unfortunately for her, she trips and plants her face into the completed cake.
* A hilarious version in ''Manga/TheLuciferAndBiscuitHammer'': Sami makes a meal, that turns somewhat lethal. She doesn't finish eating it, and tells Yuuhi that he doesn't have to either, but the man gobbles it up like nectar from the gods (and pays for it later).
** [[spoiler: During the finale, it's found that Yayoi cooks (large) lunches for her husband, even hand delivering them.]]
* In ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', when Tohru is sick, Kyo cooks her something to eat. Despite Momiji's teasing. And despite that he's making her leek soup... and [[PickyEater Kyo hates leeks]].
* Creator/RumikoTakahashi:
** Rei from ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' is a frequent target of this trope. A ChickMagnet so potent that even the fangirls of teen trillionaire HandsomeLech Mendou switch to squeeing over him the moment he shows up, he reveres anyone who brings him food... or whatever can even be ''considered'' food.
** A common plot in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Ranma really ''does'' think with his stomach a lot, and Akane is very determined to cook for him (as a LethalChef, HilarityEnsues). Her rivals, Ukyo (an expert Chef) and Shampoo (works in a Ramen cafe) often use food as a way to gain an advantage over Akane in their pursuit of Ranma. In particular, the anime Christmas episode has Akane wondering why Ranma is late - and then she imagines Shampoo tempting him with a turkey, and Ranma responding "I always wanted to eat a whole turkey". It was rather amusing CharacterDevelopment, because it showed that Akane now realized that Ranma would not be tempted by Shampoo's body but rather by the food.
** From ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku,'' Kyoko is thoughtfully providing lunches for Godai as he job-hunts. At least, she thinks he's job-hunting. He's really being forced to WorkOffTheDebt at a nightclub. They're very nice lunches and she's clearly putting a lot of effort into them. Godai feels like dirt for his subterfuge, and his boss keeps telling Godai not to let this one get away.
* In ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', Shana and Kazumi begin competing over Yuji by each bringing him lunch. Kazumi can cook, while Shana... let's just say Yuji's mother was overwhelmed trying to teach her. So Shana just gives Yuji a box of [[TrademarkFavoriteFood Melon Bread]] in a curious inversion of YourFavorite.
** Inspired by the cooking war going on over Yuji, Whilhelmina tries to do this for Shana. It doesn't turn out well- apparently NinjaMaid can't cook. So much for "Specialist of Everything".
* In a non-romantic version, Aoba in ''Manga/CrossGame'' fails, while Ko succeeds.
* In ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'', several girls including Dita compete for Hibiki's affection by cooking meals for him. This works exceptionally well, since Hibiki comes from a dystopian planet where all food are tasteless nutrients that look like hamster pellets.
* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', several girls attempt to get points with Negi by making him tea. In addition, Negi's first (and so far only) significant meeting with Satsuki Yotsuba was prefaced by a meal at her meat bun stand.
** Kotaro's HeelFaceTurn was facilitated by Chizuru's cooking. With MarshmallowHell for dessert.

* Cooking for your crush (or eating the food from your crush) is a frequent focus in ''Manga/SchoolRumble''.
** Hanai challenges Harima to a cooking duel during a nature outing to impress a Tsukamoto girl. What Hanai is unaware of is that both he and Harima are each focused on a different sister: Harima wants to impress older sister [[TheDitz Tenma]], Hanai wants to impress younger sister [[YamatoNadeshiko Yakumo]]. Naturally, HilarityEnsues.
** Tenma wants to make food for her crush Karasuma and decides on curry which is his favorite food. Since she's a LethalChef, she has to get Yakumo to help make it. They make two bento boxes containing curry and two containing rice so that each sister can bring the lunches to school to share (Tenma with Karasuma, Yakumo with her friend Sarah). Unfortunately the plan goes downhill when the bentos get mixed up and Tenma ends up with both boxes of rice while Yakumo is stuck with the two boxes of curry. Fortunately for Tenma, Karasuma is content with turning the rice into onigiri and sharing them with her.
** The girls of 2C making onigiri to share with the class while they're preparing for the school festival. Harima, who is perfectly aware that his crush Tenma is a LethalChef, attempts to eat her ongiri by finding the ones that taste the most disgusting. He thinks he's succeeded... only to then find out he ate the onigiri made by Eri (another LethalChef crushing on him) instead, much to her delight. Tenma then gives Harima the ongiri she actually made -- to his horror, they're even worse than Eri's.
* One episode of the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Ryuusei no Rockman]]'' anime featured Luna trying to learn to cook for Rockman in order to win his heart. Unfortunately for her, in addition to being a LethalChef, she happened to pick Subaru to taste her failed attempts, without having any idea that [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle Subaru actually]] ''[[TwoPersonLoveTriangle is]]'' [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle Rockman]].
* Hilariously played with in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico''. The girls who are after Akito (already a decent cook in his own right, and [[TeamChef the reason he joined the crew in the first place]]) try to compete for his affections through a CookingDuel... and they're all [[LethalChef really bad at it]].
* Taiga from ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' is at her most content when she eats good food. Her classmate and neighbor Ryuuji is an excellent cook. [[ForegoneConclusion Do the math]].
** This example reverses the gender roles in the trope, because the male (Ryuuji) is good at cooking and housekeeping, while the female (Taiga) is hopeless at both. Though CharacterDevelopment has her improve somewhat by the end, moving her from "utterly hopeless" to "moderately good" at caring for herself.
* Nodame's crush on Chiaki in ''Manga/NodameCantabile'' could perhaps be largely attributed to Chiaki's outstanding cooking skills, which save her from eating instant ramen for dinner every day.
* Parodied in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Tamahome is forced by circumstances to break up with Miaka. She, of course, is hurt and confused, and when it's time to prepare lunch, Miaka volunteers to help out. She ends up cooking with Xi Fang, the foster daughter of the Byakko Warriors Tokaki and Subaru, whom circumstances lead Miaka to be jealous of. Miaka gets distracted and burns all that she cooks, while Xi Fang's cooking is perfect, and HilarityEnsues when everyone takes the first bite and is instantly put off. Bonus points when Tamahome makes a spiteful comment about her cooking, and EXTRA bonus points when, after Miaka leaves upset, he eats everything she cooked at the cost of getting a nasty stomachache.
--> '''Tasuki:''' Hey, man, your face is turning blue...\\
'''Tamahome:''' So what, I said I'm gonna eat it!
* Shirayuki from ''LightNovel/SisterPrincess'' likes to cook for her brother to show her [[BigBrotherAttraction sisterly affection]]. In the first anime series, she starts out as somewhat of a LethalChef, but she quickly becomes a top-notch cook.
* Nagi attempts this repeatedly with Hayate in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. LethalChef indeed. Hayate, however, is actually touched by the attempts (despite the terrible taste), because his mother [[AbusiveParents never did anything so nice for him]].
** Hayate also manages to recruit people for Nagi's apartment complex and pick up [[UnwantedHarem Unwanted Haremettes]] through his cooking skills.
* Done in ''Manga/OnePiece'' at the end of the Alabasta saga. [[spoiler: So what does a now world famous pirate want for saving an entire country and defeating one of the most dangerous people in world? Luffy only wants to be fed until he explodes. Vivi and Terracota manage to succeed which is a [[BigEater miracle in itself.]]]]
** In a gender inversion, amorous chef Sanji prepares special food and beverages for whatever beautiful women he can find, shrugging off even his captain until the needs of the women are met. He clearly implies that he does this to win their affections. But at the same time, Sanji will never refuse anyone a meal if they're starving, even if that person could be a potential threat to him such as Gin.

* ''Manga/XxxHolic'': Because Watanuki's such a {{Tsundere}} that he can't bring himself to properly give a verbal "thank-you", whenever he wants to "pay back" any favors Doumeki gives him (such as ''saving his life numerous times''), he'll usually cook Doumeki's [[YourFavorite favorite foods]] or take requests to cook something [[PickyEater Doumeki]] wants ([[RunningGag most often with Doumeki making some ridiculous request that's impossible]]). Okay, so despite the fact he's [[TheStoic Mr. Stoic]], it's pretty obvious Doumeki already [[HoYay really really likes Watanuki]], but the cooking definitely seems to make him want to stick around Watanuki even ''more''. In fact, a lot of [[{{UST}} shipping fodder]] moments between them occur with them bantering and arguing about Watanuki's cooking.
* ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'': Shion [[spoiler:who is actually Mion in disguise]] inadvertently does this with Keiichi since he hadn't eaten lunch that day. While he wouldn't show much interest in her, it started a friendship.
* In ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'', Zenitsu comically asked Nezuko to marry him on the prospect of feeding her Sushi and Eel every day, that resulted in a failed attempt due Nezuko’s mind as a demon still not being able to understand what Zenitsu was proposing on that event.
* In ''Manga/DGrayMan'', apparently this is the way to [[BigEater Allen's]] heart. It's entirely possible to bribe him into having positive, happy feelings towards the person. In one instance, Miranda, unable to think of any way to cheer him up, gives him her candy, which makes him ridiculously happy. In another instance, Rohfa apparently caught on to the idea, and is implied to be trying to court him by bribing him with huge boxes of Mitarashi Dango (his favorite). Granted, he only seemed to happily notice the food, ''without'' the romantic implications... but, well, it's a start, right?
* In ''Anime/DualParallelTroubleAdventure'', three of the girls compete this way. Each of the girls has a different cooking ethnicity, and Kazuki ends up having to eat every morsel on every plate just to maintain the peace. A fourth girl, D, doesn't know how to cook, so she just adds instant curry sauce to all 3 meals in an attempt to compete. The irony is that Kazuki prefers bachelor food, like instant ramen.

* In ''Manga/TheWallflower'', Sunako appears to be doing this to Kyouhei accidentally. There was one episode where Kyouhei [[BelligerentSexualTension actually started to fall in love]] [[FanPreferredCouple with her]]. But then, because the StatusQuoIsGod, [[spoiler: he realizes that he just has a craving for some fried shrimp]]. And we're [[ShipTease right back where we started]].
* Nicely done in ''LightNovel/SaiunkokuMonogatari'', in which Shuurei's cooking wins Ryuuki's heart twice over. In the backstory of the series, Shouka shared the food Shuurei cooked for him with Ryuuki whenever Ryuuki visited the Archives, effectively becoming Ryuuki's ParentalSubstitute since he was neglected and abused by the rest of his family. Later, when Ryuuki and Shuurei first meet in person, she shares her tea and sweet bean buns with him; he recognizes her cooking, and falls in love with her in very short order.
* In ''Anime/{{Maburaho}}'' Yuna constantly cooks for Kazuki and brings him obento, because "that's whata wife is supposed to do". This is also played with in two episodes, one being where Rin wants to try to cook an obento for a teacher she had a crush on, however as she isn't as feminine as the rest of the female cast, her cooking tastes horrible. [[spoiler: In the end, she doesn't give the obento to the teacher, but instead gives it to Kazuki who eats it all, despite its horrible taste.]] In another episode, when Kazuki's parents are supposed to come over to visit, upon learning eel is their favourite meal, all three girls attempt to prepare eel to impress his parents.
* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
** This is how Makoto tries to impress Motoki. Unfortunately, her meal preparations are interrupted when Zoisite attacks ''his fiancée'', Reika.
** In the R season she also attempts it with Seijuuro/Ail, who is actually an alien in disguise and feeds off LifeEnergy instead, leaving him confused by her gesture. And then his [[ClingyJealousGirl Clingy Jealous Girlfriend]][[BrotherSisterIncest /Sister]] Natsumi/Ann shows up...

* Hikari offers to make Touji a bento in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. She says it's because she "makes food for her sisters so she always has leftovers" but it guaranteed that the fandom thought them an item from that point on.
** ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'' has a surprisingly detailed and extended focus on cooking. Shinji is a good cook, and proves it during a field trip. Rei, hoping to reunite Shinji and Gendo, invites both of them to a dinner party where she will cook. Seeing Rei practice cooking makes Asuka jealous, and she, too, takes up the ladle and attempts to learn (though she is [[{{Tsundere}} incredibly embarrassed when this is found out]]). A later scene proves that Rei is a far more dedicated learner than Asuka, as proven by the bandage count on their fingers.
* ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'': several examples
** Goku in general takes an instant liking to people who give him food, and for that matter, an instant dislike to those who take food away.
** Hakkai is the team cook, being the only one who can actually make anything edible this might be more a common sense arrangement. There's a flashback episode revolving around snow and the four of them eating sukiyaki together
** There's a filler episode in reload about a LethalChef (literally) trying to cook for her fiance.
* Collin from ''Anime/SpaceCarrierBlueNoah'' desperately tries to convince the crew to keep Anna on the ship by insisting, "She's a good cook! She's willing to cook!" They finally give in.
* A joint example happens in ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo''. When Tsuda compliments the miso soup dinner the three student council girls make for him and his sister, they stare at him expectantly after mentioning which part of the soup they prepared individually.
* In ''Anime/TenchiMuyo Ryo-Ohki'', Ryoko attempts to do this to win over Tenchi in episode 7. However, as she has no tastebuds to taste her meal and she's not willing to get Sasami, their resident cook, into the mix,[[note]]and doesn't trust her mother Washu enough to ask her to restore her sense of taste[[/note]] the results are disastrous. She ends up giving up, though.

* In ''Manga/TheSecretAgreement'', the first time Iori meets Yuuichi he is eating mitarashi dango, and Iori asks to try. He nearly eats the entire thing, over which Yuuichi feels resentful at the time. Later in life he views it more optimistically as "it only took three-quarters of a mitarashi dango to make you mine."
* DoubleSubverted in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'', Kaoru can't cook to save her life, but Kenshin likes her cooking because she keeps getting better and better at it. ''Awww.''

* Near the end of ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', Barnaby admits that he's been learning to make [[TrademarkFavoriteFood fried rice]] for Kotetsu "...so you have to try it some day!".
* Attempted by Ringo Oginome in episode 3 of ''Anime/{{Penguindrum}}''. She reads in a magazine that a curry plate made in specific circumstances will help her gain her crush Tabuki's attention, and thus she tries making curry for him. [[spoiler: Too bad that Tabuki's ''actual'' girlfriend, Yuri, beat her to the punch.]]
** In episode 11, Shouma Takakura is seen cooking stuffed cabbage and his sister Himari notices it's a dish he ''only'' cooks when he intends to ask someone for forgiveness. She then speculates that he's had a fight [[ShipTease with Ringo]] and says [[ShipperOnDeck "I hope Ringo-chan likes cabbage!"]]. [[spoiler: In a subversion, Ringo don't get to taste it;she knocks the dish down because, when Shouma and Himari found her, the kid was in the middle of a ''huge'' HeroicBSOD.]]
** Invoked again in episode 17, since Shouma and Kanba's ''takoyaki'' is so good that not even [[spoiler:''the Princess of the Crystal'']] can resist their taste.
* In one chapter of the harem comedy ''Manga/AiKora'', Maeda tries to get home to enjoy a chocolate sculpture of a girl with all his "ideal parts" that he had commissioned. Unfortunately, it's Valentine's Day, and he keeps getting sidetracked by all the girls in his harem plying him with chocolate (''lots'' of chocolate, in the case of [[RichBitch Ayame]] and [[FeminineWomenCanCook Kirino]]).
* While rare, Brock of ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' sometimes employs this tactic when attempting to woo the GirlOfTheWeek.
** In her first night as a member of the twerps, Serena in the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY XY saga]] baked some cookies for the gang, but gave them to Ash first. This being [[ChasteHero Ash]], he completely overlooks Serena's intention of impressing him.
* In episode 15 of ''Manga/DNAngel'' Mio Hio tries to win Daisuke over by cooking for him. Risa also suggests that Riku should cook for Daisuke to win him over.
* Siesta resorts to this tactic in ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' at times to try to win Saito.
* In ''Manga/DearBrother'', when Nanako visits Rei in her [[RoomFullOfCrazy apartment]], she learns that Rei barely has anything in her fridge. She then decides to cook healthy meals especially for her, and leaves at least one basket full of handmade food in her doorstep.

* [[PatientChildhoodLoveInterest Sylphiel]] in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' was quite happy to hear "Gourry dear" really likes her cooking. Gourry being an IdiotHero, he still [[ObliviousToLove failed to notice]] her obvious advances, though.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' {{interquel}} manga had one of [[BonusMaterial bonus chapters]] built upon two outstanding traits of the protagonist: being a BigEater and ChickMagnet at the same time. It was one glorious CookingDuel involving just about every female character from both seasons of anime.
* ''Anime/{{Futakoi}}'' had {{Ojou}} twins infatuated with Nozomu, who tried this. They had to improve their cooking skills all the way from LethalChef level first.

* In the last volume of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters: KYO'' manga, Athena wants Kyo, Yuki and Kensou to join her in her SchoolFestival performance. She invokes the trope via making a good Chinese mushroom recipe and inviting them over for dinner, then telling them her plans when they're at the table -- and it works. [[spoiler: Too bad the Festival is crashed by Goenitz.]]

* Parodied in the ''Manga/CaptainTsubasa'' original anime. Sanae is trying to gather her courage to ask Tsubasa out and decides to bring him sandwiches... but while he does like her food, he totally misses her advances. Being a {{tsundere}}, she finally gets fed up and goes away, with Tsubasa being all "... WTF?!"
** Played straight in the re-introduction of the Furano team. The two managers, Yoshiko and Machiko, bring home-made drinks for the guys; [[ShipperOnDeck Machiko]] immediately tells Yoshiko to go to the team captain, Matsuyama, and give him his drink first while she handles the rest, [[InvokedTrope clearly thinking of the present trope]] since Yoshiko and Matsuyama are TwiceShy.
* In ''Manga/CaseClosed'', after [[spoiler: Shiratori and Kobayashi]] have a RelationshipUpgrade, she begins to make him ''bentos'' for lunch. His co-worker [[spoiler: Takagi]] tries to ask his girlfriend [[spoiler: Sato]] to make him a bento too, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint but she mistakenly believes he's buying lunch for the two of them.]]
* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. As Kaname is a {{Tsundere}} she naturally fulfills this trope. She's shown to have prepared a special meal for Sousuke on several occasions, either as reconciliation after losing her temper, or as ShipTease promptly followed by Sousuke doing something to make Kaname lose her temper.

* In ''Manhwa/IWish'', this trope gets coupled with LoveEpiphany. K tells Wye that the master never taught him anything about love, until he recalls a time he ran away from his home. The master found him and asked if K wasn't hungry, which moved K to tears. This leads to him asking [[LoveInterest Lyu-Jin]] if she's hungry, pointing to a table full of food that he has cooked -- and Lyu-Jin is moved to tears, realizing that he loved her, and she was in love with him.
* In ''Manga/Brave10'', Isanami basically gets a bodyguard in Saizo for a soba bowl although technically it's more about the repayment than the food itself.
* The title character of ''Manga/{{Karin}}'' does this to [[LoveInterest Usui Kenta]]... and almost always tries to justify the meal as being a different trope.
* ''Manga/GirlFriends'': After realizing that Akko is trapped in an unhealthy pattern of eating out a lot and ferociously dieting to make up for it, Mari starts making bentos for her.
* In ''Anime/{{Colorful}}'', Makoto's mother spends most of the film making homemade meals, much of which the main character refuses to eat because of his resentment towards her. [[spoiler: Mitsuru yells at him about this toward the end of the film, as before Makoto had tried to commit suicide, she always bought prepackaged meals, and is now putting in far more effort that he is cruelly refusing]].
* In ''Manga/TheRoyalTutor'', Kai's fiancee/cousin Beatrix is determined to show her more feminine side to him so she asks him out for a picnic and prepared a meal for him. Unfortunately for her, Kai invited the rest of his family (and his teacher Heine) to the picnic and his grandmother already made a large lunch for them.
* ''Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying'': Haijme absolutely loves his wife Kaoru's cooking, despite the fact that what isn't burned is undercooked. [[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes And her father is a]] ''[[TheCobblersChildrenHaveNoShoes restaurant chef]]''.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'': Before attempting to get her crush, the notoriously-solo player Kirito, to join her party, Asuna cooks him a meal with an S-class ingredient. Sure enough, he is exploring the latest dungeon with her, and only her, and Klein even congratulates him for being "ensnared by feminine wiles". Later volumes continue this trend with him loving every food she makes for him.
* ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun'': Kashima attempts to appeal to her beloved senpai Hori by secretly making a cake for him (he doesn't like being given homemade food so she pretends she bought it). The approach she uses for this plan is hilariously unromantic (for example her asking a coworker to keep it a secret makes it sound like she's whipping up drugs). She makes brandy cake, and Hori ends up eating most of it. The problem? Hori turns out to have really bad alcohol tolerance and so ends up ''drunk''.
* ''Manga/SquidGirl'': In a couple of chapters/episodes, Sanae tries to win the titular girl's heart by preparing her food, often involving [[TrademarkFavoriteFood shrimp]]. Unfortunately for Sanae, she's a LethalChef.
* ''Manga/SengokuKomachiKurouTan'': Tadakatsu Honda first falls in love with the heroine, Shizuko, after she gives him some new onigiri samples while he's being detained for trespassing in her territory.
* A big theme in ''Manga/SingYesterdayForMe'':
** Shinako spends all her time making food for Rou and his father. Rou takes this as a sign of her interest in him, and proudly shows off her homemade bentos to his friends at school, only to be chastened when a friend also has a homemade bento, made by his mom. In one scene, Rou demands she keeps cooking for him after he goes to college, drawing parallels with how he demands her love. This contrasts him with Rikuo, who is grateful and determined to repay Shinako for her food (and love).
** Similarly, Haru shows her love for Rikuo by spontaneously bringing him food from her workplace. She finally becomes convinced that he's not into her first when he is underwhelmed by the breakfast she makes him, and then when she finds him with Shinako after rushing to bring him a cake she made at work.
* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': Suzu tries to get Shirogane to be her friend, and give up on [[ToServeMan eating her]], by making him food. It works pretty well, mostly because Suzu herself being SupernaturallyDeliciousAndNutritious also makes her food taste good to ayakashi.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'' uses the trope in a roundabout way with two of the titular quintuplets. Nino is a SupremeChef, but given that she started out on the wrong foot with Fuutarou, she tends to use her cooking in order to distract him or otherwise get away from studying. Miku, on the other hand, quickly takes to like Fuutarou and despite being a LethalChef decides to try and learn to cook well in order to gain his affection. [[spoiler:CharacterDevelopment leads to Nino falling for Fuutarou and begin to use the trope for real, while Miku manages to make pretty good dishes, and is almost as good as Nino by the series' end]].
* This is basically the whole premise of the BoysLove OfficeRomance manga ''Manga/ManlyAppetitesMinegishiLovesOtsu.'' Minegishi frequently buys food to share with all his coworkers but he's especially keen on getting the grouchy and cynical Otsu to eat his gifts, [[ObliviousToLove for some reason Otsu can't figure out.]] It also turns out Minegishi is a great cook, and he winds up cooking for Otsu a couple of times.
* ''Manga/IWantYourMotherToBeWithMe'': When she finds out he's been eating nothing but snacks, Yuzuki starts inviting Ryo to eat at her family's Chinese restaurant or her house, and sometimes even brings him food when he's studying for the accountant exam. She has no romantic intentions when she first does this, though by the later chapters it's pretty clear she's falling in love with him.
* ''Manga/HandsomeGirlAndCrossdressingBoy'': Iori's skill at cooking impresses Hazuki, and she vows to get better at cooking so she can return the favor.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': On multiple occasions, Kaguya has attempted to give Shirogane food, but -with the exception of a single slice of birthday cake- something always happens to prevent him from eating it [[spoiler:until after they've already been dating for several months.]]
* Elma from ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' is ObsessedWithFood, but it's [[spoiler:Tohru's]] cooking that she loves most of all. [[spoiler:In fact, remembering the scent of a bento that Tohru had made for her is what finally gets her to speak out against her ArrangedMarriage. She also stated during their reconciliation that food in general just tastes better to her when they're together.]]

* In Franchise/{{Superman}} story arc ''ComicBook/KryptonNoMore'', ComicBook/LoisLane decides to "get" Clark Kent by cooking his favorite dinner.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' when Stoick lovingly mentions that he didn't marry Valka for her cooking, to which Gobber basically replies that she was and is a [[LethalChef terrible cook]] (then after tasting the fish she prepared, Gobber feeds his share to his dragon instead of finishing it himself).

* ''Film/MiamiBlues'': Susie has a relationship with Junior, who is secretly a criminal psychopath. As a SecretTestOfCharacter, she cooks a vinegar pie with ''way'' too much vinegar. When he tells her that it's delicious, she stops trusting him. In the end, when asked why she stayed with him for so long, one of her reasons is that he ate everything she cooked for him.

* In ''Film/SilentFall'', Jake cooks Tim a meal as part of his effort to bond with him.

* In ''Literature/{{Unique}}'', Sajan often shared his meal with Emma after she quickly finished her own food. He generally enjoyed watching her enjoy the food as much as he would have enjoyed eating it.

* ''Literature/IronDruidChronicles'' features a rather interesting example. Iron elementals eat magic. Fey are magical beings. Atticus befriends an iron elemental called Ferris by feeding it the Fey scouts [[BigBad Aenghus Og]] sends to find him. [[spoiler: Then he kicks Aenghus Og's butt using, among other things, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain a magical talisman that he made with Ferris's help]]]].

* Comes up in the young adult novel ''[[Literature/DarkestPowers The Awakening]]'' by Kelley Armstrong. When Derek first sees Chloe again, he offers her food and asks about her injury. His romantic rival for Chloe's affections even comments that Derek is "showing him up". Later, Derek acts a bit of a mother hen over Chloe, making her a bed of tarps, offering her his sweatshirt, and giving her his last granola bar. So it came as no surprise when a new character instantly observed that Derek considered Chloe [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent his mate]].

* Mat Cauthon of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' believes that if you get a woman to start feeding you, she is halfway won. He happens to be right.
** And this is inverted when Tylin tries to deprive him of food to get him in her bed.

* In Jim Butcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Summer Knight'', a sidhe offers him mortal food, and he [[EngagingConversation jestingly says, "Marry me,"]] before eating. She exploits the trope to keep him from asking questions she doesn't want to answer.
** In the [=DF=] short story ''Day Off'', Harry only lets Molly into his apartment after she bribes him [[NotAMorningPerson with]] [[MustHaveCaffeine coffee]].
* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos The Orphans of Chaos]]'', Vanity offers to cook for Glum, which lets them manipulate him. She's not an objectively very good cook, but Amelia notes that whatever she makes is mysteriously delicious.
** In ''Titans of Chaos'', after Amelia offers Victor some papaya, he says she would make some man a good wife. She spends a ''long'' time pondering [[EngagingConversation what exactly he meant]]. In a slight twist, Victor is normally a better cook than she is.
* Bryan Davis' ''The Eye of the Oracle'', Mara feeds Elam from her hand through a hole in the wall when they're imprisoned by Morgan. Later in the series, when they meet face to face and fall in love, Elam often recalls this incident, and at one point vows to give his life to defend "the girl who risked her life to feed me." Their "I love you" hand signal, wiggling fingers, is specifically stated to hark back to that.
* Subverted in ''Literature/BetsyTacy''. Betsy claims that Tib's stolid German cooking would be a disillusioning experience for any boy, no matter how good the food is. Further subverted by the fact that Betsy herself only learns how to cook after marriage, with her husband doing most of the cooking before.
* In Creator/LMMontgomery's ''Literature/TheBlueCastle'', Barney is much taken with Valancy's cooking.
** In ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne's House of Dreams]]'', Gilbert gives the newly engaged Miss Cornelia the rules his mother was told to manage a man. The second is "Feed him well." She immediately responds "With enough pie."
* In Charles Dickens' ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', Barkis decides to marry Peggotty without even speaking to her, just by eating a pie she made. He proposes by sending a message via David: "Barkis is willin'."
* In ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' trilogy, Katniss [[BigEater really loves to eat]], and she's particularly fond of Peeta's cheese buns, which he brings her all the time in ''Catching Fire'' (despite the fact that things are still pretty awkward between them, and she's now rich enough to just ''buy'' bread). This trope is almost [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] to begin with, though: when they were younger, Peeta caught a beating from his mother to provide Katniss with two loaves of bread that saved her and her mother and sister from starvation... and she so [[DebtDetester loathed the debt she felt towards him]] that she avoided him until the games forced them together. It's played straight as a manifestation of his character, though.
** In the movie, Peeta felt immense guilt over tossing her the bread (as opposed to taking it to her) way back when Katniss and her family were starving, because he later felt like he was treating her like a starving dog (Katniss herself couldn't care less about that and is rather oblivious to his feelings regarding the matter.)
* In Creator/DevonMonk's ''Literature/MagicInTheShadows'', Maeve brings Allie food and tells her to eat it -- without magical Influence, but so maternally that she obeys.

* In Creator/ItaloCalvino's ''Literature/{{Cosmicomics}}'', Mrs. Ph(i)Nko's desire to feed them all noodles caused the Big Bang.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's novel ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance'', Tej defends watching for Ivan on the ground he's bringing dinner, and Rish says her suitors should have brought provisions rather than high connections.
* In Jeramey Kraatz's ''Literature/TheCloakSociety'', Cloak has the Beta team make snow cones for the Gammas (children who have not yet developed powers) in order to encourage them to look forward to becoming Betas.
* In ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'', Tatsuya often buys Miyuki chocolate cake before he tells her bad news [[spoiler:and she makes him a cake for Valentine's Day]]. In contrast, Mayumi's prank gift of bitter chocolates does not go over well- Tatsuya doesn't take it in the lighthearted spirit she hoped he would.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' has a platonic version, where the SupremeChef Rock's delicious stews help the Bridge Four RagtagBunchOfMisfits build group cohesion at mealtimes and ultimately become TrueCompanions.

* ''Literature/SteelCrowSaga'': Jimuro scores major points with Tala by cooking adobo, her favourite food, after her BadassInDistress moment. She's doubly surprised because he's a prince of an enemy state but still does a good job of her national dish.

* ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'': Twisted into knots in "Cool Hands, Luke and Bo." There's no benevolent (and definitely no loving) affection between Col. Cassius Claybourne and his longtime rival, Boss Hogg, only Claybourne's desire to gain revenge on his longtime enemy and wipe him out financially and in many other ways ... by exploiting his appetite. Before it's done, Boss has eaten chicken, mashed potatoes, blueberry pie, chocolate cake and other high-calorie dishes, and Claybourne has gotten the mortgages to the Boar's Nest, Hazzard Bank, Cooter's Garage, the Boar's Nest, Hogg's used car lot and every other property in Hazzard County.
* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': The old lady who becomes something of a mother figure to Monk in one episode wins him over by making cubic muffins.
* Mellie and her incessant pasta-making on ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}''. Despite being a single woman who lives alone, she seems to make lasagne in gigantic portions. It's no real surprise that it works on Ballard.

* The early paid program [[http://www.archive.org/details/YoungMan1952 ''A Young Man's Fancy'']] (first aired in 1952 and later featured on [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] episode # 610 ''The Violent Years'') has a mother give this advice to her daughter Judy who is trying to win the heart of the ergonomics-obsessed Alexander Phipps. Judy's response is, "Oh, mother that's corny!" In the end the power of food and an electric kitchen win the day.

* Pointedly played with in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', where Ziva cooks for everyone ''except'' Tony. He is stunned that she's holding dinner parties for absolutely everyone else they work with, including the "autopsy gremlin!" Eventually, she promises to cook for him, but we never see any of the scenes. For more information, see "Boxed In" from Season 3; Ziva's decision to cook for Tony is a result of them spending the episode LockedInARoom.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'':
** PlayedForLaughs in "Sic Transit Vir," where Captain Sheridan attempts to cook Minbari food for Delenn. She's absolutely delighted... until she actually [[VomitDiscretionShot tastes]] it.
** Garibaldi relates to Doctor Franklin a story about Garibaldi's father, a gourmet chef, who would make his specialty of bagna cauda for Garibaldi's birthday day every year as a special nonverbal "I love you" from father to son. Garibaldi now cooks the dish himself for his birthday to remember his father. Franklin is moved enough to suspend Garibaldi's food plan and authorize the meal, and invite himself. Later episodes imply this started a trend of [[TastesLikeFriendship Garibaldi and Franklin having dinner with Garibaldi cooking]].
* On ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', Walter accuses [[spoiler: Alt-Livia]] of "us[ing his] stomach to get through to [his] heart" (by buying him [[GeniusSweetTooth pastries]].)
* Eliot on ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' uses a platonic variant on the team as a whole. And it's adorable.
* On one occasion in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Crichton secures Jool's help by bribing her with the location of Rygel's stash of ''wamelon'' cake.
* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'':
** Makoto is seen cooking rice curry for Motoki, who is sick. Four years later, they hooked up together.
** Usagi tries to win Mamoru's heart with Valentine's Day chocolate, overlapping with ChocolateOfRomance.
* Probably the main reason for the continuing marriage of Frank and Marie from ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond''.
** The lemon chicken that won Ray's heart - only for him to discover later that this is practically the ''only'' thing Debra can cook well - is in all probability a reference to "Engagement Chicken" as described below in RealLife.
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': Special Agent Frank Lundy cooks dinner for Debra, a much younger detective who is part of their joint task force. Adorably, he asks her brother Dexter about her food preferences. He barely starts though because they find each other too irresistible and initiate sex. Later, he's seen offering her a piece of lox in the office, to which she replies, "Gross."
* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'':
** Sookie is a great chef and she's seen preparing food for her boyfriend (later husband) Jackson or her best friend Lorelai (who can't cook to save her life).
** Lorelai and her daughter Rory often eat at Luke's diner. He's their close friend and their dinners, lunches or dinners there look like friends or family eating together. They often show their appreciation and say multiple times that Luke is the one who feeds them and that they owe him for their survival. Later, Lorelai and Luke get together romantically.
** Lane's boyfriend Zach who was for a long time her friend, band-mate and room-mate prepares romantic dinner for her when he plans sleeping with her for the first time. Lane was completely oblivious and then shocked when she got it.
* In ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'', a woman rescued by Parker baked some cupcakes to thank the entire team. But Jules pointed out later, that those cupcakes were specifically made for Parker (to hint at her interest/affection for him).
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** It's pretty clear through the course of the show that cooking is the way Monica shows her love for all her friends, making it a platonic version of the trope. She absolutely loves being "the perfect hostess". One of the flashbacks in the series reveals that an infatuated Monica was convinced to become a chef after she made some macaroni and cheese for Chandler and he told her that she should become one.
** Phoebe once imagines a possible future where [[SupremeChef Monica]] is married to a very visibly overweight [[BigEater Joey]] instead of Chandler. She cooks for him and feeds him with delight.
* Played for drama in ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', where the house cook discovers that her prospective husband is only interested in her excellent cooking. When she's not around, he flirts with every woman in sight.
* Is a RunningGag for an episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', where Fitz is called away for his first major field mission without Simmons, who expresses her anxiety over the situation by painstakingly making him his incredibly specific favorite sandwich to take with him. Tragically, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich the sandwich does not survive to get eaten]], but Fitz is obviously touched by the gesture and, when she asks, simply tells her it was delicious. The same sandwich makes a dramatic return in the second season. [[spoiler:In "Afterlife," Fitz and Simmons appear to end their friendship entirely, with Simmons pushing him away so forcefully that Fitz leaves SHIELD. Only to have {{The Stinger}} reveal it was a ruse all along when Fitz finds the aforementioned specific sandwich that she made for him in his backpack. This time he gets to eat it.]]
* ''Series/UnsolvedMysteries'': ''Fritz and the Soldiers'' featured a story about a young boy whose mother sheltered a few German and American soldiers under her roof, convincing them to leave their weapons aside and have the soup she was cooking. They entertained her son and one of the Germans even looked at a wound on a American's soldier and offered his recommendations and later all looked up at the stars before retiring to bed. 50 some years later, the grown-up Fritz reunited with one of them on the GI's own Golden Anniversary, [[BookEnds where they had the soup they shared long ago.]]

* In the first episode of ''Series/HereComeTheBrides'', one of the women woos a lumberjack by describing all the dishes she knows how to make.
* ''Series/MurdochMysteries''
** Mrs Brackenreid is acknowledged as a very good cook. She's sometimes seen cooking and bringing food for her husband, trying to appease him or indulge him. In "Kung Fu Crabtree", she cooks Chinese dinner for her family. Inspector stays at work because he prefers English food (beef or pudding) but she brings him his dinner in a basket to the office. He happens to love it and some of the spices happened to be aphrodisiac... In one episode, she cooks a special feast with all her husband's favorites for their anniversary.
** Enid Jones, a young widow courted by Detective Murdoch, bakes cake for Detective Murdoch as a thank you gift for helping to find her son, and she later brings him some food when he's sick and she even [[RomanticSpoonfeeding spoonfeeds him]].
* ''Series/{{CSINY}}''.
** Soon after Mac and Christine start seeing each other in season 8, they decide to meet at her restaurant for dinner one night, but he ends up calling to cancel because of work...again.
-->'''Mac:''' I really hope I haven't put you out.\\
'''Christine:''' Oh don't be silly, I was just going to whip something up when you got here.\\
''As he promises to make it up to her, the camera pulls back to reveal that she has indeed prepared an elaborate meal which is spread all over the counter where she's standing.''
** Flack's grandmother invokes the maternal version with him and his sister, Sam. She lures them to her place with pleas for help with a (non-existent) leak under her sink, then plies them with homemade Italian food until they can't eat any more...yet continues to offer them more servings.
* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'': Doña Cleotilde, aka "La Bruja del 71", sometimes tries to employ this trope to gain Don Ramón's affection, albeit with limited success because Don Ramón is uninterested in her (though he does accept the food), or sometimes el Chavo and la Chilindrina end up ruining the food (if they don't eat it themselves).
* ''Series/{{You}}'': Love Quinn is a trained pastry chef, so her go-to move when trying to connect romantically with series protagonist Joe is to bake him something tasty.
* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': Prima tries to get close to ''[[SoapWithinAShow Ada Azab Dalam Cerita]]'' star Clarabel by doing this twice. It doesn't work and Clarabel doesn't even remember him when they meet again post-''AADC''.
** In episode 4, Prima tries to get close to Clarabel by giving her a bottle of coffee like the one she gave to him the previous day. Too bad the reason Clarabel gave it was because she doesn't like it, so she gives Prima's coffee to Akbar.
** In episode 6, Prima buy Clarabel some ''gado-gado'' from Pipin's shop because he overhears that she wants some. It backfires badly since Prima gets demoted for leaving ''Ada Azab Dalam Cerita'' filming location and Clarabel no longer wants ''gado-gado'' by the time Prima gives it to her.

* In ''Theatre/TheMoonIsBlue'', Patty jumps at the chance to cook dinner for Don in his apartment (though he has to buy the groceries first), and David tells him after dinner that she has been trying to invoke this trope:
-->"The dinner was excellent. Now having established a beach-head in your heart, she's landing in full force on your whole bosom with this dish-washing, see-what-a-superb-housekeeper-I-am routine."

* ''Series/{{You}}: Love Quinn is a trained pastry chef, so her go-to move when trying to connect romantically with series protagonist Joe is to bake him something tasty.

* In ''Manga/BattleRoyale'', Noriko [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/battle_royale/c001/30.html bakes cookies to give to Shuya]], whom she has a ''huge'' crush on. Unfortunately for her, it didn't have the effect she really wanted, since Yoshi (who had a ''huge'' crush on Noriko) ended up taking the cookies and eating them.

* The parental version occurs in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' when Bob finally breaks through [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Galatea's]] paranoia by serving her some [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080906.html microwave pizza,]] the first civilized meal she's ever had.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveConan'', after [[spoiler: Shiratori and Kobayashi]] have a RelationshipUpgrade, she begins to make him ''bentos'' for lunch. His co-worker [[spoiler: Takagi]] tries to ask his girlfriend [[spoiler: Sato]] to make him a bento too, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint but she mistakenly believes he's buying lunch for the two of them.]]

* Downplayed in ''Series/{{CSINY}}''. Soon after Mac and Christine start seeing each other in season 8, they decide to meet at her restaurant for dinner one night, but he ends up calling to cancel because of work...again.

As he promises to make it up to her, the camera pulls back to reveal that she has indeed prepared an elaborate meal which is spread all over the counter where she's standing.

* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' where Captain Sheridan attempts to cook Minbari food for Delenn. She's absolutely delighted... until she actually [[VomitDiscretionShot tastes]] it.

** In her first night as a member of the twerps, Serena in the [[Anime/PokemonXYTheSeries XY saga]] baked some cookies for the gang, but gave them to Ash first. This being [[ChasteHero Ash]], he completely overlooks Serena's intention of impressing him.

* While rare, Brock of ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' sometimes employs this tactic when attempting to woo the GirlOfTheWeek.
** In her first night as a member of the twerps, Serena in the XY saga baked some cookies for the gang, but gave them to Ash first. This being [[ChasteHero Ash]], he completely overlooks Serena's intention of impressing him.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Escaping Expulsion". When Luz comes back to school for the first time since the previous season's finale, Amity gifts her with a homemade fairy pie—in which the ingredients are ''very'' fresh. Luz is unable to digest most witch food so she probably can't eat it, but at least the thought counts.

* Fanfic/{{Greenfire}} (AlternateUniverse!Spike) initially shows nothing but apprehension when [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rarity]] insists on visiting his cave to have a tea party with him regularly, but eventually warms up to the idea. Although he enjoys the tea and cupcakes Rarity brings, Rarity wins Greenfire over more for providing an excellent conversation partner and help alleviating his [[TheAloner solitude]].

* ''Fanfic/{[Greenfire}}'': Greenfire enjoys two things when Rarity visits: the pleasant company of Rarity herself, and the delicious food she brings with her.

The EarthMother, GrannyClassic, and MamaBear engage in this on a regular basis for their children, [[RealMenCook but it's not limited to women]]. The TeamChef may do this to express the PowerOfFriendship for their TrueCompanions. Indeed, any character who cooks on a regular basis probably does this as well. It acts more as a characterization trope, indicating a generalized benevolence toward a large group or even all of humanity (or more), than a particular relationship, though even here it often indicates that a person has been accepted into their TrueCompanions.

** Tenma wants to make food for her crush Karasuma and decides on curry which is his favourite food. Since she's a LethalChef, she has to get Yakumo to help make it. They make two bento boxes containing curry and two containing rice so that each sister can bring the lunches to school to share (Tenma with Karasuma, Yakumo with her friend Sarah). Unfortunately the plan goes downhill when the bentos get mixed up and Tenma ends up with both boxes of rice while Yakumo is stuck with the two boxes of curry. Fortunately for Tenma, Karasuma is content with turning the rice into onigiri and sharing them with her.

-->'''[[DeadpanSnarker Nathan]]:''' I didn't realise you were a trained chef.

* Is a RunningGag for an episode of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', where Fitz is called away for his first major field mission without Simmons, who expresses her anxiety over the situation by painstakingly making him his incredibly specific favourite sandwich to take with him. Tragically, [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich the sandwich does not survive to get eaten]], but Fitz is obviously touched by the gesture and, when she asks, simply tells her it was delicious. The same sandwich makes a dramatic return in the second season. [[spoiler:In "Afterlife," Fitz and Simmons appear to end their friendship entirely, with Simmons pushing him away so forcefully that Fitz leaves SHIELD. Only to have {{The Stinger}} reveal it was a ruse all along when Fitz finds the aforementioned specific sandwich that she made for him in his backpack. This time he gets to eat it.]]

** Mrs Brackenreid is acknowledged as a very good cook. She's sometimes seen cooking and bringing food for her husband, trying to appease him or indulge him. In "Kung Fu Crabtree", she cooks Chinese dinner for her family. Inspector stays at work because he prefers English food (beef or pudding) but she brings him his dinner in a basket to the office. He happens to love it and some of the spices happened to be aphrodisiac... In one episode, she cooks a special feast with all her husband's favourites for their anniversary.

*** Charlotte, as a mix of TheFakeCutie and GoldDigger, uses her cooking skills as one of her "tactics" to attract men. It backfires hilariously in her ''Invisible Kingdom'' B and A supports with [[spoiler: Saizo]]: he trolls her several times via {{Stealth Hi Bye}}s, and in one of them he drinks the soup she was preparing ''before Charlotte can even blink'', which pisses the HELL out of her. (He ''does'' aknowledge the good taste, however.)

** Kuro also often cooks, particularly for his beloved younger sister and his karate club junior Tetora. On the other hand, Tetora would like to cook for Kuro, but he's a LethalChef so he has a lot of practising to do before he can.