Chopped 2022: Live and Let Chop

[Ms Blue Jay]

Just saw "Chocolate Frenzy", very cute episode.  I liked how Ted asked the winner to do a 'fist bump' with himself and the judges instead of the pre-Covid handshake.  LOL.  Never saw that before.

On 2/23/2022 at 9:21 PM, mlp said:

I did too, especially after I saw Tiffani whom I also can't stand. 

I'm no fan of Tiffani either.  I don't hate her - that's reserved for Alex - but sometimes she grinds my gears.  

She did the "I don't LIKE this dessert".  
Chef:  "OH, no."
Tiffani:  "I love it."

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

On 2/24/2022 at 11:43 AM, sharifa70 said:

I was happy to see Claudia: I remember her from Masterchef and was glad she won. She was respectful to the Chopped chefs here and I appreciated that even when she didn’t like something she also found something positive to say about each dish.

It's funny how she said thank you to each chef who made her food.  The judges NEVER do that.  I liked her here, but I do not know her from anything else previously.  She was gracious and I liked her feedback.

On 2/24/2022 at 2:32 PM, schnauzergirl said:

Last night was my introduction to Claudia and I thought she was fine.  To-the-point critiques and I believe she even thanked one contestant for cooking for the judges.  And I'm OK with Tiffani, so guess I'm in the minority.  

I think she thanked each of them at least once.

Edited July 27, 2022 by Ms Blue Jay

[schnauzergirl]

I saw a promo tonight for NEW Chopped episodes beginning on October 18 at 8:00, not 9:00 p..m.  

[pdlinda]

I just finished watching the new season episode this morning (recorded it last evening) and I was struck with the theme (live fire AGAIN) and the fact that Tiffany (other judges too, but mostly her) started with the vocal "interaction" with the contestants while they were cooking. 

Whomever, on the production side, thinks this is a good idea, is sadly mistaken, IMO.  

The contestants are there to showcase their abilities and talents and the constant shouting from the judges does NOTHING to enhance that goal.

Maybe the production staff thinks the show would be too boring without all the interruptions; however, it was such a showcase for true talent for so many years and gained a wide audience, why mess with a good thing??

The thing that I learned last year that really bothered me was that the contestants have to bear the cost of travel and lodging while competing so for the ones that lose, it's large expense to absorb (especially in this economy).  

[Rammchick]

21 hours ago, pdlinda said:

I just finished watching the new season episode this morning (recorded it last evening) and I was struck with the theme (live fire AGAIN) and the fact that Tiffany (other judges too, but mostly her) started with the vocal "interaction" with the contestants while they were cooking. 

Whomever, on the production side, thinks this is a good idea, is sadly mistaken, IMO.  

The contestants are there to showcase their abilities and talents and the constant shouting from the judges does NOTHING to enhance that goal.

I agree, and would also add that not only does it add nothing, but actually detracts.  The contestants only have 20-30 minutes to produce a restaurant quality dish out of disparate, often unknown and sometimes weird ingredients.  They certainly don't need the distraction of having to interact with the judges while they're supposed to be concocting their dishes.

[pdlinda]

1 hour ago, Rammchick said:

I agree, and would also add that not only does it add nothing, but actually detracts.  The contestants only have 20-30 minutes to produce a restaurant quality dish out of disparate, often unknown and sometimes weird ingredients.  They certainly don't need the distraction of having to interact with the judges while they're supposed to be concocting their dishes.

I try to picture the production meeting where this nonsense (interacting with contestants) was hammered out.....some young producer trying to entice a "younger demographic" to the ranks of CHOPPED devotees by "jazzing up the dynamics" between guests and judges.

I think when a company buys ads on a channel it isn't designated to a particular show; however, maybe somebody can provide that info; HOWEVER, my point is that the essence of the show is what brings viewers to it, NOT how much screaming and "encouraging remarks" the judge's make that, as you point out, acts as a toxic interruption to their work "flow" and concentration in preparing their dishes.

[nitrofishblue]

On 10/19/2022 at 3:49 PM, pdlinda said:

The thing that I learned last year that really bothered me was that the contestants have to bear the cost of travel and lodging while competing so for the ones that lose, it's large expense to absorb (especially in this economy).  

You know that the state and fed tax collectors are there just waiting to grab their share.  I always laugh when the chefs are asked what they are going to do with their winnings and they give all these grand things like a trip to Europe to try all the foods. I can only guess that they only get about 50% of the ten thousand. I bet it is having the bragging rights to be called a Chopped Champion that brings them in to New York.

[Grizzly]

Saw the social media episode. I'm not on any of that stuff but I'm guessing they're not gaining followers because their food looks good. Those were 2 fine looking young men! How annoying that these people can barely put their phones down to cook. I wonder if Chopped allowed them to post in real time with the potential of revealing the winner?

[mlp]

I enjoyed the social media episode.  The young people all seemed nice and they could cook.  The eliminations went in the order I thought they should too - which seldom happens.  I also enjoyed seeing Joe Sasto again.  I liked him on Top Chef.

[buttersister]

I missed the first 10 minutes--that was Joe Sasto?! He looked familiar, but not what I remember. At all. LOL! I was glad Amer (sp?) won. I don't follow any of them, but his food (and he) I found the most appealing.

Edited November 2, 2022 by buttersister

[AAEBoiler]

Saw the "Social Media" episode and had to comment that Geoffrey Zakarian ate the dessert ice cream with chopsticks?!? C'mon!

[mlp]

16 hours ago, buttersister said:

that was Joe Sasto?! He looked familiar, but not what I remember.

He looks exactly the same to me except that he no longer has the Snidely Whiplash mustache.  I guess he grew out of that.  

[Gramto6]

8 hours ago, AAEBoiler said:

Saw the "Social Media" episode and had to comment that Geoffrey Zakarian ate the dessert ice cream with chopsticks?!? C'mon!

Yeah, GZ has a history of eating things with chopsticks. Some things are totally inappropriate like ice cream. I think he picked it up from Martha Stewart when she was a guest judge a while ago. But at that time I believe she was tasting Chinese/Oriental food so appropriate. GZ has pushed the envelope with the chopsticks...

[buttersister]

GZ comes off as an asshole. 

It was Joe's Snidely Whiplash mustache I associate with him, mlp, thanks!

[Maverick]

25 minutes ago, buttersister said:

GZ comes off as an asshole. 

 Well if it walks like a duck....

[mlp]

Re:  Geoffrey Zakarian and his chopsticks:

Just today there was a post on FB about that very thing but now, of course, I can't find it again to provide the link.  Basically, it said that he started using them when Martha Stewart was judging (which we all knew) and continued because they give him the ability to easily separate and evaluate individual ingredients.  It didn't say why he uses them for ice cream.  :)  I guess that's plausible but it also looks pretentious.  Or maybe some of each.

[Salacious Kitty]

GZ is such an ass. Even when he's shilling his cookware on QVC, when one is expected to be personable to sell their wares, he's still a pretentious ass. 

[xaxat]

I've been away from the show for a while, but I just watched the social media episode, and for the most part I liked it. It was interesting how imaginative the chefs were, while making basic culinary mistakes. Not salting the pasta water, overcooking proteins twice, not tasting elements etc.

On 11/2/2022 at 8:52 PM, mlp said:

Re:  Geoffrey Zakarian and his chopsticks:

Just today there was a post on FB about that very thing but now, of course, I can't find it again to provide the link.  Basically, it said that he started using them when Martha Stewart was judging (which we all knew) and continued because they give him the ability to easily separate and evaluate individual ingredient

If that's the reason, it's stupid AF. On the social media episode he ate a piece of quesadilla using chopsticks. THAT'S NOT HOW QUESADILLAS ARE supposed to be eaten! It's crunchy, gooey, savory, in one bite.He also used chopstick to eat  the top layer of a desert that was clearly designed to be eaten as a combined bite.

I want someone to serve him Mexican street corn on the cob.

[Rammchick]

17 hours ago, xaxat said:

If that's the reason, it's stupid AF. On the social media episode he ate a piece of quesadilla using chopsticks. THAT'S NOT HOW QUESADILLAS ARE supposed to be eaten! It's crunchy, gooey, savory, in one bite.He also used chopstick to eat  the top layer of a desert that was clearly designed to be eaten as a combined bite.

I was also under the impression that he did this because he thought that the metal of the fork could potentially interfere with the taste of the food.  I guess that makes as much (non)sense as being able to separate and taste individual elements (that are supposed to all be eaten together 😏 ).

[sharifa70]

As a Pacific Northwest resident who’s still processing the cancellation of King and Snow crab seasons, I had a hard time watching that king crab getting mixed in and buried with other ingredients. My admittedly very gatekeepery opinion of Alaskan crab (as well as Dungeness, and Alaskan salmon) is those ingredients don’t deserve to be treated like yet another part of a recipe. They're so marvelous on their own that I am cursing the producers who introduced King crab into a challenge that requires the ingredients to be transformed. No. It deserves to be on a plate with a lemon wedge and some melted butter. Every one of those appetizer plates was sacrilegious. 

[AAEBoiler]

So who's writing GZ's material? Yesterday's gem was something like, "The chances are slim to none and slim just left town." Groan.

[sharifa70]

I have a hard enough time wrapping my brain around what I see as egregious food waste on Chopped, but then they go and do a “gargantuan” twist? Unless there was a line of homeless people a block long outside the studio waiting for the leftovers, this was absolutely appalling. I’ve never gone hungry a day in my life but this makes me actually angry. Food prices are sky-high and they do this? Badly done, Chopped.

[mlp]

4 hours ago, sharifa70 said:

Food prices are sky-high and they do this? Badly done, Chopped.

I kept thinking the same thing but then I wondered if all those giant dishes didn't have some kind of infrastructure we couldn't see and the actual food was just one layer arranged around the base forms.  I hope so anyway.

[ZoqFotPik]

Zakarian said there was 150 lbs of pasta, 40 lbs of meat, 10 lbs of sauce, and 5 lbs of cheese. What a gargantuan waste of food.

[sharifa70]

1 hour ago, ZoqFotPik said:

Zakarian said there was 150 lbs of pasta, 40 lbs of meat, 10 lbs of sauce, and 5 lbs of cheese. What a gargantuan waste of food.

There was absolutely no point to it. If the “gargantuan” twist had been “they have to prep and cook meals for a team of firefighters/athletes/a soup kitchen,” that would have made sense. They could have fed 150 families of four on just the 150 pounds of pasta (assuming 1 1-lb box per family).

Edited December 1, 2022 by sharifa70

[Rammchick]

1 hour ago, sharifa70 said:

There was absolutely no point to it. If the “gargantuan” twist had been “they have to prep and cook meals for a team of firefighters/athletes/a soup kitchen,” that would have made sense. They could have fed 150 families of four on just the 150 pounds of pasta (assuming 1 1-lb box per family).

Agreed.  And it's not as though those gargantuan basket items were anything special -- regular sized nachos, spaghetti and meatballs and ice cream sundaes would have accomplished the same thing.

[xaxat]

In addition the gargantuan dishes looked very unappetizing.