The Great American Recipe - General Discussion

[VanillaBear85]

I think overcooked burger should have went home.

[SophiaD]

What's the point of having the first round if it isn't going to help the contestants?  Nikki had one of the top two dishes in the first round and she's sent home?  I feel as though the whole thing is rigged.  It's also really boring, compared to the GBBO, where there are set rules, and it's easy to see why some struggle and others don't.  Paul and Mary or Paul and Prue explain what's wrong or we can see it for ourselves.  These forgettable judges just say, oh, this is a flaw and you're leaving.  I doubt I'll be watching it again. 

I also think it's ridiculous to compare pumpkin bread to cacio e pepe.

Edited July 31, 2022 by SophiaD

[Spunkygal]

The young lady who is the host has an annoying over-laugh after every single comment someone makes. 

[DanaK]

Why do the cooks make 5 or 6 servings of a meal when there’s only 3 judges doing the tasting?

I’m enjoying this quite a bit

[Salacious Kitty]

40 minutes ago, DanaK said:

Why do the cooks make 5 or 6 servings of a meal when there’s only 3 judges doing the tasting?

I’m enjoying this quite a bit

The 3 judges and the host eat. That's four. Then they need a plate for the money shot. So that's five servings. 

Edited July 31, 2022 by Salacious Kitty

[2soon2tell]

A couple of thoughts, how well done ground meat is cooked is a personal preference. I would not eat ground beef much rarer than he prepared it.  Unless it was bone dry, it wasn’t prepared incorrectly.  Also, quick bread is one of the easiest things to bake.  That challenge was so unfair. Here, you make something a 12 year old can easily make and you make something a skilled chef would struggle with.  But I guess I have had this problem with the whole show. It isn’t really a contest if one person is always making Italian and one is always making seafood, etc.  They need to set some parameters around each challenge.  At least say everyone will make a chicken dish today.  I would prefer, chicken pot pie is an American classic, everyone make one.

Edited August 1, 2022 by 2soon2tell

[2soon2tell]

Also, who doesn’t know how to melt butter?

[milkyaqua]

I also thought Dan would be gone because both his dishes seemed to underwhelm the judges.  They did at least like Nikki's first dish but since I have no idea how they are doing the scoring/judging on this, I got nothing.

[meep.meep]

6 hours ago, 2soon2tell said:

But I guess I have had this problem with the whole show. It isn’t really a contest if one person is always making Italian and one is always making seafood, etc.  They need to set some parameters around each challenge.  At least say everyone will make a chicken dish today.  I would prefer, chicken pot pie is an American classic, everyone make one.

It's just so shapeless.  The contestants could legitimately make the same dishes day after day, and they'd meet the criteria for each day's "challenge."  

[SophiaD]

I had a similar thought, @2soon2tell.  Like, with the GBBO, they have weekly challenges, but the contestants are given recipes and are judged as to how well they make the dishes.  There are specific standards.  Part of the fun of it is seeing each bake and comparing how I think they did versus how the actual assessment from the judges.

They could change the format of the show to feature regional cuisines:  New England, Southern, Cajun/Creole, West Coast, and maybe have an appetizer or soup and a main.  Or they could do specific types of cuisine, like Pasta Week, Pizza Week, Dumpling Week, Savory Pie Week, Vegetarian Week, Fish Week, and so on.  

As it is, it's just way too nebulous and too open to such statements as, "You just cook with so much HEART!" and so on.

[Yeah No]

On 7/30/2022 at 9:59 AM, VanillaBear85 said:

I think overcooked burger should have went home.

It didn't look that overcooked.  It was maybe medium to medium-well, not a hockey puck.  I saw some pink in it.  And in that range it's really a matter of taste, so I'm glad Dan didn't get punished for that.  Plus what about all the business about safety with burgers in restaurants and having to cook them through?  It's nearly impossible to get a medium rare burger in a restaurant anymore because of that.  

The elephant in the room is Silvia.  She narrowly escaped the bottom but I thought she should have been in the bottom.  According to the judges her cacio e pepe had no taste and the sauce looked nonexistent.  It's not just made by throwing cheese and pepper on top of pasta.  I've done that and that's what you get, not cacio e pepe.  You have to make the sauce with the pasta water and that's not as simple as it sounds.  Next to that, Dan's slightly overdone burger seemed like a subjective nitpick.  But this didn't surprise me because I think Silvia is the "designated winner" so the judges look for ways to minimize her failures and over-exaggerate others'.  

[EllenB]

I thought everyone added celery to their chicken salad. They acted like it was the Most! Original! Idea! Ever! And dates and macadamias are not that different than the dried cranberries and pecans in Aldi's chicken salad. Man, they're really pushing Sylvia to win. Those sandwiches look like what I'd shove on a plate when I don't have time to make an actual meal.

Whoops, tear fest time! It's mandatory on this show. Watch that salt level, dude!

Edited August 6, 2022 by EllenB

[mertensia]

I knew it was either going to be Dan or Robin. 

I'm going to point out that when you ask the contestants to make a recipe they've made time out of mind and you say "the dough is dry" and Dan looks shocked....yeah. Not a pretty look for the judges. Because it makes me wonder if it was because, after all, Graham was on Masterchef where they definitely have protected favorites.

ETA My favorite chicken salad is in a sandwich from a local chain. Raisins and almonds are their fruit and nut additions.

Edited August 6, 2022 by mertensia

[Salacious Kitty]

Yeah, it's been obvious almost from the very beginning that Foo and Silvia would be in the finale. Silvia seems to have the edge though. I'd be shocked if she DIDN'T win.

[MBayGal]

OMG, Silvia made a chicken salad sandwich! I will  have to watch this again and again to see if I too can learn how to make this complicated and challenging dish.  And celery!!  In the chicken salad!  How exotic!!  

And then she made chicken soup with some canned white corn and green salsa. How she ever pulled off anything so complex in just 90 minutes is beyond me. The woman is a genius!  Just send the other two home and give Silvia her tiara now.  Just be sure to redo the cookbook covers to read The Great Mexican Recipe.   

[mertensia]

10 hours ago, MBayGal said:

OMG, Silvia made a chicken salad sandwich! I will  have to watch this again and again to see if I too can learn how to make this complicated and challenging dish.  And celery!!  In the chicken salad!  How exotic!!  

And then she made chicken soup with some canned white corn and green salsa. How she ever pulled off anything so complex in just 90 minutes is beyond me. The woman is a genius!  Just send the other two home and give Silvia her tiara now.  Just be sure to redo the cookbook covers to read The Great Mexican Recipe.   

To be fair, that was probably hominy, not plain corn, and it's usually canned.

But yeah. Very underwhelming recipes for her.

[String Theory]

On 7/24/2022 at 12:54 AM, MBayGal said:

Does anyone else feel like they have already decided Sylvia is going to win?  I think her food is the least interesting, all her dishes just have stereotypical Mexican ingredients.  The others have prepared much more varied dishes, with a wider variety of ingredients. But the judges are/act so emotionally touched by her stories and her food. I can't help but feel it's fixed.

@MBayGal, ITA.  I've really tried to like this show, but don't care for much of anything about it. 

I think it's going to either be Sylvia or Foo (who I feel turns on tears to win the judges sympathies) that "wins" the competition  I don't have a problem with men being emotional, but this guy is OTT.

I agree with one of the comments upthread, I'd like to see the competitors be given the same ingredients (a'la Chopped) & see how creative they could be.  I'd have no problem watching each contestants put their own "ethnic" spin on it.

I didn't warm up to any of the judges, didn't find them likeable. I really disliked when a judge would make a suggestion as how when they cooked a similar dish how they'd enhanced it. On the latest episode one of the women judges told Foo that when she made the dish he was making she topped hers with a sunnyside up egg.  Foo took her suggestion & surprise of surprises, his dish was one of the winners!  Sylvia (surprise!) was the other.

I'll stick with GBBS.  I don’t think you're ever going to hear Paul Hollywood give any of those contestants tips on how to improve their bake!

Very disappointed with this; I'd expect better from PBS!

[dleighg]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:46 AM, zoey1996 said:

I'm not a calamari fan, but I would have tried some of Foo's salad, it looked good!

I too would like to have them cook the same dish, be it entree, side, or dessert. Having said that, having Dan's cookies for the sweet ending (desser)t) seemed to work well. I thought Robin was too ambitious with her Kibbeh, since ordinarily that grain is soaked overnight. Since it was too dry, that was her downfall. I was sorry to see Tony go, but both his dishes were the least successful, so it was the right choice.

I just happened upon this episode and that calamari mango salad sounds amazing. I took the trouble to look it up and will try it soon.

I agree about Robin and the Kibbeh-- if you normally soak it for 24 hours, why are you experimenting with boiling it instead?????

[potatoradio]

Sorry to say that this show is kinda boring enough that I end up yakking with my wife for over half of it - not a good sign when a discussion about grocery shopping and gas prices is more engaging than the teevee. 

Add me to the chorus of WTF were they thinking not having everyone cook the same thing so there might be a hint of objectivity in the judging? 

Did anyone miss how knowledgeable Leah is about every kind of cuisine in the world? I hope nobody missed her pro tips on what to add to a Thai dish or how SHE likes to do Italian food, because I know for sure I would trust a smarmy know it all who spent a few years cooking in a country over, say, an Italian or Asian chef who grew up eating the cuisine. Shut up, Leah. You still need a shower from your grimy and foul affair you had on Top Chef. 

Tiffany Derry can do much better. 

[MartyQui]

I thought Dan’s take on Italian American food was kind of boring, but so is Sylvia’s Mexican American food.  I hope Foo wins.  if they’re going to do a second season of this, they need to do a much better job of setting the challenges.

[SophiaD]

I make a truly excellent balsamic chicken salad, with grapes, pecans, and green onions.  I'm just saying.  :)  But, yes, celery is very much standard. 

I don't know who to root for in the finals, so I will root for them to do a better job in the next season.  Since I am complaining, anyway, could they please choose judges we have at least heard of, and do a better job of setting their context every week?  Like, each week, in the GBBO or its Canadian counterpart, the judges discuss the food, they have an example of a perfectly-baked version that one of them did, and they are specific about what they are looking for, and share a bit about their own stories.  I didn't know very much about any of the baking show hosts before I started watching, but their personalities, backgrounds, and areas of expertise emerged as the season ran its course.

(Of course, my favorites on the Great Canadian Baking Show always loose, so I'm just going to DVR it and watch all of the episodes at once). 

Edited August 7, 2022 by SophiaD

[2soon2tell]

I will be happy when the “let’s add hot peppers to it, that will make it taste better “ trend goes away. I don’t need jalapeños in my chicken salad. I just feel like if it was a real competition the judges would have said this doesn’t add anything to your recipe.  Also, you made a sandwich.  Whoopee. 

[Andyourlittledog2]

The Julia Child Challenge show did the same kind of thing this show did last week. They tell the contestants to make a dish and 'put their spin on it' and then the contestant just uses the dish as an 'inspiration' for a completely different in almost every way dish that they already know how to do.  If someone is supposed to make an Asian dish then they shouldn't be able to change it to ravioli just because they cook Italian all the time.

This show has no parameters for challenges other than 'warmth' 'love', 'family', 'holiday'.  How the hell is that competitive? You can't judge on that basis it's completely subjective.

At this point the entire competition is so vague and baseless that I am bored to tears and can't bring myself to watch it anymore.  It has no point.

[ILuvShibaInus]

As others have noted, this show is just bland. Just like the chefs tell the contestants to season their food, the producers need to spice up the format if this returns for a Season 2.  The first challenge comes off as having nothing to do with the second challenge judging wise. In other shows, the winner of the first challenge gets a prize, an advantage in the 2nd challenge or the judges use a less than stellar performance in the determination of who gets sent home. Here, is it just another challenge. Sylvia is an OK chef but if the script says she is the winner (or needs to be in the final three), then (sadly) you can't go against the script which is the norm these days for competitive shows like this one. 

[MBayGal]

14 hours ago, ILuvShibaInus said:

Sylvia is an OK chef but if the script says she is the winner (or needs to be in the final three), then (sadly) you can't go against the script which is the norm these days for competitive shows like this one. 

I assume you use the word "competitive" ironically since, as you point out, they have a script

[Andyourlittledog2]

The weirdly vague instructions and judging criteria, along with (especially) Tiffany's effusive comments about 'love!' 'warm!' 'family!' reminded me somehow of the humorous 'The Existentialist Cookbook by Jean Paul Sartre':

"October 3: Spoke with Camus today about my cookbook. Though he has never actually eaten, he gave me much encouragement. I rushed home immediately to begin work. How excited I am! I have begun my formula for a Denver omelet.

"October 4: Still working on the omelet. There have been stumbling blocks. I keep creating omelets one after another, like soldiers marching into the sea, but each one seems empty, hollow, like stone. I want to create an omelet that expresses the meaninglessness of existence, and instead they taste like cheese. I look at them on the plate, but they do not look back. Tried eating them with the lights off.  It did not help. Malraux suggested paprika.

"October 10: I find myself trying ever more radical interpretations of traditional dishes, in an effort to somehow express the void I feel so acutely. Today I tried this recipe:

Tuna Casserole: Ingredients - 1 large casserole dish. Place the casserole dish in a cold oven.  Place a chair facing the oven and sit in it forever. Think about how hungry you are. When night falls, do not turn on the light.

While a void is expressed in this recipe, I am struck by its inapplicability to the bourgeois lifestyle. How can the eater recognize that the food denied him is a tuna casserole and not some other dish? I am becoming more and more frustrated."

Seriously, I'd like to see this show instruct the chefs to 'express a void'.

[ILuvShibaInus]

8 hours ago, MBayGal said:

I assume you use the word "competitive" ironically since, as you point out, they have a script

Other "competitive" shows have a disclaimer at the end saying the producers have final say in the elimination. Anything to not veer from the script. These days, too many reality competitive shows are no different than Wrestling from the WWE. 

[chessiegal]

I've been reading this thread, but haven't watched any episodes yet. This morning's paper had this on the front page. I didn't realize there is a hometown contestant. Guess I'll watch the finale.

[EllenB]

The host and judges have used the word LOVE about a hundred times before the final contestants even started cooking. 🤮🤮🤮 And once more, it's a vague definition of what they should make. Ridiculous.

[EllenB]

Are they sequestered like a murder trial jury, that they haven't seen their families in forever? Ridiculous. The contestants on "Alone" don't whine about their families this much.

And stop all the damn loud giggling from judges and cooks!

Was this show supposed to make me happy? It's not working, because it constantly pisses me off.

Edited August 13, 2022 by EllenB

[EllenB]

Robin's final food looked like it was done by a fine restaurant chef. Foo's looked so appetizing. Sylvia made tacos and the most basic Mexican cake. Of course, she won. 🙄

[mertensia]

How incredibly boring.

Yawn. 

[MBayGal]

Off to order my copy of the "Great" Mexican Cookbook, so I can make some of the **interesting** dishes of the other cooks.

[meep.meep]

I forgot this was on and turned to the channel at 10:05 to find my PBS station holding a begathon with the finalists.  Once I heard that Sylvia had won, I didn't even need to watch the finale.  I hope they don't think this show is going to bring in the big bucks.

[milkyaqua]

Yeah, pretty much turned out how most of us called it.

16 hours ago, EllenB said:

Robin's final food looked like it was done by a fine restaurant chef. Foo's looked so appetizing. Sylvia made tacos and the most basic Mexican cake. Of course, she won. 🙄

With canned beans no less, yeah, whatever judges.  I also loved how the judges had critiques for at least one of all of their final dishes but of course Sylvia was still the winner.  Nothing against her but it was just so obvious.  Nothing surprising at all.  Even on the pledge drive, Sylvia made salsa, Foo did the shaking beef and Robin made what looked like a simplified baklava and virgin cocktail.

If they bring this back, they need to rejigger.  The judges need to make comments beyond "love" and all their other goofy expressions.  They also need to somehow level the playing field by maybe having the cooks make the same type of dish but put their spin on it.  Then again, the whole point of this show may be to remain exactly the way it is but that doesn't make for a very compelling show.

[DanaK]

I enjoyed this, especially since I like learning about different people and their history, but I do agree they could probably change some things. I would maybe like to see a bigger group of judges, composed of ordinary people who have cooked and make them diverse and have the contestants win them over. Or maybe small teams of contestants with similar ethnicities or from similar regions and see how they differ in their individual approaches. I also like the idea of having, for at least some of the challenges, the contestants start with the same dish and put their own ethnic or regional spin on it

[2soon2tell]

So, this is supposed to be a show about recipes.  So set it up where the challenge tonight is stew.  Everybody make their best stew.  Next week the challenge is lasagna.  Stop all the make something that takes you to your happy place stuff.  

[dleighg]

Just now, 2soon2tell said:

So set it up where the challenge tonight is stew.

yeah it seemed so open-ended to be pointless. I watched a middle-series episode randomly because I happened upon it, then watched the first, then decided it was.... pointless.

[DanaK]

Renewed! https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/silvia-martinez-wins-pbss-first-national-search-for-the-great-american-recipe/

Expected to air in Summer 2023

[WorldTV]

3 hours ago, DanaK said:

Renewed! https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/silvia-martinez-wins-pbss-first-national-search-for-the-great-american-recipe/

Expected to air in Summer 2023

Unless this show is considerably modified, I won’t be watching. The challenges weren’t differentiated, and “cooking with love” isn’t a criterion.  During the finale it was so obvious who had been chosen as the designated winner, despite the fact that both Foo and Robin had been consistently more creative throughout the series. The judges’s critiques were useless.  Not everyone wants salt in their food, and that was always the only critique of Foo.  And his final dessert wasn’t sweet enough to please the judges, despite the fact that it went well with his style of cooking.  (I always find Tres Leches cake too sweet.) Robin’s food always looked wonderful and was very different from challenge to challenge. 

[Yeah No]

Well I finally caught up with this after a busy couple of weeks.  I knew Sylvia was the designated winner weeks ago and it just pisses me off how fake this turned out to be.  I expect better from PBS.  If it's going to be fake, at least make it entertaining!  I'm surprised no one mentioned how the judges gushed over a freaking chicken salad sandwich.  Sylvia could have made them a TV dinner and won that challenge.  And it didn't even look appetizing.  It had everything but the kitchen sink in it.  Tiffany Derry looked like she was pulling the compliments out of her ass to find something good to say about it.

Good for Dan for saying he was shocked at his elimination.  I think he, Robin and Foo were all dong wrong, although I think the latter two were probably more likely to have deserved the win given what they cooked.  I was wondering what the three of them would say to each other after a few drinks behind the scenes, LOL.  I don't know if it was the editing but I really didn't much like Sylvia.  She had a smug self-centered cutesy attitude about her that put me off.  It was kind of like she was the teacher's pet and kept working it to her advantage.

At least I'm glad to know I'm not alone in feeling the way I do about this show.  And that's the only thing I'm glad about with regard to this show!

[libgirl2]

I just caught this and binged on a sick day. I really enjoyed it. I was thrilled about the kibbe as I am part Dominican and they are available everywhere.  Growing up, I thought they were purely Dominican.  We call the quippe.  And the German part of me loved the spaetzle. We would top them with butter toasted bread crumbs, beef gravy and Maggi.  

I did think that there wasn't enough representation of European ethnic food. I would love to have seen liver dumpling soup or roladin. And sadly, the only Caribbean person went home early. The missed opportunities! Pot pie? Why not mangu? 

Any way, it was a fun watch. I figured Silvia would win but I preferred Robin. She IMHO was the most creative. The woman made almond milk! Silvia made pizza and tacos. I am sure everything was delicious but was it that hard? I did like after she won she was talking about her accent and being an American.  My mom got a lot of grief for being Hispanic back in the day. I got what she was saying. 

Edited December 1, 2022 by libgirl2

[libgirl2]

On 8/5/2022 at 8:29 PM, EllenB said:

I thought everyone added celery to their chicken salad. They acted like it was the Most! Original! Idea! Ever! And dates and macadamias are not that different than the dried cranberries and pecans in Aldi's chicken salad. Man, they're really pushing Sylvia to win. Those sandwiches look like what I'd shove on a plate when I don't have time to make an actual meal.

Whoops, tear fest time! It's mandatory on this show. Watch that salt level, dude!

That aldi chicken salad is the bomb! I'm not a great cook by any means, but I can make a good chicken salad. Its not rocket science. 

[DanaK]

Second season premiere in June but no specific air date yet. The show has a panel at the TCA Winter Press Tour as part of PBS’ 2 day presentation at 11:15am PT today

[libgirl2]

On 1/16/2023 at 8:42 AM, DanaK said:

Second season premiere in June but no specific air date yet. The show has a panel at the TCA Winter Press Tour as part of PBS’ 2 day presentation at 11:15am PT today

Thanks. I'll have to see if it is on Passport. 

Nevermind, I see it hasn't aired. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by libgirl2

[DanaK]

Season 2 premieres Monday, June 19 at 9pm ET https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/the-great-american-recipe-returns-with-a-new-season-of-creative-home-cooks-from-across-the-country/

[Salacious Kitty]

I hope they don't telegraph the judging so much this time. We all knew from like the second episode who was going to win Season 1.

[DanaK]

Meet the home cooks for Season 2 https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/blogs/news/meet-the-home-cooks-from-across-the-usa-in-season-2-of-the-great-american-recipe/

[2soon2tell]

I hope they are a little more specific with their challenges this time. It isn’t really a competition if the directive is “make something you really like “ every time.

[milkyaqua]

They seem to be going down the same rabbit hole as last time.  There's got to be a way to do this so it's more fair across the board.  I'll be curious to see what happens on the second epi since they've kept all the cooks.  I really want them to have everyone do challenges where they are using the same type of ingredients (tweaked to respect any dietary or religious needs).  That would be a better gauge.  Doing it the way they did last season is too random.