S20.E11: Battle of the Wellingtons

[MerBearHou]

I see Buddha's food as being from someone who genuinely finds food to be beautiful and he is such a student of food and taking the best from dishes he has been exposed to.  I respect and admire that for him in his field.  And I find him to be a kind, calm, supportive, very bright leader without shouting -- he was so great with Gabri -- the perfect person for Gabri to be paired with and Gabri really shone.  I would love it if Buddha won.

[Norma Desmond]

3 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I would love it if Buddha won.

Me too. Team Buddha,  party of two.

[Mellowyellow]

23 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

Me too. Team Buddha,  party of two.

Party of three! I like him too!

I'm an Asian Tiger Mum in real life and one thing we have going is that our kids are well prepared for most situations so I have a fondness for Buddha and his analytical mind.

[Norma Desmond]

1 minute ago, Mellowyellow said:

I have a fondness for Buddha and his analytical mind.

He does have an analytical mind, but he cooks with his heart. I don't see him as cold and calculating. Yes, he's in it to win, but he does have a genuine passion for all things food. And - I'll say it again - so talented.

 

In last season's finale Padma said there was nothing wrong with the other contestant's food - the only problem was that they were being judged against Buddha's. He is that good..

[Chickabiddy]

As a woman of a certain age, I totally get how society judges women  based solely on the physical. The scrutiny that woman  face versus men is shocking and unfair. I mean Tom is a pudgy bald guy who still seems to have quite the fan base. However, I don’t have such a problem with people commenting on Padma’s appearance or weight gain. Padma is a glamour puss. While she is a talented chef and very intelligent, a huge part of her image and persona is tied to her appearance and overall physique. Sports Illustrated, anyone? Her style is flashy and meant to draw attention to her. Gail is also an extremely attractive woman, but her style and presentation are more subdued. She doesn’t lead with physical appearance in the same way Padma does. So I am fine with gentle,  respectful commentary on Parma’s appearance. It’s the same way I am fine with people giving a critique of a professional body builder’s level of fitness and physique. You can’t go into a business like that and expect people to only talk about the content of your mind. 😉

As for Buddha’s popularity or lack there of, it may just come down to his face. He seems like a perfectly nice guy and strong competitor. And as  a perfectly nice person who sometimes has a resting bitch face, I can sympathize. Buddha may just suffer from having resting smug face. Not our fault, but our burden to bear. 😉

As for the final four, I was really surprised. I knew Buddha would pull it through and take Gabri along with him, whether from superior chef skills or just excellent talent management. Buddha  is Buddha and Gabri makes for good TV in addition to being a strong chef. I really thought Amar  and Sarah would go through as well. Amar  has done some excellent cooking this season, has an excellent attitude, and seems to be very popular. Sarah is an excellent chef and the only woman remaining. While Tom and Ali are excellent chefs, they just didn’t seem to have the TV personalities for an exciting and dynamic finale. So that’s me told by Bravo for taking the cynical approach. 😘

 

[JTMacc99]

On 5/18/2023 at 10:30 PM, BlackberryJam said:

I’m disappointed that Gabri is still there. I just don’t think he’s the caliber of the chef’s left. Also it felt like he was just Buddha’s sous.

My take on Gabri is that he's surviving entirely on his talent and probably did the same in his original season. I say this, because he's all over the place all the time in challenges. He is NOT great at the competition part of the game (like Buddha for example, who comes prepared with specific dishes he's practiced and can deploy in challenges.)

I would imagine that back in his own restaurant, working in his own little world, Gabri probably churns out some really creative and delicious food. I see him more running a destination restaurant with a dozen tables than I can ever see him running an empire (like Buddha for example). 

[Suzn]

On 5/23/2023 at 4:10 AM, Chickabiddy said:

As a woman of a certain age, I totally get how society judges women  based solely on the physical. The scrutiny that woman  face versus men is shocking and unfair. I mean Tom is a pudgy bald guy who still seems to have quite the fan base. However, I don’t have such a problem with people commenting on Padma’s appearance or weight gain. Padma is a glamour puss. While she is a talented chef and very intelligent, a huge part of her image and persona is tied to her appearance and overall physique. Sports Illustrated, anyone? Her style is flashy and meant to draw attention to her. Gail is also an extremely attractive woman, but her style and presentation are more subdued. She doesn’t lead with physical appearance in the same way Padma does. So I am fine with gentle,  respectful commentary on Parma’s appearance. It’s the same way I am fine with people giving a critique of a professional body builder’s level of fitness and physique. You can’t go into a business like that and expect people to only talk about the content of your mind. 😉

I totally agree with this.  Padma herself talks about what effect judging all that food does to her.  The way she looks is very much part of what she offers as well as being an expert on food.  I mentioned it only as a rare misstep of a dress that was unflattering.  I don't think I'd ever noticed before that she had gained weight and really noticed her choice of dress more than anything else.

[dleighg]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:45 AM, seacliffsal said:

Not sure if just a couple more minutes in the oven would have made the difference for their lamb dish.  But, at least they went out with a strong showing.

I was also hoping they'd pull it out, but have to admit that severely undercooked lamb is the kiss of death. I laughed when they directed the judges to put the sauce on top of the lamb, as if that could make a lick of difference to a two-inch hunk of meat :). I guess you have to try.

[sATL]

Does a wellington have to be a certain height ?

I was trying to think of ways to mediate the beef/meat from being undercooked - ie use a shorter height of the meat. It will be the servings from the middle (the tallest part) that will take the longest to cook.

Or they could have made an extra one - that would have had the servings on the end cooked to compensate for the middle pieces that were undercooked.