S12.E01: Sudden Death

[Wings]

Random thoughts. 

 

"Our beautiful blond thoroughbred, Kerriann, grabs the knife; clams are flying open."  I don't think this is sexist at all.  Women comment on men's appearance all the time.  I see this as a compliment.  

 

When the term caviar is used to describe anything other than fish eggs it is a molecular process to turn a liquid into tiny spheres.  The guy who was eliminated had salmon roe in his dish and Siracca caviar in a corn soup.  I agree with the judges!  Salmon roe in corn soup?  No. 

 

Pork belly is really just slab bacon and there can be parts that are too fatty despite it being a fatty meat. My son braises it then crisps the top. The cheftant even commented that was all he had left.  I am shocked he didn't save the best for the judges.  I do not fault Padma for spitting it out,  Tom tossed some fish on the ground (outside challenge on a ranch) in a previous season because it was terrible.  

 

I watched 4 past seasons very recently and it is notable that the first winners are usually in the finals.  I expect to see Mei and Gregory there with the short white guy.  

 

note to self: learn the names of those who do well.  

 

http://www.goldderby.com/news/7383/top-chef-season-12-boston-contestants-bravo-entertainment-13579086-story.html

Cheftants and their names are here.  Scroll down to where you vote to see the names with the pics.  

 

Doug is the short white guy.  

Edited October 18, 2014 by wings707

[Veruca Assault]

Hey everyone! I've started a new topic to focus on Richard Blais-- let's move all future talk on him to that topic and keep the episode threads focused on the individual episodes! Thanks!

[Beloved Aunt]

I'm a Blais lover too. I don't know what exactly it is about him but I've liked him from that first season, quirks, neuroses, hurl-faces and all. I'd almost gotten over him but then he had to go and pop up on "Duels" vs Marcel of all people. When he sees Marcel and says, "I see it's the battle of good vs evil", well, he had me again. He's baaaaaaack. I was delighted to see him.

I like Joy.

I like the Mexican-Japanese kosher taco truck guy.

I hate the sour puss faced guy who was so hautily dismissive of the woman chef who'd won some obscure cooking title.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Beloved Aunt

[Adeejay]

I love Richard Blais - there I said it! His season was my favorite, I love Stephanie too. I'm happy he's here.

 

I like Richard too.  I am looking forward to having him around all season. 

[millamant]

Gregory seems really skilled, and a very nice guy. But every time I saw him on the screen, I thought "When did Steve Urkel learn to cook"?

 

 

I was wondering when Spike Lee learned to cook!!

 

 

 

And I was wondering how Young Gus Fring had escaped Los Pollos Hermanos to compete on Top Chef...

Edited October 18, 2014 by millamant

[Wings]

Ha ha ha!  I thought he looked familiar and did not know why.  I get that now.  :>)

[SFoster21]

Spike Lee is about four feet tall.

Edited October 18, 2014 by SFoster21

[car54]

I don't mind Richard....he kind of is how he is....needy and neurotic but he knows food, and he's a Bravolebrity so of course the are going to have him back.  But where the hell is Emeril?   He's my guy....he's been the heart of the show the seasons he's judged.   I'm sad not to have him on this one.

[Julia]

But where the hell is Emeril?   He's my guy....he's been the heart of the show the seasons he's judged.   I'm sad not to have him on this one.

Oh, I'm so sorry. Emeril is making hay while the sun shines in a Lifetime Project Runway loss of dignity kind of way. I'm sad about it too.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Julia

[Wings]

TV is all about making money and keeping your face in the media.  Ty Pentington is a horror show for me, though.  I am sure Emeril is thrilled to star in his own show now that he is too expensive for the food channel.  I am not fond of him.  The BAM did me in so I never warmed to him though he always a good judge on Top Chef.  I had a lousy meal at one of his restaurants.  

Edited October 18, 2014 by wings707

[RealityGal]

Is Richard supposed to be a permanent judge on Top Chef?  I got the impression he would judge a lot, but not all the time, so there may be room for Emeril, and other guest judges.

[Wings]

I tried to find the guest judges and it looks like they are a sports figure and a couple of actors so that means that Blais is one of the core judges.  

Edited October 18, 2014 by wings707

[locomoco]

Really don't like Aaron/fatty pork belly guy... After his facetime where he mouthed off about the other chefs listing their pedigrees, I looked up his profile and wasn't too surprised to see that he has no formal culinary training in his background.

 

Seeing his carving station being a disgusting mess really bothered me as well.

 

He just comes across as the smallest dog in terms of talent, trying to bark a lot.

 

Hoping he doesn't last too long.

Edited October 19, 2014 by locomoco

[jcbrown]

 

"Our beautiful blond thoroughbred, Kerriann, grabs the knife; clams are flying open."  I don't think this is sexist at all.  Women comment on men's appearance all the time.  I see this as a compliment.

But the sexism is right there in the first few words. He makes an object of her (beautiful blonde thoroughbred) in the first few minutes he's known her, at least the first few minutes as far as viewers know. This is sexism 101--objectifying someone like that, and it would not matter if it were a woman doing it to a man or the reverse, as here. It's textbook objectification no matter who does it to whom.

[Wings]

But the sexism is right there in the first few words. He makes an object of her (beautiful blonde thoroughbred) in the first few minutes he's known her, at least the first few minutes as far as viewers know. This is sexism 101--objectifying someone like that, and it would not matter if it were a woman doing it to a man or the reverse, as here. It's textbook objectification no matter who does it to whom.

 

 

"Our beautiful blond thoroughbred, Kerriann, grabs the knife; clams are flying open."  There is no prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination in that comment.  The intent was praise and admiration.  And yes, she is beautiful; that was mentioned, too.  

 

. 

Edited October 19, 2014 by wings707

[tobeannounced]

I'm with you, Wings707.  I appreciated that he realized he had been an ass and was trying to make amends.  Unlike that other douche with the dirty station that rolled his eyes at Kerriann during her intro and talked smack about salad lady.

[jaync]

He may actually be a good judge for this show, as his worst traits might be on display in competition only.

Richard's snotty attitude towards the critiquing of his dishes/praising of others' during his times as a competitor is precisely why I can't respect his opinion as a judge. (As mentioned, his comments regarding the bacon and olive oil snows were almost laughable.) He certainly won't keep me from watching the show, but his presence definitely kept me from fully enjoying this episode.

 

I'd like to see a lot of Eric Ripert, and I won't even tell you which parts :)

Hee.  That silver fox can never wear out his welcome.

[twilightzone]

Richard would not have been my first pick for an alum judge.  Even though he knows his stuff as a chef, I never found him to have much on-camera presence, personality.  Fabio would have been a much better choice.

[Bella]

REMINDER:

 

We now have a thread for discussing judges. This is an episode thread. Please take discussion of judges to the appropriate thread.

 

If you want to respond to a post about a judge that is in this thread, take the quote to the judges thread for your response. We're not going to move posts, but we always have the option of deleting those that are misplaced.

 

Thanks!

[LennieBriscoe]

Insufferable Award: Contestant Division seems destined for the chef who sounds like Santino from PR.

 

The other thing is that for some people pork has an unpleasant undertone of slightly funkifying meat.   I know in asian cuisine the use of sherry is often used to cut the smelly porkiness of pork to mask that smell that sometimes comes up your nose.

I never heard or experienced this about pork. Moreover, why would "asian cuisine" use a wine from Spain? Edited October 20, 2014 by LennieBriscoe

[potatoradio]

I don't really care who "they" choose to be the douchenozzle judge (aka, the Joe Bastianich role), but I really wish they'd pick just one judge to play that role. When Padma, Tom and Meanie #3 are ALL the "bad cop," it gets kinda tiresome. Someone has to play Graham the Good Witch.

 

This ep. convinces me that the cooking world is much smaller than I've been led to believe. Way too many contestants who worked for previous contestants, too many previous contestants in cameos...it's obnoxiously self-referential. Is it too much to ask for really fresh fodder? I kind of liked the woman who said she won some award nobody had ever heard of - that's the kind of contestant I'd like to see, not various appendages of recycled former contestants. Fresh fodder, please, but not so much of it. I can't even begin to remember any of them.

 

I can't think of a single grey sauce that would hold any appeal. Why didn't whatshisname add enough squid ink for a black sauce? Not that I'd want to eat Slag Heap Supper or whatever it was called, but still, at least people would have recognized squid ink color.

 

 

[captain1]

I agree potatoradio it seems quite inbred to me too. I mentioned on the spoiler thread that I would be rooting for Joy. She is the African-American chef who said she owns a small farm-to-table restaurant. Her restaurant is Foode in Fredericksburg, VA, and I have dined there many times. It is amazing! She seemed so nervous a first, but the judges seemed to like her fried chicken skins over grits and greens, so I'm hoping she can settle in and stay awhile!

[Wings]

I agree potatoradio it seems quite inbred to me too. I mentioned on the spoiler thread that I would be rooting for Joy. She is the African-American chef who said she owns a small farm-to-table restaurant. Her restaurant is Foode in Fredericksburg, VA, and I have dined there many times. It is amazing! She seemed so nervous a first, but the judges seemed to like her fried chicken skins over grits and greens, so I'm hoping she can settle in and stay awhile!

 

 

I love knowing this!  Yes, they really liked her dish, very much.  

[susannot]

I liked Joy too and wanted to eat her dish  I also want Katsuje (sp.?)to stay for a long time because I think he is hilarious.  I want him to continue to baffle Tom with 482- ingredient dishes.

[satrunrose]

I'm not surprised that so many of the current chefs have Top Chef alumni connections. They're the most likely to let their sous have the time off and it's a win-win for them. They get great publicity if their protégé is awesome, but by the same token, I doubt that anyone is going to refuse to go to Volt if Mei sucks. Truly new talent or small restaurant owners probably can't easily take the time away from their business and I've always felt the folks who quit their jobs and pin their entire futur on winning Top Chef (or similar) are just plain dumb.

Edited October 25, 2014 by satrunrose

[StevieRocks]

As for Padma spitting out the food, you know it just didn't bug me.  She so into a napkin.  She's there as a judge, not a guest and that guy's station was filthy on top of being served a hunk of fat.  I don't think she's under any obligation to choke down anything, because judge, not guest.  Tom actually still holds the "Wow, was that necessary?" title for spitting out food, because he ducked off camera and into a bush to spit out shrimp in one of the seasons where they all cooked in the desert.  I also don't think he was under an obligation to swallow spoiled shrimp, but in that instance the napkin would have been the proper protocol.  

This didn't bother me either. Yes, she is a judge on a cooking show; however, I don't believe she should have to suffer even more by swallowing something that was obviously revolting. Also, I can recall the chefs--many times--setting aside a "good piece" for the judges. Finally, even though I'm sure she would never admit this, calories are probably a consideration too. Why add to the amount of calories she's already consumed by swallowing a ball of fat? I'm sure many will find this preposterous, but I believe it 100%. 

[Special K]

Late to the party, but still...

 

I don't mind Blaise.  What can I say, I like neurotic over-achieving weirdos.

 

So far, I like the "I can't reach my ankles" guy for his dead pan.  I also like Joy with the great 'fro for her humility.

 

And what kind of kosher chef puts shrimp, chicharones, and cheese together in a dish?!  And then calls it "petroleum." 

[RealityGal]

This didn't bother me either. Yes, she is a judge on a cooking show; however, I don't believe she should have to suffer even more by swallowing something that was obviously revolting. Also, I can recall the chefs--many times--setting aside a "good piece" for the judges. Finally, even though I'm sure she would never admit this, calories are probably a consideration too. Why add to the amount of calories she's already consumed by swallowing a ball of fat? I'm sure many will find this preposterous, but I believe it 100%. 

if she wants to save calories, don't judge a cooking competition.  The portions are relatively small, but if she is that concerned about her figure she should have just stuck to modelling, or hosted another type of competition.  She is no special food expert, so its not like Top Chef is getting some high level culinary knowledge with her.  I also don't think having to choke down something gross is suffering.  And I say that having eaten my sisters food when she just started cooking.  Some of that stuff was disgusting, but I was able to eat it.  I have eaten a pure glob of fat, probably about that size, when I've eaten certain cuts of meat, and oxtail,  the fat glob was not tasty, but it wasn't the worst thing in the world, and I got through to the other side.  If she can't handle a glob of fat in a sauce that everyone else at least thought wasn't the worst thing, how is she going to be able to taste and judge the truly worst food there is out there?  Every week, the judges are called upon to perhaps taste, and judge outright train wrecks, especially at quickfire because it is a limited time competition and the chef may not have time to taste the final product.  If you can't judge the worst dishes you're an ineffective judge, because you aren't judging on the taste of the food, or the taste of the sauce, you're judging primarily on the fact that there is a piece of fat you didn't like.  And honestly a glob of fat isn't the worst thing out there.  And Richard, ostensibly got the same piece of fatty meat and was able to eat it.  The only one who had a moment was Princess Padma.  

Edited October 29, 2014 by RealityGal

[biakbiak]

if she wants to save calories, don't judge a cooking competition.  The portions are relatively small, but if she is that concerned about her figure she should have just stuck to modelling, or hosted another type of competition.

 

Padma has never stated that she doesn't eat the food, spitting out one disgusting piece of fatty meat (that Aaron acknowledged was not good) from someone's messy ass station doesn't mean she is watching her calories. She has talked about gaining 20-30 lbs per season and not having an issue with it, she just eats differently during the off seasons to get back to her normal weight.

Edited November 1, 2014 by biakbiak

[RealityGal]

Padma has never stated that she doesn't eat the food, spitting out one disgusting piece of fatty meat (that Aaron acknowledged was not good) from someone's messy ass station doesn't mean she is watching her calories. She has talked about gaining 20-30 lbs per season and not having an issue with it, she just eats differently during the off seasons to get back to her normal weight.

The post I was responding to mentioned that Padma may not want to add to her calorie count by eating a piece of fat.  I say if thats her concern she doesn't need to be judging a cooking show.  This is a cooking show, and you are going to have to eat gross things.   People are constantly under time constraints, and odd conditions, or using ingredients that they aren't familiar with, and often forget to, or don't have time to taste the final product, which can be a shit show.  If you want to judge a cooking competition but only eat delicious stuff, or tasty things, Top Chef isn't the place for you.  

 

She and Richard got served at the exact same time.  I can't see how one got a piece of meat that much worse than the other.  I think Richard and Padma both got the same piece of meat but only Padma started making faces and spitting food out and so Aaron mentioned that it wasn't a great piece.  But Richard was able to eat his without resorting to dramatics and histrionics so I can't think that it was inedible.  And no one else complained about the dish besides Padma (who seemed to think everyone was gonna back her, and no one did).  Tom said it wasn't the best dish, but not the worst, Gail said that the type of meat used was generally pretty fatty, and Richard said nothing at all.  

Edited November 1, 2014 by RealityGal

[biakbiak]

She and Richard got served at the exact same time.  I can't see how one got a piece of meat that much worse than the other.

 

Aaron specifically stated that the last piece of meat that he served Padma, not Richard was not good.

 

The post I was responding to mentioned that Padma may not want to add to her calorie count by eating a piece of fat.  I say if thats her concern she doesn't need to be judging a cooking show.

 

I understand that but given that Padma has never stated that she worries about her weight and that she doesn't eat all the food on the show, so it seems unfair to declare that is why she did. No one suggested Tom or other male judges on this and other cooking shows who have spit their food out were doing it to watch their weight.

Edited November 1, 2014 by biakbiak

[RealityGal]

Aaron specifically stated that the last piece of meat that he served Padma, not Richard was not good.

 

 

 

 

I understand that but given that Padma has never stated that she worries about her weight and that she doesn't eat all the food on the show, so it seems unfair to declare that is why she did. No one suggested Tom or other male judges on this and other cooking shows who have spit their food out were doing it to watch their weight.

 

Thats exactly what you say to the person whining at you about the meat.  He didn't say anything to Richard because Richard wasn't complaining.  The only person complaining was Padma, so I still think it was the exact same piece of meat, but only Padma complained.  I never declared that she spit out the meat because she was watching her calories, I was responding to someone who suggested that might have been her reason.  To which I said, IF that was her reasoning, she shouldn't be judging a cooking show.  I think the operative words here are MIGHT and IF.

[biakbiak]

Thats exactly what you say to the person whining at you about the meat.

 

He didn't say it to her. He said it in his confessional/voice-over before she spit it out. Yes, I realize those are filmed afterwards but like many other cheftestants who have questioned the judges reactions to their food in confessional, he didn't need to acknowledge it if he didn't think there was accuracy in her description.

Edited November 1, 2014 by biakbiak

[RealityGal]

He didn't say it to her. He said it in his confessional.

I remember him saying it right to her, after she whined about it, he said "oh, you did get a fatty piece"  and then in his confessional he also said she got a fatty piece, but why would he mention Richard, when Richard didn't whine about it.  I'm not saying the piece wasn't fatty, I'm saying the piece wasn't so fatty as to render it inedible, because it makes sense that Richard got the same piece and was able to eat it.   I might have been more sympathetic if Padma had shown up after Richard, because then, who knows maybe he just cut her a giant piece of fat because he hates life and wants to go home, or he had truly run out of anything even resembling meat.  But to me, it doesn't pass the laugh test that the two of them came up together, and he specifically gave one judge a reasonable piece of meat, and the other judge a pure piece of fat.  What makes more sense to me, is that they got the same piece of meat, Padma started whining, complaining and carrying on, and as is human nature, Aaron started to apologize for it.  In almost any industry if an important customer complains you're going to apologize and try to find some fault to hopefully soothe it over.  I would have been surprised if he declared "no, that piece is not too fatty Padma!  Just look at Richard chewing on his!"

Edited November 1, 2014 by RealityGal

[biakbiak]

Because it was a bunch of meat cut up in a chaffing dish it is entirely possible that Richard got a piece that wasn't fatty. I clearly remember it in the voiceover perhaps he said it both but he definitely says he only has a fatty piece left for Padma before she is even served.

 

Anyway, clearly this is something that people disagree on. A shitty piece of meat that someone doesn't want to eat shouldn't have to be fully consumed to fairly judge a cooking competition, if it's so crappy that someone who has eaten a gazillion dishes in her life and on the show deems it so unpalatable that that she doesn't want to finish it that is good enough for me. Same with Tom when he has done it and all the other judges/guests if whether we saw them do it or not.

[RealityGal]

Because it was a bunch of meat cut up in a chaffing dish it is entirely possible that Richard got a piece that wasn't fatty. I clearly remember it in the voiceover perhaps he said it both but he definitely says he only has a fatty piece left for Padma before she is even served.

 

Anyway, clearly this is something that people disagree on. A shitty piece of meat that someone doesn't want to eat shouldn't have to be fully consumed to fairly judge a cooking competition, if it's so crappy that someone who has eaten a gazillion dishes in her life and on the show deems it so unpalatable that that she doesn't want to finish it that is good enough for me. Same with Tom when he has done it and all the other judges/guests if whether we saw them do it or not.

 

See, and I think if its edible you should be able to eat it.  Everyone else was able to eat the dish with no problem.  As far as I could tell,  he had to cut into each piece from that chafing dish which is why the station was such a disaster zone.  So he should have seen if he was giving someone a pure piece of fat versus a piece of meat.  If you don't want to eat things, don't judge a cooking show.  If you don't want to eat shitty things, don't judge a cooking show.  The only other person I've seen do it is Tom, and in that situation, I thought it was too hard for him to chew and that was the problem.  If you're going to lose a tooth, I think its reasonable to not eat that.  Aaron had fatty pieces for both of them by the time they came up, he only focused on Padma because she whined about it.  I think they got the same piece of meat, which was clearly edible, because one person managed to eat it.  By the time the two of them came to his station he had multiple pieces in the chafing dish, so I don't think he only had one pure hunk of fat to hand over to Padma.  I think she and Richard got the best of whatever was left.  No one else found it unpalatable, or even so bad that it should be in the bottom three dishes.  Not even Richard, who I truly think got the same piece/quality of meat that Padma got, because I can't envision a scenario where it would make sense to have two judges come up at the same time and given one a reasonable piece, and the other a shitty piece.  It would make more sense to slice the piece a little smaller instead of just giving one person a pure hunk of fat and hoping they don't notice.

 

ETA: I suspect the meat that Aaron was cooking was a little like oxtail, I remember Gail saying something about how the meat itself was fatty.  Oxtail is that way, its delicious, and I order it anytime I see it, but it is just tends to be very fatty, and the fat is just sort of a part of it.  You know that when you order oxtail, you're probably going to have to eat around some fat.  But the meat (to me) is so delicious.  So, it may have been that everyone else, who understood that cut of meat, knew to expect a good amount of fat with the meat, but Padma, who may have not experienced that cut of meat, or type of meat just didn't know that it was normal to get a lot of fat.  

Edited November 1, 2014 by RealityGal

[Texasmom1970]

So late to the party how in the hell did i not know a new season started, taped like the first four episodes today!

My favorite part of the entire episode catching a glimpse of Ming Tsai, yum!

Edited November 9, 2014 by Texasmom1970

[Wings]

So late to the party how in the hell did i not know a new season startrd, taped like the first four episodes today!

My favorite part of the entire episode catching a glimpse of Ming Tsai, yum!

 

 

He is one of my favorites, too.