S12.E06: The First Thanksgiving

[avecsans]

I agree that Tiffani was fine as a judge but the Blais bar is set pretty low.  I actually liked Ken Oringer a lot during both the sniff and sneer and the judging.  He was kind to the contestants and made cogent points about the food without trying to dazzle us with his witty bon mots or his snark at the contestants' expense in the style of Blais or Acheson. 

 

I am assuming that Padma put the kibosh on the idea of going to the cranberry bog at the crack of dawn and that's why Tiffani filled in.

 

Gregory had me a little worried because he was screwing up his protein, but then Tom complimented him during the meal and I knew Gregory wasn't going anywhere.

 

Kerriann really needs to go next.  She would not shut up about having to use the lesser ingredients during the Quickfire.  It's a poor craftsperson who blames her tools, oh Greatest Young Chef in the Galaxy.

[BusyOctober]

I'm a big fan of the small, native blueberries in MA & ME.  I think the bigger ones are tasteless.  Most of the stores & farm stands near me carry the bigger variety brought up from NJ before the local little ones are in season. I stock up on a few pints and freeze 'em.

 

I liked the visit to Plimouth Plantation.  I've always wanted to go there in the Fall, but never made it.  The chef's food all looked pretty good and I'd like to try some of those recipes.  I wonder if I need to have a hearth and Paul Bunyan-sized spoon to make them come out as good?

 

Adam still bugs me week after week.  I wish someone would tell him it's OK NOT to speak every now and then.  It's OK to let there be silence on occasion.  We don't need to hear his cliches and "go team" Successories empowerment poster style nonsense in every scene (my old boss had his office covered in those but he was worse than a Michael Scott type of manager, so my scorn for those posters runs deep)

 

I'm not sad to see Stacy go.  She wasn't as strong as some of the  others.competitors.  I did have Katie marked as one of the chaff to be winnowed out, but she's really impressing the judges (not me personally- her food doesn't look bad, just not inspired or all that yummy IMHO)

[yourmomiseasy]

Those two and Mei (Mai? May?? Who can tell these days; everyone tries to spell their name weirdly) 

 

Mei is a traditional Chinese name and also a popular Japanese name.  I don't think she's trying to be a unique flower and spelling her name weird as an affectation.

[larapu2000]

Tom's Thanksgiving story was hilarious, as was Padma's fascination about it.  "And you weren't full after that?"  "Of course we were!"

 

I thought Katie's dish sounded amazing-I love corn and blueberries together!

 

As "gimmicky" as this challenge was, I found it refreshing and pretty great that none of the chefs really complained about the cookery available to them.  They seemed to really get into the spirit of the challenge, and produced (according to the judges) an across the board great meal.  

 

I really like several things about this season so far.  1) Feedback is given immediately when the dishes are served, so even the middle of the road chefs benefit from feedback.  2) The feedback given immediately also gives a transparency to the judging process.  If the judges didn't mind a component when it was served, but hammers on it at Judge's Table and sends a contestant home over a favorite/drama contestant, then that adds to the audience's perception that the judging is producer controlled.  3)  Feedback at Judge's Table for top and bottom dishes benefits the middle of the road chefs as well, because they can hear from the judges themselves, versus second hand, what works and doesn't work, taste levels, etc.  

[AriAu]

I really like several things about this season so far.  1) Feedback is given immediately when the dishes are served, so even the middle of the road chefs benefit from feedback.  2) The feedback given immediately also gives a transparency to the judging process.  If the judges didn't mind a component when it was served, but hammers on it at Judge's Table and sends a contestant home over a favorite/drama contestant, then that adds to the audience's perception that the judging is producer controlled.  3)  Feedback at Judge's Table for top and bottom dishes benefits the middle of the road chefs as well, because they can hear from the judges themselves, versus second hand, what works and doesn't work, taste levels, etc.

 

I agree-I wasn't sure about the instant feedback, but the transparency is pretty nice. What I don't know is whether we are seeing a truncated version of the actual give and take with the chefs-I had always heard that those things lasted longer than what we saw.

As to this episode, I really though Gregory was history and maybe he should have been based on the idea that past performance is not to be considered. He was foolish to take that chance without being sure that he was going to be safe regardless.

I did not mind the cranberry picnic race since it was tied to the quickfire and the advantage was not as great as it seemed. Loved the fact that it showed how out of shape these cheftestants are!

[The Solution]

This may not be the appropriate place for it, but I'm somewhat disconcerted by the amount of comments endorsing violence towards Richard. That would certainly not fly if it was to Padma or Gail (or Tom), and in general, I don't think that's a very appropriate thing to joke about.

 

 

I don't think any of us would really drown Richard in a sous vide immersion circulator. We'd let him up once he turned a lovely shade of blue and appeared to plump up from the water.

[ShadowSixx]

Kerriann really needs to go next.  She would not shut up about having to use the lesser ingredients during the Quickfire.  It's a poor craftsperson who blames her tools, oh Greatest Young Chef in the Galaxy.

 

So agree with you right there, I was like STFU, the other chefs aren't complaining about using those ingredients during the QF, maybe you should have been faster in grabbing the cranberries you damn twit. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

Stacy has been doing post-mortems with Boston Magazine, and she says some interesting things about this episode in the one they posted today. She's ultimately very positive about her experience, but it sounds like she put a lot of pressure on herself and I wonder if that adversely affected her performance.  Also, she says she think that the judges made the right decision:

 

Did they send the right person home?

Hmm, that’s a tough one. Greg are Melissa are so super talented and they really wanted it so bad. It wasn’t that I didn’t want it, but I went into it thinking, “It’s cool that Top Chef called me, but it might not be the thing for me.” I’m not super competitive, but I gave it a shot. Ultimately, I think they made the right decision, and I know that sounds bad to say that about myself. I had fun, it was a great experience, but when it comes to cooking I’m more of a “share the love” kind of chef. I know that sounds so hippie. But I like people too much.

 

 

[Rammchick]

Adam really needs to tone it down a notch.  He's a poor loser AND a poor winner, neither of which will win you any friends.

 

I got the feeling that once Stacey said she plated her dish in the dirt, she was toast.  When the judges started talking about a "musty" flavor, it was like the power of suggestion took over, and they had convinced themselves there actually was dirt in it.  Similarly, Katie should've never mentioned her dish started out as blueberry pie, then she scrapped it and made it a savory venison dish.  The judges were totally primed to imagine it as venison with blueberry pie filling.

[turbogirlnyc]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I wish they would have spread out some of the talent from TC Las Vegas. I'm having a hard time keeping up with a season where, once again, the competition isn't even close. That said, I'd be done with the show if Gregory doesn't win because it's "too obvious". Sure, Mei and the shorter guy (forgot his name) are pretty good. I'm not sure about Melissa. I keep reading she's great but in my opinion, her food hasn't really stood out from the rest. Bring on the flames or whatever, but so far this season has been dissapointing for me. Go Gregory!

Edited November 20, 2014 by turbogirlnyc

[LoganTheHuge]

I really enjoyed the convivial, genial tone of this week's episode and yes, AsshatAaron being gone had a BIG reason to do with it. I don't actually like reality shows so I could do without the drama. I like seeing talented people doing their thing without screaming at each other. I get enough of that in real life, thank you very much. It shows how much one bad apple does spoil a tree.

 

I thought Stacy (or Melissa) would go home since they both missed their respective SO's. It seemed like Stacy was at peace with the knifing so good for her to go out with her head held high. I liked what she said in her exit speech. And yes, both Melissa and Stacy had very cute partners. Melissa's girlfriend looked a lot like the Orange is the New Black writer who recently came out.

 

Dougie is so fuzzy and cute! I have a crush on him, too, Gregory.

 

Reese Witherspoon's venison blueberry idea sounded horrible but it didn't look so bad on screen and the judges didn't throw it across the table so I'm assuming it was good enough. I liked that Katie took risks even though she had immunity. Mei's dish sounded very unique and good. 

 

Ken Oringer was a very good guest judge, as was Tiffani Faison. I could have done without the colonizers and Native American dinner theme. "Here we have descendants of Native Americans and here we have descendants of the people who slaughtered them! Let's eat!" Weird.

 

 

Adam really needs to tone it down a notch.  He's a poor loser AND a poor winner, neither of which will win you any friends.

 

He reminds me of Spike (can't remember the season he was on but for some reason, Top Chef keeps trotting him out even though I thought he was perfectly forgettable) in that he is clearly mugging for the cameras. I think he's less annoying and more talented than Spike, though, and he seems to want to kumbaya with the cheftestants a lot, which is sweet.

Edited November 20, 2014 by LoganTheHuge

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I know a lot of people will disagree with me but I wish they would have spread out some of the talent from TC Las Vegas. I'm having a hard time keeping up with a season where, once again, the competition isn't even close. That said, I'd be done with the show if Gregory doesn't win because it's "too obvious". Sure, Mei and the shorter guy (forgot his name) are pretty good. I'm not sure about Melissa. I keep reading she's great but in my opinion, her food hasn't really stood out from the rest. Bring on the flames or whatever, but so far this season has been dissapointing for me. Go Gregory!

 

Gregory is talented, without a doubt, but it isn't as if he hasn't made mistakes.  While I don't particularly like Mei, I think she is a strong competitor.  Also, I am starting to think that, as she becomes more comfortable, Katie is the real dark horse competitor.  So I'd just as soon as not have a coronation of Gregory.

 

Ken Oringer was a very good guest judge, as was Tiffani Faison. I could have done without the colonizers and Native American dinner theme. "Here we have descendants of Native Americans and here was have descendants of the people who slaughtered them! Let's eat!" Weird.

 

Plimoth Plantation is a living history museum that incorporates the experience of both the Pilgrims and the native Wampanoag tribe.  To my view of things, it would have been odd to not acknowledge both the mission of the museum and the reality that descendents from both groups of people continue to exist and live in Massachusetts. I mean, the Gilsons really are old WASPs and those were actual Wampanoags representatives, so I am not sure how it benefits to pretend like successive generations don't exist (and, at this point, peacefully co-exist).  Also, the history of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags is, at best, extremely complicated - there was slaughtering going on on both sides, and among other tribes (see King Phillip's War. Obviously, though, the colonists eventually won out).  No doubt the history of US relations with Native American tribes is shameful but it wasn't a foregone conclusion that the colonists would survive in Plymouth, so it seems a little too reductionist to me to say that these are the descendants of the people who "slaughtered" them. 

Edited November 20, 2014 by eleanorofaquitaine

[Julia]

Enjoyed seeing Tiffani Faison. In Season 1, she didn't seem as short as she does now. Padma was just towering over her.

Well, the hostess in her season was Katie Lee, who wasn't exactly a towering figure either.

[Calamity Jane]

Once upon a time I would've been horrified at the thought, but Tiffani is one of the few reality show contestants to look at how she behaved on tv the first time around and actually make an effort to be less of an obnoxious ass.  In fact, she's done such a good job that I now like her, and I would never have imagined that after Season 1.

 

I liked this week's challenges.  The chefs all pretty much put out good, and in some cases excellent, dishes and made it hard for the judges to choose who to eliminate.

 

One thing bugged, though.  Despite what Katsuji apparently thinks, the Pilgrims weren't the first European settlers in North America, not by a long shot.  Heck, they weren't even the first English settlers here.

My Norwegian husband trained our 1-year-old to respond to the question, "Who discovered America?" with "Leif Erikson!"  It came out more like "Eif Aeikson," but hubby was satisfied.  

[Bastet]

I liked seeing Tiffani, but she called something "super unique."  As opposed to the regular unique?  Modifying "unique" annoys me.  Whatever she was describing (I can't remember) likely wasn't unique to begin with, but I could have let that slide.  

[turbogirlnyc]

Gregory is talented, without a doubt, but it isn't as if he hasn't made mistakes.  While I don't particularly like Mei, I think she is a strong competitor.  Also, I am starting to think that, as she becomes more comfortable, Katie is the real dark horse competitor.  So I'd just as soon as not have a coronation of Gregory.

 

 

Plimoth Plantation is a living history museum that incorporates the experience of both the Pilgrims and the native Wampanoag tribe.  To my view of things, it would have been odd to not acknowledge both the mission of the museum and the reality that descendents from both groups of people continue to exist and live in Massachusetts. I mean, the Gilsons really are old WASPs and those were actual Wampanoags representatives, so I am not sure how it benefits to pretend like successive generations don't exist (and, at this point, peacefully co-exist).  Also, the history of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags is, at best, extremely complicated - there was slaughtering going on on both sides, and among other tribes (see King Phillip's War. Obviously, though, the colonists eventually won out).  No doubt the history of US relations with Native American tribes is shameful but it wasn't a foregone conclusion that the colonists would survive in Plymouth, so it seems a little too reductionist to me to say that these are the descendants of the people who "slaughtered" them. 

I'm not a fan of Mei either. I recently watched TC Las Vegas again and Mike Volt. said, and I quote, "There's no room for arrogance in the kitchen". While watching last nights episode, I thought Katie might well be the dark horse this season much like Carla was in her season.

[RealityGal]

So agree with you right there, I was like STFU, the other chefs aren't complaining about using those ingredients during the QF, maybe you should have been faster in grabbing the cranberries you damn twit. 

Mei was in the top and she had to use the crap ingredients, so it could be done.

 

I'm still rooting for Gregory, Mei and Doug.  Melissa is okay, the rest get on my nerves to varying degrees.

[leighdear]

I didn't think it was an issue that Melissa didn't use a protein, it just seemed that her dish was sparse.   A veggie side dish is cool, and obviously it tasted fine to the judges.  But she said she was going simple and wanted to show off her knife skills.  Um, would that be the skill to chop a few different veggies into same size pieces?  Because I kinda got that nailed down at the age of 9.  Maybe if she had done some sort of trio, or paired a chopped veg medley  with a puree or something to give it some interest.

 

I like her & am glad she's still there, but she REALLY needs to ramp it up. 

[ShadowSixx]

Mei was in the top and she had to use the crap ingredients, so it could be done.

 

I'm still rooting for Gregory, Mei and Doug.  Melissa is okay, the rest get on my nerves to varying degrees.

 

Right, it's just that Miss Keri is not a strong cook.

 

Gregory, Doug, & Melissa are who I'm rooting for so far. Mei's alright but I think that 2nd episode almost did me in on not liking her with the constant bitch face and arrogance. She's mellowed out a little bit but not enough for me to root for her.

[DHDancer]

I was a bit puzzled why Gregory only used the goose breasts --  I can't believe it took nearly 3 hours to do breasts...and not do them especially well apparently.  I assume spit roasting, or some other form of roasting the whole bird, was impossible, but I would have thought it much more traditional to do that and certainly shouldn't take any longer.  Still, I'm glad Greg is still with us and yeah, I think they had to have considered his body of work in that decision.

 

BTW, "Thanksgiving" is really what used to be known as (and still is in other parts of the world) as Harvest Festival: a celebration of the bounty of harvest  before winter's onset.  So having a Canadian "thanksgiving" makes perfect sense, as does the earlier timing.

[leighdear]

As DHDancer mentions, many countries have the equivalent of "Thanksgiving".  I spent almost 7 years in South Korea, and they celebrate Chuseok in September, their fall harvest festival.  Very much like American Thanksgiving with specific food & family visits.  But they celebrate for 3 days, not just one. 

[yourmomiseasy]

I was a bit puzzled why Gregory only used the goose breasts --  I can't believe it took nearly 3 hours to do breasts...and not do them especially well apparently.  I assume spit roasting, or some other form of roasting the whole bird, was impossible, but I would have thought it much more traditional to do that and certainly shouldn't take any longer.  Still, I'm glad Greg is still with us and yeah, I think they had to have considered his body of work in that decision.

 

 

I think he used the thighs in his confit.  I assume he broke down the bird because if it is anything like any other forms of poultry that I've worked with, it is exceptionally hard to cook whole due to various portions of the bird having different requirements to be cooked properly.  That's why so many people end up with a dry Thanksgiving turkey -- the breast ends up over done in order to get the thighs and legs done.  The only reason to cook a turkey whole is so you can have the Norman Rockwell visual.  

[DHDancer]

I think he used the thighs in his confit.  I assume he broke down the bird because if it is anything like any other forms of poultry that I've worked with, it is exceptionally hard to cook whole due to various portions of the bird having different requirements to be cooked properly.  That's why so many people end up with a dry Thanksgiving turkey -- the breast ends up over done in order to get the thighs and legs done.  The only reason to cook a turkey whole is so you can have the Norman Rockwell visual.  

 

This is much less of an issue with goose because of the amount of fat on the bird. Anyway, it's moot, but just interesting to contemplate.

[film noire]

 

film noire, I found Gail's comments interesting because it is my understanding that Thanksgiving is a tradition that was brought to Canada by Boston's Loyalists, who left during the Revolutionary War, and settled in places like Nova Scotia.  Not that I necessarily expect them to know that history, but it seemed like a lost opportunity to discuss.

 

 

Below is an interesting link, with info about the history of both holidays – briefly:the Loyalists came along later. The first

Thanksgiving feast in Canada is in the 1570s (Martin Frobisher had a feast to give thanks for surviving the journey from

England) and then in 1606, in Acadia (French Nova Scotia) The Order of Good Cheer is created by de Champlain to

promote – well,  good cheer -- in facing the long, arduous winter and the Order inaugurates a tradition of a Thanksgiving

dinner in early November, shared with members of the First Nations. And then in the 1760s, the Loyalists arrive (they 

introduce the turkey to the Thanksgiving feast – merci!) Then it’s a frickin’ free-for-all (different regions doing different

thanksgivings at different times in autumn) until 1867,when Canada is officially formed and the holiday is declared

to be November 6th (changed to the third Monday in October and finally the second Monday in October

by 1957).  All to say – Gail! It’s a Canadian holiday!

 

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2013/10/20131013-082017.html

Edited November 21, 2014 by film noire

[HappyDancex2]

I was hopeful but then disappointed at Melissa's veg attempt. Unless it was edited oddly the same size cuts was not a showcase in technique at this level....I'm always looking for a fantastic veggie dish win! Or at least when I think it was that chick who won Sheldon's season who made the perfectly roasted mushroom side dish at Canalis in Seattle, they were impressed in execution of technique. Shrooms get cold, soggy and shrively pretty fast after they reached that magic carmelized stage.

Mmmmm hungry.

The cranberry borscht sounded interesting. Wish I could have tasted that. Tartare made from skirt steak? Yeah um no. And Padma doesn't like rare meat.

And I want to go to Mei's and have that big fat duck stuffed with sticky rice. Dang.

Stacy definitely seemed like she was pressing. She was even hard on herself for showing emotion and breaking down during her phone call to her cute boyfriend. She called herself a little bitch in her talking head!! Odd. Her hair color was also distractingly unfortunate.

katsuji was pretty funny this episode. When Stacy came out from her phone call and hugged the shorter guy, he remarked for him not to touch her since he brings bad luck to people. Snark and whoops.

[Snarklepuss]

The Pilgrims weren't the people who "slaughtered" the Wampanaug.  The Pilgrims sat down and had Thanksgiving with them.  They were too busy dying and surviving to kill anyone.  They came for religious freedom and basically to be left alone, not dominance.  Any conflicts they had were based on mistrust and misunderstanding in individual situations, not any desire to subjugate anyone.  The conflicts of the later colonists with the natives were indeed complicated on both sides and more natives died of diseases brought over by the colonists than anything else.  So I don't understand the negative comments about the Pilgrims.  At least not the Thanksgiving pilgrims.  It's a part of American history and IMO deserves some respect.  To me the Pilgrims are a symbol of what America is all about or should be - but they are not related to the later immigrants who engaged in rampant slaughter of native Americans.  So I don't think this episode "glorified" anything that doesn't deserve glorifying from the POV of American idealism.  Plus, I am a Mayflower descendant and descendant of several Revolutionary war heroes so it gets my back up to see what I see as disrespect of people who risked their lives and died to win and make possible the sort of freedoms that we take for granted today.

 

That said, I thought Gregory should have gone home.  It's funny how they only commend someone on taking on a difficult dish when it suits them.  When it doesn't they're like "why did you take on such a difficult dish"?  He had a great response about having a bird at the dinner, who could argue with that?  He's not only a good chef he knows how to save his ass with political correctness as well!  Not sure I love that aspect, though I do submit he is a good chef.  They were looking for excuses to save him over Stacy, I'm sure.

 

I liked Stacy and was sorry to see her go.  I get it about her being hard on herself.  She's a nice person, that's why.  Not full of herself and elitist like some of the chefs on this show.  I love people from MA and it was a breath of fresh air to have her on the show.  And her boyfriend was indeed a super cutie.  Way to go, Stacy!

[Julia]

The Pilgrims weren't the people who "slaughtered" the Wampanaug.  The Pilgrims sat down and had Thanksgiving with them.  They were too busy dying and surviving to kill anyone.  They came for religious freedom and basically to be left alone, not dominance.

Actually, not to drag this any further off topic, the puritans were pretty avid about dominating other people as soon as they had enough food to grow with and started looking to expand their footprint. They also set up a fairly nasty legal system which dragged on a long time. Their own religious intolerance is one of the reasons a great many of them were thrown out of Europe.

I should say that one side of my family came over not too much after that, although they settled in the Delmarva Peninsula instead.

[stillshimpy]

I watched the episode again and the judges made it clear that they were all good dishes, including Gregory's goose.  Gail called it "toothsome" (nice-speak for tough), but at judge's table they really focused on the "musty" "earthy" flavor far more than they did while dining and it seem appropriate to me when splitting hairs and trying to find fault, that the actual difficulty of the chosen dish was factored in.  

 

It was a pleasant episode though, everyone got along.  I'm not a Mayflower descendant, on my dad's side I'm a descended from passengers on the ship after the Mayflower, the Fortune <--- the irony of that cracks me up, by the way, because being descended from literal Puritans is sort of a funny thing just for starters, and a DAR several times over on that side too.  On the other side?  I'm one generation away from Scottish coal miners, so I don't know, I think that the look on the face of  younger man from the Wampanoags seemed fitting.  It's important to remember both the good and the bad from a long, complex relationship between the original colonies and the indigenous people of this country.  

 

He was sort of restrained and respectful, but not celebratory, just doing his part in honoring his own ancestry and the view from his side of that equation is a lot different from mine.   There was a solemn vibe from that guy that I genuinely appreciated as part of the entire "Here we are at Plimouth Plantation, trying not to look absurd with these giant spoons".   That young man defeated the concept of absurdity just with his bearing.  

 

I appreciated the ways in which the episode did try to honor the spirit and the tradition, because they have had Thanksgiving episodes in the past (pretty much every year) that did everything but piddle on it.  Thanksgiving in microwaves?  Oh brother.   

[RealityGal]

I watched the episode again and the judges made it clear that they were all good dishes, including Gregory's goose.  Gail called it "toothsome" (nice-speak for tough), but at judge's table they really focused on the "musty" "earthy" flavor far more than they did while dining and it seem appropriate to me when splitting hairs and trying to find fault, that the actual difficulty of the chosen dish was factored in.  

Yes...exactly.  I think the difficultly was factored in because it was actually a good dish.  No amount of complexity saves a bad dish, because its a total fail, but if are splitting hairs between good dishes, taking complexity into account makes sense.

[Wings]

The Pilgrims weren't the people who "slaughtered" the Wampanaug.  The Pilgrims sat down and had Thanksgiving with them.  They were too busy dying and surviving to kill anyone.  They came for religious freedom and basically to be left alone, not dominance.  Any conflicts they had were based on mistrust and misunderstanding in individual situations, not any desire to subjugate anyone.  The conflicts of the later colonists with the natives were indeed complicated on both sides and more natives died of diseases brought over by the colonists than anything else.  So I don't understand the negative comments about the Pilgrims.  At least not the Thanksgiving pilgrims.  It's a part of American history and IMO deserves some respect.  To me the Pilgrims are a symbol of what America is all about or should be - but they are not related to the later immigrants who engaged in rampant slaughter of native Americans.  So I don't think this episode "glorified" anything that doesn't deserve glorifying from the POV of American idealism.  Plus, I am a Mayflower descendant and descendant of several Revolutionary war heroes so it gets my back up to see what I see as disrespect of people who risked their lives and died to win and make possible the sort of freedoms that we take for granted today.

 

 

 

 

Standing ovation and thundering applause!  

Edited November 21, 2014 by wings707

[Lura]

Except for the appearance of Tiffani Faison, I enjoyed this episode.  I was not sorry to see Stacy go, but neither was I elated.  I felt that she had been somewhere in the middle and that her time had come.  She was a good sport about her loss. 

I, too, have just about reached my limit with Adam and am tired of his remarks.  IMHO, he has a terrible case of "me-me-me," and I think that no one enjoys hearing his voice as much as he does.

I think that Katie is the one to watch.  All along, she has been daring, and the judges seem to like her reaching out of the box for ideas that taste good.  I thought that she was extremely clever and brave to come up with something like cranberry borsht.  In the cranberry challenge, all of that outdoor physical activity at home held her in good stead.  Someone thought that her food had been "uninspired," but I can't think of many things more original than cranberry borsht!  If she keeps it up, it wouldn't surprise me to see her make the finals.  Doug, too, is beginning to showcase his talent and could be a threat to some of the others.

I was so happy to see Katsuji win one!  He was one happy man!

Seeing Greg in the loser's line was strange.  He'd better be careful.  In his quest to be different, he blew it.  I'd like to see him in the finals.  Right now, I'd love to see Greg, Doug and Katie in the final three, but I reserve the right to change my mind!

Can I ever relate to those New England wild blueberries, which I used to pick in the early morning, and my mom would add them to her muffin batter.  They're sweeter than regular blueberries and are the best I've ever tasted.  You haven't lived until you've eaten a handful!

Judging from the previews, I can't wait to see the next show.  It won't be next week, though, because they'll be running a repeat of this week's show.  I wonder whether Greg would like to come down here and roast my turkey!  YUM!  On the other hand, if it turned out to be anything like his goose ...!

[ChelseaNH]

The only reason to cook a turkey whole is so you can have the Norman Rockwell visual.

I'm pretty sure carving a turkey is some kind of rite of passage.

[BC Mama]

And I have no idea what part of Canada Gail grew up in but in Montreal, Thanksgiving is a huge food & family holiday -- not just a bowl of pumpkin soup and "maybe a turkey" (WTF? Did she spend her childhood in a Dickensian orphanage?) I live stateside now, and Americans travel more on the holiday, and that black Friday thing has crept into the day (people lining up on T-giving night) but in both countries the holiday is centered on family and feasting. (Somebody invite Gail to their house next October -- poor thing -- and bring on the butter tarts!)

 

Gail grew up in Toronto. My mom is visiting from out of town and actually mentioned when we were watching the episode, that Gail grew up in the same neighbourhood as her, and went to the same schools as her. Seeing as Gail is Jewish, I would not be surprised if her family did not celebrate Thanksgiving. A lot of Jewish families do not (mine included) in Canada.

 

Stacy has been doing post-mortems with Boston Magazine, and she says some interesting things about this episode in the one they posted today. She's ultimately very positive about her experience, but it sounds like she put a lot of pressure on herself and I wonder if that adversely affected her performance.  Also, she says she think that the judges made the right decision:

 

I almost felt like while she was disappointed to be leaving, she was also relieved! I think she was struggling under the pressure, and knew it would only get worse the further she went in the competition.

[satrunrose]

Just adding to the yes, Canada does have Thanksgiving chorus. I always understood that the eventual move to early October had to do with Canada's relatively shorter growing season. As for food, here on the east coast (home to both the Order of Good Cheer and the much later loyalists), we do big family gatherings with turkey (or very occasionally ham), potatoes, corn, stuffing, carrots squash and turnip (I've been told turnip is called rutabaga further west) and pies.  Also, because it's earlier in the year you can, as my family does, go Thanksgiving camping and have fried instead of roasted turkey. It's pretty awesome and one of my favourite holidays.

 

As an east coaster, I also really liked the Wampanaug lady's comment about lobster being bait. Everyone here who has a grandparent from a fishing community can tell the story about how their ancestor brought lobster sandwiches to school and was really embarrassed because the rich kids all had baloney, Bringing lobster identified them fairly clearly as coming from a poor fishing family. According to the story I've always heard, this was pretty normal until the 1920s when fishermen started shipping lobster west and marketing them as a luxury good. 

[Julia]

Indentured servants - who didn't have a whole lot of rights - and later domestic servants in New England had it in their contracts that they could only be fed lobster a certain number of times a week.

In the Hudson Valley, it was sturgeon (which was called Albany beef around here), and oysters were cheap bar snacks.

I always think it's funny how the perceived value of things change over the years, but then, I visited Italy for the first time before sun dried tomatoes started happening here, and my relatives (who if they weren't still peasants weren't more than a generation or two away) wouldn't have dreamed of serving them to the americans, because they were poor folks' food, for people who couldn't afford canning jars.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Julia

[Calamity Jane]

We used to pick wild blueberries on my mother-in-law's hillside property in Norway.  They are so much tastier, sweeter but also more flavorful, than the kind you buy in the market.  Same for wild strawberries, if you can even get them in this country.  I've only ever had them in France -- same thing, smaller and just bursting with flavor.  

[Snarklepuss]

 

Actually, not to drag this any further off topic, the puritans were pretty avid about dominating other people as soon as they had enough food to grow with and started looking to expand their footprint. They also set up a fairly nasty legal system which dragged on a long time. Their own religious intolerance is one of the reasons a great many of them were thrown out of Europe.

 

Actually the Mayflower Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving were not the same group as the later Puritans who started coming to the Northeast in the Great Migration that followed the Pilgrims.  So yes, the Puritans were the same people who later held the Salem witch trials and were known for intolerance and punishment for anyone who would oppose them, but the Mayflower Pilgrims were not the same people.  The Pilgrims were a group of separatists while the Puritans thought they could change the church of England from within.   The two groups were miles apart in terms of religious views, system of government and style of dress. 

 

I've been to Plimouth Plantation and love the re-enactors who dress and act the part of real people.  I remember being in a room similar to the one shown with the kettle and hearth.  Foodie that I am I asked the women about their food and what they cooked.   They answered very thoughtfully and never got out of character the entire time.  It was fascinating.  When I saw a young man with a goat he introduced himself and it turns out he was playing the part of my ancestor.   I told him he was my 10th or so great grandfather and he said, "Ah, then we are kin!"  I think it would have been interesting if the show could have incorporated some of these characters in this episode.  I wonder why none of them were seated at the table with the Wampanaug.  It's nice that there were Mayflower descendants but I think it would have been more fun if the Plimouth Plantation re-enactors could have come in costume.

[film noire]

 

Gail grew up in Toronto. My mom is visiting from out of town and actually mentioned when we were watching the episode, that Gail grew up in the same neighbourhood as her, and went to the same schools as her. Seeing as Gail is Jewish, I would not be surprised if her family did not celebrate Thanksgiving. A lot of Jewish families do not (mine included) in Canada.

 

 

Thanks for the info, BC Mama -- still not sure why Gail doesn't know Thanksgiving is a Canadian holiday, but at least it makes sense as to why Gail didn't have more of a holiday meal than turkey and 'maybe' some pumpkin soup.

 

 

Actually the Mayflower Pilgrims who celebrated the first Thanksgiving were not the same group as the later Puritans who started coming to the Northeast in the Great Migration that followed the Pilgrims.

 

The Pilgrims had their own sins to answer for. Many historians make note -- as do many Wampanoag today -- of the Pirlgrims robbing Native American graves to gain tools, bows, utensils and stores of corn and beans. (The addition of that fact would've given an interesting twist to the challenge -- corn was so precious, they were willing to desecrate graves to gain it - it's such a profound way to illustrate that food isn't just a well-fed man's amusement.) Anyway -- all to say, history is shaped by which source you validate. 

Edited November 22, 2014 by film noire

[cooksdelight]

The information about the Pilgrims, Indians, and Thanksgiving is fascinating and interesting. But could you discuss the non-episode aspects of the history in the small talk thread, called the Stew Room here.

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/1557-the-stew-room-the-general-discussion-thread/page-3#entry538061

Thanks!!

[Chasing Whitebeams]

I'm loving this season.

The editing is so good. I was sure either Doug or Melissa was going to leave. Then, when they announced Doug in the top, I thought he was going to win - so I was surprised by both Katsuji's win and Stacy's PYKAG, but enjoyably so! I wish more reality shows trusted the audiences capability of surviving an episode without knowing the outcome in the first 5 minutes.

The food seems really good, would love to try everything!

My favourite remains Mei. Often on cooking shows I'm a bit peeved with people who are familiar with Asian cuisine sticking to Asian cuisine and then flying through simply because Asian flavours and textures are, in themselves, rather pleasing to western judges (in short: I feel Asian is often an easy cuisine to do in a cooking show. I'm not a chef, though, what do I know!).
However, I really don't think this is the case with Mei (or Melissa either). Her food seems like elevated Asian cuisine with twists to this and that direction. I also like how potty-mouthedly confident she is about it. (Mind you, she saves that to talking heads. In the kitchen she's seen consulting other chefs and being nice and respectful.)

Would've loved to see Katie in the top since she is the dark horse and did two insane dishes this episode! It's always nice when the chef just goes outside the box without resorting to gimmicks.

 

The little "Aaron was an asshole, you guys" -get-together in the beginning was lovely, too, and highlighted how jovial the rest of the episode was. Such a good-spirit episode! Also loved Tiffani's "wah cry me a river" -face when Reese Witherspoon complained about her less-than-satisfactory pantry.

 

I think and fear Melissa is next, since she seems a bit clueless about what the show is looking for. "Perfectly diced vegetables", uhm, whether I'd be a judge or a diner at a restaurant, I'd expect flavour and innovation, not display of knife skills.

EDIT:
While I'm no expert on Native Americans, I thought the depiction of Wampanaug this episode seemed contemporary and respectful, and not at all mystical or whimsy (none of that "ooh Indians, with their earthy connection and overwhelming spiritism of the past" that is so often found). So I enjoyed that - Padma's repeated "it was such an honor" seemed like a bit of an overkill, though.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Chasing Whitebeams

[needschocolate]

I chuckled a little when Padma thanked the pilgrim ancestors for honoring the show with their presence.  I realize she was just being polite, but if Pilgrim were an ethniticity, they would be about one-twentythousandth Pilgrim - it doesn't make them royalty. These people had a great, great ... (insert 10-14 more greats)...grandparent come across on the Mayflower.   I think it is the diners that should be honored - getting to be on tv and eat food cooked by the, supposedly, top chefs in the country.  

 

(yeah, she also thanked the Wampanoag for honoring the show with their presence, but that is a little different as they may actually be someone of great importance to the tribe).

[Lura]

(yeah, she also thanked the Wampanoag for honoring the show with their presence, but that is a little different as they may actually be someone of great importance to the tribe).

 

I had a hard time reading the captions under two of the Indian men's names, but I was under the impression that both of them held positions with the Plimouth Society, or whatever it was called.  I could be wrong.  But if that was the case, I'd think that they would be somewhat prominent members of their tribe because the Indians would want good representation, good people who could make certain that the contributions of the Indians in the village were accurate.  Wasn't that one man something like the 15th generation of the original Indians there?  JMO.  :)

[Bastet]

It was a nice touch seeing Mei have Katsuji taste (and evaluate) an element of her dish, in light of how they worked together the first time around.

[carrps]

Everyone here who has a grandparent from a fishing community can tell the story about how their ancestor brought lobster sandwiches to school and was really embarrassed because the rich kids all had baloney, Bringing lobster identified them fairly clearly as coming from a poor fishing family. According to the story I've always heard, this was pretty normal until the 1920s when fishermen started shipping lobster west and marketing them as a luxury good. 

My BiL is from Maine, and he had the same stories. Only the poor kids "had" to eat lobster back in the day. Me? When I visited them when they were living there, I scarfed up as much lobster as I could. I loved that I could get lobster rolls at the hamburger shack in their small town.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I had a hard time reading the captions under two of the Indian men's names, but I was under the impression that both of them held positions with the Plimouth Society, or whatever it was called.  I could be wrong.  But if that was the case, I'd think that they would be somewhat prominent members of their tribe because the Indians would want good representation, good people who could make certain that the contributions of the Indians in the village were accurate.  Wasn't that one man something like the 15th generation of the original Indians there?  JMO.  :)

 

I believe that they were employees of Plimoth Plantation. I doubt that they were hired because of their position in the Wampanoag tribe and instead, like other employees of the museum, for the knowledge base.  (Bravo has a behind-the-scenes video up about the challenge, in which they talk to several of the Wampanoag staff).  I think that any of them were, for instance, tribal chiefs, they would have indicated that. 

[Lura]

Ken Oringer was a very good guest judge....

To my way of thinking, Ken Oringer was EXACTLY the kind of judge they need to use full time.  He's soft spoken, but he knows what he's talking about.  He came across as a friendly, sympathetic judge who took a real interest in what the contestants were doing.  At the same time, at the Judges' Table, he was honest and frank about who was good and who was not.  I thought the contestants responded well to him, too.  He wasn't sarcastic or self-promoting.  With him, it was all about the contestants and their food.  I really do wish that TPTB would hire him as a full time judge.  Besides all that, I thought he was kinda cute!

[Mumbles]

 

My heart broke for her when she described how much pressure she felt to properly represent her city and how it was keeping her up at night.  I think she did Boston proud, she went home on a dish that everyone liked.

Ugh. It's a pet peeve when reality game show contestants say, "I'm trying to represent [city/group] and do them proud." On its surface it purports to be cute and charming, but in actuality it's self-aggrandizing to assume that city/group cares that much in your personal success on a game show.

[archer1267]

As someone who loved PBS' Colonial House, I really liked this challenge, and liked how the chefs were initially stymied but then got into it. I agree that Stacy's comment about plating on the ground probably planted a seed in the judges' minds that wouldn't have otherwise been there. Still, she seemed to be past her expiration date.

 

I was in Nova Scotia for Canadian Thanksgiving this year and honestly don't know what Gail was talking about. She's from Toronto and maybe different provinces have different traditions. I had pretty much the same Thanksgiving meal as I've been used to in the Northeast US - the traditional turkey, cranberry sauce, yams, green been casserole etc. There was a salmon option, but other than that, I could have been in the US.

 

I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I kind of like Adam. I thought he'd be a douche after he opened his mouth for the first time, but he's grown on me.

[Snarklepuss]

Ugh. It's a pet peeve when reality game show contestants say, "I'm trying to represent [city/group] and do them proud." On its surface it purports to be cute and charming, but in actuality it's self-aggrandizing to assume that city/group cares that much in your personal success on a game show.

 

I wouldn't call the pressure Stacy put herself under as "self aggrandizing".  I didn't see anything remotely self aggrandizing about Stacy.  I think the pressure to represent on her part was in part the expectation that she somehow shine at and do better than others who are not from the area at local cuisine.  Bostonians have a fierce pride about themselves as a group, which can be seen reflected in the "Bosox Nation" phenomenon, so to me Stacy's desire to represent that group and "do them proud" is more understandable knowing how others from that group would be rooting for her on those grounds.  In this case I think the group really does care.  I'm originally from New York and even I was rooting for her on those grounds.  So I get the self-induced pressure.

Edited November 23, 2014 by Snarklepuss

[BC Mama]

I was in Nova Scotia for Canadian Thanksgiving this year and honestly don't know what Gail was talking about. She's from Toronto and maybe different provinces have different traditions. I had pretty much the same Thanksgiving meal as I've been used to in the Northeast US - the traditional turkey, cranberry sauce, yams, green been casserole etc. There was a salmon option, but other than that, I could have been in the US.

 

A lot of Jewish families in Canada do not celebrate Thanksgiving. It is very possible that Gail never celebrated Thanksgiving growing up.