The Shows of 2015: More Indecipherable Seasonings

[spiderpig]

I agree.  The #2 ejectee was so arrogant.  I was happy with either of the final two competitors, Mathias and Jeremy.  Though those basket items were pretty nauseating.  Thanks, viewers.

[cooksdelight]

Sauerkraut ice cream.... sauerkraut & fruit cocktail sauce.... OK, whatever works!

[xaxat]

They hate us? We're heartless? 

 

I'm crushed!

Edited September 18, 2015 by xaxat

[cattykit]

I probably didn't even need to watch.  Have never officially done the math but I am pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of times a French accent has ever been eliminated (I can count Yoanne and maybe one other cheftestant).

 

As viewers' choice baskets, these weren't nearly as evil as some earlier ones (durian, anyone?).  And the ritual "I hate you, America," as if the entire viewership stood up with one voice and picked these baskets.  How does it work, anyway?  I presume FN gives choices and people vote on them via social media, in which case they really came from FN.  Or some other method?

Edited September 19, 2015 by cattykit

[cooksdelight]

I suggested the potted meat on Facebook, but I called it Deviled Ham (which is what it was to me, growing up). They start a thread, and people post their choices. I guess they take the most times someone suggests an item and go from there. They did the same thing on Twitter.

[Fostersmom]

I don't need the baskets to have gross stuff, just a completely insane combo. How about something like fish, WonderBread, ketchup, and bananas, or hot dogs, saltines, carrots, and jelly beans? 

[cooksdelight]

I've noticed that with every Halloween competition they have each year, they seem to go out of their way to find a few people who look like they might be on their way to a costume party, already made up and ready to go.

The food truck girl needed to go ASAP for mispronouncing mascarpone and for being nasally. I was waiting for her to break out into that little sideways dance thing she was doing beside the truck during her intro.

Cruella DeVille got on my nerves with her superior attitude. "I'm older. I'm more experienced. I'm focused. I'm better than the kids." Then she cuts her finger off and I thought Aaron was going to faint. She was delusional if she thought they would let blood on a plate, the missing pig lips and a totally inedible meal get a pass.

Leo wore me out, I wish I had his energy. He's got enough sound effects to get a job as an FX guy. Or a rapper. But I loved his personality. I sort of wished they'd come up with some theme music for him when he was dancing around in the pantry.

I was glad it was Leo and Heather in the final round, I found both of them likable and their creativity was the best. Bless Heather for turning to a culinary career as part of changing her diet and life for the better. The kerosene cookie dust was a bad idea for Leo, and the raw bug. I think we'll be seeing him again on TV, he's made for it, as Geoffrey said.

I never noticed before how much Geoffrey says "like". Alex frowned and grouched the entire episode.

And I HATE not getting judges' deliberations during each round.

[mlp]

Yeah, Leo was likable but exhausting.  I absolutely could not imagine him as a Marine.  I suppose he toned down all that campy behavior while serving.  Anyhow, I wish him well.

[cooksdelight]

Leo's the guy you send out as a scout because he can cover 10 times as much ground as anyone else. :)

[GaT]

I didn't like Leo or Heather, I wanted them both to lose.

[SpottedCoachDog]

Ho - ly mother of God....I've watched bloody eels, chicken feet, congealed blood, suckling baby livestock, canned haggis etc. All I've ever done is wrinkle my nose. But pork bung? That made me heave. That would have made me throw up my hands and say "I'm out, bitches!" Ugh.

[cooksdelight]

Yeah.... I'll try just about anything, but no way am I eating the business ass end of a pig. And the damn camera person kept focusing in on the end!!!!!!

[6 MeowMeowBeenz]

that was just disgusting. Wish they'd stick to non-vomit-inducing ingredients

[backformore]

Duck bills? Weird, kind of gross.

Pig RECTUM? I'm out. Didn't even watch the whole thing after that.

[Crucial]

I'm so glad Cruella got chopped.  I eel bad she cut herself but I was hoping she was gone in the first round.  Leo was way too much to watch and to handle. If they would have left his antics out I would be al aboard but he was too much with the running around, twirls, and just over the top stuff.  Watchin him I was done before seeing his plates.  None were really  fav for me.

Duck bills? Weird, kind of gross.
Pig RECTUM? I'm out. Didn't even watch the whole thing after that.

Just saw that as the next one.  Nope no words with that stuff  Really Rectum? 

[Rammchick]

Did you know that Chef Corey had a Vietnamese fiancee?

[cooksdelight]

Just saw that as the next one.  Nope no words with that stuff  Really Rectum?

YES.... pig's ass. With closeups of the thing. I don't know how anyone could eat that, I don't care how well it's been cleaned or doused with vinegar. It's ass.

[MajorWoody]

Rectum?

Damn near killed 'em!

Sorry, couldn't pass that one up.

The only good thing about having pigs ass as an ingredient is that it causes the pompous judges to actually have to eat pigs ass. Too bad Conant wasn't the judge, he would be the perfect judge to bloviate on the integrity of ass.

As to the Halloween episode, Cruella was delusional. i think she expected them to just hand her the $10,000 just for showing up, since in her mind she was the best chef to ever set foot in the kitchen.

Edited October 11, 2015 by MajorWoody

[Psychobunny]

Cruella was the living embodiment of "resting bitch face".  So glad she lost, but it would have been sweeter if they had been able to taste her food and she still lost.

[iggysaurus]

The only good thing about having pigs ass as an ingredient is that it causes the pompous judges to actually have to eat pigs ass. Too bad Conant wasn't the judge, he would be the perfect judge to bloviate on the integrity of ass.

 

He WAS one of the judges. Unfortunately he made no comments about ass integrity. 

[cooksdelight]

Or proper handling of the ass.

[xaxat]

The dessert round came down to a German chef given Oktoberfest themed baskets and a chef that works at Alex's restaurant. So unexpected!

 

Zakarian: "Hey, (German chef we gave a huge advantage to. . ) don't forget to use all of the ingredients!"

[cooksdelight]

Geoffrey's beer stein showed he was definitely knocking back a few during the judging.

[mlp]

I was sick of the whiny girl from Butter before they even started cooking.  I don't have a problem with employees of the judges competing as long as the one who employs the contestant isn't judging that episode.  I do have a problem with them not even mentioning that said whiny little girl works for Alex Guarnaschelli.  Maybe the judging was strictly on the up and up but the omission made it feel like it wasn't.

[GaT]

Zakarian: "Hey, (German chef we gave a huge advantage to. . ) don't forget to use all of the ingredients!"

That drove me crazy, I am sick of the judges helping out contestants this way, if he had won, I would have been pissed. Of course, since the other chef worked for Alex, maybe they already knew he wasn't going to win.

[cattykit]

The dessert round came down to a German chef given Oktoberfest themed baskets and a chef that works at Alex's restaurant. So unexpected!

 

Zakarian: "Hey, (German chef we gave a huge advantage to. . ) don't forget to use all of the ingredients!"

There are so many things FN does with Chopped that would irritate me if I actually cared about this show any more.  Like having a specialty competition with exactly one cheftestant who works that specialty.  Like summarily eliminating the judges' comments in the intermediate rounds without the slightest concern for what we, the viewers, want to see. 

 

I happen to be one who thinks that if you work for one of the Chopped judges, you shouldn't be eligible to compete.  Unless they did a Very Special competition where all the competitors worked for one or another of the judges.  And then put those judges on the panel and see who's able to be objective.

Edited October 14, 2015 by cattykit

[Crucial]

I wish the first two chefs chopped on Oktoberfest would have been the final two.  Listening to a whiney baby from Alex's restaurant was unbearable.  She's not confident and cries.  I had a feeling the German chef would not win since it was too obvious he would.  Would have been better going in round two and the Butter lady in round one.  Mention the lady was a chef for Alex.  They've mentioned it before.  It's not like she was judging or could they not ding her?

 

I wish they would stop (not just her) with the crying.  I don't want to watch the biggest feel sorry for me, I'm so distraught, pity me, I'm broke and need help crying fits.  I must be expecting too much because I want to see cooking and that play out. 

[cooksdelight]

I like the idea of any chef who works for one of the judges be in a special competition with others like themselves... it's not fair to throw them into the mix of people who work for themselves or someone no one's ever heard of. It screams of nepotism.

I envisioned Alex in the background, cheering her on, while the other chefs looked at each other with a WTF look.

[paramitch]

I didn't mind them not mentioning Alex by name, since Butter is famously her restaurant. 

 

I did feel that her sous chef contestant, however, was playing the "poor me, I just need confidence!" game a little too aggressively. She was obviously aware of the beats of the show and of the stories they like to build in each episode. But her plates looked good to me and it seemed like she was capable and technical.

 

On the other hand, I did feel like the German chef should have gone home earlier (I wouldn't have chopped the South African chef first -- and by the way -- what a courteous, elegant guy). I thought the German chef not only had an unfair advantage, but his plates looked horrific. That entree plate just looked like dog food to me. Seriously horrible.

 

I liked the model chef as well, and thought she was obviously capable, and like the South African chef, she certainly had a nice and very classy exit. I love it when contestants leave while taking it all in stride like that. I wouldn't mind seeing her or the South African chef back for redemption some time -- I kind of felt they got hosed.

[cooksdelight]

The male model who was eliminated first just made the very best exit walk down the hall of shame.... ever!!!

[mlp]

Model episode just over........................... Where have I seen Ashley before?  I recognized her right away but I can't place her.  At first I thought she was the absolute b**** who won Next Great Baker two or three years ago but that woman, as I recall, had tattoos up the side of her neck and across her chest.  Also she worked for Buddy Valastro for a year or two then got married and moved to Tennessee or Kentucky so this Ashley must be someone else.  It's making me nuts.

[JessDVD]

Late to the party on Bizarre Battle... I know that beak to feet eating is survival in quite a lot of the world but organ meat, especially anything involved that intricately with digestion, I just can't. The duck bills were weird, and hearing the judges talk about them like it's supposed to be normal, was funny, but at least they could use them to make a stock and use the beef jerky as the primary protein.

[Nysha]

 

And I HATE not getting judges' deliberations during each round.

I love not getting them. I always fast-forwarded that part, anyway. Now, all we get is the final deliberations, so it doesn't feel like a rehash of the previous 2.

[anonymiss]

It was like Alex didn't want to spend the money so she sent her chef to win on Chopped for her Europe training.

 

Din Yates (the first model who exited with style) has a super hot smile and voice.

 

I've skipped a lot since every show was the same old, but it was a pleasure to watch these formerly-starved models cook amongst each other. 

 

Totally on board with Chef Crosby's food ideology and healthy, tasty dessert business. 

 

Best thing was seeing Marcus again!

Edited October 17, 2015 by anonymiss

[GaT]

Healthy eating Chopped is boring.

[anonymiss]

It doesn't need to be but they didn't pick the most inventive ingredients or informed chefs, or judge for that matter. Rocco is a new convert so he's a pseudo-expert. Rather than focusing on how "sugar is the enemy" he should have spoken about alternatives like coconut sugar, dates/date paste, maple syrup, fruit puree, pure stevia, etc. If people only hear that sugar is the enemy and cut it out completely w/o replacing it with anything better, they will relapse and end up worse off than they began. 

 

Also, contrary to what he said, honey, especially organic raw honey, is a beneficial sugar substitute with a reasonable GI.

[Rammchick]

You said basically what I was going to, anonymiss. It's not sugar or fat that are the enemies, it's quantity. And salt and high fructose corn syrup stuffed into everything to the point where it's unavoidable. Sure, steamed fish and veg are healthy foods, but a steady diet of that and you'll be running for the Twinkies in a day. Better to teach good substitutions, as the winning chef did.

[Amarsir]

I both agree and disagree. There is a lot of virtue to whole foods and more natural substitutes. And when you can do something healthy that's more interesting than a salad, that is more likely to entice the people who need it.

 

But when you're cooking with full fat creams, coconut oil, honey, etc it's all too easy to eat several hundred calories over your TDEE. The winning chef literally said first round "I didn't think about the calories in this dish". She didn't, but I did.  And as someone who's been fighting obesity my entire life (and finally winning the past 6 months) I wouldn't have eaten some of the things she made.  It may be "healthy" in other dimensions. But it wasn't especially light.

 

So I love a healthy episode and would like a lot more of them. But when one chef's goal is "nutrient dense" and another is "calorie light", it doesn't feel like they're playing the same game. Lay down a rule one way or the other.

Edited October 24, 2015 by Amarsir

[NikSac]

I thought this episode was generally pretty boring, but most of all I was wondering why that one chef in particular (sorry forgot her name) was pouring honey into EVERYthing. YUCK!  Not everything needs to be sweet. Especially something like meatballs.

 

ETA: by this episode I meant the health food one.

Edited October 25, 2015 by NikSac

[backformore]

Just watching Chopped Impossible. Is it my prejudice, or did the other judges seem less than thrilled to be playing second fiddle to Robert Irvine?

He doesn't fit on Chopped. I just dislike the vibe he brings to the show. Other judges have come across as arrogant, but Irvine takes it to another level.

[NikSac]

Just watching Chopped Impossible. Is it my prejudice, or did the other judges seem less than thrilled to be playing second fiddle to Robert Irvine?

He doesn't fit on Chopped. I just dislike the vibe he brings to the show. Other judges have come across as arrogant, but Irvine takes it to another level.

 

I totally agree he doesn't fit on Chopped. I actually thought it might be interesting to see him on there just because it'd be such a different format for him, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. At least he wasn't fake gagging, spitting stuff out (that I saw anyway, might've missed it) or screaming at people. If I were the other chefs I'd be kind of insulted that the big grand prize is getting to cook against him, especially when in my opinion the others are much more accomplished chefs.

[Rammchick]

Amarsir , I too am a lifelong sufferer with weight issues.  First and foremost, congratulations on conquering yours!  I agree that this particular chef might not have been the best representative for healthy cooking given the differences in approach that she had with the other contestants.  In the end, it makes sense that she won over the judges with richer, rounder flavors that full-fat products can impart to food.  Sadly, people are so conditioned to imagine "rabbit food" as the only healthy alternative that "diets" usually fail, and at least from my experience, fail spectacularly.  Instead of Rocco Despirito, the third judge should have been a real nutritionist, who could have spoken more intelligently about the value of balance in eating habits.  So while I applaud Food Network for attempting to celebrate a more healthful style of cooking, they didn't quite achieve what they set out to accomplish.

[Psychobunny]

I did think the one chef used too much honey.  However, I felt Rocco did more harm with his attitude that "sugar is the enemy"  I have also had trouble losing weight with any restrictive diet but I changed to a balanced, higher protein and higher fiber diet about 6 months ago. It involves portion control (which is easier with the higher fiber) and more natural foods including fat where necessary and real sugar rather than artificial substitutes and I've lost about 80 pounds so far. Like most chefs say "fat=flavor" and if food doesn't taste good you won't eat it. 

[cattykit]

Says something about how boring Chopped has become that it's two days after the newest episode and no one's posted.

 

Had all the elements of BTDT:  a gimmick premise (tailgating), lone female cheftestant goes out first, the usual fight for the ice cream machine, and the dreaded pain perdu.  Loved the guest judge saying his 7 year old makes French toast.  About time they stopped giving it a pass.  French toast is dessert like spaghetti is breakfast.  Yeah, you can eat it whenever you want, but you'd never serve it that way and expect anyone not to notice. 

 

I hate when Ted makes them argue why they should win.  Because it never makes any difference, so why bother.  [sob stories, however, make a difference.  Although, blessedly, there weren't any this time.]  Also no trash talking or chest puffing. 

[backformore]

Yeah, something happened to make this show boring.  Maybe it's that we don't see as much of the judges deliberating, I'm not sure.  Maybe it's that every contestant seems to have a "game plan"  going in, they're over-prepared, and it's not as much fun to watch? 

 

Maybe it's just that it's getting too predictable - make a salad, or a soup, or deep fry something for the appetizer.make  a main course where you combine two ingredients in a puree, two others in a sauce, "transform"  the meat by adding spice, put the sauce under it, or over it.    

 Put two things together with some dairy and plop it in the ice cream maker, maybe it will work, maybe not, the rest go in a sauce for the ice cream or maybe some sort of crunchy topping. if you can't get the ice cream maker in time, it's french toast, bread pudding, or layer stuff and call it a napoleon.

 

 The judges will say dishes are overcooked, undercooked, need tartness, or have a hair, bone, shell,  sliver of something that doesn't belong.  Contestants will skip ingredients, stuff will burn or boil over.   One judge  will argue that a dessert is  too sweet, another says its not sweet enough. 

Then. you either didn't transform the ingredients enough, or you didn't highlight the right thing, and the taste is hidden.   If they give you a particularly nasty ingredient, you will be criticized if they DO taste it, but also if they DON'T.  Either way - you're CHOPPED.  but first, cry a little, and tell us how you will spend the money you're not going to win. 

 

the baskets are different, the contestants are different, but the show is so much the same.  

Edited November 6, 2015 by backformore

[GaT]

The problem with this show is that it's on too much. I just realized that it's on THREE TIMES next week, Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday, & that doesn't include the 40 billion reruns. Why is it on more than once a week? 

[Bella]

I find myself watching Chopped less and Cutthroat Kitchen more. CTK is stupid and I can feel my IQ plummet every time I watch the show, but it's also fun. Chopped has become predictable.

[NikSac]

Yeah, something happened to make this show boring.  Maybe it's that we don't see as much of the judges deliberating, I'm not sure.  Maybe it's that every contestant seems to have a "game plan"  going in, they're over-prepared, and it's not as much fun to watch? 

 

Maybe it's just that it's getting too predictable - make a salad, or a soup, or deep fry something for the appetizer.make  a main course where you combine two ingredients in a puree, two others in a sauce, "transform"  the meat by adding spice, put the sauce under it, or over it.    

 Put two things together with some dairy and plop it in the ice cream maker, maybe it will work, maybe not, the rest go in a sauce for the ice cream or maybe some sort of crunchy topping. if you can't get the ice cream maker in time, it's french toast, bread pudding, or layer stuff and call it a napoleon.

 

 The judges will say dishes are overcooked, undercooked, need tartness, or have a hair, bone, shell,  sliver of something that doesn't belong.  Contestants will skip ingredients, stuff will burn or boil over.   One judge  will argue that a dessert is  too sweet, another says its not sweet enough. 

Then. you either didn't transform the ingredients enough, or you didn't highlight the right thing, and the taste is hidden.   If they give you a particularly nasty ingredient, you will be criticized if they DO taste it, but also if they DON'T.  Either way - you're CHOPPED.  but first, cry a little, and tell us how you will spend the money you're not going to win. 

 

the baskets are different, the contestants are different, but the show is so much the same.  

 

You left out that they didn't pour an entire shaker of salt on the dish... err, sorry, in Chopped-speak I think that's "didn't season it enough" in the appetizer and entree rounds.

 

You're right though, it really has gotten so predictable. My husband only watches it in passing and now even he can call the order of the chefs pretty reliably, as long as he sees the first segment. I don't generally care for the episodes with the special chefs - i.e. firefighters, grandmas, etc. but I like when they change up the rounds a bit, such as the breakfast/lunch/dinner episodes. Cattykit I seriously didn't even remember much of anything about this episode until I read your post. That's how memorable the "tailgating" one was for me. It's sad.

 

Bella that's funny, I do the same thing. I find myself watching CTK and thinking "man this is trashy TV" but at least I go into it KNOWING it's supposed to be mindless fun, and the chefs know it too, so that somehow makes it better.

[cooksdelight]

I'm still trying to get on Chopped in the home cook special division, playing for my dead cat, complete with a huge photo of him pinned to my shirt.

[NikSac]

I'm still trying to get on Chopped in the home cook special division, playing for my dead cat, complete with a huge photo of him pinned to my shirt.

 

I'll vote for you and your cat!  Hopefully they add a viewer vote at some point.