S12.E14: Holy Escamoly!

[eleanorofaquitaine]

So politically correct I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Dougie should be in the finale. Girl tears, continuously talking about only 2 women have won Top Chef made Mei's choice was so obvious. As a woman I want the best person to win,not the best woman. This is insulting to all women.

 

No, it is not "insulting to all women" and the idea that Mei is not the "best person to win" (or be in the finals, at least) is literally laughable to me. (Also, your status as a woman doesn't mean that you can't buy into sexist notions that any time a woman wins anything, it is due to political correctness, as opposed to actual achievement). Doug is a good chef, no doubt, but he's already been knifed once.  He's had his ups and downs, just like Gregory (and less so Mei).  But don't worry, I am sure that Top Chef will find a way to make sure that Mei doesn't win, and your concerns about political correctness will all be for naught.

Edited February 5, 2015 by eleanorofaquitaine

[Julia]

So politically correct I threw up a little bit in my mouth. Dougie should be in the finale. Girl tears, continuously talking about only 2 women have won Top Chef made Mei's choice was so obvious. As a woman I want the best person to win,not the best woman. This is insulting to all women.

I didn't get that at all. I got that Mei, having seen how determined the producers are to present a narrative where she and Melissa are long lost sisters because they both have ladybits and cook and their families come from the same continent (which, wow, reductive much?), wanted to emphasize that she's not gloating about having taken Melissa down by making Melissa part of her victory.

Edited February 5, 2015 by Julia

[Harry24]

Every time she says "The bold combination of flavors are super delicate" I die a little inside.

 

Is it the "bold/delicate" contradiction that does you in or the single subject/plural verb, stopeslite?  Or both?

[Rai]

Speaking as a lady Top Chef viewer, I do, in fact, get excited when a woman wants to win for both herself (family's been a dick to her) and because she's taking up a responsibility to represent.  Maybe others could do without her as ambassador, but I'm all for it.  Go Mei!

[cooksdelight]

She sounded more unprepared than usual and several times it sounded like they re-recorded her comments......and they were still stupid.

Might have been the wine talking. :) No telling how long they sat there drinking in between courses.

[JTMacc99]

Poor Doug. There was absolutely nothing but his desire to avoid conflict that prevented him from not getting stuck with two ingredients he didn't want. 

 

All he had to do was throw down a "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Everybody pick one at a time before we get to pick the second one" and I'm sure Gregory and Mei would have been okay with that.  He still would have been stuck with the ant eggs, given that Doug still would have allowed himself to pick last, but at least he would have felt better about his other ingredient.

[Lovecat]

Ah, I thought it was dessert, not just sweet. 

FWIW, Padma kept referring to them as "dessert."

 

I was quite tickled with "Manos arribas, cuchillos abajos!"

[carrps]

There is no scenario in which I would eat either ant eggs or corn fungus.

 

Huitlacoche is delicious. But I know some people who can't even eat button mushrooms, so I understand. :-)

 

I'm really happy Mei made the finals. And I can see that some people think Doug got screwed on the special ingredients, but he was pretty zoned out during the selection. Mei and Gregory were tasting and interacting, and Doug was kinda in a trance. He really needed to be more present. And as others have said, I was quite disappointed when he pulled out the "I don't do dessert" card. Lame, Dougie, lame.

 

Also, there was less suspense for me at the elimination because Doug was obviously wet-eyed during his THs about that challenge. At one point, it sounded like his voice was starting to break, and, interestingly, the last couple of words were not said with his face shown -- they cut to some other neutral shot. Even my cold heart melted a bit.

 

Personally, I was impressed with Mei's guac. Every time I make it I end up with a big, though tasty, mess.

[DHDancer]

FWIW, Padma kept referring to them as "dessert."

 

I was quite tickled with "Manos arribas, cuchillos abajos!"

 

Not being familiar with Spanish I had to look up the translation of the above and Google Translate failed miserably!!  I finally figured it out as "Hands Up, Knives Down", but Google stumbled over the verb in both parts (not translating it at all).  Ah well.

 

I don't know why people are surprised that Padma speaks Spanish: she's a multi-lingual lady....

[LuciaMia]

"Uh-oh. Somebody mentioned a pressure cooker. That's never a good sign."

***********

Same thing with the ice cream maker. There always seems to be a problem with that....certainly on 'Chopped.'

[Aero]

I wont even be watching the finale.  Doug was the most creative and passionate chef on the show.  

 

Mei was supposed to be the best and frontrunner and she has rarely ever even made the top 3 dishes of the night. Greg makes dishes that he makes all the time and doesnt ever challenge himself.

 

On the episode tonight Doug was left with the ingredients noone else wanted, they teamed up and screwed him over...cuz he was their biggest competition and the best chef left in the competition 

 

Now there is no point to watch because Mei with her mediocre food or gregory making dishes he makes all the time will win...and noone will give 2 craps.  

 

GG

[meep.meep]

I find all of them to be creative and passionate.  If Doug didn't like the ingredients, he should have spoken up right then.

 

There must have been some fruit in the quickfire garden.  He could have made fruit with chocolate sauce or fruit dipped in chocolate.  Anything but just put together two kinds of melted chocolate and throw in some mescal.  That's the kind of creativity that gets you into the finale?  It all gets factored in.

[biakbiak]

Mei was supposed to be the best and frontrunner and she has rarely ever even made the top 3 dishes of the night. Greg makes dishes that he makes all the time and doesnt ever challenge himself.

This is in no way accurate, she won three elimination challenges and was shown being in the top two of many other elimination challenges. She was only in the bottom of an EC once and rarely in the middle.

Edited February 5, 2015 by biakbiak

[Lura]

Even though I was really happy to see Greg find his old self again, I thought that the elimination between Mei and Doug was sheer agony.  I wanted both to win, and I thought about all the people on this previously board and how many of them had their hopes riding on one or the other.  It seemed like the waiting would never end!!  Then, when Mei's emotions became too much for her, I wanted it all just to end somehow and put her out of her agony.  I became angry that someone couldn't stop the filming long enough to pass her a tissue, but those wicked monkeys had to keep filming for the "emotion."

 

I've liked George ever since he came back from LCK.  When Greg chose him, George looked so happy!  From the few remarks I heard from him, I think he had his heart in trying to help win it for Greg.  IMHO, that guy has a great smile! 

 

I totally agree with the people here who have said they wished that all three could win.  This was such a tough challenge, and all three were worthy opponents. 

Edited February 5, 2015 by Lura

[cooksdelight]

We've had finales with three contestants before, I wish this could have been another one.

[stopeslite]

Harry24 - it is indeed both. :) I can imagine that the concept behind the line was supposed to be something like "It's a bold combination of flavors that are usually delicate on their own", and got mangled coming out, but it came out incomprehensible.

[locomoco]

There is no scenario in which I would eat either ant eggs or corn fungus.

It's all a matter of perspective... I enjoy eggs of different types - chicken, quail, cavier... I might initially wince at the thought of ant eggs, but I think curiousity would get teh better of me.

 

And I'm too much of a mushroom lover to probably ever turn down an opportunity to try a new type. As someone mentioned above, wood ear mushrooms look odd, but damn if they aren't super tasty.

 

This isn't to say that everyone should try everything... if the idea of something would be so strong as to be repellent, there's a large probability that you aren't going to enjoy it. Comfort plays a big part in enjoying a meal.

[Noreaster]

Man, when Gregory is on fire, there's no stopping him. This episode was reminiscent of some of the earlier ones this season. He just blows everyone away when he's on. The break after the Boston filming must have really helped...he had time to recharge, practice, and refill his recipe box. 

 

Echoing a bunch of things already mentioned:

 

-Seems silly that Doug didn't have a chocolate dessert in the back of his pocket for Mexico. I guess no big deal since it was a non-elimination quickfire. 

 

-Wish Doug was more assertive in the ingredient selection. Heh, it is indeed like George with the clams. Working with an unfamiliar ingredient definitely put Doug at a disadvantage. Might have been even worse if he didn't have Katsuji as sous chef.  

 

-Mei's guacamole dish was a neat plating idea but way too simple. Maybe she should have added a protein or something to the dish. 

 

-This season feels never-ending. It's been the same group of contestants on-screen ever since George came back. With the same few people getting picked as sous chefs. 

[eleanorofaquitaine]

We've had finales with three contestants before, I wish this could have been another one.

 

I agree with this.  I prefer the three person finals over the two person finals because I think when you get down to the top three, it really is kind of arbitrary who gets cut.  With the top three, you are generally getting people who could beat each other on any given day.  I suppose they plan it out beforehand as to whether it will be a two-person or a three-person final but this seemed like a finals that should include all three.

[inandout]

I am a woman and I really wanted Mei to shut up about winning for women.  I don't want to hear it - just cook the best dish and you will earn my respect no matter what sex you are.

I disagree.  Mei is addressing a disconnect that has long plague this show.  In 11 seasons, only 2 women have won.  There have been no African American winners.  I'm not sure an openly gay contestant has ever won?  For me, the low point, was Nina losing over Nick last season.  So at least with Season 12, we know the winner won't be another white guy. 

Edited February 5, 2015 by ifoundit

[biakbiak]

There have been no African American winners

Kevin Sbraga the winner from Top Chef DC IS African American.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I disagree.  Mei is addressing a disconnect that has long plague this show.  In 11 seasons, only 2 women have won.  There have been no African American winners.  I'm not sure an openly gay contestant has ever won?  For me, the low point, was Nina losing over Nick last season.  So at least with Season 12, we know the winner won't be another white guy. 

 

Kristen Kish is gay, though I believe she came out after winning.  Regardless, in my view, Top Chef has a general diversity problem, and specifically has a problem with gender diversity.  It isn't just that in TC, only 2 women have won - no women have won TC Masters or TC: Just Desserts.  IMO, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a female contestant (or viewer, for that matter) to recognize that the numbers are abysmal (and likely reflective of an industry that is, by many accounts, fairly sexist).

Edited February 5, 2015 by eleanorofaquitaine

[KarmaG]

I agree that it seemed really lopsided, but you won't hear Doug whine or complain about it. He seems to roll with the punches with a lot of grace. Now, had the situation been reversed, Mei might be a different story in how she'd react to being eliminated. She's already got the "a woman must win" mantra going.

 

She gets on my last nerve with that mantra. I understand, only two women have won in the history of the show but give.it.a.break! I wanted a Melissa/Greg finale with Melissa winning, would have preferred Doug/Greg but am stuck with Mei/Greg. Go Greg!

Re: Doug's chili:  Texas chili is always made without beans.

 

Yup and I remember that biting someone in the rear during the Texas season of the show.

Seriously!  I was kind of surprised and appalled by that.  Everyone knows that when you go on Top Chef you should have at least one dessert in your back pocket. Something chocolate is a safe bet--it's fairly universally liked (yes, I know there are mutants that don't like chocolate ;) ) and there have been several chocolate-based challenges over the years (chocolate-chicken liver truffles, anyone?).  It's like going on Survivor [ed: or, you know, Amazing Race.  Derp!] without learning how to drive stick.  Or swim.

 

Well that would have proven to the judges that Doug can make desserts ;)

 

I resemble the bolded part of the remark! Not a fan of chocolate with the exception of hot chocolate once in a while and chocolate milk. The rest I have to agree with. You know dessert is coming at some point, you must practice and have at least one go-to stored in memory.

Edited February 6, 2015 by KarmaG

[Bastet]

Why should Mei or anyone else who feels as she does give it a break?  She wanted it to be her and Melissa in the finals because they have become friends and because that would guarantee a female winner.  Stephanie was very happy the Kristen/Brooke finale meant there would finally be another woman in the winner's circle with her, and the two of them felt the same.  I don't see why they shouldn't talk about it when asked (or on their own); it doesn't matter to everyone, but it matters to them, and they're saying so. 

[KarmaG]

There was a weird edit at judge's table, I thought. In one shot, Mei had tears streaming down her face. In the very next one, she didn't, and then tears again. Continuity, Elves!

 

That drove me bonkers. I hate lack of continuity/choppy editing.

[Mooncake76]

The culinary world is dominated by male chefs so I can see why a female chef/cook would be all too aware of the imbalance, not just in a competition but as the reality of their chosen profession. To be able to rise to the top of an industry dominated by men would be worth noting and I don't blame Mei at all for commenting or focusing on it.  Same with Melissa for wanting to be a "role model" for female chefs.  They both have said that if they can't win, they would want the other one to win.  I don't see anything wrong with that, any more than Gregory or Doug saying they want to "represent" Portland.  Presumably, Doug is rooting for Gregory because of the Portland connection, not because he dislikes Mei.   

[KarmaG]

Why should Mei or anyone else who feels as she does give it a break?  She wanted it to be her and Melissa in the finals because they have become friends and because that would guarantee a female winner.  Stephanie was very happy the Kristen/Brooke finale meant there would finally be another woman in the winner's circle with her, and the two of them felt the same.  I don't see why they shouldn't talk about it when asked (or on their own); it doesn't matter to everyone, but it matters to them, and they're saying so. 

 

Because it gets old to listen to very fast. Yes, we know very few women have won. I'd just like to hear something else, anything else, from her than that over and over and over and over.

[Lovecat]

Not being familiar with Spanish I had to look up the translation of the above and Google Translate failed miserably!!  I finally figured it out as "Hands Up, Knives Down", but Google stumbled over the verb in both parts (not translating it at all).  Ah well.

My fault, it should have been "Manos arriba, cuchillos abajo!" I can never remember when it's proper to pluralize descriptive words...

[sourpickles]

My lord, this isn't done yet? I had a death in my family so I wasn't able to watch the show and then I was punking around trying to find out who won only to discover....no one has yet. Guess I didn't miss too much, though I did love Doug. Why is it on some season they have a top two at finale, and others a top three? How do they decide who is second and third? Why do some chefs have white coats and others black? What about that one gal in season two, was it, who had no coat at all? So many questions, too little time to sleep. I wish Mei the best of luck, but I think it'll be ok no matter who wins, finally, unless they bring someone back as a finale "twist" and then they have to cook in cauldrons or something. Anyone know what city is up next?

[cooksdelight]

Anyone know what city is up next?

Nashville. A whole lotta country music goin' on.

[Crucial]

I love the final two.  Mei and Greg are and were my favorites during the whole competition.  Either one were to win would be fantastic.  Both are so deserving of winning.  Maybe a slight edge for me would be Mei winning - because I would want a woman to win.  But if it's skill vs skill may the best chef win.  My favorite finale in a long time because both are so deserving!

[Noreaster]

Why is it on some season they have a top two at finale, and others a top three? How do they decide who is second and third? Why do some chefs have white coats and others black? What about that one gal in season two, was it, who had no coat at all? So many questions, too little time to sleep. I wish Mei the best of luck, but I think it'll be ok no matter who wins, finally, unless they bring someone back as a finale "twist" and then they have to cook in cauldrons or something. Anyone know what city is up next?

Moved response to Season vs. Season thread. Edited February 6, 2015 by Noreaster

[cee]

I noticed little details this episode that gave me the sense that Mei and Gregory would be top two. They made a big thing of Mei using nasturtium leaves, which indicated her creativity. And there was this tiny moment where Gregory shook George's hand at the end of service.

That's how I see Mei and Gregory. Mei has this unbelievable talent and creativity. And Gregory is a great chef, but also seems like a good leader.

Gregory is my favorite--he seems like he brings it on flavor & being great in the kitchen. (Although I thought I saw double dipping his spoon tasting the pork/poblano dish. Wasn't happy to see that).

[Corgi-ears]

 

And Gregory is a great chef, but also seems like a good leader.

 

As he proved during Restaurant Wars OH WAIT.

 

I sort of liked the Tears of Discontinuity. It allowed me to imagine that Mei cried for a long, looong time during judging, the tears actually dried, and then Padma made her cry AGAIN. (And I like Mei. I'm just evil.)

[elzin]

I really haven't liked the move to 9pm.  I am usually still doing stuff until 10, so I can't always properly focus and the episodes themselves aren't grabbing my attention away from my other activities.  I don't have a dvr to record it at 9 and watch it at 10. I can watch it on OnDemand the next day, but I hate spoilers so I watch it live.  I mostly liked this season until the last few episodes, and so I really blame the time slot change for my zoning out.  I assume that it only has one left this season, but if it's on at 9 next season, I hope I remember to just try to avoid spoilers and watch it later.

 

So this episode, I don't even remember much other than rolling my eyes at Blaise and how terrible Padma's re-recorded instructions sounded.  You can tell when the voice you hear is really her talking to the contestants and when it's recorded later and added, and I don't generally notice things like that.  If that's the thing I remember the most, it was not a winner of an episode for me. Plus I'm bummed because I like Doug best.

[AmandaPanda]

If Gregory wins this season, I might be done with the show forever. He has shown that he is excellent at cooking Thai food and not much else. He instantly picked the two of the three "easy" ingredients for this elimination challenge. I really liked Gregory at first, but I am super sick of seeing the same thing from him over and over again. Even though I hated that George got let back into the competition so easily, I thought Gregory should have gone home in the innovation challenge when he didn't even attempt to do something innovative. 

 

I pretty much go into every season hoping for a woman to win because I think Colicchio inherently judges the women chefs more harshly than he does the men. So, when Mei is going on about wanting a woman to win, she's preaching to the choir with me. I looked back at some of my responses to last season and had forgotten how often Nick was dinged for not seasoning his food correctly, but still beat Nina in the finals. I don't believe at all that Tom will refuse to vote for a woman to win Top Chef, but I do think he has an inherent gender bias that prevents him from excusing any mistakes made by a woman that he would by a man. It drives me absolutely insane. Despite the fact that I absolutely love watching all the challenges, I don't know that I'll watch another season if Gregory wins.

 

With that being said, if I really thought the male competitor was the stronger of the two, then I would have no problem with him winning. I just don't feel like Gregory is a better, more well-rounded chef than Mei is. If it had come down to Doug and Melissa in the final two, then I would have been pulling for Doug because I felt like Melissa really went further than her talents justified. I don't know where I would have been with a Doug/Mei match-up. I think they're equally talented, so in that case, I probably would have pulled for Mei to represent the women, but been fine with Doug taking it as well.

[SpringTulips]

He has shown that he is excellent at cooking Thai food and not much else

 

Mmm, did I miss something?  Wasn't he heads and shoulders above the others cooking Mexican food?

[Madding crowd]

I like Gregory for the win and he has not only cooked Thai food. He has made Mexican food, pork dishes that were not thai, and has done the same challenges with the same variety of ingredients as everyone else (his artist inspired dish was also not Thai). Mei cooks seafood a lot too but I figure that is her specialty. I did want to try Gregory's sweet carrot dish because I love vegetables.

 

I didn't understand why Mexican cheese was such a hard ingredient to work with. Rick Bayless does a lot of different things with cheese, and I can think of a lot of ways for it to be prepared. The ants and fungus were much more difficult and even the guava can be difficult if you don't want to just use it for a sauce. 

 

I feel whoever produces the best meal in the finale should win, no matter who it is, male or female. 

Edited February 6, 2015 by Madding crowd

[meep.meep]

I prefer people who want to win for themselves. You don't have to represent all the time.

[Rambler]

Because it gets old to listen to very fast. Yes, we know very few women have won. I'd just like to hear something else, anything else, from her than that over and over and over and over.

 

Keep in mind that Mei is not bringing this up over and over. There are probably many hours of footage of her talking about a wide range of different subjects, but it is the editors that are choosing to hit us over the head with the fact that there are few women winners. They think that it makes for a better story and it kind of makes me suspicious that Mei has this won.

 

[KarmaG]

Keep in mind that Mei is not bringing this up over and over. There are probably many hours of footage of her talking about a wide range of different subjects, but it is the editors that are choosing to hit us over the head with the fact that there are few women winners. They think that it makes for a better story and it kind of makes me suspicious that Mei has this won.

 

 

Oh I understand that completely. It does not, however, change the fact that I'm tired of hearing it. :)

[cooksdelight]

I think it's safe to say that Mei and Doug share no feelings of animosity. :)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205079237517055&set=p.10205079237517055&type=1&theater

[Texasmom1970]

There is no scenario in which I would eat either ant eggs or corn fungus.

I wonder who was the first person to be hungry or drunk enough to say hey let me try those, they sound tasty

[Noreaster]

I like Gregory for the win and he has not only cooked Thai food. He has made Mexican food, pork dishes that were not thai, and has done the same challenges with the same variety of ingredients as everyone else (his artist inspired dish was also not Thai). Mei cooks seafood a lot too but I figure that is her specialty. I did want to try Gregory's sweet carrot dish because I love vegetables.

I agree. I think most of the contestants stay within their comfort zones on this show, but the ones who tend to get criticized more (by fellow contestants and viewers) are those who cook "ethnic" cuisines. Are the contestants cooking "non-ethnic" food really much different?  Past contestants have talked about how they cook dishes already on their menu or concepts that they have done before.

 

I think criticism of Gregory was valid for the innovation challenge.  He said he was playing it safe with the flavors. But for the other challenges, most people seem to be cooking what they know best. Including Mei who happens to be cooking at a restaurant that's all about innovation and creativity.  

 

I didn't understand why Mexican cheese was such a hard ingredient to work with. Rick Bayless does a lot of different things with cheese, and I can think of a lot of ways for it to be prepared. The ants and fungus were much more difficult and even the guava can be difficult if you don't want to just use it for a sauce.

I think "difficulty" is in the eyes of the beholder and depends on one's experiences and preferences. Mexican cheese may not be a difficult ingredient but clearly it and the escamole were less desirable ingredients for this group of contestants.

 

Doug got the short end of the stick in ingredient selection, but that's partly his fault. He should have spoken up. Instead he just acquiesced to what was left after the others named their preferences.

[Julia]

I wonder who was the first person to be hungry or drunk enough to say hey let me try those, they sound tasty

The food that makes me wonder that is cassava/yuca. Ask yourself how hungry you have to be to try soaking this root a little longer and letting it ferment when all the people who tried to eat it so far have died of cyanide poisoning. Same question with fugu, I guess.

[Special K]

For those of you grossed out by huitlacoche, you've probably already eaten it.  If you've ever had a "mushroom" anything at a Mexican restaurant that is not Taco Bell, it might well have had huitlacoche in it.  And yes, they are delicious.  But I love fungus.  :)

 

Regarding Doug and escamole, I also thought it was unfair that they had to source their own assigned ingredients.  We watched Katsuji and Doug go from vendor to vendor looking for escamole, and it seemed like hardly anyone was selling them.  Given that the main criticism of Doug's dish was that the escamole flavor wasn't strong enough, couldn't it be that the quality of his ingredient was sub-par?  Especially since Katsuji was shown saying how short a season they have.

 

And while Mei's guacamole was a thing of beauty, the idea of eating a full forkful of guac, wrapped in a blanket of avocado kind of makes me queasy.  Seems kind of one-note to me.

Edited February 6, 2015 by Special K

[AkitaLex]

I also wish this had been a 3 person ellimination challenge.  I would have loved to see Doug cook his own food on his own terms.  It really seemed like he got steamrolled by the other chefs.  I know he could have spoken up and demanded a more fair division of the ingredients, but it feels like a failure on the part of the show to just leave everything to the "cheftestants."  At the very least, Greg shouldn't have been able to call guavas, then regect the idea of serving them as the last course.  He has definitely come across as a jerk on more than one occasion on the show, though I get that editing is contributing to that.

As a Portlander, I'm happy both Greg and Doug made it to the semi-finals, but I was really rooting for Doug.  Partly because of his (non-native) Portlander status, but mostly because he looks like my ex-boyfriend and seems super nice.

[eleanorofaquitaine]

I agree. I think most of the contestants stay within their comfort zones on this show, but the ones who tend to get criticized more (by fellow contestants and viewers) are those who cook "ethnic" cuisines. Are the contestants cooking "non-ethnic" food really much different?  Past contestants have talked about how they cook dishes already on their menu or concepts that they have done before.

 

 

I have no issue with Gregory sticking with Thai food as his flavor profile.  I do have an issue with lackluster performances that put him in either the middle or near the bottom in the back half of the season.  I mean, I think he is a talented chef and all, but the idea that he is so much more talented than Mei isn't at all borne out by the results of the season overall.  I feel as if Mei has been the more consistent chef over the entirety of the season - she never had a bad stretch, like Gregory did, even if she did have a lower rated dish or two - than Gregory.

 

I prefer people who want to win for themselves. You don't have to represent all the time.

 

 

That's fine but there is nothing wrong with wanting to represent, especially when you work in an industry that is known for its inability to recognize the achievement of women.  Furthermore, Mei has also made it clear that she wants to win for herself.  But personally, as someone who didn't really like Mei at the beginning, she has turned me around precisely because she does want to represent on behalf of other women.  IMO, we need more women in this world who are willing to not only represent but be vocal about it.

Edited February 6, 2015 by eleanorofaquitaine

[Jobiska]

I do have to say that if someone said to me "here, you can either have some melted chocolate with a nice sturdy white chocolate flavored whipped cream, or you can have some carrots with a thin chocolate sauce," I'd snarf that melted chocolate right up.  But I agree that it wasn't appropriate for a Top Chef challenge, and that Doug should have made some dessert plans in advance.  I'd even have been okay with him interviewing "boy, I don't do desserts much, but I made some plans, learned how to do a flan and a tres leches cake that I thought I might put my own stamp on, but I didn't expect to do dessert out in a field for a quickfire."  You knew you needed to do it, don't just whine that you don't do it!  (and I love Doug, though I'm happy with the two finalists).

[Special K]

 

That's fine but there is nothing wrong with wanting to represent, especially when you work in an industry that is known for its inability to recognize the achievement of women.  Furthermore, Mei has also made it clear that she wants to win for herself.  But personally, as someone who didn't really like Mei at the beginning, she has turned me around precisely because she does want to represent on behalf of other women.  IMO, we need more women in this world who are willing to not only represent but be vocal about it.

 

I dunno.  To me, it's problematic when you assign yourself a role as a representation or a model or an example.  Just do your thing and let others decide if they want you to represent them.  Some things should come from external sources.  YMMV, of course.  It seems the world (or maybe just the internet) is full of people taking on aggrandized roles for themselves. 

 

Anyway, Mei is probbably just responding to the producers' relentless questions about winning as a woman.