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The Judges


xaxat
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I feel for the judges having to eat all that horrible food. Puree everything into baby food? No thanks! And just about everything has been pureed at one point or another.

 

Oh, me too! It's like, 'oooh, I think I'll do a ingredient a, b, c, puree/sauce or x, y, z, with a dollop Mascarpone and throw it in the blender/food processor.'

 

Hell, 90% of the stuff that's prepared, I wouldn't eat myself.

 

That said, doing a lot of binge watching, I've decided that my favorite judges are Scott, Maneet, Marcus, Amanda and Aarón.

 

It goes without saying that Geoffrey I do not like at all.

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Okay, I have a very silly/stupid question: As y'all know, Maneet is amongst one of my favorite judges; but I've read here and in other food show forums, that some posters absolutely hate her or don't like her.

 

As I'm fairly new to this show and just read the other forums, can someone fill me in? I mean, except for when she throws out phrases that make me go "huh"? What does that even mean, I find her one of the better judges, who doesn't give the stink eye and tells them what she finds good, great, bad, not so good in the dishes.

 

I know likes/dislikes are subjective, but any input/opinions would be appreciated.  Thanks!

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My dislike for her is totally subjective. She reminds me both in appearance, voice, and attitude of the worst boss I've ever had the misfortune to work for, who ultimately bullied me out of my job I'd had for 17 years. So... totally not Maneet's fault, but I can't get past it when she's judging.

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Sorry that happened to you, NikSac. I know from personal experience that it can be hard to drop the anger and hurt from those situations.

 

I actually like Maneet, but that may be colored by the fact that all of my interactions with Indian women have been overwhelmingly positive. Plus, I think she's a gentle presence on the show and her critiques are among the most constructive.

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I actually like Maneet, but that may be colored by the fact that all of my interactions with Indian women have been overwhelmingly positive. Plus, I think she's a gentle presence on the show and her critiques are among the most constructive.

 

Same here. Also, the way she speaks, her accent? So reminds me of my Godmother, who used to live here in the States years ago, but moved to India years ago, but who I speak to regularly, and it just reminds me of her.

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I'm so excited - we have our own BuzzFeed quiz! 

 

Which Chopped judge will crush your dreams?

 

It's a good one, too. The only thing wrong with it is that it doesn't give "buying new teeth for my sister" as an option for what you'd do for the money.

 

I got Marcus Samuelsson, btw. “In the appetizer round, your portion was too large and you left one of the basket ingredients off the plate. And in the entrée round, although we were impressed with the way you embraced and celebrated the dehydrated weaver ant eggs, we felt your dish lacked cohesion. In the dessert round, you overchurned your ice cream and it turned into butter. Unfortunately, after much deliberation, we had to chop you today.”

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I got Amanda, and apparently I didn't make it to the dessert round:

“We loved the bold flavors you were able to pack into your sauce, although we wish there were more of it on the plate. And the way you managed to transform the shredded wheat into a breading for your fish was nothing short of brilliant. However, you overcooked your flounder and it came out dry and rubbery and that was one thing we just couldn’t overlook. For that reason, we had to chop you today.”

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I got Marc. . .  and I tried to cheat.

 

“We thought your potatoes were very good. And while your sauce looked and sounded like it was really great, you dropped all of your quail on the floor and put it back on the plate. Because of this, we didn’t get a chance to try it. For these reasons, we had to chop you today. “

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Scott. Bastard.

“We thought your salmon meatballs were brilliant and they were executed perfectly. However, your sauce needed a lot more flavor and you neglected to salt your pasta water. Finally, we thought your presentation didn’t match up to that of your competitors. For these reasons, we had to chop you today.”

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Of COURSE I would get that asshat, Geoffrey:

 

 

 

"“You probably cooked the best calf’s liver out of all of your competitors, which is why it was even more disappointing that the okra was underdone and you weren’t able to get the caviar on the plate. Your creativity and presentation were also lacking. For these reasons, we had to chop you today.”

 

Why couldn't have I gotten Marcus, Maneet or Scott? Speaking of Scott, I really love the way he says "awesome."

 

What?

 

Okay, I took the test again, and I'm more satisfied with getting Aarón Sanchez.

 

He had this to say, and I can hear him say the words, because he's not a condescending douchenozzle like Geoffrey is:

 

“Chef, we were all impressed with the way you were able to transform the filling from the frosted toaster pastry into a chutney . It was packed with bold and complex flavors. However, the reindeer pâté wasn’t nearly as successful. The texture was off and it desperately needed a crunchy component to balance out the dish. For these reasons, we had to chop you today.”
Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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Here's a major WTF moment. I watched Beat Bobby Flay tonight with Scott & Geoffrey on as judges for the first round. The main ingredient was tomato, & one of the chefs made a salad & after Scott tasted it he said "the way you used the red onion in here is spectacular". He called raw red onion spectacular, does he have a different opinion for different shows? How many times have we seen him complain about raw red onion on Chopped, but on Beat Bobby Flay it's spectacular?

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Here's a major WTF moment. I watched Beat Bobby Flay tonight with Scott & Geoffrey on as judges for the first round. The main ingredient was tomato, & one of the chefs made a salad & after Scott tasted it he said "the way you used the red onion in here is spectacular". He called raw red onion spectacular, does he have a different opinion for different shows? How many times have we seen him complain about raw red onion on Chopped, but on Beat Bobby Flay it's spectacular?

 

GaT so it wasn't just me!  I was thinking I must have had Scott confused with some other raw-red-onion-hating judge. As soon as that chef started slicing raw onions I was practically yelling "nooooo don't do it!" at the TV and wondering to myself why these contestants wouldn't watch Food Network shows and get at least a rough idea of the various judges' tastes.  Then all of a sudden Scott likes raw red onion?  Weird.

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Or maybe it's hard enough to find even vaguely credible chefs to appear on _No, Really, Bobby Flay is a Great Guy_ without allowing the lesser lights to be rude to the contestants.

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I'd love for someone who saw that episode to come on Chopped, put raw red onions in something and when Scott bitches, say "But you said they were spectacular when you ate them on Bobby Flay's show. Remember?"

Better yet, I would like the same chef to go on Chopped & make the same salad, & then see what Scott says.

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I'm going to post this here because it has to do with not only our "regular" judges but also a guest judge who I detested on sight, or rather from the moment she opened her mouth. Sue Torres who appeared in "Winged Out", which appeared in 2014, I think, because Chris was also a judge and he looked really lean.

She was really condescending and smug and well, bitchy in all her critiques. It's like she didn't even want to be there; but apparently, she just got a new show or something. And of course that douchenozzle, Geoffrey made up the third judge. Going to the show thread to talk about the contestants. BUT before I do, AGAIN, Torres and Santos complain about the desserts being "too sweet." Well fuck! Desserts are supposed to be sweet. And those that are really sweet I believe fall under the decadent category? Just what the fuck is their problem with desserts that end up being sweet? And then in another episode, again with Chris, the dessert wasn't sweet.

Make up your mind already!!!!!

Edited by GHScorpiosRule
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I agree about Sue Torres.  The first time I recall seeing her was when she was on Top Chef Masters and I couldn't stand her.  I seem to remember that she didn't last long.  I didn't like her when she appeared as a judge on ICA and not at all when she was on Chopped.

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Looks like Marcus WILL be back as a judge!! A photo from Aaron, they were filming a Christmas episode yesterday.

https://www.facebook.com/ChefAaronSanchez/photos/a.615384281846395.1073741826.106075582777270/898900666828087/?type=1&theater

 

 

WOOO HOOOO!!!! YIPEEEEEEEE!!!!

 

Can y'all tell this makes me HAPPEEEE!!!!!

 

I mean, Scott is the only one who calls that douchenozzle Geoffrey of being contrary on purpose, so if Marcus can replace him, that would make me ECSTATIC!

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Raw red onions for no reason are a huge peeve of mine, albeit in my daily life I'm obviously eating far more plebian food than the Chopped judges.  So I confess that I do a little fist-pump of validation whenever Scott's hatred of them comes up.

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Putting this here, since it almost always comes down to contestants justifying to the judges why they used only a little of ingredient x, or a lot of ingredient y, or why they cooked the meal, the way they did.

 

Almost always, especially that douchenozzle, Geoffrey, will say "that's not how I like it" or "How I eat it", and sometimes even Amanda. If that's the case, then the contestants, I think, should be told how the judges like the meat, etc., cooked...how much spice they like/don't like, blah, blah, blah.

 

What's the point, then? The contestants are there to show their skills/stuff, and how they cook.  And why bother having Ted say you can "use as much or as little of the ingredients" if the judges are going to harp on not being able to taste one ingredient or the other?

 

Sorry, I'm cranky today. Should have stayed home since everything was closed due the snow, but my boss made me come in because the roads where HE lives are clear. Arsehole.

 

Ahem  Sorry.

 

But does anyone else get frustrated by what I posted above? Or is it just me?

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I was thinking about this the other day when one of the chefs was kicked off for making his food too spicy in both the appetizer and the main course, and he kept insisting that that was his style and he wasn't going to change his cooking to please them.

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I think it's lame but it doesn't really annoy me. It's clearly part of the show, that the judges judge based on their own personal tastes (which I can understand to a point, it's hard to rate a meal well when you just don't like it and judging food is subjective to start out with), and there are a billion episodes that re-run ad nauseum on FN. So if a contestant doesn't watch as many old episodes as he/she can and learn what each judge likes and doesn't like (heaven knows half of us here can recite the likes/dislikes for each judge), I don't tend to feel too sorry for them. There was one a few eps ago who got dinged several times for not using salt, and he kept saying that he doesn't like to oversalt food, which I agree with so I was inclined to feel sorry for him BUT the judges always, *always* complain about and often chop contestants who don't salt their food. Either play the game or don't... you can salt your food however you want in your own restaurant.

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I hear you. The only problem is that they're really not that consistent. I can see salting in round two if someone's brought it up in round one, but the exact same "errors" can be harmless or dealbreakers with the same chef from week to week.

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There's also the matter of degree.

 

If you cook like you normally do and the first round judging deems you to have under-salted, how much more salt do you add in the next round? Do you risk going to far with it? What's "too far"? Does the judge who said you under-salted want a little more salt, or has his taste buds been blunted by a cigarette addiction you know nothing about? Does the judge who wants more salt think that too much salt is worse than too little?

 

You also don't know which judges you're going to get. Will the hypothetical chain-smoking judge be there, the spice-loving judge, the sensitive-palate judge, the red-onion-hating judge? When there's a difference of opinion, is the salt-loving judge more persuasive than the sensitive-palate judge?

 

I do think that a contestant can get a general idea of preferences by binge-watching, but it's no sure thing.

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This question made me think of GHScorpiosRule:

 

 

Q:  Also, what does Geoffrey Zakarian smell like?
Alex:  Geoffrey smells like - that is fucking brilliant - he smells like Madagascar vanilla extract combined with 25 year barrel-aged Scotch. And orchids.

 

...because that's the uber-expensive cologne he prefers even though it's made by 8-year-olds working 14-hour days in an Indonesian sweat shop. 

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(edited)

This question made me think of GHScorpiosRule:

 

...because that's the uber-expensive cologne he prefers even though it's made by 8-year-olds working 14-hour days in an Indonesian sweat shop. 

 

I gagged a little when I saw he was the latest celebrity chef figurehead for City Harvest this year. I mean, good on them, if they can feed more people by making a deal with the devil, er, the Food Network, mazel tov. But I couldn't help wondering how many of the minimum wage employees he paper-bankrupted himself to keep from paying overtime to are eating from those pantries.

 

It takes a certain sort of special to have less ethics than Joe Bastianich.

Edited by Julia
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I DVR everything, and I'm usually 1 hour to 3 days behind. But in the course of turning the TV on and off, I do get random seconds of unplanned television.

And I just saw Maneet sticking a spoon or fork in her mouth with the most pained expression on her face. Whatever it was, she looked as though she wanted to run screaming from the room, it was that bad.

It was funny, but poor Maneet! I hope they pay her well for this gig.

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