Jump to content

Type keyword(s) to search

S13.E04: It's A Dry Heat


Tara Ariano
  • Reply
  • Start Topic

Recommended Posts

Don't ever eat at Manresa then. They served me two courses that way.   It is something that is done at very high end restaurants.  Man Bun's interpretation left much to be desired.

 

I don't know how they expected anyone to cook on the solar equipment without a demonstration or training session.  Why would production think that any good could come from that.

oh, I don't like gimmicks -- so I would probably skip anyplace that felt the need to rely on gimmicky serving ware.  Your food should be the one thing that speaks for you.  I like presentation as much as the next person.  But thatt feels very pretentious to me and pretension doesn't always speak to tasty food to me.  In fact if you're relying no pretentious gimmicks than I would probably just assume your food isn't that great or else you would just make it pretty and serve it on a nice dish.  And I can guarantee you I'm not paying big money to have food served to me on a rock. 

Edited by RCharter
  • Love 2
Link to comment

This is the real, unspoken because unspeakable, judging problem on Top Chef - the unreliable quality of the Whole Foods products.  I'm sure the Whole Foods corn was NOT all that, which is what Grayson was trying to say, and what nobody can EVER say on this show when they fail as a result of shitty Whole Foods provisions,  because sponsorship.  Although it probably was an unfortunate choice even if it were made well, in that heat.

 

Grayson has seemed so deeply annoyed at even being on the show at all this season that it was a relief to see her go. And without giving away spoilers, the challenge she was handed in Last Chance Kitchen almost did make me feel like the producers were out to get her 

both chefs have to work with mystery ingredients they choose from unmarked boxes. Garret got crispy broad beans and tomatillos - and Grayson got a peeled and an unpeeled coconut (!) and ginko nuts, which I've never seen or heard of. To make into dishes in thirty minutes. Jeez! spoiler alert: Grayson won. She and Tom seemed to have more of a fun teasing relationship in LCK than on the show. Maybe this is why she argued with him so much on the show itself.

 

Unless they're going to be "putting their own spin on/cooking an elevated version of" roadkill on the engine block, there's entirely too much car on this show.

I think they let it slip that the produce may not be the best.  The guy from NO was saying that he went over to the limes and they seemed hard and unripened so he used the grapefruit.  If they saw that the corn was terrible, maybe they should have tried to re-work the dish in a different way.  I guess they reworked it by cooking the corn, but that didn't help so.......it was the worst dish.

 

I understand standing by your dish, but taste buds don't lie, if you had the worst dish, you had the worst dish and one of you is going home.  It doesn't matter that the corn at Whole Foods wasn't great, it was still the worst tasting dish.  Did she think that talking about the corn was going to suddenly change the fact that it was gross or that it was the worst component on the dish?  The best thing she could have done was argue that she really had no control over the quality of the corn and the fact that it wouldn't work raw, but Angelina did have control over how long that shrimp was cooked and she claimed to be great at the type of cuisine they were serving so she should bear more responsibility for the dish.  It was an asshole question, but in the end they both basically said that they thought the other should go home.  It would have been better if they had backed that up with a logical argument instead of sitting around getting huffy about the whole thing.

  • Love 5
Link to comment

I can't rag on Giselle for making her solar oven explode because I wouldn't have known not to put liquid in it, either. I can fault her for not cleaning the broken glass off her station, though. Although that was only the third grossest thing that happened, after Phillip rinsing the top layer of millennia-old dirt from his "plate" and Grayson putting her used spoon back in the pan.

I like Mary Sue Milliken a lot and I would love to see either her or Susan Feniger replace Blais.

I would rather have snow up to my armpits than spend five minutes outside in the Palm Springs heat.

  • Love 6
Link to comment

I know I watched the whole TX season, and I remember Grayson as a cheftestant. However, I do not remember her being so unlikeable. Was she as disagreeable that time too? She didn't make it to the end, so she was lacking cooking skills then too, but good gravy! She was just so snotty.

 . . . on a hot rock.

Edited by Lamb18
  • Love 6
Link to comment

Tom, "There are no mulligans in golf." Really Tom? The term mulligan originated in golf! Somehow Tom keeps topping his previous efforts in saying stupid shit.

 

I thought the same thing as soon as Tom said that, and I've never picked up a golf club in my life. But apparently I know more about golf terminology than Tom.

 

That would be like saying, "there are not touchdowns in football."

 

Edited by bluepiano
  • Love 8
Link to comment

I thought the same thing as soon as Tom said that, and I've never picked up a golf club in my life. But apparently I know more about golf terminology than Tom.

 

That would be like saying, "there are not touchdowns in football."

 

Thank goodness, because I could have sworn I first heard about a mulligan in Caddyshack, or Caddyshack 2.  I was thinking I was going crazy!

  • Love 2
Link to comment

I can't rag on Giselle for making her solar oven explode because I wouldn't have known not to put liquid in it, either. I can fault her for not cleaning the broken glass off her station, though. Although that was only the third grossest thing that happened, after Phillip rinsing the top layer of millennia-old dirt from his "plate" and Grayson putting her used spoon back in the pan.

I like Mary Sue Milliken a lot and I would love to see either her or Susan Feniger replace Blais.

I would rather have snow up to my armpits than spend five minutes outside in the Palm Springs heat.

I don't recall Grayson doing that but I do recall Wesley doing that and Padma saying something to him.  I don't care how great his food may be but doing that plus his sloppiness, I would have no desire to eat his food.  Yeah, I'm sure chefs have done that but you don't do it on national TV or in front of the diners you're serving food to.  Yuck.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I don't recall Grayson doing that but I do recall Wesley doing that and Padma saying something to him.  I don't care how great his food may be but doing that plus his sloppiness, I would have no desire to eat his food.  Yeah, I'm sure chefs have done that but you don't do it on national TV or in front of the diners you're serving food to.  Yuck.

Grayson did it when she tasted her hash and then put her spoon back into the hash.  If Padma was there, the way she had been with Wesley there may have been a severe talking to.  I agree you don't do it in front of the cameras on national TV.  I'm hoping he forgot about the cameras, and I truly, truly hope that when he is at home and not under time pressure that he tries not to do any of that.

  • Love 4
Link to comment

Didn't CJ, in his 9th or 10th appearnce on a Top Chef spin-off because he had incriminating photos of Tom, serve food on top of foraged rocks? This was after his staging at that Danish restaurant with Chef Rene Rez-something, who uses ingredients like rocks, grass, and moss. A food trend I am against..

Why yes, yes he did. During his appearance on Top Chef Duels, CJ had recently returned from a brief stage at René Redzepi's Noma and at the time was claiming that it influenced the menu at his newly-opened farm-to-table upscale diner (which heavily features found ingredients like foie gras). By some astonishing stroke of luck he was given a foraging challenge. His first course was, as you remembered, room-temperature raw fish on a found rock with weeds.

Naturally, he won.

Edited by Julia
  • Love 9
Link to comment

Grayson and Angelina should have both been sent home.  Their respective attitudes alone were grounds for a double elimination.  I suspect that the real reason that didn't happen was because it would have screwed up LCK.

 

You can all groan and shake your heads but I like Phillip.  I think he's the creative hippie type but a nice guy at heart who is just trying too hard to stand out.  I won't be surprised if he goes a long way in the competition.  I gathered from FN shows he was on that he's a very good cook.

 

 

 

I kind of like Phillip too. I enjoyed his appearances on Guy's Grocery Games and he seems like a good cook.

Edited by leela46
  • Love 2
Link to comment

I don't understand this hate from the judges about using frozen food:  if the fresh corn was crap, why didn't Grayson pick up a few bags of frozen corn?  I LOVE FROZEN CORN and PETITE POIS.   Many times frozen food is much better than so called fresh food that was picked 30 days ago....  Unless I can go into the backyard and pick the food fresh, I don't trust "fresh" --- and people who think the food at farmers markets is fresh, do your research!

 

Personally chorizo and corn hash just sounds awful to me: there's no absorbing factor like potato or ?? so of course it's going to be incredibly oily.  And it's obvious they used fresh chorizo vs spanish dry chorizo so hence the oil.  Just a really bad choice.

  • Love 2
Link to comment
What is Blais doing there anyway?  Hasn't  he achieved culinary nirvana  by becoming a game show host on the Food Network, Artichoke Wars or something?

 

I think -- not  sure -- that he's Colicchio's new boyfriend and, as such, has received the golden key to appear on any show he wants.

 

Did you notice, though, that Blais has a nice, normal hairdo -- a regular part and a nice comb-over.  I figure that the posh club in Palm Springs wouldn't let him on the links looking like a zombie.  I mean, rules are rules, even if you're Richard Blais.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

I think Phillip is a dweeb. I don't think he's a hipster. He's a try-too-harder which kind of endears me to him just a bit. The rock thing with the "oysters" - or were they roadkill entrails - was just horrendous. And it doesn't bother me that he thinks his wife is a pastry chef/ model/ actress/ republican nominee for president, because at least he likes her. Anyway, he IS a good cook and I'm thinking this environment is just not for him. Also, from the preview, it looks as if there might be some Phillip-centered strife next week, so we might as well all buckle in for a long trip with Phillip on the Top Chef train.

 

Grayson is gone, so yay? But then I was thinking she'll win LCK and come back in at the end to take the whole contest. I hope I'm wrong. Angelina and Giselle are two of the most unpleasant people left so they need to go next, hopefully in a double elimination, although I don't know how that would fit with Last Chance Kitchen, about which I don't give a fig anyway.

 

I'm growing to like Wesley and I still like Kwame and the guy who won - Jeremy? - argh, there are still too many to keep up with. I should be getting the names by the time they are rid of a couple more, like say Angelina and Giselle...

  • Love 4
Link to comment

I was sorry to see Grayson go because I think Angelina has a worse attitude and did not entertain me as Grayson did!  I loved her 'fuck you' exit, I did not expect less.  

 

I think the lack of cold food was due to no one wanting to be eliminated because they didn't cook anything.  Salads are notorious for giving you the boot.  

 

I like all of the judges and though it took me awhile to warm to Blaise, he has emerged as a serious restaurant owner and respected chef.  I get why he is there.  Now bring me Hugh!  Another one that took awhile to get but I now love the guy.  

 

 I ended up loving Marcel.

 

I totally agree with all these statements.  

 

DickBla was very annoying to me initially, as was Marcel.  But I now enjoy watching them both.  And I'm a HUGE Hugh fan, so I'd love to see him back as well. 

 

And it's been a continuing theme that salads mean you didn't try hard enough.  All the TC judges have driven that point home since the first season.  

 

Every time I look at this thread title, my brain reads it as "It's a Dry Heave".  Kind of appropriate actually, with all of the snot talk.  ;-)

Edited by leighdear
  • Love 3
Link to comment

So in the scene immediately following the frat party at the pool and hot tub, we get this lovely dialogue that uses bro, man, and dude all in a single breath:

 

"30 minutes bro.  30 minutes. Push man. They're playing right there dude."

 

Applause for the Top Chef editors.

Edited by RemoteControlFreak
  • Love 6
Link to comment

Padma is so l'etat, c'est moi these days.

 

May I remind you that you were married to Salman Rushdie?

 

 

The Padma posts are cracking me up!  

 

I'm starting to get the giggles when she's so imperious:  "You may go."  "Did you not understand . . .?"  I wonder whether she feels that attitude is the prerogative of beauty, or maybe condescending to the cheftestants is a reflection of being the least talented person at the judges' table.

 

Either way, I enjoy High Horse Padma much more than rock/snot Padma or, horrors,

Chrissy Teigen BFF Padma.

 

Edited by candall
  • Love 3
Link to comment

If it was product placement it was really bad product placement since they never mentioned the brands, they were made by two different companies, so I doubt that was the reason.

 

Thanks.  It is a knee jerk reaction I have whenever I see something new that is not part of the usual stuff, I go there.  :>)

If no one clutches, we will probably see Angelina go next week.  We have only seen glimpses of her 'street smart chick' attitude but I know there must be a lot more.  

  • Love 1
Link to comment

OK, so, on leisurely rewatch:

What I haven't been able to figure out is why on earth Padma introduced Andrés as someone who "certainly knows clean energy in the kitchen." Do what now? I mean, it's not just meaningless, it's a completely weird segue. If they were determined to tie him in to the challenge they could have said that he works so hard he seems to run on renewable energy. Me, I think they missed a bet not tying him in to the California location with "the latest valuable resource we stole from Spain."

Kind of a waste of Mary Sue Miliken and John Besh. And not nearly enough time spent with John Besh's hair. And I still get a little queasy watching Richard's chin pubes so close to food.

Edited by Julia
  • Love 3
Link to comment

OK, so, on leisurely rewatch:

What I haven't been able to figure out is why on earth Padma introduced Andrés as someone who "certainly knows clean energy in the kitchen." Do what now? I mean, it's not just meaningless, it's a completely weird segue. If they were determined to tie him in to the challenge they could have said that he works so hard he seems to run on renewable energy. Me, I think they missed a bet not tying him in to the California location with "the latest valuable resource we stole from Spain."

 

 

Wasn't the tie-in that he brought the solar ovens/stoves to *don't remember which* natural disaster, and now to the challenge? They're his pet cause -- solar cooking that saves lives. I thought it was confusingly worded when she said it (why say clean energy instead of solar energy?), but later when he spoke I understood the meaning.

  • Love 3
Link to comment

Padma introduced Andrés as someone who "certainly knows clean energy in the kitchen." Do what now?

I am wondering if someone is writing a script for them, or they are coming up with this stuff on their own. Like Tom saying there are no mulligans in golf. WTF?

  • Love 1
Link to comment

 

José Andrés is an internationally known chef with many successful restaurants around the USA. He is originally from Spain. He is also a social activist, who uses his entrepreneurial success and boundless energy to help peoples in disadvantaged countries. In spring 2010 he was part of a team from Solar For Hope, which headed to Haiti to help with earthquake relief. As part of their efforts they distributed parabolic solar cookers and provided training. Inspired by this project, José founded the World Central Kitchen, a foundation focused on feeding vulnerable people, supporting the local agricultural economy through local food purchases, and promoting nutritious foods, recipes, and environmentally sustainable cooking fuels and technologies.

 

http://solarcooking.wikia.com/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Andr%C3%A9s

  • Love 4
Link to comment

Wasn't the tie-in that he brought the solar ovens/stoves to *don't remember which* natural disaster, and now to the challenge? They're his pet cause -- solar cooking that saves lives. I thought it was confusingly worded when she said it (why say clean energy instead of solar energy?), but later when he spoke I understood the meaning.

OK, thanks. That went right by me, and it was probably the most important subject they brought up in this episode. It's a shame it was sidelined for incoherent golf footage and Richard saying "restaurant dish" like a parrot.

Edited by Julia
  • Love 2
Link to comment

Oh, Grayson. Her presence was so puzzling to me. It's okay to not have the personality for a certain type of competition, and I even understand not knowing that on your first try. But why on earth come back, when she clearly hates everything about the arbitrary criteria that Top Chef is designed around.

As well as hating Tom, lol. I'm a little sad that his mood might be better from here on out because I find angry Tom hilarious tbh.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

My favorites thus far are Jeremy and Kwame. They both seem like genuinely nice people and they seem to be solid chefs.

I don't care if Angelina makes the best dish next episode, she needs to go. She strikes me as a Betty or the woman who had the perpetual bitch face who won one episode for making bacon (Nina?). Contestants who suck all but one time but they hang on because someone made a slightly bigger mistake (this is why some sort of point system is needed, it forces people to try not to be middle of the pack in an effort to hang on, you have to really be trying and doing well to earn points).

  • Love 3
Link to comment

José Andrés is an internationally known chef with many successful restaurants around the USA. He is originally from Spain. He is also a social activist, who uses his entrepreneurial success and boundless energy to help peoples in disadvantaged countries. In spring 2010 he was part of a team from Solar For Hope, which headed to Haiti to help with earthquake relief. As part of their efforts they distributed parabolic solar cookers and provided training. Inspired by this project, José founded the World Central Kitchen, a foundation focused on feeding vulnerable people, supporting the local agricultural economy through local food purchases, and promoting nutritious foods, recipes, and environmentally sustainable cooking fuels and technologies.

 

http://solarcooking....iki/José_Andrés

 

That is very interesting--and, talk about a missed opportunity! I'm sure Andres was disappointed to watch this episode and find that his important work and message got so (unnecessarily) lost in the process. 

 

Grayson wasn't as annoying to me this time as on her previous season, but the editors still give her too much camera time.  I'm glad she's gone.

 

Edited by Padma
Link to comment

I am wondering if someone is writing a script for them, or they are coming up with this stuff on their own. Like Tom saying there are no mulligans in golf. WTF?

I'm not generally one to defend Tom. But I think what he meant was there are no mulligans in competitive golf and there are no mulligans in competitive cooking.

Edited by RemoteControlFreak
  • Love 5
Link to comment

 

I think they let it slip that the produce may not be the best.  The guy from NO was saying that he went over to the limes and they seemed hard and unripened so he used the grapefruit.  If they saw that the corn was terrible, maybe they should have tried to re-work the dish in a different way.  I guess they reworked it by cooking the corn, but that didn't help so.......it was the worst dish.

Yes, I think the corn was a problem.  That the Cajun guy was able to change directions once he determined the limes were bad is one of the reasons he's still here. I think it's harder to tell if corn is old than if limes are unripe, but Grayson and Angelina weren't getting along well enough to rethink their menu on the fly even they HAD realized the corn was a bad idea.  Plus they Defended the Shoe which is a waste of everyone's time and on this show almost always guarantees your exit.

 

Manbun definitely caught a break by being on the winning team.

 

 

WINGS707, ON 19 DEC 2015 - 1:20 PM, SAID:

http://solarcooking....iki/José_Andrés

 

OK, thanks. That went right by me, and it was probably the most important subject they brought up in this episode. It's a shame it was sidelined for incoherent golf footage and Richard saying "restaurant dish" like a parrot.

Yes, it's so frustrating the way this show so often starts to show some important aspect of the politics of food production/consumption - and then buries it under the usual TV reality game show bullshit.

 

I found the whole "serve us while we golf thing" to have the stench of privilege and entitlement. Like French royalty before the Revolution.

Building and maintaining a GOLF COURSE in the middle of a fucking DESERT is nothing BUT the stench of privilege and entitlement. Even aside from the current drought - the amount of water it takes to maintain those huge lawns has always been a crime. IMO, of course.:)

Edited by ratgirlagogo
  • Love 17
Link to comment

My favorites thus far are Jeremy and Kwame. They both seem like genuinely nice people and they seem to be solid chefs.

I don't care if Angelina makes the best dish next episode, she needs to go. She strikes me as a Betty or the woman who had the perpetual bitch face who won one episode for making bacon (Nina?). Contestants who suck all but one time but they hang on because someone made a slightly bigger mistake (this is why some sort of point system is needed, it forces people to try not to be middle of the pack in an effort to hang on, you have to really be trying and doing well to earn points).

 

You're thinking of Lisa Fernandes in the Chicago season. Nina was in the New Orleans season and was actually quite a good chef.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

 

Kind of a waste of Mary Sue Miliken and John Besh.

 

Yes, and Doug Keane also.  I saw him hovering in the background on two episodes.  He did win Top Chef Masters and he must have been there by invitation so I don't understand why they've basically ignored his presence.  I like him and I was hoping he'd get a little air time.

  • Love 6
Link to comment

Yes, it's so frustrating the way this show so often starts to show some important aspect of the politics of food production/consumption - and then buries it under the usual TV reality game show bullshit.

 

Building and maintaining a GOLF COURSE in the middle of a fucking DESERT is nothing BUT the stench of privilege and entitlement. Even aside from the current drought - the amount of water it takes to maintain those huge lawns has always been a crime. IMO, of course.:)

 

Watching this show you could easily forget that Tom C. himself is a major activist around food and hunger issues, because he really keeps that part of himself out of Top Chef. Maybe because of all the sponsorship and product endorsement money they get from giant corporate agribusiness. And then there's the major tie-in with Whole Foods, hardly the most politically progressive operation. I guess that's a conflict of principle that Tom has been able to resolve for himself.

 

Good point and agree totally about the added layer of privilege represented by the existence of a golf course in the desert. The history of how water gets allocated in California is a notorious chronicle of greed and corruption, with public resources being used in support of private development to make a small number of people very wealthy.

Edited by bluepiano
  • Love 10
Link to comment

I'm not generally one to defend Tom. But I think what he meant was there are no mulligans in competitive golf and there are no mulligans in competitive cooking.

But the vast majority of golf games that are played are not competitive, but casual or social golf. And in that context, mulligans make the game a lot more enjoyable for everyone, particularly when there is a mix of newbies and more experienced golfers.

Are we really to believe that Padma was playing by competition rules when she was putting around the course while the cheftestants were cheftesting?

Edited by In Pog Form
  • Love 1
Link to comment

Wasn't the tie-in that he brought the solar ovens/stoves to *don't remember which* natural disaster, and now to the challenge? They're his pet cause -- solar cooking that saves lives. I thought it was confusingly worded when she said it (why say clean energy instead of solar energy?), but later when he spoke I understood the meaning.

Haiti, after the devastating hurricane whose name I can't remember.  I really liked that idea, and I'm sure he will make big money off of it because it is useful after a natural disaster.  And I think depending on the weight, it would actually something kind of cool for other situations.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

But the vast majority of golf games that are played are not competitive, but casual or social golf. And in that context, mulligans make the game a lot more enjoyable for everyone, particularly when there is a mix of newbies and more experienced golfers.

And the vast majority of cooking that takes place is not done in a competition.

 

Also, not every social golf game allows mulligans.  

 

Tom knew exactly what he was talking about.

Haiti, after the devastating hurricane whose name I can't remember. 

It was an earthquake.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

Tom knew exactly what he was talking about.

Clearly he didn't, as he said "there are no mulligans in golf," when there are very demonstrably mulligans in golf.

Do you have access to Tom's scorecard from the round he played during this episode, or were they not actually playing golf? It's almost guaranteed that they re-did strokes for the camera.

The cheftestants weren't cooking alongside the PGA Championship.

Edited by In Pog Form
  • Love 1
Link to comment

 

I think they let it slip that the produce may not be the best.  The guy from NO was saying that he went over to the limes and they seemed hard and unripened so he used the grapefruit.

See, I didn't think that little exchange was about Whole Foods at all. I think it was Cajun guy's subtle attempt to throw Manbun under the bus. He saw he was using limes, didn't want to use the same so picked grapefruit. Maybe the limes were bad, maybe they weren't (I don't remember any of the judges saying anything bad about the limes) but I got the impression he was planting the idea that the limes were bad and giving the impression that he was smarter about choosing produce for his dish.

  • Love 8
Link to comment

Yes, dgpolo, yes!!

 

And that actually made me a little angry with Isaac because I think he's a better chef and person than that from what we have seen so far. I hope I'm not wrong about him being a better person.

 

Let Manbunny serve phlegm on a rock and hard limes under a blanket. You just let your so far excellent cooking speak for itself.

Link to comment

Clearly he didn't, as he said "there are no mulligans in golf," when there are very demonstrably mulligans in golf.

I wonder if Tom just didn't get tripped up trying to be clever? Because what I thought he was trying to say was that in amateur golf, like in amateur cooking, there is space for flexibility and do-overs, but professionals don't have that luxury. Unfortunately, while the dicksize war between chefs and 'housewives' is apparently quite a flashpoint for chefs (Scott Conant can be quite the wordy little creature on the subject), I suspect that enough of the audience for this show (and the customers for these peoples' restaurants) are 'housewives' that nobody wants to say that stuff out loud.

Link to comment

I agree the solar powered stoves & ovens are cool, but I would hope they have much bigger ones for disaster areas, as they indicated they were ideal for.  Neither model appeared to hold more than a few servings of food.  No way to use them efficiently to cook food for a large number of refugees or those displaced by a natural disaster. 

 

I'd be more interested in hearing what the Red Cross or FEMA has to say about their use in a real situation.  

Edited by leighdear
Link to comment

 

It was an earthquake.

 

....whose name I can't remember.  :)

 

See, I didn't think that little exchange was about Whole Foods at all. I think it was Cajun guy's subtle attempt to throw Manbun under the bus. He saw he was using limes, didn't want to use the same so picked grapefruit. Maybe the limes were bad, maybe they weren't (I don't remember any of the judges saying anything bad about the limes) but I got the impression he was planting the idea that the limes were bad and giving the impression that he was smarter about choosing produce for his dish.

 

I didn't think it was about Whole Foods per se, but I didn't think the corn was about Whole Food either.  I thought it was more of a "well, this ingredient wouldn't work because...."  I think Issac's dessert used grapefruit sections, and so hard, unripened lime sections might have been  worse than unripened limes in whatever ManBun was making.  Maybe the limes would have been fine if ManBun wasn't using them in sections, and so a person wouldn't have to be biting on some hard, gross lime.  In which case, it was smart for him to realize that if he was going to use the fruit sections, he should try to find fruit that was ripe.  

 

But maybe I'm just naive and it was some subtle shade throwing.  :)

 

I agree the solar powered stoves & ovens are cool, but I would hope they have much bigger ones for disaster areas, as they indicated they were ideal for.  Neither model appeared to hold more than a few servings of food.  No way to use them efficiently to cook food for a large number of refugees or those displaced by a natural disaster. 

 

I'd be more interested in hearing what the Red Cross or FEMA has to say about their use in a real situation.  

I would imagine you would give them to smaller communities since it would be hard to travel to a central location to get food.  But thats really just a guess.

 

I remember hearing years ago that the head of FEMA was a guy who had zero experience with disaster management but was a friend of the president at the time Katrina hit.  You never think about how bad it is to have a position like that based on political appointment until a disaster actually hits.

Padma is so l'etat, c'est moi these days.

 

May I remind you that you were married to Salman Rushdie?

 

Thank you!  Thats exactly what I was thinking.....like honestly Padma, this is the strangest experience you've ever had, weren't you married to Salman Rushdie?  I have to think a man talking to you under a curtain is not the strangest thing you've experienced.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

Given by the time they were married Salman was leading a fairly normal life and regularly making public appearances, I imagine her being Helmut Newton muse was probably filled with much stranger experiences than life with Salman.

Edited by biakbiak
  • Love 1
Link to comment

It's lovely that Chef Andrés brought solar cooking devices to a disaster site, but how unfortunate is it that they are so fragile? Dinner will be served shortly...no, wait. It won't; the durn oven just exploded and the solar stove tipped over!

 

Still loving Isaac 'cause he's from my hometown (as opposed to that wannabe New Orleanian Justin Devillier, who made me cringe so hard during the NOLA season). Wanted to reach through the teevee and shake him when he didn't heed the judges blatant advice about adding more grapefruit. Pay attention bro!

  • Love 3
Link to comment

So ManBun has used grass from a public park to smoke food and dirty hot rocks as serving plates. If he lasts much longer, Lord help the judges in San Francisco. "Today for you I prepared a ceviche served in a vessel crafted from organic dehydrated free range sea lion droppings, humanely harvested from Pier 39." What a hipster doofus. Like some others have commented, I am intrigued enough by ManBun to hear what his wife's occupation will be next week. Cirque de Soleil performer? Renowned pediatric oncologist? Unicorn rancher?

 

Blow-up doll?

  • Love 5
Link to comment

The thing about the corn, though, was that I thought Andrés was trying to find a kind way of saying "wow, this is a poorly-conceived dish" or "what were you thinking?" Because I'm with whoever above pointed out that corn isn't a great starch to base a hash on (I've only ever seen it as an add-on to some kind of tuber hash), and especially hash with a sausage as fatty and spicy as chorizo.

So, no, I really don't think that raw corn, if it wasn't pulled directly off the stalk, would have made the difference. Shredded potato, more lime and a fried egg on top, maybe. For a dish not eaten in the desert in direct sunlight. But the problem with the dish was that Angelina doesn't appear to be at the inventing menus level yet and Grayson should have put her foot down at the planning stage. So, that was sad of Tom, because the one ingredient that the judges felt made a difference was actually the lime, which Angelina didn't see the need for.

But who knows, maybe Grayson of the crappy attitude is a plot point and they'll shove her back in the finals.

  • Love 2
Link to comment

The thing about the corn, though, was that I thought Andrés was trying to find a kind way of saying "wow, this is a poorly-conceived dish" or "what were you thinking?" Because I'm with whoever above pointed out that corn isn't a great starch to base a hash on (I've only ever seen it as an add-on to some kind of tuber hash), and especially hash with a sausage as fatty and spicy as chorizo.

So, no, I really don't think that raw corn, if it wasn't pulled directly off the stalk, would have made the difference. Shredded potato, more lime and a fried egg on top, maybe. For a dish not eaten in the desert in direct sunlight. But the problem with the dish was that Angelina doesn't appear to be at the inventing menus level yet and Grayson should have put her foot down at the planning stage. So, that was sad of Tom, because the one ingredient that the judges felt made a difference was actually the lime, which Angelina didn't see the need for.

But who knows, maybe Grayson of the crappy attitude is a plot point and they'll shove her back in the finals.

If they try to Kristen Kish that bitch I'm throwing my computer out the window :)

  • Love 3
Link to comment

About ten years ago, I attended a demonstration of a different type of solar cooker; it was being given to women in the refugee camps in Darfur.  They had been cooking over fire, but wood had become scarce and they were having to venture further and further out from the camps to get wood ... which left them vulnerable to being raped by the Janjaweed.  The solar cookers allowed them to remain within the relative safety of the camps.

 

It was a very simple design and easy to use, but I'd have had no clue without it being demonstrated, so I'm assuming the chefs got a tutorial on their more complex solar ovens/stoves that just wasn't shown.  I wish they'd edited the Quickfire segment in a way that gave more insight into how they worked. 

  • Love 8
Link to comment

About ten years ago, I attended a demonstration of a different type of solar cooker; it was being given to women in the refugee camps in Darfur.  They had been cooking over fire, but wood had become scarce and they were having to venture further and further out from the camps to get wood ... which left them vulnerable to being raped by the Janjaweed.  The solar cookers allowed them to remain within the relative safety of the camps.

 

It was a very simple design and easy to use, but I'd have had no clue without it being demonstrated, so I'm assuming the chefs got a tutorial on their more complex solar ovens/stoves that just wasn't shown.  I wish they'd edited the Quickfire segment in a way that gave more insight into how they worked. 

Wow, what an amazing story.  I would have never even thought of that as a potential advantage of using the solar over/stovetop.

 

I think they did either because Marjorie (?) called Giselle a moron for putting liquid in the thing, and how would you know not to do it unless someone gave you a quick tutorial, or at least a users manual.  And the vast majority of them put out well cooked food, which would seem like a challenge in 1/2 an hour if no one even really knew how to use it.

  • Love 1
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...