The Shows of 2014: Because They've Been Pureed in a Blender

[Bella]

 

I really didn't like the kid from Wisconsin and I was glad he lost. I understand being glad you got out of your hometown, but to go on national television and be so dismissive of it and the people who live there was rude (to me).

 

This is one thing that disturbs me about the show - the "innocent bystanders" who are put down in the process of contestants telling their stories. One more reason to dial back on the personal stuff and just have them cook. 

[LazyToaster]

My grown son will watch Chopped with me - well, I should define watch as being in the same room and not making constant snide comments, but oh well.  However, when they get started on a sob story he gets disgusted and once commented - why don't they just cook instead of telling us their life story? 

 

He thinks they are deliberately trying to get to the judges.  While that might happen sometimes, I'm more likely to think the producers like to focus on the low points of their life and then drag it out of them. 

 

And, I agree - the contestants sometimes seem to forget (or maybe don't care) that people are going to actually watch them on the show and will hear what they say! 

[rujasu]

I still think they should snag one of the bicycle ice cream makers from the Iron Chef America luau dessert episode and put it on Chopped. Maybe they could make the contestants do the pedaling so they have to decide if it's worth the time sacrifice or not.

 

Make the judges do the pedaling!

 

I can just picture the chef whipping up all of the ice cream ingredients, running over to the bike, seeing Judge Alex sitting there giving them the stinkeye, and immediately hurrying back to their station to make something else instead.

[NikSac]

Make the judges do the pedaling!

 

I can just picture the chef whipping up all of the ice cream ingredients, running over to the bike, seeing Judge Alex sitting there giving them the stinkeye, and immediately hurrying back to their station to make something else instead.

 

hahaha I LOVE that idea. I can picture it too. I wonder how many of them would end up making bread pudding...

[cooksdelight]

Someone's mom had cancer, cooking right now. This is the all chocolate episode.

[Bella]

Oh, good grief - you get old enough, and your parents will have health issues. It's life!

 

But chocolate... I'm not sure I'll be able to passively watch that episode without having some myself.

[cooksdelight]

The new episode last night was kind of boring. In fact, I don't remember much except the first guy eliminated was loony and didn't clean his shrimp.

[Julia]

But chocolate... I'm not sure I'll be able to passively watch that episode without having some myself.

You might. They really stretched the definition of chocolate to the breaking point. At least one "chocolate" pantry ingredient wasn't actually chocolate, another was artificially flavored, and they used some really bizarre pantry ingredients to try and transform it into something even less like chocolate.

I wasn't really tempted.

Edited June 18, 2014 by Julia

[xaxat]

The new episode last night was kind of boring. In fact, I don't remember much except the first guy eliminated was loony and didn't clean his shrimp.

 

Agreed. Although I thought for sure they were setting up a final between Chef Looks Mean Everything vs Chef Looks Mean Nothing. 

[cpcathy]

This show is getting to be like MST3K for me. My husband and I just love to snark at it. Watched last night's rerun with the Indian woman, who kept commenting how pretty she was and how she was going to triumph over everyone. Yawn--you're beautiful--we get it! Shut the hell up and cook!

[cooksdelight]

I was snarking on the crazy haired lady last night who was dancing around and talking to herself. What a fruit loop!

[Drogo]

I shit you not.  

My 7 year old daughter watching "Chopped" reruns with me last night:  

 

"This is just like MasterChef.  Except everyone is sad."

[EllieH]

 

The new episode last night was kind of boring. In fact, I don't remember much except the first guy eliminated was loony and didn't clean his shrimp.

 

It was kind of boring, but I'll take boring over cancer stories and dead relative stories and drug abuse stories!  Also (and I feel like this makes me sound like an ugly American), I could only understand maybe 25% of what Iain the first chef eliminated was saying, and kind of wish they had added captions for him?

[Julia]

Oh, you didn't miss much. Iain's speech about how lucky he was to be plopped in the middle of the farms was just silly. The man lives in Tarrytown, which is about thirty minutes closer to the farms than Manhattan is by commuter train, and probably without a decent farmer's market. I mean, bless him, I'm sure his restaurant is lovely, but he lives and works in a bedroom suburb, not some kind of rural utopia.

[Bella]

I shit you not.  

My 7 year old daughter watching "Chopped" reruns with me last night:  

 

"This is just like MasterChef.  Except everyone is sad."

 

This has to be a thread title. Any preferences on which thread I should change? Nominations will be taken throughout the day.

[GaT]

This has to be a thread title. Any preferences on which thread I should change? Nominations will be taken throughout the day.

Assembling Your Thoughts Here - Chopped Is Like No Other Show

 

because it apparently is like another show, just sadder.

[Bella]

That's it.

 

Title is about to change. @Drogo, please thank your daughter for us all.

[Drogo]

I told her, and now she's way too happy to ever be a Chopped contestant.  

 

Love this site, Bella.

[Bella]

That's great, @Drogo! 

[anonymiss]

I was glad to see Clara, the former biology PhD student, win. She was so dorky it was endearing. She said, "wowzers." Heh.

[NikSac]

I'll root for her Drogo!

[cooksdelight]

There's a marathon on today, if anyone's at home and bored. LOL

I am getting to see the bacon episode for the first time, I missed it when it was on earlier this year. Dang, what was that first guy thinking by putting a huge slab of pork chop on the plate for an appetizer?

[xaxat]

I'm watching a grilled episode right now. Next season FN should pony up the bucks and buy some real grills like they have on Chopped Canada. 

[jcbrown]

Not sure what they have on Chopped Canada but nothing irks me like so-called grilling shows where they are using a grill pan on the stove. That. is. not. grilling.

[NikSac]

Not sure what they have on Chopped Canada but nothing irks me like so-called grilling shows where they are using a grill pan on the stove. That. is. not. grilling.

 

Completely agreed!  Those shows always make me want to get a stovetop grill pan until I remember I've had stuff cooked on those before. The shows make it look good but it is so not the same thing. And that's before you even get into the "BBQ" vs. "grill" argument.

[cooksdelight]

I was just reminded tonight of another asshole... Ian, the chef from NYC who chose his job over his marriage. And got cut in the first round for not doing anything with the frozen french fries. And Amanda nicely tried to point out that mustard didn't belong in the dish and he had to argue with her. I really do believe if people disagree to the point of being an ass, they're cut.

[mlp]

 

I was just reminded tonight of another asshole... Ian, the chef from NYC who chose his job over his marriage.

 

I think I saw Ian again on Richard Blais' "Cook Your Ass Off."  There was a chef with the same first name who looked just like him.  He said he'd had a heart attack and had changed his life and diet afterwards.  I thought I recognized him immediately but I didn't recall his last name.  The reason I'm not positive it was the same guy is that the chef on CYAO was likeable.  Either it was a different guy with the same name and appearance or Ian from Chopped had a heart attack that changed his attitude.

[GaT]

I'm not surprised that Lindsay won, she really seemed like she was way ahead of the other chefs in cooking skills.

[cooksdelight]

Didn't she, though? The only thing I would have done differently with her dessert is try to have somehow turned it into a raspberry shortcake with that cookie crumbled up instead of just lying there.

First round I was surprised no one did stuffed peppers. I'd have stuffed them with a mixture of cream cheese, chopped chicory and some spicy herbs. Wrapped them in bacon and rolled them in the falafel, then deep fried them. Made a dipping sauce by thinning down that date paste and adding in something like pepper jelly. Yum!

I want to find that guy's place that's hidden behind the barber shop in Culver City next time I am out there.

[ZoqFotPik]

I loved how the first guy chopped decided to make tacos, but didn't bother to look for taco shells until the last minute.

[anonymiss]

What a lovely return to form for Chopped: an episode focused on cooking instead of whose had it worse in life!

 

I really liked the impassioned judging from Geoffrey, Alex, and Aaron. Nice to see Aaron engaged again.

Edited June 26, 2014 by anonymiss

[ramble]

I agree @GaT. The judges seemed quite impressed with Lindsay & even her errors seemed minor in comparison. Did I miss a sob story or was there not one? I recall: overcome my mom's shadow, win for my kids, buy a house, but don't recall a dead grandmother or dying parrot.

[cooksdelight]

No dead relatives ramble! I may save that one on my DVR for posterity. :)

[SecretHaze]

I was glad to see Clara, the former biology PhD student, win. She was so dorky it was endearing. She said, "wowzers." Heh.

 

This was a couple episodes ago, but I meant to comment on it ... I liked Clara, and it was annoying how they dinged her in the first round for supposedly "not being herself" since she cooked a (beautiful) dish she remembered from one of the restaurants she worked at, and didn't put her Asian heritage into it.  Why does a chef have to cook Asian just because they happen to be Asian? I seem to remember other contestants where they practically forced them to play up their ethnicity more.  Or maybe that was on Food Network Star, but either way, it's annoying. They said to Clara, "We want to see more of your real personality in your cooking" -- how would they know what her personality is? She'd cooked one dish for them at that point, so for all they know, that IS her personality. Just irks me the way they use ethnicity/race as an obligatory story element for any chef who isn't white. 

[cooksdelight]

Amen!! They expect southern black men to automatically cook fried chicken. It's offensive, to me personally.

[theatremouse]

I agree, I can't stand when they pidgeonhole people or assume that the "real" way they cook is based on "heritage", because that's bullshit and not necessarily true. However, I do think she basically stepped in it when she admitted it was a tweak on something from a restaurant she worked in. There's valid criticism there in asking her not to do that in later rounds. It wasn't her restaruant, and I don't think it was implied she was in a high enough position to have developed the recipe herself. So, yeah, great dish, one she made a ton at work before, but was the original her recipe? I think it was strongly implied, no. So her being smart enough to do a tweak on something someone else came up with that she already knew worked? I mean on the one hand you could say nothing is original, everything is based on something. But basically, I think the bigger issue is wanting them to focus on originality. Of course, she's going to be influenced by where she's worked in the past, so maybe it's overly persnickety to criticize on that. But I pretty much think anyone who has seen this show before should know saying "this is based on X from restaurant Y" is the kiss of death. Even if it's based on the best dish at your place of employ, you're supposed to pretend what you did on the show was your own idea.

Edited June 27, 2014 by theatremouse

[Julia]

This was a couple episodes ago, but I meant to comment on it ... I liked Clara, and it was annoying how they dinged her in the first round for supposedly "not being herself" since she cooked a (beautiful) dish she remembered from one of the restaurants she worked at, and didn't put her Asian heritage into it.  Why does a chef have to cook Asian just because they happen to be Asian? I seem to remember other contestants where they practically forced them to play up their ethnicity more.  Or maybe that was on Food Network Star, but either way, it's annoying. They said to Clara, "We want to see more of your real personality in your cooking" -- how would they know what her personality is? She'd cooked one dish for them at that point, so for all they know, that IS her personality. Just irks me the way they use ethnicity/race as an obligatory story element for any chef who isn't white.

Bless you. Kristen Kish was raised by a non-asian adoptive family in Michigan. Should she not cook french?

I was kind of appalled that Alex laid that on Clara.

[rujasu]

I mean on the one hand you could say nothing is original, everything is based on something.

 

Yes, you can could say that.  It's especially true in cooking.  Everything is derivative, especially on a competitive cooking show.

Edited June 27, 2014 by rujasu

[anonymiss]

I liked Clara, and it was annoying how they dinged her in the first round for supposedly "not being herself" since she cooked a (beautiful) dish she remembered from one of the restaurants she worked at, and didn't put her Asian heritage into it.

 

I hated that too however I don't know if it would have been said if Clara hadn't volunteered it in her presentation to the judges. It seemed like she thought she'd be praised for copying it so well because it baffled me as to why she'd admit that when presenting the dish. Perhaps she was told by producers to say it, though.

[Julia]

Alex won ICA cooking dishes off her menu. Maybe Clara figured she'd appreciate it.

[ramble]

If bacon sock wearing chef can "change the food system & change the world" then he is the mack daddiest of all mack daddies. I admire ambition & I say that as I admit I ate the leftover Runts candy my kiddo didn't finish from our movie yesterday as I watch Chopped. Go change it mack daddy! I kind of wanted to try a chocolate potato chip cannoli, but that may have been due to my sweet tooth being turned on by the Runts.

I don't care if you use words like sweet & bread in the label, I don't want to eat a thymus gland. Call me a rube. I'm okay with that. I did like seeing the chestnuts. My oldest child loves them & waits anxiously for our grocery store to have them.

[GaT]

I was surprised that Jeremey won it instead of Albert, it seemed like they were leaning more towards him, but I'm OK with it. I didn't find it a very interesting show tonight.

[Julia]

Sweetbreads aren't nearly as offputting as they sound. They taste a little like veal, and they have the consistency of scallops.

[cooksdelight]

Knowing I'm eating a gland is enough to make me not want one. I've never been a fan of offal, probably never will.

[Lamb18]

It was nice to see a normal episode last night - no special theme or contestants, no super-weird food.  I just like seeing what they get in the basket, what the chefs choose to do and how the food turns out.

[xaxat]

Nice job playing through injury by Chris last night. And, no surprise, he got to tell everyone that his sweetbreads were under cooked.

[Julia]

Anyone think we didn't get enough vitally important information about catering lady's social status and her extremely fashionable food sensitivity that's almost never diagnosed by an actual doctor?

 

I feel as if we may have found a fourth for the Penny / Danushka / Lauren Von Der Pool self-regarding diva smackdown.

[cooksdelight]

Catering lady bugged. Not quite as much as the other three you mentioned, but damn near close. I second your nomination for the four way smackdown.

[ramble]

Anyone think we didn't get enough vitally important information about catering lady's social status and her extremely fashionable food sensitivity that's almost never diagnosed by an actual doctor?

I don't have a problem with her gluten sensitivity. My oldest hasn't been diagnosed but gets nauseated & tired if she inadvertently eats gluten. My best friend's husband was diagnosed (intestinal biopsy) because he slowly become debilitated & they tested for everything under the sun. She was the one to suggest we just do a trial for my kiddo. Since it is an auto-immune issue I can see how if chef lady was sensitive dropping gluten could feel life changing. It's made a big difference in my child's health & even her moods.

But I am completely with you on the annoying name dropping & her oh so important clients. Why do chefs who cook for celebrities feel like they have to emphasize it? It doesn't mean their food is better. What if their special snowflake clients only want raw veggies & tofu or mac & cheese with hot dogs cut up in it? Just because they're celebrities doesn't mean they enjoy variety or good food. A big name doesn't necessarily mean good taste just as cooking for big names doesn't always indicate good cooking.

[cooksdelight]

 

A big name doesn't necessarily mean good taste just as cooking for big names doesn't always indicate good cooking.

 

For real. Multi-millionairess Kandi Burruss on RHoA doesn't cook much, and during one show she made baked spaghetti and her momma and aunts bought over boxes of Bojangles chicken. :)