S12.E02: Mash-Up Throwdown

[cooksdelight]

Martita's accent comes and goes like the wind. Usually when her hands are doing the windmill moves.

[Snarklepuss]

2 minutes ago, cooksdelight said:

Martita's accent comes and goes like the wind. Usually when her hands are doing the windmill moves.

Yeah, you can tell when she's turning it on it's like she's consciously going "into character".

[RCharter]

1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

Yeah, you can tell when she's turning it on it's like she's consciously going "into character".

When I hear "Hola!" I know whats coming!

[candall]

15 hours ago, Snarklepuss said:

Speaking of that, I loved it when he pronounced Gyro "Gie-ro" (rhymes with Die) instead of rhyming with "hero".  That's the way New Yorkers pronounce it. 

Dooo tell!  I was floored when Bethanny Frankel ordered a ji-ro and deducted many "sophisticated New Yorker" points for such appalling pronunciation.  I wonder why that little tidbit isn't more well-known--it's definitely an interesting regional quirk.

 

4 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

Couldn't she have salvaged the tomatoes? They could have been dried out on paper towels for a few minutes, couldn't they? Or did the water obliterate them?

I don't think it was possible to reconstitute those waterlogged dry-roast tomatoes.  I doubt anyone deliberately sabotaged whatshername, but last week Ana seemed to be cooking every element of her dish to a crispy char and Bobby claimed it was the yummy best of all the offerings, so it undoubtedly worked out to full producer satisfaction.

 

I'm surprised at all the downthumbs for this episode--I thought both challenges were difficult and interesting.  Probably editing, but I had a good laugh at Erin and Martita munching along until they only had three minutes to whip out a presentation.  Heee.

Ana's presentation in Part Two was so horribly awkward, but then I literally slapped my hands over my eyes when the Healthy One started her "rap."

I knew Tyler and Valerie were too much to ask for.

 

P.S>Tell me Bobby and Giada did not really lean back in their chairs and roar at "Pho [Fu. . .] you"?

[ivygirl]

10 hours ago, xaxat said:

Don't mess with the Costco ladies! 

The best of them are serious product promotion specialists.

Costco Cookoff. Hosted by Coolio and Chris Cosentino. Coming this fall to Food Network.

Edited May 31, 2016 by ivygirl

[RHJunkie]

Ana is really catty. The judges seem to like her food though but with that personality and attitude, I don't see how she would ingratiate herself to a viewing audience that would want to tune in to see her...especially for viewers of this show that are witnessing her foul attitude.

While Martita has the food and energy to win a competition like this, she lacks the versatility as far as I can tell right now. I feel like I'm hearing the same pitch from her every time. Right now she's ahead of many of her competitors but the likelihood is that others will improve and Martita will need to do the same otherwise eventually others will surpass her.

Meat guy was acted like a tool. He had a tantrum because in his mind he somehow thought that he and Lunch Lady's performances were equal to one another. They played well off each other in their video presentation (though they stupidly opted not to showcase the food at all) but their challenge and pitch were light years apart. The only time Meat guy excelled in front of the camera was one he had an accompanying personality that allowed him to be at ease. Independently, he's a deer caught in headlights.

[Pepper Mostly]

On 5/30/2016 at 2:21 AM, J-Man said:

Joy-- probably not a good idea to tell the entire viewing public that you have no idea what most of the dishes on one side of the board are. (And then to deliberately mispronounce them.) Doesn't exactly make you seem like a font of culinary knowledge. 

I was cringing. Who doesn't know what pad thai is? Paella and tacos and sushi are hardly exotic. Sheesh. Why brag about such ignorance?

20 hours ago, Fostersmom said:

I really think there's no chance in hell Martita is going to win this. She might make the final 4, but how would they even justify a win for her? Isn't the whole point developing their food point of view and camera presence? She already did this. I did love her getting called out for a) in Season 8… and b) her canned sound bite that never changes. She might get enough exposure to do the rounds of the other FN shows, but I just don't see her getting a show. 

I feel like Monterey might be a sleeper, it just seems like there's something there. 

I agree that Martita will not win. My prediction is that she will be in the final two, then lose. I also agree on Monterey. She's revving up for the "she's GROWN!" storyline. yawn.

16 hours ago, RCharter said:

 

Aaron was an ass......I didn't even understand his frustration.  His dish wasn't picked by more people...of course it wasn't, his presentation was weird and Rob was funny.  I guess he was upset that he wasn't one of the two people who was saved by their food....but such is life.  To sit in front of the judges and berate them was odd.  Rob's dish may have been tastier, but Rob was only safe because more people chose his dish....not because Bobby and Giada chose his dish (even though they would).  So, Aaron's argument that his dish was like Rob's was ridiculous.....it didn't matter....it only mattered what more people went to eat.  

 

His presentation seemed to be just yelling "Bacon! BACON!" over and over again. Not compelling. More like idiotic. Next.

[bluepiano]

The verbal throw down was yet another stupid FNS challenge that had nothing to do with cooking ability or food knowledge. Your dish could've tasted like shoe leather, but it didn't matter if you convinced enough people to try it. Jennard did that by acting like a clown, and Damiano just had to open his mouth.

Treading lightly here because I'm white, but Jennard seems to be pandering by playing a clichéd black dude character, with his "love chef" bit and dance moves. My guess would be that he does not conduct himself like that in the real world.

In the end, they probably sent the right two people home. Aaron's sense of entitlement and delusions regarding his ability reminded me of Matthew, the arrogant young past contestant. Aaron seemed to think that merely by saying "meat" or "bacon" every other word he was going to be a contender. And Melanie, from what I've gleaned reading the forums, is basically a fame hound who post revealing pictures of herself to amass an online audience. I never got a sense from her that she cared particularly about food, or had any special expertise.

During the Tuschman-Fogelson regime we heard constantly about "food authority." I'm not feeling that any of these contestants have authority beyond that of a good home cook. I believe only a couple of these people cook at restaurants. I'm always suspicious of the people who call themselves "caterers" because that can mean anything. I have a cousin who's a good cook who prepares food for three or four small dinner parties a year for her friends. And she always tells people that she has a catering business.

I think the fix is in for Martita to at least be in the final two or three. Otherwise it would make their Comeback Kitchen show seem like a complete waste of time.

Edited May 31, 2016 by bluepiano

[hula-la]

4 hours ago, bluepiano said:

Treading lightly here because I'm white, but Jennard seems to be pandering by playing a clichéd black dude character, with his "love chef" bit and dance moves. My guess would be that he does not conduct himself like that in the real world.

 

Tread away! I'm black and felt the same way. While he's a great dancer, it felt uncomfortable for me to watch, as I felt like he was just entertaining the audience in a minstrel show kind of way.

Did anyone else hear someone laughing when Melissa realised her tomatoes were under the running faucet? I couldn't tell if it was a contestant or someone off camera, though.

[lh25]

Quote

While Martita has the food and energy to win a competition like this, she lacks the versatility as far as I can tell right now. I feel like I'm hearing the same pitch from her every time. 

I'm not sure at all, but wasn't she the one who wanted to do different things, but they kept telling her that the Latina persona was what she was?

[BW Manilowe]

On May 29, 2016 at 10:16 PM, leighdear said:

Wow, Ana came right out with that bitch flag, waving at Melissa.  And how does a "Real Housewife" get off calling something cheesy?  She's a snot and I would never watch her show.

Why didn't Tregaye do the line with "sustainability" if Yuzu couldn't say it?  What a waste of time. 

So Erin is this show's new "Cry Pie"?  Though we haven't seen the waterworks yet, she comes off that way to me. 

Good riddance to Aaron.  And Martita is becoming very one-note.  I can't understand a word that Damiano says, and he's not that good looking to me. 

On the plus side, Eddie Jackson from last season is doing well, based on his promos for the upcoming kids grilling show he's co-hosting.

Eddie's kids' barbecue championship show is already airing. The second ep ran last night (it's on Mondays at 8 Eastern/7 Central). His co-host is model Camilla Alves, best known as the wife of Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey & mother of their 3 kids.

[Totale]

5 hours ago, lh25 said:

I'm not sure at all, but wasn't she the one who wanted to do different things, but they kept telling her that the Latina persona was what she was?

That's how I remember it - didn't she start with a passion for French food or something?  She was also leaner, wore her hair longer and straight, and had some fairly intricate angel wing tattoos on her shoulder blades.  Wonder if they'll be back?

[biakbiak]

34 minutes ago, Totale said:

That's how I remember it - didn't she start with a passion for French food or something?  She was also leaner, wore her hair longer and straight, and had some fairly intricate angel wing tattoos on her shoulder blades.  Wonder if they'll be back?

That was Susie Jimenez who was runner up on Jeff's season that the judges basically forced her to change from French to her Latin roots not Martita, she had the angel wing tatoos as well.

Edited June 1, 2016 by biakbiak

[HyeChaps]

Wasn't "Chef of Love" Damaris' pov?

[grisgris]

I don't remember Martita's physical appearance from Season 8. I do remember that was back when Alton was on and they had mentored groups. Martita was working under the guidance of Giada. I don't remember what Martita's original culinary POV was, (it definitely wasn't Mexican) but Giada strong-armed her into becoming this "firey Latino" character.  Whether or not Martita agrees with it and it is true to form, I think that she's playing that role in order to try to secure a spot in at the very least, the final 2-3. Geez, she's like a parrot, with her "Hola!" on command whenever Giada comes into her presence.

I don't dislike Martita. I think she's pretty with a good camera presence and she obviously can cook. So far, she seems better than the others. The one I don't get is Ana. For having been on a reality show, she's pretty unpolished on camera. Also, she's a "skinny Latino?" She looked like she was about to burst out of those too tight beige stretch pants she had on the other night and what they were trying to pack in wasn't pretty. MEOW! (I know ...)

While Erin Campbell won "Holiday Baking Championship" in 2014, she wasn't particularly well-liked by viewers (as reported in this forum.) The Santa's elf on steroids persona was OK for that show (barely) but isn't going to get her far here.

I hope Sunday was the last cross-pollination attempt between FN and TCC. At the very least, they could have brought on CC hosts with some actual culinary credentials like Kelsey Nixon or even Bobby Deen. If I see Tiffani Theissen or Tia Mowry soon, I'm going to throw something at my TV!

[biakbiak]

Here is Martita's audition video, she was Mexican with a California twist from the start. Giada just had her play up the family stories and the accent.

[Wings]

1 hour ago, biakbiak said:

Here is Martita's audition video, she was Mexican with a California twist from the start. Giada just had her play up the family stories and the accent.

She has a very slight accent with some words.  It is barely there.  Disappointing to think she was coached and agreed. 

[ivygirl]

6 hours ago, BW Manilowe said:

Eddie's kids' barbecue championship show is already airing. The second ep ran last night (it's on Mondays at 8 Eastern/7 Central). His co-host is model Camilla Alves, best known as the wife of Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey & mother of their 3 kids.

And no joke, most of those kids have more "food authority" than many of the FNS contestants.

[Maverick]

On 5/30/2016 at 3:06 PM, wings707 said:

There are many chefs out there who would want a show on FN.  I imagine many Top Chef alums would love to be part of FN.  Where are they?  Why are we getting home cooks that they pick up in sports bars and Costco?

 Most legit chefs aren't going to subject the cringe worthy antics the 'finalists' are subjected to during this gauntlet (like gluing Payday wrappers to their torso or making up rap songs).

 Aaron's arrogant asshole comments came out of left field.  There was clearly more to that convo with the judges that was edited out.  

 I find it interesting that historically, they've always encouraged (or prodded our outright forced) 'ethnic' chefs to cook based on their culture but in Daimiano's case the fact that he loves Mexican is just another interesting layer to his personality.  The hell?  Why aren't they telling him to be authentic and cook meatballs and tortellini?

 Bobby's "Oh Snap!" and "Oh no she din't!" reactions during the 'battles' were painfully embarrassing.   

[Totale]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

That was Susie Jimenez who was runner up on Jeff's season that the judges basically forced her to change from French to her Latin roots not Martita, she had the angel wing tatoos as well.

That's definitely who I was thinking of, not Martita.  Seen one fiery Latina...

[RCharter]

3 hours ago, Maverick said:

 Most legit chefs aren't going to subject the cringe worthy antics the 'finalists' are subjected to during this gauntlet (like gluing Payday wrappers to their torso or making up rap songs).

 Aaron's arrogant asshole comments came out of left field.  There was clearly more to that convo with the judges that was edited out.  

 I find it interesting that historically, they've always encouraged (or prodded our outright forced) 'ethnic' chefs to cook based on their culture but in Daimiano's case the fact that he loves Mexican is just another interesting layer to his personality.  The hell?  Why aren't they telling him to be authentic and cook meatballs and tortellini?

 Bobby's "Oh Snap!" and "Oh no she din't!" reactions during the 'battles' were painfully embarrassing.   

Oh, I agree, I think this show would be a HUGE downgrade for someone that has been on TC.  They are actual chefs......most of the people on this show seem to be "food personalities."  

I think the average TC contestant would be mortified to think that their food would merit equal or less consideration than "presentation."  And not even presentation of the food!

I think even the very worst TC contestants would probably be like top 2-3.  I'm thinking of the guy two seasons ago with the hat (also named Aaron) and that blonde girl that he fought with....and the two shitty chefs this season who were locked in some sort of blood feud where each accused the other of being the shittier chef....a true race to the bottom.  

But I remember TC two seasons ago....and damn near everyone (with the exception of Aaron, and blonde girl) was a James Beard nominee or award winner.  I think a show like FNS is just not something you really do if you're a serious chef unless you're there to judge.

[Jesse]

They definitely are looking for "personalities" more than chefs, which I think is fine, frankly -- I can't taste any of their food! So a reasonable recipe that seems like something I can do myself, plus an engaging personality? That's all I need.  (I mean, I've felt like Guy's Grocery Games is actually the most like coming home after work and trying to figure out what to have for dinner when you only have a can of beans and some leftover chicken in the fridge.)

[lh25]

Quote

Here is Martita's audition video, she was Mexican with a California twist from the start. Giada just had her play up the family stories and the accent.

Thanks.  I really thought it was Martita, and that while she started doing Mexican, she wanted to branch out and got the "We just don't know who you are anymore".  They do that often enough it's easy to get confused :)

[bluepiano]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 6:01 PM, biakbiak said:

That was Susie Jimenez who was runner up on Jeff's season that the judges basically forced her to change from French to her Latin roots

For me that will always be one of the all-time low points of FNS. The woman trained and apprenticed in France, and probably had some of the most impressive credentials of any contestant they've ever had. Yet Tuschman and Fogelson could not seem to comprehend the radical concept of someone having culinary interests outside of their ethnic heritage. They beat her over the head about it week after week until they finally broke her spirit and she ended up cooking Mexican food and telling stories about her old abuelo. They would not have dared insist that a black chef with classical French training make ribs and black eyed peas, but unfortunately felt no hesitation to enforce their narrow ethnic stereotypes on a Latino woman.

Yes, I think that Demaris also talked about "love" a lot. But she's far from the only one. It seems that often someone can't articulately describe their food they fall back on saying they "cook with love" or "add love" to a recipe. Which means absolutely nothing. Same with calling your food "sexy."

Edited June 2, 2016 by bluepiano

[RCharter]

19 hours ago, Jesse said:

They definitely are looking for "personalities" more than chefs, which I think is fine, frankly -- I can't taste any of their food! So a reasonable recipe that seems like something I can do myself, plus an engaging personality? That's all I need.  (I mean, I've felt like Guy's Grocery Games is actually the most like coming home after work and trying to figure out what to have for dinner when you only have a can of beans and some leftover chicken in the fridge.)

I see your point, but the idea that I spend money to buy food for this recipe and it ends up being gross because they hired some "personality" instead of someone who had actual food knowledge would really grind my gears.  Like really, really grind them.  Recipes take time, effort and money -- if you are hiring someone who knows as much about food as some random off the street and trying to sell them as someone who should be on something called the food network -- that seems unfortunate to me.  There are much better TV personalities if that is what they are looking for.  

Even for someone doing a travel show....if you don't have any food knowledge, why would I really care what you have to say about what is tasty?  I might as well just ask some random person off the street.  I want to find food that Tom Colicchio  thinks is good...even if I can't spell his name....I don't really care what "Fly Party" or "Hipster Yelling" "Angry Yelling with Penny," or "Snarky Housewife" have to say on the matter because they don't seem to know anything about food.

Heck, I care very little for what Padma says is tasty on TC.....let Eric Ripert tell me what to eat.....and then have him cook it for me after we make sweet French love.  Or, if Eric Ripert is out of town.....Tyler Florence.

[DeLurker]

They got the title wrong - it should have been Mash-down Throwup.

The guy who got eliminated, Aaron?, made a graceful exit.  I'm guessing he won't be popping up on the FN show circuit unless they are looking for an inarticulate, bad tempered pouty boy.

[Jesse]

5 hours ago, RCharter said:

I see your point, but the idea that I spend money to buy food for this recipe and it ends up being gross because they hired some "personality" instead of someone who had actual food knowledge would really grind my gears.  Like really, really grind them.  Recipes take time, effort and money -- if you are hiring someone who knows as much about food as some random off the street and trying to sell them as someone who should be on something called the food network -- that seems unfortunate to me.  There are much better TV personalities if that is what they are looking for.  

Even for someone doing a travel show....if you don't have any food knowledge, why would I really care what you have to say about what is tasty?  I might as well just ask some random person off the street.  I want to find food that Tom Colicchio  thinks is good...even if I can't spell his name....I don't really care what "Fly Party" or "Hipster Yelling" "Angry Yelling with Penny," or "Snarky Housewife" have to say on the matter because they don't seem to know anything about food.

Heck, I care very little for what Padma says is tasty on TC.....let Eric Ripert tell me what to eat.....and then have him cook it for me after we make sweet French love.  Or, if Eric Ripert is out of town.....Tyler Florence.

(a) LOL re: Eric Ripert and/or Tyler Florence.

(b) I assume the contestants and especially the winner have more food knowledge than I do, and also better staff.  Even Valerie Bertinelli, although I assume she's relying more heavily on the staff. There are  TON of people whose expertise falls in between mine and Jacques Pepin. Only some of them are good on TV. (Even given that I may disagree with FN about what's "good on TV.")

[RCharter]

2 hours ago, DeLurker said:

They got the title wrong - it should have been Mash-down Throwup.

The guy who got eliminated, Aaron?, made a graceful exit.  I'm guessing he won't be popping up on the FN show circuit unless they are looking for an inarticulate, bad tempered pouty boy.

......who can yell at me about bacon.  If they give him a show it can be called "Bacon Yelling" or "Bacon Mumblings"

[Jesse]

PS to my previous post: Please, PLEASE know that I am not saying any of that to defend any of these specific jokers!! Just the general notion. 

[bluepiano]

On ‎6‎/‎1‎/‎2016 at 6:09 AM, Jesse said:

They definitely are looking for "personalities" more than chefs, which I think is fine, frankly -- I can't taste any of their food!

But you still want to feel that the show hosts really know what they're talking about. Before there was cable TV (and a lot of money in food-related programming) the only people we saw doing food shows were real, honest-to-goodness experts like Julia Child. FN and TCC seem to now be giving shows to celebrity foodies, like Rev Run and Valerie Bertinelli, and even celebrity wife foodies, like Mrs. Matthew McConaughey. (not sure where Katie Lee falls). These people may have some food knowledge, but they are celebs first, who did not earn their spots by spending many years as professional chefs and/or cookbook authors.

Besides which, in this age of reality TV, the term "celebrity" has pretty much lost any meeting. FN is running ads for some new Alton Brand contest show, "Celebrity Something or Other," and I've never heard of any of these people. Having played the third lead on some sit-com from 20 years ago doesn't hold a lot of weight in my book. Would any of these people being making the reality TV rounds if they had an actual career?

[HyeChaps]

Mrs. McConaughey a foodie???  A few years ago she was hosting the hairdressing competition.

[NewDigs]

Well, that was a hot mess of a challenge. I know that RevRun has had plenty of reality tv exposure so I expected him to be more, alive? Not very compelling viewing when the NFNS folks have more "go" in them. (Walk This Way video is classic!)

Wow, Aaron! Way to bite the hand that feeds ya'.

The only real standouts, to me, were the majority (?) who didn't do so good. I think that's most of them. Did get a kick out of the woman who kind of apologized to her teen for her "hip-hop" performance. Too many for me to keep names straight.

[ivygirl]

On June 2, 2016 at 8:24 AM, RCharter said:

......who can yell at me about bacon.  If they give him a show it can be called "Bacon Yelling" or "Bacon Mumblings"

Like that dog in the Beggin' Strips commercial. Mmmmmmnmmnnmnnmm. IT'S BACOOOOONNN!!!

[MajorWoody]

Run is not only a regular on FN, but one of the folks behind my favorite Christmas rap song, Christmas In Hollis (which is where I lived the first 3 years of my life). It does have the classic line "It's Christmas time in Hollis, Queens. Mom's cooking chicken and collard greens"

 Actually, it is the only Christmas rap song I even know, which makes that ranking easy.

Aaron exhibited a level of stupidty that will rank at the top levels of idiotic behavior in reality TV annals. 

Crackhead Melissa can now go back to her second career, playing a ghost at the Halloween Haunted House.

Ana should be on the way out shortly too. She acts like Ralph Kramden in front of the camera, when he froze on live TV doing the Chef of the Future. The only show in her future should be her and Dom as FN's Next Trainwreck

I'm still in the camp that thinks MarTEEETa is pushing a phony character to appease the higher ups. Does she not realize that when she speaks without an accent it only highlights how phony the heavy accent version is? Plus, she does nothing special foodwise. Plus, she ignores challenges and always makes her version of Taco Bell. Challenge is Chinese wok food? Fine, I'll make a burrito. Challenge is French country food? Fine, I'll make tacos.

Lunch Lady, while a stupid concept, actually was pretty good in front of the cameras and crowd. It appears he can also cook too. What a novel concept on this show.

The globe trotting model, I forget her name, seemed much better this week even though she was near the bottom.

The Southern Belle came across as dumb by claiming she didn't know many of the mashup dishes. If she is telling the truth, why in the world does she think she belongs on a network allgedly devoted to food?

 

Yaku seemed to have a good idea with his chili dog sushi roll. It looked inventive, although there is no way I would want to eat that combination. But it seemed he did well with a tough combo.

 

Again, good riddance to Aaron. But in this day and age, I'm sure there is some other reality show looking to sign  him up as the resident jerk.

[Snarklepuss]

On 6/2/2016 at 10:13 PM, bluepiano said:

But you still want to feel that the show hosts really know what they're talking about. Before there was cable TV (and a lot of money in food-related programming) the only people we saw doing food shows were real, honest-to-goodness experts like Julia Child. FN and TCC seem to now be giving shows to celebrity foodies, like Rev Run and Valerie Bertinelli, and even celebrity wife foodies, like Mrs. Matthew McConaughey. (not sure where Katie Lee falls). These people may have some food knowledge, but they are celebs first, who did not earn their spots by spending many years as professional chefs and/or cookbook authors.

ITA.  Arguably, it's the "chefs first/stars second" people whose food makes me salivate far more than the ones who are "stars first/cooks second".  As good as Valerie Bertinelli is on camera, I have yet to go "mmmmmmmmmm" at anything I've seen her make.  Now Lidia Bastianich, everything she makes makes me salivate....And you know what?  She's pretty good on camera, too.  She knows how to make you really want the food.  It can't be that difficult to find real chefs/cooks who can do both.  I just don't buy it.  They put the personality aspect of it first because they want ratings and they think celebrities will bring them more ratings whether or not they can really cook.  They really don't give a crap about how good the food is.  They know there are more people out there who watch purely for entertainment and don't care so much about making the recipe so they'll compromise on that.  Meanwhile, they don't give a crap about the real home cooks and foodies out there.  They figure we'll complain but watch enough of it anyway or they can afford to lose us as viewers because there are so many more that will tune in for the personalities.  But what about the real chefs out there who have personalities and could attract both audiences?  Someone like Emeril could not have just been a fluke.  I am sure there are plenty of chefs who have what it takes to be stars out there, they just don't want to make the effort to find them.

[RCharter]

1 hour ago, MajorWoody said:

 

The Southern Belle came across as dumb by claiming she didn't know many of the mashup dishes. If she is telling the truth, why in the world does she think she belongs on a network allgedly devoted to food?

I agree....admitting that you don't know what pad thai is when you want a show on a channel called THE FOOD NETWORK doesn't seem cute or precious at all.  It just highlights everything thats wrong about this show.  Its one thing to say that you don't know a ton about a regional cuisine....its another thing to be okay with the fact that you don't know what PAD THAI is.

[smiley13]

I freely admit to not caring what Pad Thai is.  The name alone is unappealing enough that I don't give a hoot what the food is.

So far none of these people are particularly appealing.  Joy seemed okay until I read about her tax issues.  The Italian man with her is hard to understand.

Ana is majorly obnoxious as is Erin.  Monterey gets a strike against her because of her name.

Jennard (sp?) is cute and enthusiastic.  If the woman thought he was yelling, she should have spoken up.

At this point, Martita has to be the front runner.

[bluepiano]

19 hours ago, RCharter said:

Its one thing to say that you don't know a ton about a regional cuisine....its another thing to be okay with the fact that you don't know what PAD THAI is.

I hate when people are proud of their ignorance. Maybe it's part of her southern gal persona, to brag that she's just a good ole meat and potatoes American. (Although she did make an allowance for tacos, which by now are pretty American, and a staple of school lunches).

A few years ago there was a Top Chef winner (Kevin something) who freely showed his disdain for all Asian food, saying that he didn't use "sooey" (soy) sauce. That a Top Chef winner could be that dismissive of a cusine eaten by a major percentage of the world's population was way worse.

Edited June 5, 2016 by bluepiano

[jcbrown]

23 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

I hate when people are proud of their ignorance. Maybe it's part of her southern gal persona, to brag that she's just a good ole meat and potatoes American.

I would like this 100 times if I could.

Edited June 6, 2016 by jcbrown
truncating quote

[akr]

Quote

27 MINUTES AGO, BLUEPIANO SAID:

I hate when people are proud of their ignorance. Maybe it's part of her southern gal persona, to brag that she's just a good ole meat and potatoes American.

 

Quote

and jcbrown said: I would like this 100 times if I could.

Here, here!  In general, though, I'd like a thumbs up option rather than just a love option. Sometimes you want to acknowledge the post for hitting the nail on the head, but love is not the right word for it.

[Lillybee]

The fact that the Southern Belle could not even pronounce pad thai was super annoying, it isn't as though it was written in Thai.

[smiley13]

12 hours ago, bluepiano said:

I hate when people are proud of their ignorance.

I do not feel someone should be called "ignorant" just because they have not been exposed to something in their life.

[Jesse]

That's what ignorance is -- not knowing something. It has a negative connotation now, but at its base, it just means lack of knowledge. Whether that's because a person never had the opportunity to learn the thing, or actively avoided it is a different question.   https://wordnik.com/words/ignorant

[NewDigs]

I think that "ignorance" is too often automatically considered "wilful", adding that extra baggage. 

[smiley13]

Ignorant is a very ugly word IMO.  And yes, it has a negative connotation.  It implies that someone is too stupid to understand something, not that they simply do not know about it.

[jcbrown]

Quote

Ignorant is a very ugly word IMO.  And yes, it has a negative connotation.  It implies that someone is too stupid to understand something, not that they simply do not know about it.

I disagree. I think what you describe is the definition of "stupid" whereas ignorant simply means that someone has not learned something. In the case of this discussion, though, we are discussing a contestant ON A FOOD SHOW who not only evidently had never heard of common "ethnic" foods but who seemed to wear that as a badge of honor. In this case, I agree that she seemed proud of her ignorance. To me, that is unacceptable given the role of food "authority" for which she is ostensibly auditioning.

[JTMacc99]

On 5/30/2016 at 1:02 PM, Fostersmom said:

I feel like Monterey might be a sleeper, it just seems like there's something there. 

Through two episodes, that's a thought that is in my head as well.  Probably because she's cute if I'm being completely honest with myself.

[cooksdelight]

Monterey may be cute but her food has been consistently bad. I don't care how cute someone is, if they cannot pull off a recipe or concept, I won't watch.

[smiley13]

I don't even think Monterey is cute and her food has not been impressive.  

[Aquarius]

On 6/5/2016 at 8:04 PM, jcbrown said:

I would like this 100 times if I could.

I would like this 10,000 times if I could.

Fine, you've not been exposed to pad Thai or whatever.  But at least have the self-awareness and humility to understand you've likely missed out on something you should know.  That others around you know.  Don't double-down on the whole "I've only ever been exposed to cooking by my family and neighbors but I think I deserve a national food show" idea.  I don't care how much you drawl or how deep your dimples are.  You're a culinary idiot.