S14.E10: Shrimp Boats and Hat Ladies

[steven T]

I agree with others that this season should've been just the rookie chefs.  I stopped watching Top Chef after the season Kristen won over Brooke because I find it the most  calculated and pre-determined reality show on television and that is saying a lot.  I remember Padma on WWHL pretty much giving it away that Kristen would return after the Josie travesty from LCK to reassure furious fans and I knew right then she was going to win.  Padma has always seemed fake to me.  I'm with others that are thinking Brooke is ordained to win this.  I think they should get rid of Last Chance Kitchen.  I never liked the idea and never watched it and always hoped the returning chef wouldn't end up winning like Kristen did.

[chiaros]

12 hours ago, Blonde Gator said:

Also mostly sweet selections

Hmm. As others here have mentioned, dim sum comprises very largely savory dishes. Is it possible you were only offered sweet things, and they somehow didn't bring the savory stuff out to you to choose (if they were doing cart service)? Alternatively, many places use a check-off ordering menu form rather than carts, and some may not have pictures on the order chits; so if you were in such a place perhaps you managed to check off mostly the sweet items? Perhaps you *might* be one who is very sensitive to sugar - and since many Chinese (and also Chinese-influenced/SE Asian) dishes often have sugar added into the savory dishes - to balance out the taste profiles, NOT to make them sweet - you might have perceived all/most of the dishes to be "sweet" if you do have this sensitivity? Just wondering. It might be worth pointing out that - by and large - many Chinese folks do not have much of a sweet tooth (there are exceptions, of course), and desserts do not occupy an entire obsessive and large part of the cuisine in the way this does in Western cuisine.  Which is why "Chinese Desserts" are not thought of highly by Western folks, especially USAmerican folks, who largely (but not universally) have PROMINENT likings for sweet stuff.**

** Which is also why Thai cuisine in USAmerica is frequently made so sweet, where the chili-hotness has been dialed back so the tastes are completely out of whack.

Here's a pic of a modest not-that-long-ago dim sum brunch I had:

L-R: Deep-fried taro puffs w/ a pork mixture filling (蜂巢炸芋角), bamboo shoots & pork rolled up w/ bean curd skin & w/ oyster sauce (蠔油鮮竹卷), shrimp dumplings (蝦餃), shrimp & pork dumplings w/ mung bean threads laced on top (針尖蝦燒賣), deep-fried-then-stewed/steamed chicken feet w/ special sauce (醬汁蒸鳳爪). No sweet dishes.

(p.s. The Chinese names are a bit more flowery and don't exactly correspond with the English descriptions of the actual stuff in it that I give)

Edited February 4, 2017 by chiaros

[spiderpig]

Why did I have to look at your post now?  It's 7am local and you have me ravenous for dim sum.

[Randomosity]

On 2/2/2017 at 10:58 PM, awaken said:

I'm curious how Sheldon fried the chicken twice AND pressed it in the waffle maker and it wasn't completely over cooked?

I was wondering this too. Between over-cooking potential, frozen waffles, and a phone call to the kids, I was preemptively packing his bags for him until service and the rave reviews.

18 hours ago, candall said:

Sidenote:  I've seen Bonine do magic.  It's about a hundred times better than Dramamine to prevent or alleviate nausea--it works fast and doesn't knock you out.  

Word. The drug in Dramamine is essentially meant to knock you out so that you don't feel the nausea. Bonine's active ingredient is a true anti-vertigo medication.

Overall, if it had been me, I'd have sent all three bottom-dwellers home. None of those were even vaguely hinting at being some sort of mash-up, as the challenge was meant to be. Even if the other two dishes were just versions of preexisting dishes (though I can give Shirley a pass on not ever having come across a cheeseburger dumping before), they were at least trying to be brunch/lunch. Dim sum + cheeseburger. Waffle + chicken. Fine. Yogurt? No. Egg/fish? No.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Stressful episode all around. Brooke looked exhausted, Shirley looked loopy, and Casey looked infuriated. I mean it was palpable through the screen of my TV. Sad to see Casey go, always liked her. She ran the table on Hung and Dayle at the end of her season, but couldn't pull it through at the finale. Hope she does well in LCK. I really thought both my girls were going when it looked like Brooke was targeted for elimination too. Glad she got to stick around, but would have preferred John going over Silva. Both their dishes sounded bad, but seeing the sweat dripped into John's dish, as well as him hogging all the limes during the quickfire just....he needs to go next. Was happy Casey called him out on it too. Sheldon is on fire. I agree with other posters, Shirley's dish didn't sound as good as Sheldon's. Since this was double elimination day, does that mean LCK survivor will return next week or the week after?

[CaliCheeseSucks]

21 hours ago, absolutqt said:

They could always have a Top Chef Champions season.  Don't we all want to see Ilan again? 

Bueller?  Bueller?  Anyone?

Maybe Ilan and Hosea can compete in a one-off special for the crown of Worst Winner in Top Chef History.

[ProudMary]

2 hours ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

Stressful episode all around. Brooke looked exhausted, Shirley looked loopy, and Casey looked infuriated. I mean it was palpable through the screen of my TV. Sad to see Casey go, always liked her. She ran the table on Hung and Dayle at the end of her season, but couldn't pull it through at the finale. Hope she does well in LCK. I really thought both my girls were going when it looked like Brooke was targeted for elimination too. Glad she got to stick around, but would have preferred John going over Silva. Both their dishes sounded bad, but seeing the sweat dripped into John's dish, as well as him hogging all the limes during the quickfire just....he needs to go next. Was happy Casey called him out on it too. Sheldon is on fire. I agree with other posters, Shirley's dish didn't sound as good as Sheldon's. Since this was double elimination day, does that mean LCK survivor will return next week or the week after?

Without getting too spoilery, the LCK survivor was told they had two more challenges to win in order to get back into the competition.

[Cheerwyn]

I think I finally put my finger on why this season is so "meh" to me.

There's a fine balance between adding twists and games to the competition, and just throwing a challenge at the cheftestants and saying "have at it."

The Brunch mash-up challenge seemed to be so rushed, with no clear parameter beyond "Oh look, it's the Cronut guy."  While it can be gimmicky,  this episode would have been so much better if the chefs had to spin the wheel or draw knives to combine ingredients or themes.  They just seemed to flounder with the concept.

[Fukui San]

3 hours ago, CaliCheeseSucks said:

Maybe Ilan and Hosea can compete in a one-off special for the crown of Worst Winner in Top Chef History.

Everyone always forgets about Kevin. Not that he was terrible or anything, but everyone literally forgets a guy named Kevin won Top Chef one year and it wasn't lovable bearded guy Kevin Gillespie. At least I remember Ilan and Hosea.

[spiderpig]

43 minutes ago, Cheerwyn said:

I think I finally put my finger on why this season is so "meh" to me.

There's a fine balance between adding twists and games to the competition, and just throwing a challenge at the cheftestants and saying "have at it."

The Brunch mash-up challenge seemed to be so rushed, with no clear parameter beyond "Oh look, it's the Cronut guy."  While it can be gimmicky,  this episode would have been so much better if the chefs had to spin the wheel or draw knives to combine ingredients or themes.  They just seemed to flounder with the concept.

I'm not getting this season either.  I don't feel I have any more exposure to low country cuisine than before episode one.  The showrunners seem more concerned with coming up with an off-the-wall concept like Cro-nut guy than they do with exploring actual local cuisine.

The chefs seem kind of bored and look like they can't wait to go home.

Was there a change in producers this year?

[Canada]

I feel like the focus is on stupid games this season and not the cooking.  Hate it.

[SuburbanHangSuite]

2 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Everyone always forgets about Kevin. Not that he was terrible or anything, but everyone literally forgets a guy named Kevin won Top Chef one year and it wasn't lovable bearded guy Kevin Gillespie.

Except here in Philly, we can't forget about Kevin.  He has remained on the culinary scene pretty consistently since his win.  Not always for good reasons either.  Poor thing just closed not one but two city restaurants - - I'm not sure why.  I thought both were doing well but you never know.  

[bravofan27]

I really like Shirley, and I think she's the best chef. Brooke is very composed and chill, but I think Shirley can really run a kitchen, she's fun, she's outgoing, and she isn't afraid to talk about herself. Brooke very rarely says anything about her life, which isn't a big deal in and of itself, but it sort of makes me wonder how interesting she is. Shirley is interesting, the most interesting, to me, of all the chefs because she shows her personality in a fun way that makes me love her. And she knows her shit.

[awaken]

18 hours ago, spiderpig said:

..but Gail looked absolutely fresh and lovely during that hat event.

I agree. Love how Gail is always classy, tasteful, and well put together, in contrast with the in-your-face sexpot image of the other judge. 

[Smitty227]

Editing monkeys in full force on this episode:

Dominique Ansel's response to Brooke's dish at Judge's Table :  "Really Juicy".

Tom & Gayle's response to the same dish while eating it :  "Really Dry".

Either nobody has a palette, or you're all full of it.  My vote is for the latter.

[biakbiak]

11 minutes ago, Smitty227 said:

Editing monkeys in full force on this episode:

Dominique Ansel's response to Brooke's dish at Judge's Table :  "Really Juicy".

Tom & Gayle's response to the same dish while eating it :  "Really Dry".

Either nobody has a palette, or you're all full of it.  My vote is for the latter.

Or that when you are making a bunch of dumplings there might be inconsistencies in the product, my weekly dim sum tradition sometimes bears this out.

[RealReality]

On 2/3/2017 at 4:23 PM, Canada said:

I don't know why, but I can't stand Brooke this season, even though I quite liked her in her first Top Chef season.  I think it's because I hate it when it's obvious from the start that someone is the favoured child and likely to be allowed to win. 

Yeah, I think I'm one that tends to root for the underdog.  

At a point, I just wanted someone to say something nice about anything Emily made.  I was just sad for her.  I was rooting for Sylva, Sheldon, Shirley and Jaime.

I can't even remember most of the newbies....what a crappy situation they were in this season. 

5 hours ago, awaken said:

I agree. Love how Gail is always classy, tasteful, and well put together, in contrast with the in-your-face sexpot image of the other judge. 

I know,  I get it Tom, you're a sexy bear type, stop flashing your bald head in my face every week ;)

[Spaceman Spiff]

13 hours ago, Fukui San said:

Everyone always forgets about Kevin. Not that he was terrible or anything, but everyone literally forgets a guy named Kevin won Top Chef one year and it wasn't lovable bearded guy Kevin Gillespie. At least I remember Ilan and Hosea.

Was that the season where Wolfgang Puck joined as a judge?

[Guest]

On 2/3/2017 at 4:48 PM, bluepiano said:

There seems to be a different standard of judging for Brooke than everyone else, and the judges (particularly Tom) were jumping through hoops to try to explain why she shouldn't be sent home for serving something as basic as yogurt and fruit, which didn't even meet the criteria of the challenge. With anyone other than Brooke, elimination would've been a no-brainer.

I agree 100%. Posters have been saying that Brooke was a predetermined finalist. I was withholding judgment until this. Pitiful,  jusy pitiful. 

[cooksdelight]

7 hours ago, Smitty227 said:

Editing monkeys in full force on this episode:

Dominique Ansel's response to Brooke's dish at Judge's Table :  "Really Juicy".

Tom & Gayle's response to the same dish while eating it :  "Really Dry".

Either nobody has a palette, or you're all full of it.  My vote is for the latter.

That was Shirley's dumplings, not Brooke's melted thing. And Shirley won. I agree they're full of it. This is an orchestrated, scripted, planned-out show, no competition involved.

[Guest]

Everytime I see nipples, I think . . . Yeah, I did that . . .   In the 70's.

[sourpickles]

Relating to Shirley and her dumplings, I've got a story about that.  Once, we were ordering at our local Chinese restaurant and Mr. Pickles accidentally ordered the dumplings as "pot stickers".  Mom who runs the place took him out!  I mean, it was a verbal hip check!  "We make dumplings!  Not pot stickers!  This is a CHINESE restaurant!".  So now, despite the fact that there is at least one bag of pot stickers in our freezer at any given time, he is very, very careful about the dumplings.  And I think of that every time someone makes dumplings/pot stickers/wontons.  :)

[Mocking Bird]

On 2/3/2017 at 2:03 AM, Machiabelly said:

Was it just me or was Padma wearing pair of mom jeans....backwards?

I gave my 7-year-old grandson (and me) a beginner sewing machine for Christmas.  He loves fashion, dressing up--Project Runway Jr. is a favorite--so he wants to learn to sew.  I can't sew on a button, but I'd bet he and I could bang out Padma's hideous jumpsuit.  Tom's boating outfit was a tad WTF as well.

[spiderpig]

19 minutes ago, Mocking Bird said:

I gave my 7-year-old grandson (and me) a beginner sewing machine for Christmas.  He loves fashion, dressing up--Project Runway Jr. is a favorite--so he wants to learn to sew.  I can't sew on a button, but I'd bet he and I could bang out Padma's hideous jumpsuit.  Tom's boating outfit was a tad WTF as well.

Yeah - that blue Farmer John thing made her look lumpy, which she definitely isn't.

[DarkRaichu]

On 2/3/2017 at 3:48 PM, bluepiano said:

There seems to be a different standard of judging for Brooke than everyone else, and the judges (particularly Tom) were jumping through hoops to try to explain why she shouldn't be sent home for serving something as basic as yogurt and fruit, which didn't even meet the criteria of the challenge. With anyone other than Brooke, elimination would've been a no-brainer.

It was just Tom.  Padma and Gail criticized Brooke's lack of concept.  Any long time TC viewer knows Tom has the last word

[Canada]

29 minutes ago, DarkRaichu said:

It was just Tom.  Padma and Gail criticized Brooke's lack of concept.  Any long time TC viewer knows Tom has the last word

This is why LCK annoys me.  It's basically Tom deciding who he wants to allow back into the competition.  It's not really a contest.

[sourpickles]

8 hours ago, spiderpig said:

Yeah - that blue Farmer John thing made her look lumpy, which she definitely isn't.

My notes say: Padma looks wide and pale blue 70s.  It was pretty bad.

[chiaros]

On 2/4/2017 at 11:02 AM, Randomosity said:

Even if the other two dishes were just versions of preexisting dishes (though I can give Shirley a pass on not ever having come across a cheeseburger dumping before)

Heh. :-)  OK, suppose Shirley's thingies were square-shaped and a little flatter?   https://www.google.com/search?q="beef+and+cheese+ravioli"+tomato+sauce   ;-)  :-D  (In fact, they don't even need to be square or flat - they could be round and squat, but if you thought of them in an Italian frame of mind - her stuff is pretty much like what that google search illustrates, and I can't imagine that she has never eaten ravioli with a meat & cheese filling and with a tomato sauce. One does not even need to invoke "Chinese dumplings" with a cheeseburger filling, as one of the links I gave earlier called the same things she made and by the same name.  As I mentioned earlier, she bullshits the judges a lot.)

Oh, the differences between ravioli, dumplings, wontons,** potstickers, jiaozi, etc etc are held to be real by practitioners of the respective cuisines - but what I am getting at is that the concept of a beef and cheese filling, or a meat-plus-add-in filling, in a flour-based rolled-out pastry, is not novel or unique. They are variations of each other. (The spicing/taste profiles may often be of more relevance in clear demarcations between them.)

** and Hong Kong style vs Mainland style "wontons" and definitions thereof are also an area of heated discussion amongst some. Even the Chinese characters used for the two styles are completely different.

Edited February 6, 2017 by chiaros

[TaraS1]

I have terrible motion sickness, so I deeply sympathized with Shirley during that Quickfire.  She's not my favorite, but I didn't want to see her go home for not being 100% during the challenge.

In other news, I would like an entire hour devoted to some kind of "Airing of Grievances" episode between Casey and Padma.

[cooksdelight]

I did sympathize with Casey, and the look on her face, when they told her she used just a tad too much salt. They needed to find a reason to send her packing, I think, as her time was up in terms of who they wanted to see in the finals.

[Mrs. P.]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

I did sympathize with Casey, and the look on her face, when they told her she used just a tad too much salt. They needed to find a reason to send her packing, I think, as her time was up in terms of who they wanted to see in the finals.

I don't understand this thinking.  Do you really believe that TPTB want John in the finals?  That they wouldn't want to have Sylva, or some rookie, competing at the end - if for no other reason than to justify the way they set up this season? I just don't see it.

[cooksdelight]

Based on Tom's vapid comments about Brooke, yes, I think this show is a sham as it is now. They never should have put newcomers against veterans on this show, it was a train wreck waiting to happen.

[Wings]

17 minutes ago, Mrs. P. said:

I don't understand this thinking.  Do you really believe that TPTB want John in the finals?  That they wouldn't want to have Sylva, or some rookie, competing at the end - if for no other reason than to justify the way they set up this season? I just don't see it.

I agree.  I don't see this show being manipulated.  Best dish wins, worst goes home.  I will defend their choice eliminating Silva over Brooke and I wanted him to stay!  Scrambled eggs or fritata with a piece of salmon over it was not innovative.  Brooke tried and failed, too,  but her staying was the fact that she aimed higher.  I have seen this happen before many times.  When 2 failed dishes are in the bottom, it is all about the vision.  

I don't like it that Silva went home, not at all but I get it.  

[archer1267]

Quote

I really liked Shirley's idea of brunch dim sum, but then she mentioned burgers and it fell flat for me.  That's not brunch.  Shove some eggs and bacon in those dim sum and it would have made a lot more sense. 

Shirley's dish sounded just like a Hot Pocket to me.  I thought Sheldon's was more creative. I'd forgotten that when Top Chef Seattle was filming in Alaska, Sheldon mentioned the weather and smiled, "I could go for some weed right now." The chwaffle sounds like perfect stoner food and it clicked (but I would totally eat that chwaffle stone cold sober).

Edited February 6, 2017 by archer1267

[Court]

I don't think Brooke aimed higher at all. It was a yogurt parfait. There wasn't even an attempt at making it a mashup. She put yogurt and fruit on a plate. That's it. 

 The judges agreed on that.  Sylva at least tried for something different. 

There is no rhyme or reason throughout the seasons as far as a dish goes home when it comes to meeting/attempting the challenge or a chef ignoring it and their dish tasting slightly better. I'm not convinced Brooke's tasted better.

From the bit we saw, Padma and Gail disagreed with Tom at first. Especially Padma.

Also,this is the second week in a row Brooke got away with ignoring the challenge requirements.

I would have sent Brooke home because they both made bad dishes but Sylva at least attempted to adhere to the challenge.

[Sarnia]

8 minutes ago, Court said:

Also,this is the second week in a row Brooke got away with ignoring the challenge requirements.

Brooke is just one week ahead on the challenges, since the dish she made last week would have been perfect for this week's challenge. However I can't really imagine what challenge would require yogurt and fruit. Showcase dairy products?

[DarkRaichu]

27 minutes ago, Sarnia said:

Brooke is just one week ahead on the challenges, since the dish she made last week would have been perfect for this week's challenge. However I can't really imagine what challenge would require yogurt and fruit. Showcase dairy products?

 

On 2/5/2017 at 8:44 AM, Swim mom said:

Everytime I see nipples, I think . . . Yeah, I did that . . .   In the 70's.

 

So that was actually a hint for next episode ??? :D :D :D

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Top Chef Presents Hats Entertainment

A shrimp battle and a brunch battle whittle the field from six to four.

[mlp]

Quote

I don't think Brooke aimed higher at all. It was a yogurt parfait. There wasn't even an attempt at making it a mashup. She put yogurt and fruit on a plate. That's it. 

Yes.  And I was surprised that no one mentioned the sickly greenish color of the failed mousse.  That didn't look appetizing at all.

[cooksdelight]

It reminded me of stuff the doctor made me take one time....

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 2/2/2017 at 6:39 PM, cooksdelight said:

 

Once again, Brooke skates on through even though she didn't adhere to the challenge. Last week, she failed to cook a dish that was a memory of her childhood. This week, she fails to follow instructions and do a creative combo of brunch and lunch.

Who does she have dirt on?

 

My take on Brooke getting by was that her original concept of making the parfait surround the broth, and then have the broth come out when you start eating the parfait was a much more "whimsical" concept than just a frittata, which isn't really whimsical at all, and just became a mess of undercooked eggs and salmon.

On 2/2/2017 at 6:59 PM, mlp said:

Did Shirley pre-cook her ground beef before putting it in the won ton wrappers?  It looked raw to me and I couldn't figure out how the dumplings didn't end up full of grease. 

I'd love to see Sheldon win this.  He's been very creative and had winning dishes several times.  He has a lovely family.  Every one of his kids is cute.  

I was glad to see Casey leave.  She's very pretty but her whining and snippy attitude make her less than likable.  

Brooke should have been sent home, not Sylva.  I can't shake the feeling that the fix is in for her.

I doubt she pre-cooked the beef, when you make dumplings, it is cooked when you cook the entire thing, that is actually where a lot of the broth and richness comes from when you get the really good stuff like from Din Tai Fun (using a chain as an example).  The fact there was no grease is probably why the meat came out dry, she probably wanted to cut the richness she was adding with the cheese and used cuts of meat that was WAY too lean.  Plus, most dumpling stuffings have other additives instead of just meat to help with the flavoring and moisture.

 

On 2/2/2017 at 7:36 PM, bobbobbob199 said:

I feel like these chefs are all skating by, not really embracing the challenges--the food seemed to be more impressive earlier on in the season. The concept was to combine two different dishes (like the cronut) while combining breakfast/lunch/brunch. Shirley's dish was not brunch at all, Sheldon's was just chicken and waffles with a Korean spin, Brooke's and Sylva's didn't combine anything,... Brooke's dish for the last episode fit perfectly: it was both a brunch dish and combined two things (crepes and eggs benedict)

I probably would have done an egg souffle with crab and egg yolk sauce.

I don't think it is unfair to view dim sum as brunch.   

Your assessment of Sheldon's dish is probably why they gave Shirley the win in spite of the inconcsistency of her dumpling stuffing.  Sheldon's food might have been the best overall, but not really combining two types of food or cuisines.  I guess he was pulling from Korean/asian and "southern"?  And I guess one complaint that was sounded out was that there was a lack of waffle presence in the dish.

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 2/3/2017 at 3:02 PM, chiaros said:

Shirley tends to bullshit the judges a lot of the time IMO. Or suck up to Tom's ideas of "heart".

Not to pass judgement on your BS meter, but Sheldon has done the same and I am a fan of both.  The judges constantly tell them, especially Sheldon, that their best cooking comes from when it is rooted in their hearts, so why not talk about it in the context of what they cook.  I am not sure if it matters if other people have recipes for the dishes, it isn't like every dish cooked on Top Chef was introduced on Top Chef.  Like other people have mentioned, the contestants were given very little time to think of anything and execute what they decided on, IMO prepping and wrapping and cooking all that dim sum in 2 hours in it of itself is a feat, regardless of whether it has been done before.  Possibly the most creative dish would have been Brooke's if she could have actually got the original concept to work.  A parfait in the style of a lava cake would be cool.  Everyone else seems like, add a "different" ingredient into a already existing type of dish.  Even Sheldon's chicken is not that unique, google "waffle battered chicken".

Someone upthread mentioned that she should have used bacon and eggs in her dumpling...she did make a bacon-tomato jam, which seemed to have gone over well and paired nicely with the dumpling.

On 2/4/2017 at 5:12 AM, spiderpig said:

Why did I have to look at your post now?  It's 7am local and you have me ravenous for dim sum.

Well I just looked, Dim Sum places here open at 8! 

[HawaiiTVGuy]

On 2/4/2017 at 8:54 PM, biakbiak said:

Or that when you are making a bunch of dumplings there might be inconsistencies in the product, my weekly dim sum tradition sometimes bears this out.

That is what I think, especially since Shirley pan-fried them right?  Instead of steaming them?  Plus, since you pre-make a huge batch of stuffing and are only putting in relatively small portions into the wrappers, it would not be hard to see how certain stuffings didn't have the same fat content as other portions.

Relating to Shirley and her dumplings, I've got a story about that.  Once, we were ordering at our local Chinese restaurant and Mr. Pickles accidentally ordered the dumplings as "pot stickers".  Mom who runs the place took him out!  I mean, it was a verbal hip check!  "We make dumplings!  Not pot stickers!  This is a CHINESE restaurant!".  So now, despite the fact that there is at least one bag of pot stickers in our freezer at any given time, he is very, very careful about the dumplings.  And I think of that every time someone makes dumplings/pot stickers/wontons.  :)

OK, I am not sure if this is actually correct, but "pot stickers" seems to be an actual literal translation of what my parents call the pan-fried dumplings in mandarin: "Guo (pot) Tieh (sticky)".  So it is more a description of HOW they are cooked, and not the actual thing (like what is in your freezer if it isn't cooked yet) which is actually just dumplings.  However, I think the general westernized palate prefers the pan-fried variety (Versus boiled or steamed), which is why it is how "pot stickers" have become synonymous with "dumplings" in the west.  

Edited February 6, 2017 by HawaiiTVGuy

[spiderpig]

8 minutes ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

Well I just looked, Dim Sum places here open at 8! 

Yeah, but do they deliver? :-)

[HawaiiTVGuy]

3 minutes ago, spiderpig said:

Yeah, but do they deliver? :-)

They do have take-out!

[spiderpig]

Just now, HawaiiTVGuy said:

They do have take-out!

That's great!  I'm only a 5-hour plane ride away.  (Unless you're in Molokai or Nihau.)

[bobbobbob199]

2 hours ago, HawaiiTVGuy said:

I don't think it is unfair to view dim sum as brunch.   

Your assessment of Sheldon's dish is probably why they gave Shirley the win in spite of the inconcsistency of her dumpling stuffing.  Sheldon's food might have been the best overall, but not really combining two types of food or cuisines.  I guess he was pulling from Korean/asian and "southern"?  And I guess one complaint that was sounded out was that there was a lack of waffle presence in the dish.

Sure, but if we were to get technical here the type of dumpling Shirley made (jiaozi, maybe guotie) are not eaten during dimsum, they are more for Chinese holidays and a type of street food, almost always for dinner/at night. Shirley is from the Beijing area, and they don't even have dimsum, that's a Canto thing. The type of dumplings you have during dimsum usually have a translucent wrapper and are steamed, and have smaller shapes. The dish Shirley made is neither a dim sum dish or a brunch dish.

[FormerMod-a1]

Reminder: We have a Small Talk thread for off-topic discussions.

[Jextella]

Call me naïve, but of all the reality competition shows I watch (the more common ones such as Project Runway), I think this one is by far and away the most "pure" in its judging.  I don't think they can hide things as easily as in other shows.

If the show was a sham chefs wouldn't return much less want to aspire to the title, Tom's credibility outside the show would be toast and his businesses would suffer accordingly.  Same with the guest judges.   Also, I think there is slightly less subjectivity in cooking than in other disciplines such as fashion design.    The cheftestants keep each other honest.  It's pretty clear when a peer's dish is good or bad, whereas in fashion two people can have distinctly different view on the same thing.

I would really like to see the F2 come down to Brook and Sheldon.  I recall their original season.  They performed as well then as they are performing now. 

I have too many favorites to vote for fan favorite.    I like all the returning players AND Sylva (and Jamie but a smidge less).   I have an inexplicable soft spot for John.  I have a girl-crush on grumpy Casey, and hetero crushes on both Sylva and Sheldon, and I love Shirley's energy and positivity.  Brook is nice enough but what gets me most is that I just think she's super talented. 

I was really sad to see Sylva go, but I trust the show's integrity and reasoning. One thing I think we missed is when Padma proclaimed that all Brooke gave them was a parfait.  Tom objected quickly and firmly but unfortunately we didn't hear more reasoning behind it.  I suspect there was more strategy/creativity behind Brooke's dish than we saw.  Not sure what it was, mind you :) but there had to be more for Tom to have that kind of response. Tom C used to write great blogs explaining judges' decision but I don't seem to see one.  I haven't watched for a season or two and maybe he doesn't write them anymore.  He took great pains to explain why some stayed and some left.  I'd like to have read his thoughts on Slyva vs. Brooke this week.

Edited February 7, 2017 by Jextella

[sourpickles]

How long have you watched TC though?  I watch PR too, and I do find some of the judging stratagies the same.  But we're getting down to the end here, with only so many.......I think ppl. here have said that there are no more blogs for Tom and others.