Food on the Tube – Is Chopped worth watching?
This week, the Food Network premiered their new, very hyped, competition show: Chopped. I gave the premiere episode a look and I have to say that it seems a little derivative. It is very similar, as well as inferior, to Iron Chef. The main difference is that the show begins with four chefs competing, and eliminates one chef at the end of the three courses: appetizer, entree, and dessert.
Like Iron Chef, the contestants have a set of secret ingredients for each course that they have to work with. Each round is timed, with the chefs having only 30 minutes to make a dish. A panel of judges tries and critiques each dish and decides who stays and who goes. The last chef standing gets a prize of 10,000 dollars. Not too shabby.
Food on the Tube – Anne Burrell is nuts, and I like nuts
One of the new Food Network shows that I have really been enjoying is Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, with Anne Burrell. If the beaming, blonde face attached to this post looks familiar it’s because Burrell has been on Iron Chef America many times, serving as one of Mario Batali’s regular sous chefs. You can usually find her rolling out pasta dough for the orange-clogged Iron Chef.
She has her own show now, and it’s been quite an eye-opener. We rarely get to see the sous chefs on Iron Chef America, so I didn’t know what to think when Secrets of a Restaurant Chef started up. I had no idea that Burrell had such a strong personality, but it certainly makes for an entertaining program.
Food on the Tube – Is Mario Batali MIA?
As I was watching the New Year’s Day Iron Chef America marathon this week something struck me: I haven’t seen Mario Batali cook for a very long time. It’s true that he and the Food Network had a bit of a breakup back in 2007, but at the time the Food Network said that he would still be appearing on Iron Chef America.
The only catch is, I haven’t actually seen Mario compete on ICA for quite some time. A quick jaunt over to wikipedia to check the episode guide for ICA tells the story. Mario hasn’t competed at all this season and only competed twice last season. The only appearance by the ginger haired gourmet this season has been to check out his new, Marc Ecko designed battle attire.
My Thursday plans – Iron Chef America marathon
Cate was kind enough to point out the USA marathons that are going on this week. While I do enjoy Will Ferrel’s Elf, I think I’ve seen it enough times, and at least once all the way through this holiday season. I never really understood the all-day movie marathon. Why would you need to see a movie more than once per day? Are they designed so that you can watch the movie whenever you want during the day? I know TNT does it every year with A Christmas Story, but I just don’t understand it.
In any case, I found my marathon of choice that I will be watching on January 1….
Food on the Tube: I love Alexandra Guarnaschelli
A couple months ago I was bitching about the new batch of Food Network cooking shows and lamenting the loss of some of my favorites. While I still miss some of the chefs who have disappeared or been pushed out of the prime viewing time (Nigella Lawson, Michael Chiarello, Jamie Oliver, et al), the new batch of chefs is growing on me.
In particular, I’m really enjoying Alexandra Guarnaschelli on The Cooking Loft. The show is unique and Alex is charming and different. She’s shown her great personality and knowledge about food as a competitor and frequent judge on Iron Chef America, and it’s translated really well to The Cooking Loft.
Food on the Tube: Top Chef is back… and I won’t be watching
Bravo
Readers of this space know that two of my great loves are TV and food. I’m sure the expectation is that I would love a show like Top Chef, Bravo’s reality cooking competition. The truth, however, is that I’ve never been able to get into the show. For me, Top Chef is much more a reality show than it is a cooking show, and I guess that’s the point. The challenges seemingly aren’t about cooking as much as they are about creating drama.
Now, I understand that TV shows need to create drama or they’re boring. However, I would point to the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and Next Food Network Star as two food competition shows that remain entertaining without creating faux drama.
On Top Chef, the producers always seem intent on creating a “villain” for the show. This individual tends to be the classic reality program jerk who is just out for him/herself and is intent on driving away the other contestants. I can’t stand this type of person. Why do we, as a society, laud these self serving, arrogant jerks by putting them on television? I don’t understand it, and I certainly don’t understand why people want to watch them, but I also understand not everything on TV is programmed for me.
Food on the Tube: A review of Food Network Magazine
Food Network
I suppose it was only a matter of time before Food Network jumped into the magazine business, and I say good for them! I managed to get my hands on the premiere issue and I’m fairly impressed. I’ve read through it and I have to say that this is not just a fluff magazine trying to profit off the success and popularity of Food Network. I think the best part of the magazine is the way it involves the chefs and personalities that we know and love. Let’s face it, if it failed in integrating the Food Network stars, this magazine was going to be a flop.
The first third of the magazine, or thereabouts, is dedicated to food news, short articles, and features with the celebrity chefs. Some of the better features include a section where the Food Network stars answer questions from readers, a section where two of the chefs are pitted against each other, and one where one star is issued a challenge from the magazine. In this issue, Ingrid Hoffman and Guy Fieri face-off with competing taco recipes, and the Neely’s are challenged to rework one of their signature beef dishes (spoiler alert: they turn it into an inside-out sushi roll). There’s also a nifty behind-the-scenes look of Iron Chef America.
Most Commented (Past Week)