Top Chef All Stars

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by philosophe

Only the best for you. Funny how this forum has fewer food fights.

eh, give it time.

 

[Thebomb85019]

Wow felt sorry for Richard.

 

[StephenHero]

Quickfire.

 

[ChicagoRon]

That was one of the best episodes ever.... so much really funny and a little heartwarming stuff going on.

What they did to Richard really was straight up MEAN, and they should have sent somebody home.... but it's nice that the game is flexible and there are surprises.

 

[indesertum]

im going to guess richard had the worst dish, but they let him stay

-_- arggh. cant wait for the episode to hit the web

 

[StephenHero]

Tiffany's seems to have been the worst. I thought Mike's dish looked delicious.

 

[StephenHero]

And Richard's wife was cute.

 

[Johnny_5]

Padma in a Bikini OMG

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

Loved the fake-out on Richard. Padma had me going until she told Richard that he was going to the finals.

If Tiffany had the worst dish, it would have been very easy to send her home because of her lack of victories during the season. I'm guessing that Richard or Carla had the "worst" dish, but it was by such a small margin that they couldn't justify sending one of those contestants home instead of Tiffany.

 

[acularw]

Pretty good episode, looking forward to Padma in a bikini in the finale!

On a side note, am I the only one excited about the upcoming Chopped All-Stars on Food Network? That show is always fun to watch because of the curveballs they throw at the chefs with mystery ingredients. Should be more fun with more experienced and accomplished chefs.

 

[greekonomist]

Originally Posted by StephenHero

And Richard's wife was cute.

Originally Posted by Johnny_5

Padma in a Bikini OMG

+2

 

[Thracozaag]

Originally Posted by Ambulance Chaser

Loved the fake-out on Richard. Padma had me going until she told Richard that he was going to the finals.


I thought the poor guy was going to stroke out on the spot.

 

[Piobaire]

I would like to know why the change in format for the final. Hmm. Hard to believe Tiffany will be in the final and Dale will not be.

 

[SField]

Originally Posted by iammatt

No, it isn't jumbled at all. I guess what has me wondering is that you so often see and read that this guy or that girl did something really difficult, which kind of makes me wonder, because I generally think of cooking technique as fairly simple, unlike, say, baseball technique or golf technique which are really quite difficult. Of course, you are often building simple technique on top of simple technique etc. The other question to me, I suppose, is whether somebody is "highly technical" because they use all of this new stuff, which can of course be great, or whether highly technical means a real mastery of the things cooks have been doing for a few hundred years now. I don't know, and I was just trying to translate into my own words things I read.
With enough repetition and good training, it is certainly possible to teach someone to have great "technique." Sure, not everyone has the patience or the attention to detail to learn how to consistently cook a piece of fish or eggs or to have great knife skills, especially in a restaurant pressure situation, but I agree, it is not like hitting a fast ball or being a great golfer. What brings cooking and being a chef to a similar level to those highly skillful athletic professions is inspiration, which I've said before. Great food is the marriage of three essential things; the product, the execution, and inspiration. One gets the third from the first two. In the tradition that I come from, you start with the best product you can find. There is an obligation, (and of course an economic reality) to honor the ingredient and to use it as efficiently as possible and with as little waste as possible. Technique is more than just what you do with your hands. I think that at the highest levels, your technique is the physical manifestation of your self respect, and to never want the person who taught you your skills to lose face. It's an idea that is something that I found quite often and value. There are more than enough great cooks available to exec chefs that are hiring, but the best restaurants look for people whose work ethic reflect an emotional dependance on what they do professionally. Cooking something that is inspired is really special. Food memories, wit, or something completely unexpected. That's when the physical act of cooking well becomes more than technique, and when I truly think that you have made a full demand on your head and your heart. At that point, technique is like hitting a 100mph fast ball or playing at the Masters. It obviously is not common and having the ability to do what some of these molecular dudes are doing is not particularly impressive. Now if you are talking about Blumenthal or Achatz, it's a different discussion. But cooking is obviously very old, and it's just building upon basics. Much like playing an instrument well. Technique hasn't really changed, but expectations have. Perfect execution is expected, and given that it is less of a rare commodity, you have to do something else to put asses in the seats of your expensive restaurant. On Top Chef, I think that people like Carla exhibit fantastic technique. They do simple things well, without the benefit of distractions like extended molecular preparations or exotic ingredients. Richard also excels at simpler food when he has to. Anyone that chides him for using liquid nitrogen is either stupid and doesn't know much at all about cooking, or they just aren't paying attention. The nitrogen is usually for one component, and it's like saying "O that Carla, she's always pan-searing stuff! This isn't Top Pan Sear HAHAHA!!!"

 

[itsstillmatt]

^ Thanks. That is just what I was asking. Totally agree, by the way.