Top Chef - The elements 4/9/08 *spoilers*

[betts4]

Last nights episode was okay till the last 10 minutes. Then it got HOT!!! I was waiting for the knives to go flying. With Dale and Lisa going head to head and when Spike, Antonia and Jennifer exploded.

Spike kept insisting that Antonia said that she wouldn't do soup. I went back and checked. She did say that if they wanted to she would do her best. Spike should have stuck to it.

With the judging, I was upset with the scales on the plate from the Water team. That is a big no no.

And when are they going to wash these chefs mouths out. Every other word from some of them is f-this and f-that. Geesh.

[jsmeeker]

I thought for sure Richard as going to get the boot for his mushy sous vide salmon with some scales still on.

Is Lisa that person that complained about the winners from last week, saying that the food just couldn't taste good?

[pmyers]

This is my first season of watching so I don't know if it's like this every season....but I don't like that it is becoming "Top Chef-Caterer". It seems like every task they do now requires them to make mass quantities of very small portions for a group. That's not really what Chefs do, IMHO.

[jsmeeker]

This is my first season of watching so I don't know if it's like this every season....but I don't like that it is becoming "Top Chef-Caterer". It seems like every task they do now requires them to make mass quantities of very small portions for a group. That's not really what Chefs do, IMHO.

What do you mean? Each team did 80 covers, IIRC That's not a particularly high number.

[Aniketos]

I thought for sure Richard as going to get the boot for his mushy sous vide salmon with some scales still on.

Is Lisa that person that complained about the winners from last week, saying that the food just couldn't taste good?


No that was Zoi, see ya Zoi!

Richard's safe based on past performances this early in the show. I wish Spike would have gone home, what the hell was that stupid hat with the pointed bill? I've never seen so many stupid hats in my life, yet he manages to get another one each week.

[pmyers]

What do you mean? Each team did 80 covers, IIRC That's not a particularly high number.

I'm just saying that it seems like almost all of their challanges have involved things that caterers would do more than a regular chef. Catering has totally different challanges involved with it than does a resturount.

80 covers isn't all that much, except when they all have to be done at the exact same time and be appropriately hot or cold. I think that really limits some of the things these chefs can do.

[tem]

every season has had multiple 'catering' challenges. it is nothing new. neither the QF nor EC last week were mass production, which does force them to do simple things that taste good that can please a wide range of people. It also shows who is a leader and how the work with group dynamics. If they weren't there, we'd get 10 weeks of Marcel and his freaking foams.

and Andrew, cooking fish with the head on (ie the whole fish), is only, you know, THE BEST WAY TO COOK FISH. Equating that to finding scales is asinine.

[jsmeeker]

I'm just saying that it seems like almost all of their challanges have involved things that caterers would do more than a regular chef. Catering has totally different challanges involved with it than does a resturount.

80 covers isn't all that much, except when they all have to be done at the exact same time and be appropriately hot or cold. I think that really limits some of the things these chefs can do.


Well, at least this time is they did ALL the work in a kitchen at the site of an event. No cooking back at the "home" kitchen and packing into Gladware and toting it in the Toyota RAV 4 to some offs ite place.

This was more like banquet cooking. I don't think it truly limits you. Rather, it just challenges you to cook at a high level under different conditions. I don't see how that's bad.

[Fleegle]

I was not surprised to see Zoi go based on several comments they made. This is the second challenge in a row where she described her food as "bold", then badly under-seasoned it. She may eba good chef, but she is not suited to this kind of competition. She needs time to plan, taste and calculate everything before perfecting a dish. She can't make something on the fly.

[pmyers]

I will say I loved the quickfire challenge of them being blindfolded.....especially when they explained that each chef tasted 15 different things. That was truly a good test of palate.

[betts4]

I wish Spike would have gone home, what the hell was that stupid hat with the pointed bill? I've never seen so many stupid hats in my life, yet he manages to get another one each week.

I keep thinking of Project Runway and the guy there with all the hats. :rolleyes: I guess they need a 'signature'. And I sure would have loved to seen more footage of the brawl in the backroom afterwards.

[sharkster]

Yes, I guess he (Spike) is this year's signature freakazoid. Every time I see him in one of those porkpie hats he wears I want to reach through the tv and slap him. blech! And that bizarro world pointy-billed one in the interview shots..holy crackers! That was just stoopid weird.

I, too, wish he would have gone. He and (I think it is...) Andrew both make me nauseous.

I didn't think I was going to like faux-hawk guy (Andrew?), but I like him more and more each week.

Of the women left, I'd like to see that one with the greasy-looking, long dark hair go. Cannot remember her name, but she made the craptacular macaroni and cheese a couple weeks ago.

[Fleegle]

Of the women left, I'd like to see that one with the greasy-looking, long dark hair go. Cannot remember her name, but she made the craptacular macaroni and cheese a couple weeks ago.

I call her The Goomah. :eek::D

[BlueMerle]

I thought this was a good show, and like others am surprised that Richard didn't go... He's way to good to make such a rookie mistake. Hopefully this will focus him.

I'm ok with Zoi going .. I guess, wouldn't have bothered me to see Spike go though.

I really think Stephanie is strong... she has what it takes win this thing. She's received some amazing comments from the regular judges and the guest judges as well... I'd love to taste her food.

[Aniketos]

I really think Stephanie is strong... she has what it takes win this thing. She's received some amazing comments from the regular judges and the guest judges as well... I'd love to taste her food.

But she can't tell the difference between imitation crab and real crab.

[KnitBunny]

I wish Spike would have gone home, what the hell was that stupid hat with the pointed bill? I've never seen so many stupid hats in my life, yet he manages to get another one each week.

I like to think that the producers flipped a coin--either Andrew or Spike had to wear hats so we can tell them apart. Spike lost.

[BlueMerle]

But she can't tell the difference between imitation crab and real crab.

She did finish at the very bottom of that quick fire, but thankfully she gets to cook without being blindfolded. That seems to be one of her superpowers, vision. You can't argue with her results so far, or the comments made by the judges.

Not that I'm saying she will win... just that I think she easily could. I'll bet she's final 4 though.

[jsmeeker]

I will say I loved the quickfire challenge of them being blindfolded.....especially when they explained that each chef tasted 15 different things. That was truly a good test of palate.

It was. But the occassional graphic seemed to suggest that more expensive is always better and higher quality. That's just not the case. Also, even if an ingredient is of a lot higher quality, it doesn't mean you always use it for all situations.
For example, you probably would not want to use a very high end expensive olive oil for sauteing. The heat kills the subtle flavors. It's overkill. And it will give you needlessly high ingredient costs.


But it was hard to tell exactly what they were tasting. I'm sure for things like maple syrup, they used fake stuff like Log Cabin and real, natural maple syrup. That makes sense. But what about comparing two different real, natural ones where one is much more expensive than the other. Can you really say with abosolute authority that one is better than another?


I actually like the challenges where they blindfold people and simply have them identify what something is.

[murgatroyd]

I actually like the challenges where they blindfold people and simply have them identify what something is.

Me too -- especially during the earlier season where back at the house, the chefs held their own tasting challenge with junk food.

Absolutely hysterical.

jan

[Jesda]

THROW MORE CHAIRS!