Top Chef Season 5. - Page 3

I would just feel embarrased to no know those skills and lay claim to a kitchen of my own. Cook/chef/cunlinarian/whatever, not a flippin human can opener who makes devilled eggs for a challenge.

It's like the beginning of last season when the one molecular cook had to explain to the other molecular cook how to make mayonaise. I felt like diving infront of traffic when a potential "top chef" doesn't know how to make a mayonaise. Fortunately the guy whose head wasn't located between his glutes made it to the final two.

I know how to make mayonnaise, but in all of my cooking jobs I've never been asked to or had to make mayo. Even if I know the general theory without practice things can go wrong.

I'm a home cook who only really started cooking seriously less than a year ago. I know how to make mayonnaise.

I can't imagine someone who is a 'top chef' not knowing how. They are suppose to be the best of the best, at least in theory.

Really? You've never made an aioli, a remoulade or any other derivative? Wow.

BDL

I'm kind of sorry to see Ariane go. She had a clear, simple vision.

However, the choice to roulade a baby leg -- and then do a bad job of something which only has one right way -- and then not be able to truss a frikkin' roast for kryzakes... wow.

If you had whole baby lambs how could you not do double saddles with the loins? Or if you wanted to go higher, altoso, haute, something like mignon in an olive cream? Why do anything as pedestrian as legs. And for kryzakes do something wildly different with the front end of the beast. Kibbeh maybe, or luleh or even a tajine. I certainly would have done one lamb dish from from the European shore of the Med, and one from the African or mid-Eastern, and pulled them together. Easy to set up a variety of sides appropriate for a warm weather meal served outdoors. Where were the artichokes? The ratatouile? The beds of lentils?

It wasn't just the lamb team -- for a warm weather, outdoor service there wasn't one single grill. Are these people nuts?

A butterflied leg, rolled or not, is always problematic because there's something like eight different muscles in there. Someone always gets a bum cut, or one sliced with the grain or something. No problem when you're throwing a barbecue in your own backyard. But why risk a bum piece going to a judge? 'toopid is what it is. Just 'toopid.

The strangest screw up was the ravioli. How long has it been since we figured out saucing under instead of saucing over -- to avoid oversaucing. Nappe at home, puddle at work. Jimminy Christmas. Talk about the basics.

Still, the one I would have sent home was the corn on the cob maiden. Pathetic.

BDL

Im so glad she is finally gone. I mean they put her on live TV with a tomato goat cheese salad with basil and balsamic reduction. Your telling me your in a kitchen with limitless ingredients and you would make something people have been eating for 500 years?

Regardless of who wins the competition, many of these contestants are already exec chefs or have their own restaurants. I can't figure out how many of them can put together a decent menu and maintain a paying clientele. I wouldn't want to eat 90% of the dishes I've seen on the show this season. (Although I would eat Ariane's tomatoes.)

I know I sound like an apologist when I do this, but I think there's a little more to the whole situation than meets the eye. As for them being "the best of the best", most of them I would say are on par with the skill and experience level of most of the sous chefs at the hotel I'm working at. If it were the best of the best we'd be seeing Keller et al. compete and not be guest judges.

However, I did think rolling up the lamb was a stupid idea and in Ariane's defense she did suggest the grill before being shot down by the "lovely couple". Also I was disappointed in the lack of use of bone-in cuts and the slightly fattier regions of the meat. According to commentary the lamb team got a puny little lamb and a leg that came from a completely different animal... who knows?

I think people need to get over Arianne's watermelon/tomato salad. As simplistic as it might seem there are many folks out there that have not tried it (me for example). And remember what the challenge was. It wasn't to come up with the most avante-garde dish. It was to come up with a simple dish that you can prepare and showcase in a span of a minute or 2 for the mass viewing public on morning television. She did the right thing and she should have won.

It's easy to criticize the top chefs for not coming up with more creative things but let's not forget that they are under severe time constraints and don't have much time to plan. This season more than any other season it seems the contestants are relying on things they know how to do, and not venturing past their own comfort zone. I don't even know what I would have done in those situations. The quickfires would petrify me. I would have no idea how to turn a tuna tartar into a soup!

I love you guys but give me a break! She made DEVILLED EGGS! The woman had immunity so she decided to show how much of a hack she was? Devilled eggs are what you give the nine year old kid at the party to do while he's being punished and not allowed to play with the other kids. Even the little delinquent brat can pull them off.

Ariane disgraces the profession but hey she owns her own place so whatever, I just know I wouldn't eat there on a bet. The only defence I can think of her is that she wasn't the girl from my part of the country, Southern Ohio takes an hour to do ten corn cobs. That reminds me of this prep cook I worked with for about a month. We would have a list of 20-25 recipes and even with me taking the hard/time intensive ones, she would only get like 5 items checked off. She was one of those degenerates that read Bourdain's book and thought she was gonna do the same thing he did. She lasted 3 month... two months and 3 1/2 weeks longer than she should have because the chef had a problem firing people.


Dilinquent Brat

I'm not saying they are 'the best' I'm not even saying they are mostly good, but thats the premise of the show, its to find the 'top chef'. Over the years only a handful have been what I'd think was better than average, and often that person doesn't win because of one bad day, like Richard from last season.

But as such they should treat them like they were in fact excellent chefs and not the normally junior level ones that can afford to take off so much work on the odd chance of winning a reality show.

I just saw a commercial for the next episode and now I understand why they got rid of Arianne. There's a budding romance between dumb bald guy and insecure long haired girl that is coming to fruition in the next episode. Stephan having a crush on a lesbian is kind of cute, but watching the other 2 make out is too soap opera-like for TC. I don't think they're judging fairly on their cooking but rather on the drama between the contestants.

"However, the choice to roulade a baby leg -- and then do a bad job of something which only has one right way -- and then not be able to truss a frikkin' roast for kryzakes... wow.

If you had whole baby lambs how could you not do double saddles with the loins? Or if you wanted to go higher, altoso, haute, something like mignon in an olive cream? Why do anything as pedestrian as legs. And for kryzakes do something wildly different with the front end of the beast. Kibbeh maybe, or luleh or even a tajine. I certainly would have done one lamb dish from from the European shore of the Med, and one from the African or mid-Eastern, and pulled them together. Easy to set up a variety of sides appropriate for a warm weather meal served outdoors. Where were the artichokes? The ratatouile? The beds of lentils?

It wasn't just the lamb team -- for a warm weather, outdoor service there wasn't one single grill. Are these people nuts?

A butterflied leg, rolled or not, is always problematic because there's something like eight different muscles in there. Someone always gets a bum cut, or one sliced with the grain or something. No problem when you're throwing a barbecue in your own backyard. But why risk a bum piece going to a judge? 'toopid is what it is. Just 'toopid.

BDL[/QUOTE]

Oh man, I hear you on the saddle. In fact you may have heard me, as my wife will attest, I was practically screaming for it! The rolled leg of lamb, yeah that's the sort of mistake I stopped making in the first year of culinary school. That said the judges' boosting for roasting it on the bone seems a little odd for a sit down, plated lunch. Maybe if they had ben allowed to set up a carvery station. I suspect that there's much on the cutting room floor that would enlighten the whole story.

I was really curious about where all the offal went to. Young lamb, give me my sweet breads ( with summer peas...) or poached brain or even kidney salad. Were these items not provided? If so, that's a screw up on part of the producers. Same for the pork. I would be jumping all over the place to work with the sort of cuts that this type of challenge should have allowed for.

I agree with you as well about the veg. What a wasted opportunity. I would have expected that somebody have at least gone berserk with herbs.

I'll close with Canadian Modesty (TM) and the obligatory mention that its to be an armchair quarterback...you know the rest.

--Al

I think you are right. This way they can have that big drama moment when she gets cut. I wouldn't be shocked if they were the two on the chopping block for added drama. Tears glorious tears. The one that should have been cut was the Indian girl, but the blond guy making fried green tomatoes saved her?


When I saw they had the entire head, I was really hoping they would roast it. While you are doing the whole pseduohippie use the whole animal, respect the food source, yadda yadda, how could you not do something like that?

When I saw they had the entire head, I was really hoping they would roast it. While you are doing the whole pseduohippie use the whole animal, respect the food source, yadda yadda, how could you not do something like that?[/QUOTE]

Last month we brought in a tam - berkshire pig. I had the "pleasure" of cutting off its face and making a roulade out it. Things you never know will work until you try..

--Al

The contestants may have been discouraged from using the "offal" because I'm not sure that would have been a big hit with a lot of television viewers, and the show's goal here is to maintain an audience and their advertisers.

Arianne can't butcher, she can't tie a roast, she makes devilled eggs for challenges. Most serious home cooks are up on her. That she operates her own restaurant is baffling. The girl who spent an hour on corn deserves to go but not as much as Ariane. It's offensive she was allowed to stay as long as she did. Then these cries of "oh she was thrown under the bus." B.S.

And how would it have hurt the flirty annoying couples "romance" if they got rid of the girl from Cinci? It wouldn't have. The person with less skill than a first year culinary student was rightfully booted. I pose this question, what defense is there for her ability? Where did she do anything right except not plate undercooked lamb and copy Jose Andres' recipe for tomato and watermelon?

Good point. Personally you had 'doing stuff badly' vrs 'doing nothing'. If it were me I'd have got rid of doing nothing.

As for her operating her own restaurant, unless its a higher end restaurant, just food cooked properly is a leg up on most. **** we have some very successful, high priced, trendy restaurants in my area that can't even do that consistently (Hugo Frogs I'm looking at you).

Ariane's place: http://culinariane.com.

Apart from the head, we don't even know how much was offered in terms of offal... they were also cooking for the families of the workers of the place.

is it just me, or is the word "culinarian" dumber than "foodie"?? I think Clairborne said "a gourmet is just a pig with good taste"?

Nan

Agreed, we don't really know what was provided. I would expect that workers (and family there-of) of the farm would appreciate seeing the "off-side" cuts rather than see their animals transformed into grocery store vacuum packed fair. From my experience people who work and live in the farming world are far less squeamish about meat than the boneless, skinless chicken breast set. Again, that's just my instinct.

--Al

My bet is that this is yet another BravoTv fakeout and that dramatic cut will be no more than one brief scene laying together on the couch. Of course I could be wrong and it will turn into a Marcel/Cliff level scandal.:roll:

My favorite is Jeff, I think he is on another level most of the time, but doesn't always nail it.







Also, if any of you want to watch Top Chef on the internet, you can catch the episodes on youtube. Except it is hard to find now because of all the misleading spam. Avoid the "watch topchef . com" posts unless you like invasive adware.

If you search for the youtube user sekritjuni, he posts up the latest episodes, but under cryptic titles.

I was so happy to see Fabio in the bottom groveling and arguing like the cocky putz he is. Unfortunately I don't think he's gotten over himself yet. Somehow I believe that he thinks any judge that praises him is golden, while any judge that puts him down he has no respect for. Last night's guest judge slapped him around a bit and it was great! :bounce:

Nice to see Stefan knocked down a bit too although he took it well and I was so happy to see Andrea wipe the floor with him!

Watch out for Carla, she's got something special about her, slow and steady wins the race.

Yes good to see Carla taking charge and doing well. hopefully she can maintain this streak!
Resturant Wars was a train wreck IMO. Radika definately has the talent in boh, she should have put someone else in foh, she was rattled from the start?

Interesting in the past some of the topdogs get knocked off on one bad day, but Fabio and Stephan are still here. I do see though where Jeff overthought everything--I tend to do that myself!
well six left, do I remember there may be another double emilination?
Nan