Chopped is a show that comes on FoodNetwork on Tuesday nights, and the subject of my next opinion.
I love Chopped, it’s my current favorite show, especially on FoodNetwork.
The premise of Chopped, is that 4 contestants have to cook the best meal of their lives in order to win $10,000. There are 4 contestants and 3 rounds, appetizer, entrée and dessert. Each round the contestants are given a mystery basket of ingredients and a time limit. At the end of the time limit they must present their meals to a panel of 3 judges and they are judged on taste, creativity and the use of the ingredients. They can use as much or as little of an ingredient as they want, but it MUST be on the plate regardless. Each round, one person is Chopped until the final two face off in desert, and then their whole meal is critiqued.
This is a really awesome show and I am absolutely addicted to it. I must watch every new episode and I love watching old episodes from previous seasons I haven’t seen before. I absolutely love seeing the random crap that’s in the basket and I rather like the idea of seeing what someone else does with an ingredient I’ve never even heard of, or I’ve heard of and am afraid of trying because I have no clue what I would do with it. I wish I knew how to get them to accept suggestions, because I have a list of “ingredients” I would like to see what someone could do with them. You get some really random slide scales of weird. You get usual things like beef cuts and fish, to really random things like gummi bears and durian fruit. They give them some really bizarre things to work with, but there’s an interesting thing they do about it. I don’t know how they decide who gets on or in what group, but it seems to me like they do a really good job of pairing skill set. You get a group of chefs who aren’t all that great, and they give them basic ingredients, or they take some really awesome chefs and give them really difficult and confusing ingredients. They have a really good pace of fitting together contestant groups that are well balanced and give them ingredients that fit their abilities. I have to commend them for that.
Now, First of all, if you’re going to go on this show you much first actually watch the show. I really wonder how many people take the time to watch it, because of how many people don’t seem to get the basic concept of the show. Second of all, if you do go on, please shut up, don’t argue, and don’t bring your sob story from the onset. Third, practice trying to fix random things in the time limit given. Everyone always gets the same time limit and I cannot tell you how many people go “I didn’t have enough time”. Have you ever seen the show??
What kills me about the show, is how often people go on and apparently have never even seen the show, judging by their shock of process, or the way they talk. What drives me insane is how many people immediately launch into this huge sob story about how desperate or sad they are, and oh please don’t send me home, if you send me home you have no heart. We all got problems honey; yours are neither the worst nor the hardest. I really can’t stand when it’s obvious their food sucks horribly, and they screwed up royally, but here go the waterworks. It’s very off putting and I’m glad the judges would rather taste the food and give honest opinion, rather than get drawn into the pity party. It’s not going to work people, table it for later and pull it out when you win.
Also, when you are facing the judges, shut the hell up. No seriously, shut up. How often do chefs shoot themselves in the foot because they ran down their own dishes, and the judges say “well, until you mentioned boots, I thought it was good, now all I can think of is boots”? Or how many people are too busy arguing to accept the criticism they are given. This is to help you improve. You are in an industry where the customer is always right and you’re presenting your food to critics who have tasted the best and know what works, and have better restaurants or more experience than you. And even if you have more experience old dog, you should learn some new tricks. For this competition, you have to make these people happy, not piss them off! Take their criticism and say “thank you I will improve” and move on. I don’t care if you think your food is awesome, you’re not the one deciding who stays and who goes. We all know YOU want to win, but telling them they’re wrong isn’t going to help you one iota!
So there is a random assortment of judges they pull from each week, and there are a number of people that I see repeatedly and I rather like them. Some of them have other shows on FoodNetwork and I recommend seeing if they’re playing and watching those too, because it gives you a little insight on the judges. For instance, if you get Scott Conant as a judge, don’t make pasta unless you’ve perfected the art, and if he says your pasta sucks, then stick your tail between your legs and shut up. He will take your head off. If I went on the show and they put pasta in my basket, I would probably ask to go home right there. He seems like a normally nice guy, but he will eat your FACE over some pasta. Also, don’t use raw red onions; it’s another pet peeve of his. If you get Aarón Sánchez as a judge, don’t bother doing Mexican or using Mexican terms, unless you actually know what you’re talking about or he will call you out. He is an interesting judge, because on Chopped, he looks like he’s a royal snot, but when you see him on his show Chefs vs City, he looks like a real fun guy to hang out with. Amanda Freitag, and Geoffrey Zakarian are very snobby and very hard to please, but when you do please them, they will sing praises. There are a number of other random judges, but these are the most prominent and the ones you really got to know your stuff to make happy, and they aren’t afraid to tell you your food sucks.
I’m always amused by the people who try to claim that a judge had it out for them or that they were cut based on some random personal hate, because that’s not even remotely true, as evidenced by last night’s episode. Based on personality and professionalism alone, last night’s winner should NOT have won, but his food, which is what they are judging, was excellent and the best. It’s a sad situation really, but they called it on the food, so what can you do?
Long story short (hah!) I love this show, you should check it out, it has more drama than some soap operas and the people are a heck of a lot more interesting. There are chefs that I would love to find their restaurants and try their food, as well as bum some recipes. I know I’m not going on the show any time soon, though I would love to. My luck is, I’d get food that I couldn’t cook, or if I got to judge, I’d be forced to eat food that makes me sick!.
Got to love Chopped. See you next opinion!