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Declan MacManus posted:I also don't understand how someone who seems as knowledgeable as Alton Brown would be against molecular gastronomy. It's the science of food, what could be cooler than that? It's cool in theory, but in practice it's mostly douchey Moto dishes where they do a billion weird things to the food without ever thinking about how it tastes.
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Dec 1, 2011 22:57
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Declan MacManus posted:I love Anthony Bourdain, even though he strikes me as (possibly) a tremendous rear end in a top hat. I'd love to spend a day with him, though, because he's a fascinating person who's been to fascinating places. I imagine Bourdain would be a cool guy to get a drink with, but only if you're his kind of guy. There are plenty of people he doesn't like, and makes that pretty clear.
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Dec 1, 2011 23:09
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How does American Iron Chef and Next Iron Chef mechanically work? By that I mean they cook for X time but clearly create only ONE dish during the shooting. Some of the food created is very temperature dependent so it can't sit around for 30-60 minutes while they judge other stuff. So either they also create N more dishes for the other judges off camera and it just sits there cooling its heels, or after the camera competition the chefs get off screen extra time to cook the "serving dishes", and its staggered to allow for plate and serve without any long delays. I've also heard that the iron chef series does tell the contestants ahead of time a few possible secret ingredients (one will be chosen), so its not really a suprise. Those kind of things kind of irk me about the show, one of the reasons why I like Chopped since it does seem like its more "real" without behind the scene manipulations.
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Dec 1, 2011 23:11
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Yup, they get extra time to finish their serving dishes. It still is limited, it's just not on-camera.
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Dec 1, 2011 23:39
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Is there a certain quota of pretentious hosts/themes a show must meet on the Cooking Channel? So much of that poo poo is unbearable. Also I'm not quite sure where Nadia G's accent is from, but I'm pretty certain I never want to go there.
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Dec 1, 2011 23:41
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Electric Bugaloo posted:Also, I disagree with his take on "food trends" (namely slow food and molecular gastronomy) as being terrible for the "essence" (or whatever) of cooking. I kind of feel like he'd have been angry at the invention of the stove because "tending a fire and proper chimney maintenance are basic essentials" and God forbid people try new things. That's not his view on molecular gastronomy at all. This is. Basically, he thinks it's capable of great things but it's not an excuse to skip the fundamentals. Which isn't a viewpoint I think any reasonable person would argue with.
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Dec 1, 2011 23:44
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Capn Beeb posted:Also I'm not quite sure where Nadia G's accent is from, but I'm pretty certain I never want to go there. Doucheville, USA Her "attitude" and persona are so entirely affected that she makes people on trashy reality shows look genuine. e: whoops, didn't mean to double post
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Dec 1, 2011 23:46
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What I've heard is that Bourdain is a very nice guy, but really awkward. I like Restaurant Impossible because Robert Irvine is insane, and I like the interior decorating component to things. I also love the text that they have at the end of the episode telling you what ended up happening to the restaurant. It's alway so vague that I assume the restaurants don't exactly do well once he leaves.
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Dec 2, 2011 00:07
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Electric Bugaloo posted:Isn't Alton Brown infamous for being really mean and dismissive to people he doesn't quite agree with- particularly his fans? His twitter is a trainwreck. I like demystifying cooking methods and while I still and and will always be a shite cook (I can bake, I can't cook anything beyond salmon loaf and bbq chicken), it's nice to know some of the reasons why things work as they do. My boyfriend will go on a tear about why Alton's a hack because he stole all his knowledge from (...I forget where, but a more serious chef can probably cite sources) but whatever. The show's pretty funny, it's approachable, etc. It's just that the recipes themselves that he's put up have never QUITE worked. I've had to tweak most significantly. That's fine, too, but it just makes me pissy when I want the soft pretzels to WORK THE FIRST TIME!!! And I knew that angerbot would be in to defend Bitchin Kitchen. I didn't want to drop his name earlier, but... if I'm going to drop names now anyway, I think Fistgrrl has said she likes it too. So I can't bag on it too much in the mod forum.
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Dec 2, 2011 00:10
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spronk posted:I've also heard that the iron chef series does tell the contestants ahead of time a few possible secret ingredients (one will be chosen), so its not really a suprise. Those kind of things kind of irk me about the show, one of the reasons why I like Chopped since it does seem like its more "real" without behind the scene manipulations. Yeah, they pretty much know the secret ingredient beforehand, and even plan out their meals prior to the competition. I remember them doing a special about Iron Chef America where they showed them sitting around figuring out their menus. It's such bullshit.
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Dec 2, 2011 00:25
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I loved how Geoffrey Zakarian totally ignored the ballpark challenge, and basically made what he wanted. Of course it got him in trouble, but half the time he doesn't seem to give a crap.
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Dec 2, 2011 00:30
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I Ozma Myself posted:His twitter is a trainwreck. I thought he had a major freakout over the internet acting like the internet and deleted it?
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Dec 2, 2011 00:31
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Capn Beeb posted:Is there a certain quota of pretentious hosts/themes a show must meet on the Cooking Channel? So much of that poo poo is unbearable. Her accent was what got me to watch a few episodes of the show, you think you've almost got it figured out and then she say's something doesn't fit. My wife and I concluded that she's supposed to be an anti-Sandra Lee type character, set and outfit/hair changes from episode to episode etc...
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Dec 2, 2011 00:35
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Yoshifan823 posted:I also cook my steaks the Alton Brown way (Cast iron, 30 second sear on each side, 2 minute bake on each side, let it sit for 15 minutes and not a minute less, no seasoning other than salt and pepper). What temps does he use for the baking? That recipe is pretty similar to what I was doing on my own, aside from the 15 minute rest. Holy poo poo, I thought the few minute rest I was giving it was unbearable sometimes. How is 15 minutes not giving you a lukewarm steak?
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Dec 2, 2011 00:42
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IRQ posted:I thought he had a major freakout over the internet acting like the internet and deleted it? That's happened at least once, possibly more often. At least 3 weeks ago I saw a bunch of insane stuff from him and then nothing. I think he also has a habit of deleting tweets after a bit so there's no "record" or whatever. I'm not sure because I check twitter maybe once a week...
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Dec 2, 2011 00:44
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Whoa, when did Travel Channel start airing Feasting on Asphalt?
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Dec 2, 2011 01:38
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I Ozma Myself posted:His twitter is a trainwreck. Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking and for once in his life Nathan is right. quote:And I knew that angerbot would be in to defend Bitchin Kitchen. I didn't want to drop his name earlier, but... if I'm going to drop names now anyway, I think Fistgrrl has said she likes it too. So I can't bag on it too much in the mod forum. Nowhere to run. Conduits for Sale! posted:Doucheville, USA She's Quebecois-Italian. Obviously she's taking it over the top, but it's a real enough basis for an accent.
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Dec 2, 2011 02:19
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I Ozma Myself posted:That's fine, too, but it just makes me pissy when I want the soft pretzels to WORK THE FIRST TIME!!! http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/pretzels
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Dec 2, 2011 02:35
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Woo happy this thread is back, used to be in GWS So the wife and I have been addicted to next iron chef this season (last season too actually), Im still super sad irvine got knocked out and last week Alex for sure should have bought it but oh well Anybody seen any of this worst chef in America show? It's so loving bad, I don't know why the hell beau got on next iron chef and personally I think burrell already got her shot with batali but whatever. They are shitastic on their own show Edit also if anybody else is Canadian recipe to riches is a loving disaster Hardtarget fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Dec 2, 2011 |
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Dec 2, 2011 03:06
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Electric Bugaloo posted:Isn't Alton Brown infamous for being really mean and dismissive to people he doesn't quite agree with- particularly his fans? I think he's just not that comfortable being a celebrity and he deals with it with a sort of mean sense of humor. My wife and I saw him speak a few years ago and he made a lot of jokes at the expense of people asking questions. I thought it was hilarious but I could definitely see someone with a different sense of humor finding it abrasive. I wish I remembered some of the stuff he said, some woman started her question with "I'm a vegan" and he pretty much just tore into her for 5 minutes. Again, it was really funny, and I'm sure he was just teasing her (and the woman asking the question was laughing) but it was a different tone than his show. After the Q&A he signed books for every single person who came to see him (must have been 500 or more) so it's hard to quantify that with the idea that he's a jerk.
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Dec 2, 2011 03:28
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Declan MacManus posted:I love Anthony Bourdain, even though he strikes me as (possibly) a tremendous rear end in a top hat. I'd love to spend a day with him, though, because he's a fascinating person who's been to fascinating places. I can't recommend Medium Raw enough. It's his "after I became a 'media person' and spent the last decade as a television host" memoir- and since my first introduction to him was through No Reservations I like it better than Kitchen Confidential. He's really self-deprecating about his ability (he goes out of his way to say he isn't a 'chef' and hates being referred to as one since he hasn't done kitchen work in a decade and that he wasn't great- by his standard- when he was in the industry) and seems to hold a ton of respect for talented cooks and really anybody who works in the service industry. At the same time, his take on what he calls "normal people" isn't disrespectful or condescending at all and his opinions on what nonprofessionals should know how to do to be "good cooks" are more reasonable than Alton Brown's. His 'rear end in a top hat' cred comes from his continuous and vocal calling-out of whatever he considers bullshit in the food and food entertainment industries, while repeatedly making the point that he's not using himself or his experiences as any benchmark. I know people who've met him and had drinks with him in NYC and, as Timeless Appeal said, I've heard firsthand that he's really nice but awkward- like he's sort of uncomfortable being well-known. He apparently goes to restaurants and "chef bars" and hangs out with kitchen staffers- from head chefs to busboys- all the time wherever in the world he goes. It's easy to think of him as just that sarcastic TV host/celebrity chef, but he worked like a dog in New York kitchens at weird hours for almost 30 years before he became famous- and was a straight-up junkie for a large part of that time. At one point in Medium Raw he more-or-less implores any potential book tour visitors to stop giving him drugs, because as a long-recovered addict, he won't be doing any of them. Apparently tons of kids (mainly at culinary schools, where he's become a sort of counterculture figure-much to his apparent chagrin) try to hand him blunts/dimebags/baggies of coke or sneak them into his pockets or offer to get him high all the time. Conduit for Sale! posted:That's not his view on molecular gastronomy at all. That's fair. I take a bit of it back. trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 03:56 on Dec 2, 2011 |
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Dec 2, 2011 03:46
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angerbeet posted:Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking and for once in his life Nathan is right. You're right!! It's afforded a place of honor in our living room. I'm not going to tell him he's right, you know this...
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Dec 2, 2011 04:01
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Electric Bugaloo posted:I can't recommend Medium Raw enough. It's his "after I became a 'media person' and spent the last decade as a television host" memoir- and since my first introduction to him was through No Reservations I like it better than Kitchen Confidential. I'll check out Medium Raw. Sounds really interesting. And I love On Food and Cooking. It's one of the few culinary books I took with me to college, and I'm always finding something interesting in it.
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Dec 2, 2011 04:46
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I've always liked Anthony Bourdain and his scathing commentary about the Food Network never gets old. Everyone should check out Medium Raw. Am I the only one that thinks of Bourdain as Henry Rollins: Chef?
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Dec 2, 2011 05:31
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Jamesman posted:Yeah, they pretty much know the secret ingredient beforehand, and even plan out their meals prior to the competition. I remember them doing a special about Iron Chef America where they showed them sitting around figuring out their menus. It's such bullshit. I was kinda wondering about this. I was watching some old Iron Chef America and Bobby Flay pulled out some squash blossoms or something and it finally hit me like, they can't possibly have those sitting around for every competition, right?
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Dec 2, 2011 05:47
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ToastyPotato posted:What temps does he use for the baking? That recipe is pretty similar to what I was doing on my own, aside from the 15 minute rest. Holy poo poo, I thought the few minute rest I was giving it was unbearable sometimes. How is 15 minutes not giving you a lukewarm steak? Set the oven to 500, leave the cast iron in there while it's heating up, and then leave the oven there. 15 minute might be an exaggeration, but if you keep it in tin foil it doesn't get that cold. anotherone posted:I think he's just not that comfortable being a celebrity and he deals with it with a sort of mean sense of humor. My wife and I saw him speak a few years ago and he made a lot of jokes at the expense of people asking questions. I thought it was hilarious but I could definitely see someone with a different sense of humor finding it abrasive. Yeah, when I saw him talk, he definitely has a slight mean streak about him, he would definitely be right at home in a comedy club. He was very nice about signing books, and a young girl (maybe 11 years old) brought him a box of his favorite cereal (I think it was Captain Crunch), and he was very appreciative. I heard he got a lot of pies too. The few moments he talked about politics (and he wasn't really eager to do so in the first place, but was asked a few dumb questions) painted him as a conservative, which honestly didn't bother me too much, but I got the feeling that if I actually had an extended conversation with him, I don't know how long it would last. I think Bourdain is much closer to what I think in terms of both food and things in general, and I'd love to have a chat/drink with him. (I was in my baking class that day, and the head of the culinary program came in with a pie for him just in case he stopped by, but he didn't. I asked him about the school when I got my book signed, he said he was too tired, which I get, because I think he got in that day)
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Dec 2, 2011 07:09
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Medium Raw is fantastic. I spent a good chunk of a trip to Boston tearing through that book when it first came out, and it was what sort of made me turn a corner and get really, really into cooking instead of being a casual cook. "Alan Richman is a Douchebag" is one of the best things he's ever written. (If you've never used his cookbook, it's a great resource, by the way. A wonderful guide to brasserie cooking that is really, really fun to read.)
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Dec 2, 2011 14:06
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I Ozma Myself posted:My boyfriend will go on a tear about why Alton's a hack because he stole all his knowledge from (...I forget where, but a more serious chef can probably cite sources) but whatever. Is he blatantly plagiarizing? There seems to be a fine line between learning something and stealing knowledge. I never got the vibe that Alton thought he was the one who figured it all out. Thanks for posting about On Food and Cooking. There's a good Christmas gift for some people I know.
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Dec 2, 2011 17:10
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dog poop n doritos posted:I was kinda wondering about this. I was watching some old Iron Chef America and Bobby Flay pulled out some squash blossoms or something and it finally hit me like, they can't possibly have those sitting around for every competition, right? Yep, there's no way they have all that stuff laying around. They know the secret ingredients well, well in advance. Plus the visiting chef will sometimes bring their own tool or appliance or something to do a specific task. As far as Chopped goes, I watched an episode the other day where the judges pretty much didn't have a single negative thing to say about either of the two guys that ended up in the finals, and it looked like they had both made some incredibly good food. The guy who won, I'm pretty sure they didn't even try to nitpick anything he did for all 3 courses. I was amazed.
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Dec 2, 2011 17:47
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Whenever I watch Resturant Impossible, and the intro voice says "He's never met a challenge he wouldn't face." MY FIANCEE and I both yell "Except the truth!" at the TV. I like to watch Robert Irvine be an rear end to the interior designers. On Next Iron Chef, I'm rooting for Geoffrey Z, not really sure why. Has anyone noticed how terrible food networks SD studio lighting is? When Cupcake Wars was shot in SD and cropped to fit in HD, and on Next Food Network Star, the lighting is just ghastly. Cupcake Wars is in HD now, so it's not so bad.
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Dec 2, 2011 21:12
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Combo posted:Yep, there's no way they have all that stuff laying around. They know the secret ingredients well, well in advance. Plus the visiting chef will sometimes bring their own tool or appliance or something to do a specific task. I seem to recall it being put out that they put out a few different secret ingredients and the chefs plan meals for all of them, then they actually find out which secret ingredient they'll be working with on the show. I could be wrong though.
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Dec 2, 2011 21:28
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Declan MacManus posted:Also, besides the Food Network, Cooking Channel, and (occasionally) Travel Channel, what networks devote a large portion of their airtime to the culinary arts? YMMV but the PBS affiliate here, and I'd wager elsewhere too, shows a bunch of cooking shows on Saturday mornings.
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Dec 2, 2011 22:09
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No Butt Stuff posted:I seem to recall it being put out that they put out a few different secret ingredients and the chefs plan meals for all of them, then they actually find out which secret ingredient they'll be working with on the show. I could be wrong though. I had read that somewhere about the original Iron Chef, they were basically given a list of 3-4 possible secret ingredients and the chefs would furnish them with a list of what other ingredients they would like in the kitchen. No clue how how the American version works. I still hate Bobby Flay for whole cutting board thing with Morimoto in the original version.
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Dec 2, 2011 22:15
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FISHMANPET posted:On Next Iron Chef, I'm rooting for Geoffrey Z, not really sure why. I think it's funny how the judges apparently give him crap for preparing the special ingredients in multiple ways. Isn't that the whole premise of what an Iron Chef does? And really, this season's pretty lame considering the majority of the contestants are established Food Network personalities. It's basically "Who will get to win the chance to be on a second TV show?" which is pretty boring. Not to mention the last two winners have barely competed on Iron Chef, so whoever wins this season would, what, show up only 2 or 3 times over the next year? How very thrilling.
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Dec 2, 2011 22:19
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Jamesman posted:I think it's funny how the judges apparently give him crap for preparing the special ingredients in multiple ways. Isn't that the whole premise of what an Iron Chef does? Yeah, I feel like we're overloaded with Iron Chefs. It made sense to replace Mario Batalli, but unless you're kicking someone off, it just belittles the new ones. I hardly even view them as iron chefs. You've got true Iron Chefs (and I think Michael Symon qualifies as this) and then winners of Next Iron Chef.
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Dec 2, 2011 22:31
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Bankok posted:I had read that somewhere about the original Iron Chef, they were basically given a list of 3-4 possible secret ingredients and the chefs would furnish them with a list of what other ingredients they would like in the kitchen. No clue how how the American version works. They are also give a list of possible secret ingredients. What exactly happened with Flay and Morimoto? I've heard this mentioned before but only ever in passing. They seem like they get along pretty well? Edit: Oh jumping on the cutting board thing and screaming raise the roof.
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Dec 2, 2011 23:03
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ToastyPotato posted:They are also give a list of possible secret ingredients.
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Dec 3, 2011 01:13
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cjg posted:Is he blatantly plagiarizing? There seems to be a fine line between learning something and stealing knowledge. I never got the vibe that Alton thought he was the one who figured it all out. Plagiarizing, I don't think so- cribbing a majority of his notes from there, yes. Hardtarget posted:lol wait, what!? It's Iron Chef Legend. In the original version, when Bobby Flay won he jumped up on the cutting board or some poo poo and people are/were scandalized by the impropriety of it. Flay's a douchebag so it's not like I want to defend him but at the same time, I think there's some degree of misunderstanding of the show, too- he was apparently supposed to be Mr Macho America bully, and I think there's supposed to be a soap-opera-esque element to the original iron chef that is lost in translation here. I mean, all the stuff about the "factions?"
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Dec 3, 2011 01:41
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I Ozma Myself posted:It's Iron Chef Legend. In the original version, when Bobby Flay won he jumped up on the cutting board or some poo poo and people are/were scandalized by the impropriety of it. I remember an interview with him where he said that he was asked to play an ugly American character for the show. Plus, the kitchen was a temporary one and his station spent the episode electrocuting him. No need to hate him for disrespecting a badly grounded, about to be dismantled kitchen in a tv studio. If he'd done it in a real kitchen, then that'd be worth disliking him for.
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Dec 3, 2011 02:51
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Cavenagh posted:I remember an interview with him where he said that he was asked to play an ugly American character for the show. Plus, the kitchen was a temporary one and his station spent the episode electrocuting him. No need to hate him for disrespecting a badly grounded, about to be dismantled kitchen in a tv studio. If he'd done it in a real kitchen, then that'd be worth disliking him for. Yeah, this was before Iron Chef America, so it was a big huge deal that they sent Morimoto to New York to battle Flay, and they cooked under some kind of pavilion outdoors. When the battle was over, Flay stood on his cutting board and did the raise the roof thing, and Morimoto thought Flay was disrespecting the cutting board and by doing that he was disrespecting the art of cooking. And yeah, that kitchen hated Flay.
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Dec 3, 2011 03:52
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