Let's kick off the blog with the subject that made me want to really know more about food: Top Chef. And what a perfect moment for a season premiere!
Welcome to New Orleans, there's a lot to know about the food culture in each place they visit, and that part of the USA seem fun enough. I'm glad they returned to the already selected group of chefs instead of having a bunch of them to compete for the actual spot. It made the two first episodes from season 9 blend and slow, season 10 was a little better there but I still prefer a good challenge right off the bat.
Seeing the contestants I got the feeling that looks had a huge part on the casting process, not in the sense that all of them are pretty but in that every one has a "good look" on them.
Sarah J. was the first one: The cool rockabilly chick that works on Shoyu a restaurant inside Saint Paul Airport. "Real Food to airports"
Then Jason C. The "sexy" D bag (apparently) that owns "Ela" He's proud to have won some sort of sexier chef contest. The logo to his restaurant has a very nice design and the place in it self looks amazing outside and inside!
Next is Nick E. apparently he has tons of experience with french cuisine and is about to open his on restaurant "Laurel" on Philadelphia.
Janine B. The pretty pretty girl originally from Australia who's found of the short shorts, you will be able to find her at the Root and Bone in NY
Bene B. want to be the first gay top chef - limit yourself much ?- his place is the "Indulge by Bene"
Shirley C. , didn't catch much about her yet, but she has a cute accent. Apparently she's studied Mexican and Chinese culinary
Justin D. he's one of the New Orleans , chosen by Padma on Padmas Pick and he's self-taught, that's always nice to see, visit him at the Le Petite Grocery.
Aaron C. Chef and drummer, has experience with Japanese food working under chef Takashi Yagihashi on as the executive chef at the Slurping Turtle.
Stephanie C. You remember Steph from last season! She was best friends with top chef Kristen and couldn't get in that season because of her soup, or was it an omelet ? She is a Sous Chef at the No. 9 Park in Boston.
Ramon B. he has Thai influences not only on the kitchen but on the rings as well, he fought Muay Thai. He is a Sous Chef at Nine-Ten in La Jolla.
Michael S. was the second chef chosen from Padma's Pick, beat cancer and is the executive chef Galatoire.
Travis M. has experience with game...and butchering game. Also he know his Asians ( lol ) He seems nice.
Carrie M. began her carrier as a pastry chef and now is the Chef de cuisine at the Aragona in Seattle.
Nina C. a natural from St. Lucia is the self proclaimed "Gnocchi Queen" and is the Chef de cuisine at the Scarpetta on Fontainebleau Hotel.
Bret P. has a cocking style I'm found of, using local products and game. There was not much on him so far.
Patty V. from Porto Rico she enjoys cocking french and Italian food. She's a Sous Chef at the Fishtale.
Carlos C. Started as a Illegal immigrant, he has carving abilities and uses his Mexiacan influences on his restaurant the Mexique in Chicago.
Louis M. another chef with tons of experience, over sees two restaurants in hotels in San Francisco : Spoonbar and the Pizzando. Oddly I don't think he had any time on the screen this first episode.
For the first episode I liked the elimination challenge to start, no kidding time for them! It's a competition after all. "Create a dish highlighting a Louisiana delicacy" now, I've never came close to eating any of those proteins, frog legs and alligator for strange as they sound to me it's one thing, but I'm kind of repealed by the idea of eating turtle, how goes that saying? Humans eat anything that moves ?
All the first episodes usually run a little fast because there's so many chefs around but here are some thoughts I collected: Every time I hear the "I'll do it tomorrow" phrase on the show I cringe, Really ? Those judges are crazy to throw curve ball at you and you expect to have enough time after words ? Aaron man, I know it's pasta, but "I'm not going to worry about it" nope, not good.
Hot Janine was hot, I guess it's clever to distract the competition with shorts hahaha, and there's the audience factor, being a fan favorite helps you stay on the show longer for sure. I'm just kidding here actually, people should be able to dress the way they wish without anyone judging them for it.
Carrie was the first one to avoid Tom, "Tom is nerve hacking" and I get, he is a great renowned chef and a has an confident energy on him, plus he can keep or cut you from the show. But, as my father put it just as I was starting the episode, "Is that the show where the contestants are like 'Please be kind to us worms Oh Great Gods from the Olympus' ?" Yep, it is. There is this thing I never liked of putting yourself down and putting Judges figures on god like standards, be proud of your self, even a little cocky if you must, just because you still are not as good as that other person doesn't mean you are a lesser being.
Day two, the swamps... kitchen ? Of course there is no kitchen, it's Top Chef, see what I was saying about curve balls? Because of those kind of things you don't leave stuff for the last minute, I enjoyed seeing them working to guarantee the working place. Then Patty decided to star over? talk about crazy. I don't remember seeing someone finishing so early as Jason did, and he was labeled as fake by someone else after; I just think he has that quality of standing for himself, that might be perceived as an cocky attitude.
To my favorite part then, the food. Of course we couldn't see every plate but there was a good overall.
Bene: Turtle croquette with cauliflower purée and shitake mushrooms
I couldn't see the purée there, but he was a little bit funny trying to get a dinner to actually put the beads on him.
Nina: Curried turtle meatball, chayote slaw and chutney with raisins
I really wasn't paying much attention to her during the episode but the name and ingredients made my wish I could try that dish.
Janine: Bacon and Alligator confit with tomato Jam and lemon frisée
And she used duck fat for the confit, the siding seem ed yummy on the image as well.
Aaron: Pickled eggplant with turtle confit and turtle ragout with tagliatelle pasta
I warned about not thinking that pasta through didn't I ?
Shirley: Turtle soup with Goji Berry and Chinese broth
The recipe comes from her mother in law, just proving how much simple family dishes can be just as pleasant culinary as any other fancy choice.
Carrie: Poached frog legs with oyster emulsion and cold zucchini salad
Carlos: Alligator rillettes with fennel and pickled red onion relish
The dish seems nice but I do prefer to see more of the main ingredient on the plate
Michael: Fried Alligator with sauce Piquant and slaw
I always get a little turned off by black stuff on food...
Sara: Deep fried alligator with smoked chilis, sweet and sour sauce and pickled vegetables -
Ok, this title was way bigger then the plate! All that commenting about alligator tasting like chicken made me want to try it real bad. And we got a plate hot enough to get a "Holy Shit" out of Padma! hehe
Ramon: Braised turtle with Thai dashi -
Another very tiny tiny dish...
Patty: Cajun style alligator with yuca purée -
You know it's going down if you can state the meat is tough before serving it!
Jason: Frog legs croquette with roasted eggplant, fennel salad and pickled cherry purée -
This was one plate that looked stunning, definitely wanted to try that one, the color on that cherry purée is beautiful, makes my mouth water. All the ingredients called my attention.
Stephanie: Frog leg butter confit with spinach and watercress purée
Those were the plates we got to see, the voting method was based on how many beads you got from the diners, that distributed them based on their preferred dishes. I know I would be just as desperate as some of the chefs were if I looked to my side and saw all the other contestants with several necklaces around their necks but almost none in mine. Must be very off putting.
Stew room - We have a tv now ? Talk about embarrassment in front of the group, but they can get used to it for the latter rounds. It's a cool touch to the show, and I think it is better to know you are on the bottom or top sooner then latter.
-----Spoilers-------
Now on the actual results:
The favorite chefs, I really din't expected Sara to be there with such spicy dish and Nina with such a simple thing as a meatball. But the results seemed fitting, Nina is a smart chef and deserved to win.
The bottom didn't really surprised me. Patty decided to start the whole thing over on the second day. Apparently it wasn't that bad, just kind of blend or too simple, she couldn't work with her meat but that's kind of understandable since she never worked with alligator before. But she has to get her emotions together, must be awful to have your work beaten down but if she doesn't control her emotions she is not getting far on the show.
Aaron didn't time managed his pasta but the plate did seem interesting, I like the two or three way concept, usually seeing the show I thought the long waiting lines were very bad for the chefs ( Josie ??? ) but Tom straight forward said it's ok, so....
Ramon plate didn't seem to have much of any thing at all. Then he talked about adding ice to his dashi stock... Look; I'm no chef, I'm don't even know the basics about coking actually, I'm just starting my journey but even to me it seemed wrong, should be simple right ? You add water to something it gets diluted and washes all of your flavors away. He didn't make it very hard on the judges did he?
That was a fun episode, I'm already betting a few chips on Jason and Sara, how about you ?
