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A question about Top Chef

by Bob Sassone, posted Mar 27th 2006 3:12PM

I just saw an ad for the Bravo show Top Chef during a repeat of Celebrity Poker Showdown (Brandi Chastain - not a very good player), and in this week's episode they have a challenge where the chefs are given $20 and have to buy ingredients in a gas station convenience store and make something from that.

OK, I understand the entertainment/reality show aspect of this (I know that Project Runway does this too, giving the contestants a little money to spend at a supermarket and they have to make dresses out of corn husks and light bulbs - they want to see if you can handle yourself under pressure and be creative), but what is the real life, real world reason for this? These cooks want to become real chefs working in real restaurants. Is this situation - they only have 20 bucks to spend at the gas station, and the President is coming to the restaurant! - ever going to come up?

I mean, when you go to medical school, do the professors make you perform surgery in the middle of a busy highway during rush hour?

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mrzer0

Improvisation. Obviously its to test your improvisation skills. Its just like "Who's Line is it Anyway?" But instead of CLIVE ANDERSON giving you the props, he lets you pick some props out of a box first. That's all the $20 + Gas Station food thing is. Improv.

I haven't seen the show, but as an example, "Can you make a lemon-y flavor from a pack of Mentos?" Will the chef ever have to do something like that? Not likely with a pack of Mentos, but say you run out of lemon(s), can you find a good quick substitute?

Etc.

March 28 2006 at 11:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dirtgirl

It's like those stupid Project Runway challenges where they have to make clothes out of plants. Obviously this would never happen in the real world, but it really shows you the level of skill and creativity to see what some of these people can do.

I'm obviously a low-brow reality show victim, but for some reason, a competition requiring them to create a gourmet meal out of $20 worth of 7-11 groceries is must-watch TV. Really, my mind reels to imagine what they will be able to make. There's really nothing in terms of vegetables at 7-11, so I'm thinking you could hit the cooler and get some bacon, eggs, garlic powder (if they have that), and heavy cream and make some sort of fritata or maybe pasta alfredo.

March 27 2006 at 7:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jim

I agree, but alas, it's a tv show. What really cheezes me off is that they picked about 6 qualified chefs, and the rest are just producer picked castaways that everyone knows will never win.

Why not simply pick 12 high quality chefs that all kick butt and let them go at it? Ponderous.

March 27 2006 at 5:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
B

In medical residency they make you perform surgery after staying away for 36 hours straight.

March 27 2006 at 4:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Akbar Fazil

what makes me sad about "Top Chef" is that PBS already did a reality show chef contest called "Cooking under Fire". Ming Tsai and Todd English made it happen. It was an awsome show and did the competion correct. "Top Chef" just reaks of "lets do the same thing as PR but make it something else"

March 27 2006 at 4:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gd

it's like when I was studying engineering and wasn't allowed to use a calculator - like Boeing would make me put the calculator away before I could work on a plane.

March 27 2006 at 3:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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