So last night I watched an episode of Chopped with Chris and our awesome friend, Ashley. We had the usually gutural reactions to Chopped which is "how the hell will they make a dessert with that?", i.e. tomatoes, jalapenos, crema and some root vegetable I can't even pronounce.
Chopped, if you are unfamiliar with it, is a newer show on Food Network. It is hosted by the very sweet Ted Allen and it involves four chefs competing for a $10,000 prize. They have a 20 minute appetizer round, a 30 minute entree round and a 30 minute dessert round. Each round they whittle the contestants down to the final winner. For each round the chefs that remain have to compose their dish out of the "mystery basket" (oooooo!), which contains four brutally difficult and obscure ingredients. Or at least four ingredients that you would never think of combining in anything...not even pig slop. It's a crazy showdown and irresistible to watch.
We were rooting for this very sweet southern chef named Jeffrey. He was so sweet and courteous to everyone and just seemed so jovial in his commentary. In the end he was pitted against this guy named Marcellus who was a total jackass. He said things in his commentary like "I looked at their plates and it looked like crap. I was totally going to win this." The sad thing is that he actually did win the $10,000 prize while Jeffrey probably trotted off happily back to Mississippi, happy that his friends and family would see him on TV.
The interesting thing about Chopped is that it literally reduces incredible chefs to frustrated, confused shreds of their former selves. People come in cocky, which you should never do on a challenge show, and they just fall to pieces. I mean seriously 20 minutes to make an appetizer with four ingredients from East Jesus?! I would probably have a panic attack in the first minute and just start eating the ingredients while shaking uncontrollably and speaking in tongues.
The judges are always super intense and honest with their criticism. Usually Aaron Sanchez (adorable!), Alexa Guarnaschelli (craziest last name ever!), and Geoffrey Zakarian (who I almost worked as a nanny for.) And then there is Ted Allen... Remember him from Queer Eye?? I love Ted and it makes me so happy to see he has successfully transitioned into a great career on Food Network. He always has the best suggestions on Best Thing I Ever Ate.
Okay, so all that aside. What is it about watching these amazing chefs fall to pieces that we love? I mean it was obviously designed for exactly that purpose. "How can we mess with them?" Ya know? I mean there is nothing easy about Chopped and it's not like a normal Food Network challenge where you get to plan and create something amazing within certain parameters... it's friggin' brutal! So I wonder then why I love it so much? It's definitely in my top five shows on Food Network. (Other contenders are Iron Chef America, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Best Thing I Ever Ate, and Ace of Cakes, which just recently ended and will now go into syndication.)
What is it about watching these chefs struggle under seemingly impossible circumstances? Is it the appeal of knowing that one of them will ultimately win? Is it the curiosity of wondering what the heck will they come up with? Or is it that sick part of every human being that laughs when someone trips and falls? Not to get too deep and existential here, but do we really like watching people fail? Is that the appeal of Chopped? Or is it the self satisfaction of watching people who are ridiculously more talented than you in the kitchen, fail? That little inner voice that says "Oh, I could totally do that better!" Because we do ultimately see one victorious winner in the end, but we also get the sick pleasure of watching three other talented chefs fall to pieces. To this very point, after the episode was over, Chris kidded that it would be awesome if they actually chopped a limb or finger off the failing chefs each round, ala the Roman Collesseum, Gladiator days. Ashley and I both laughed and chimmed in with "That would be hilarious!" Maybe we are just sick people...
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