Anybody else watch? Whatcha think? Did the right one go home? I think so, especially after reading the TC blogs this morning.
I don’t know. I suppose the judges were right about some of the contestants thinking they could get away with just throwing some meat on the grill and slapping it on a bun. Can’t really see anything wrong about Tracey going home; she hadn’t done anything to distinguish herself as to this point.
Other than that, the most notable thing about that episode is I recognized them shopping at the Whole Foods near my house.
Tracy was in way too deep. She obviously didn’t have the training or experience that the others have.
The edits fooled me. I was surprised at the Arnold win. He didn’t even know how to start charcoal. I guess he’s a fast learner.
My overall impression last night was that this is a particularly mean spirited group. I don’t remember this much pushing and shoving this early on in other seasons.
Second: Angelo, who in the first couple episodes came across as an arrogant bastard, kind of softened in my eyes. Still arrogant (they all are) but not nearly the jerk some of the others are.
Third: Who goes on a cooking show and doesn’t have at least one dessert up their sleeve, a crust of some sort that could be used for pie being key.
And Fourth: Tracey was not cut out for the show, she didn’t seem to have much fire and ambition and didn’t really even try to defend her booting.
I’ve always wondered about that. It’s quite clear after all these seasons that when it comes to dessert, the judges know that most of these chefs are not pastry chefs, so just being able to prepare a competent, tasty dessert that’s not excessively sweet and presented attractively will more than suffice; possibly even impress. I’m sure they’ve all seen the show before; they should know that they’re going to have to cook a dessert at some point, why wouldn’t they memorize one or two simple recipes beforehand, instead of having to guess at measurements and try to “impress” the judges with odd ingredients?
The desserts thing. Yes, WTF are they thinking after all these years? One guy had never made a pie period? Double WTF?
Wasnt the guy that made one of the best and most creative pies also on the bottom 4 for the elimination challenge (the guy with the bacon wrapped fish?). I found the irony of him doing so well on the harder one and so bad on the other interesting. He seems somewhat capable if he would just quit doing really stupid stuff.
Tracy was the right one to go home. Nice enough, but totally over her head.
Angelo seems to be coming back to earth a bit. I’m curious to see how he does as he’s pushed out of his Asian comfort zone.
I did enjoy the edits where the most confident guys “I am the grillmaster” and “I do fish, it’s what I do” ended up in the bottom two. Although in grillmaster’s case it was for his sides, not his meat.
I’m super annoyed about the dessert thing as well. It completely boggles my mind that none of these people have ever made a pie once in their entire lives. They don’t have grandmothers? Or parents who baked? They’ve never been curious enough to try a simple crust? Nobody has ever asked them to make a pie? I mean, seriously, I get that they’re not pastry chefs but they flailed about so pathetically that it’s like these freaks have never, ever cooked in their own homes. And a pie crust is literally the simplest thing you could possibly make. It’s just stupid.
This whole season is stupid. I’m going to watch next week because Bryan V is going to be on and a few others from last season (I know I saw Mike I’s face) but I doubt I’ll keep watching after that. I’m tired of these stupid people.
I agree completely. She’s the type of person that annoys me. She just doesn’t give a shit. I get it that she is overweight - a lot of chefs are. Kevin from last season was, but he at least made an effort to look presentable, he had ambition, and his cooking showed passion. Tracy didn’t give a shit. She had the skills to get on a highly rated TV program, but couldn’t care less if she won or lost. Sausage cakes on hot dog buns? Whole fennel seeds?
I can see a chef who was one of the last cuts for the show watching that episode and just banging her head into a wall repeatedly.
P.S. The hotel they are supposedly cooking in is the one I stay at when I go to the HQ for work. It’s on Connecticut Avenue near Dupont Circle. It’s the one where Ronald Reagan got shot. We call it the Hinckley Hilton.
I like Tracey’s personality, but I’m amazed she even made it on the show. Totally out of her league.
I hope they cool it with the pimping of “Just Desserts” for a while.
Yeah, but his ribs still didn’t stand up to the “girl’s” (Amanda’s).
And while Tracy might be clairevoyant, it’s too bad she didn’t see her own ass hitting the curb.
“my grandmother’s not a pastry chef either but she can make a pie.”
Best TC line ever.
Right? It would be one thing if it were the first season. My husband very sweetly watches with me, and by watches I mean he reads his message boards and does other web surfing in the room where the TV is on. I asked him if he thought he could make a pie without a recipe. (He’s a fine cook, but I don’t recall ever seeing him improvise). He said probably not, but that if he were going to be on Top Chef he’d sure as spit memprize a pastry recipe before he went.
We hadn’t seen enough of her to make me think Tracey should’ve been cut any ealier than this episode. If her sausage tasted good, but had been on a plain dry bun would she maybe have stayed? I don’t know. I’m not sure I saw anything that points to her being any further out of her depth than a few of the others, but don’t disagree with her elimination for that challenge.
To me picnic food and barbecue (or grilling or cookout) food are different.
I’m surprised to be the first one to mention Amanda’s 4th grade “I called it” oven silliness. It’s not as if it’s like musical ovens, and whoever’s last is out…but that could be a good challenge.
I also got the feeling Tracy just wasn’t up to snuff, and knew it. Man that one guy has no personality at all. I try to notice his name, but I seriously drift away every time he starts to talk.
And Kelly scares me, she has good skill in comparison, but that stare where she just isn’t looking at things in the real world. She looks one fallen souffle away from “tragic multi-person knifing incident” because the ghost demanded it.
ETA I looked it up. Ed. The man doesn’t seem to possess emotion.
I figure that, at some point, each of these people decided to make a career out of food. Some of them early in life, some later. So they have to have had that point where they said to themselves, “Man, I really like cooking!” At that point, they had never baked anything? A pie, a cake a cookie?
It’s one thing to strategically say (as someone did last week) “people who make dessert get sent home.” Heck, that’s what happened the past two weeks. But those two got sent home because they made crappy desserts! One used canned pastry and one used 2 lbs. of sugar to make a banana pudding in a challenge to feed school kids a healthy meal (I believe she’s the one who wowed the judges the previous week with a fat-free pate’).
Seems the proper strategy to deal with the dessert problem, especially if desserts are not your specialty, is to have a couple of recipes in mind in case, you know, you find yourself in the entirely unlikely position of having to make a dessert in a cooking competition…
Whole fennel seeds are a very common ingredient for sausages; if you eat sausage at all, you’ve had 'em. I don’t think the issue was that there were whole fennel seeds, it was that there were too many.
Other than that, I agree with you completely.
I usually don’t like the first few episodes because I can’t tell anyone apart or remember what they did the week prior. Tracy was one of the only ones who had made an impression on me, so I was sad to see her go.
And yeah, wtf? You can’t make a pie? I was making pies in elementary school, and not just in my ez bake oven. Crust from scratch can be tricky. Flaky traditional crusts, that is. But that chocolate torte looked fantastic. And a graham cracker (or other crushed cookies) crust is ridiculously easy. It’s better to do a simple thing well than a mediocre challenging one in a quick fire.
I would argue that what got Banana Pudding sent home was
“I only have $25 to feed 50 students.”
“But I need more money for sherry.”
“OK, I’ll make do on $15.”