Anyone watch The Taste?

[Jenise]

This is a new cooking competition with Anthony Bourdain, of all people, and Nigella Lawson. I didn't realize it was on already, but found the first two episodes on On Demand and so watched them last night. Might turn out to be fun once the teams they're putting together in these initial episodes get chosen, but this stage is a bit slow.

You Nigella lovers should take a peak. She's lost some weight, looks terrific.

[Fred Sipe]

I'll have to watch for this one. Twin "peaks" perhaps...

[Jo Ann Henderson]

Saw maybe the first 30 minutes. For some reason it didn't hold my interest.

[Bill Spohn]

Both Bourdain and Lawson are entertaining (for different reasons). And yes, Nigella personifies 'zaftig', doesn't she? I'll be dreaming of English muffins....

I watched the first hour and figure it has possibilities. They sure screwed up by not grabbing several of those early contestants and then I got the impression Nigella grabbed the one she did in desparation. We'll have to see how it all goes once they get out of the selection stage.

Creating one spoonful to be judged by sounds interestingly challenging. While I like the judging before they see the cook, a couple were rejected simply because they didn't know what they were tasting. They should refine procedure by being able to get a capsule description (possibly read out by a cast member) of what is in the spoon.

[Jenise]

Creating one spoonful to be judged by sounds interestingly challenging. While I like the judging before they see the cook, a couple were rejected simply because they didn't know what they were tasting. They should refine procedure by being able to get a capsule description (possibly read out by a cast member) of what is in the spoon.

Yeah, it's not easy to be as creative as one needs to be to impress without having the opportunity to prepare the brains of even those experienced eaters.

Earlier yesterday I was telling Bob that a most excellent muffin recipe we'd trialed for the upcoming big breakfast needed to get scrapped. Good as it is, it's possibly more intellectually appealing than anything else with it's strange combination of sausage, sweet potato, oats and allspice--my argument that if it has to be explained to be understood, and if it has to be understood to taste good, then most would just think it weird especially in the small mini sizes we're going to make. Bob didn't quite get my point until we watched The Taste.

[Mike Filigenzi]

This show's getting some local attention as Adam Pechal, a Sacramento chef, is one of the contestants. I haven't seen the show, but I understand he'll be on next week.

[Karen/NoCA]

I recorded and watched this afternoon. Lots of drama and interesting camera work, but I grew bored fast. The idea of trying to create a really special dish with all of it put into one spoon and one bite, bothers me somehow. How can you judge with just one bite? I have Chinese spoons and love to make appetizers to put into them. It is difficult. You have to keep it simple, yet try to get that "WOW" factor.

[Jenise]

This show's getting some local attention as Adam Pechal, a Sacramento chef, is one of the contestants. I haven't seen the show, but I understand he'll be on next week.

Saw him last night, and he got picked. Handsome guy with a very zen look about him with his hair in a neat little daoist bun.

[Jenise]

I recorded and watched this afternoon. Lots of drama and interesting camera work, but I grew bored fast. The idea of trying to create a really special dish with all of it put into one spoon and one bite, bothers me somehow. How can you judge with just one bite? I have Chinese spoons and love to make appetizers to put into them. It is difficult. You have to keep it simple, yet try to get that "WOW" factor.

Well, even in one bite one can show a lot of technique. I thought the competition between the judges was kind of fun, like the three or four times Malarky and Ludo both wanted the same chef, and each time the chef chose Ludo's team. Or the spate of vegan cooks who thought no way the judges would be able to tell--ha! I have to comment on the ending though, how it all led up to two final chefs and only Anthony with a spot left. Even though they supposedly didn't know who was behind the trick door, there's no way Anthony let obviously good chefs go by and then risk getting stuck with a loser at the end--that was a setup to put some tension in the show and fill the hour.

[Bill Spohn]

The idea of trying to create a really special dish with all of it put into one spoon and one bite, bothers me somehow. How can you judge with just one bite? I have Chinese spoons and love to make appetizers to put into them. It is difficult. You have to keep it simple, yet try to get that "WOW" factor.

I agree - many of the contestants were eliminated partly because the judges didn't know what was in the spoon, and didn't appreciate the creativity until they had voted against them and found out just what was in there. If you could have asked one question without seeing the contestant I think it might have been more interesting.

And it really isn't about creating the tastiest spoonful - you have to have enough complexity that they judge you to be a creative chef. Some of the best tasting spoons can be the simplest with just one or two ingredients (a cube of watermelon with a drop of reduced balsamic on top, or a small slice of foie gras tourchon with a lightly spiced drop of a fruit preparation on top and a dusting of fleur de sel). I'm betting that that sort of elegant simplicity no matter how tasty wouldn't get you chosen.