The Food & Entertainment Industry

Posts Tagged ‘competitive’

Article by Sammy O’Neil

Long ago I decided to watch a cooking channel known as Food Network, which to some may sound like just another cooking channel with boring adaptations of something reminiscent of watching Julia Child, but for anybody who decides to check it out they’re in for a real treat. I’ve grown to love the exciting action of 2 competitive shows that Food network offers, Chopped and Iron Chef America. Both shows pit top rated chefs in timed competition using unexpected ingredients that can sometimes be difficult to use.

Chopped places four chefs into a 3 round competition where they must create an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert using a different basket of ingredients in each round. The baskets will typically include bizarre combinations of food with examples like jelly beans, caviar, rhubarb, and bread in a can, and from those ingredients the chefs are given 30 minutes to create a gourmet dish for 3 judges that are without a doubt some of the most experienced chefs in the United States. Each round starts with the host introducing the basket of ingredients to the chefs as you watch their mouths drop from trying to figure out how they can possibly extract a delectable dish from elements that should never be put together on the same plate. It’s amazing to see what they come up with, but by the end of each round only the best continue, and 1 chef is eliminated, thus the name: Chopped.

Iron Chef America is a show that selects only the very best chefs in the United States, and gives them an opportunity to compete against one of several Iron Chefs who’ve proven their worth in prior elimination competitions to earn the honor of being named an Iron Chef. The guest chef selects which Iron Chef they want to compete against, and the 2 chefs are then given 1 hour to build a minimum of 5 dishes from a secret ingredient that isn’t revealed to them until the very last moment before they start cooking, and every dish must carry a part of the secret ingredient within it showcasing variations of how the secret ingredient can be used. At the end of the hour they’re given to cook, they then must present their culinary concoctions to a panel of 3 food judges who are either renowned chefs or food critics.

Food Network also has competitions for baking with a show known as Cupcake Wars, but for me nothing can compare to the edge-of-your-seat excitement of Chopped and Iron Chef America.

My cousin and I eating Roman Noodles! Yum! Yum! Yum!!!

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