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« Ðarclyte's Ðarc §ide of the ßlog
Next Food Network Star - My Celebrity Twin!
This week we had appearances from the only celebrity who I look remotely like, Chef Tyler Florence, and a guy who looks like Mr Clean, Chef Michael Symon.
Tyler had the contestants perform a 60 second "skill test" where they had to show how to perform some culinary task on camera within 60 seconds. They were given tasks such as opening a coconut, trussing a chicken and peeling an artichoke.
I felt bad for Nipa. She was given a squid and asked to prepare it. She told Tyler that she didn't know how, but rather than give her a fighting chance by first showing her how to do it and then making her do it, he told her that she had to do it as it's part of being a professional.
In the words of the late George Carlin, bulls***! NOBODY on Food Network is going to go on camera and explain to the viewers how to perform ANY task that they don't know how to do. If Tyler and his crew decide that he's going to make a dish using ANY ingredient, if Tyler didn't know how to properly use it, he'd learn how and master it before ever getting in front of a camera to film it for his series, Tyler's Ultimate.
Even on Iron Chef America where the chefs are given a "secret ingredient" to work with (although prior to taping, they're given a list of 5 possible ingredients from which one will be chosen,) they choose to have all sorts of other items on hand to go with the possible secret ingredient and if they have no idea what to do with any one of the 5, believe me that they'd take the time to find out.
Case in point, Chef Bobby Flay has a series called "Throwdown" where he challenges "regular" people who are experts in some type of food. It could be BBQ ribs, cookies, blondies, jerk chicken, or whatever. Before each battle, Bobby takes time to work in the Food Network kitchens to prepare his dish he'll challenge the expert with. Sometimes, if given a dish that he's not entirely familiar with, especially if it involves baking, he'll go to some place in New York and learn how to make the item (such as bagels or muffins.)
So, I thought it was unfair to make Nipa have to perform a task and then criticize her performance. Yes, she laughed during it, but only because she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, not that she was being disrespectful.
I also couldn't understand why they gave Shane such a hard time. Do a google search on how to drain coconut juice, you're supposed to puncture the "eyes" and drain the liquid. He tried to do that, but obviously didn't poke them far enough, and no liquid came out. Tyler chastised him for trying to pretend he was doing something correctly when he wasn't and then the judges later said the same thing. I'm not sure what they're talking about. He did the right thing, but the only thing that he did wrong was not puncture the "eyes" deep enough.
For the elimination challenge, Michael Symon asked them to prepare a fish dish that would appear on Red Lobster's "Fresh Catch" menu, and to make a second dish pairing the same fish with some odd item such as marshmallow fluff, cola, or fruit loops.
Again, poor Nipa was faced with an unfamiliar task. Now I know that there are Indian dishes that use seafood, but it depends on the region. I'm betting that the region that Nipa's family originated from was not on the coast and therefore didn't cook with seafood. Again, they tried to tell her that if she wants to be a FN star, that she'll have to work with fish. Umm, no. I don't recall seeing Giada make any Indian dishes or a dish using goat. She cooks Italian food. If Nipa had a show, she'd be making Indian food with a Midwestern flair. She wouldn't be making anything using seafood unless she learned how to do it first, and not in 60 seconds like the first challenge, or even 45 minutes like this one.
I also thought it was ridiculous of Chef Symon to say that her butchering of the fish offended him. Yes, it's wasteful, but she was unfamiliar with how to filet the fish and tried to do it, she just failed.
I was surprised that Lisa chose to make a fish tartare when she knew that was her dish for Red Lobster. I don't see a lot of raw foods served at Red Lobster. This again makes me think that she has no chance to win as she once again shows that she's too "Martha Stewartish" and too haughty taughty for the "average" person who watches Food Network. I've seen FN chefs prepare tartares, but not often.
It appeared that the winner would be either Shane or Kelsey, and Kelsey won for her second win on one episode. If she can't keep it together, I can see them looking at her as a younger Rachel Ray.
So, I wasn't surprised that Nipa was eliminated. When they had the one on one interviews with each contestant, I noticed that she was the only one wearing the same outfit from the first challenge, which seemed to signal to me that she got eliminated. Funny thing though was that she had a different outfit on when she got canned. At the end of the day, I think that she could have a successful show on FN if given a little bit of time and coaching, but she just can't compete with the types of challenges that this series presents.
I still don't get what they see with Adam, but I'm glad that he fell down, literally, in this episode. If Jen can get some confidence, she'd be the one to beat, but right now, Kelsey is the front runner. Until next week, of course.
P.S. RIP George Carlin. What a bad way to start my day to read news of his passing. And yet, Dane Cook is still alive and out on tour. No justice.
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Jun 23, 2008 8:25 AM
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Hey there! I agree with you about Nipa. Since she didn't seem to care if she won I'm glad she was eliminated but still...squid? I would have run screaming from the room. And I also thought that business about being offended over fish waste was goofy. Some people don't work with seafood, some people don't like fish. And George Carlin...one of my favorites. I was devastated to see that he had died when I woke up this morning. What a brilliantly funny man he was but he'd had heart trouble for years. I remember him having a heart attack back when I first got married 30 years ago so I'm glad it beat for us all as long as it did.
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Jun 23, 2008 8:45 AM
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If she can't keep it together, I can see them looking at her as a younger Rachel Ray.
I meant, if she CAN keep it together.
D'oh!
I'm going to make sure to head over to Red Lobster this week.
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Jun 23, 2008 8:51 AM
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I'm still mainly rooting for Lisa. I don't know why. She's the one that seems to be growing each episode while being consistent on her dishes.
Of course I'm also rooting for Shane and Kelsey and to a certain extent Adam.
As for Nipa. Yeah, she got a raw deal. Like you I was outraged that they kept putting her down as not being worthy of being "Food Network Star" for not knowing what to do with seafood. BS! But she had to go sometime. So godspeed to her.
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Jun 23, 2008 10:11 AM
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Hey there!
Great recap....glad to see because I forgot to watch. I love your blogs. But I don't love Nipa, so I am glad to see her gone. SHe disappointed me, because I was rooting for her. Now it's me & Aaron/Shane. Unless someone sneaks up on me that I begin to like more (Kelsey).
And another thing - these folk are way more likable than other reality shows. Thanks everyone for getting me to watch.
Have a good Monday ~ DG
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Jun 23, 2008 11:27 AM
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NOBODY on Food Network is going to go on camera and explain to the viewers how to perform ANY task that they don't know how to do
Darclyte - the whole purpose of this show is to put people in front of the camera and give them difficult taks to see how they react. The point of that challenge was to not get flustered in front of a camera. I have never cleaned a raw squid before, but I have seen it done on cooking shows enough that I probably could pull it off in a minute!
Shane wasn't supposed to drain the coconut, he was supposed to crack it open using the tools he was given. Again, I have watched enough times on cooking shows to know that you have to hold the coconut in one hand and strike it around the equator with a hard object, rotating as you go. It was a no-brainer that if you punch one hole into a sealed container, you will have problems draining out the liquid. It amazes me that these contestants have not prepared more before going on this show!
It was a great episode and Nipa deserved to go home.
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Jun 23, 2008 12:13 PM
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Hi Darclyte:
I enjoyed your blog.
I was thinking that for the Demonstation Challenge, that each contestant should'be been given the same item to demonstrate. They could've sequestered the contestants and had them come out one-at-a-time, so that everyone would've had a level playing field. I do believe that Nipa and Jennifer were given difficult items to demonstrate. If I were asked would I like to demonstrate how to shuck an oyster or clean squid versus cutting up a pineaapple, I would definitely choose the pineapple.
I've seen Paula Deen struggling with shucking an oyster before. But, because she's beloved, nobody's jumping down her throat for screwing it up.
There definitely needs to be a show on FN for someone to demonstrate how to cook Indian Cuisine. I just don't think that Nipa could've handled the pressure of starring in a cooking show.
I have fond memories of George Carlin. He was so funny. I remember how naughty it was watching his comic shows. And Dane Cook isn't good enough to shine George's shoes. Dane has got to be one of the worst comic actors, next to Rob Schneider.
If you look like Tyler Florence, you must be pretty popular with the ladies! He's hot!!!!!!!
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Jun 23, 2008 2:29 PM
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Well, I don't exactly look like him, but he's the only famous person who I remotely resemble.
Everyone who I've never met always asks, "What famous person do you look like" and for the longest time, I had to say "nobody." Now I say Tyler Florence.
I know that the challenge is to put them at ease, but there's a difference between asking someone to perform a task at the spur of a moment like peeling the artichoke or trussing a chicken, but I've been watching cooking shows for YEARS and either I've never seen someone breakdown a squid, or I've completely forgotten. So while everyone else had to do something difficult, she had to do something that she had never seen or done before.
As for Shane, yeah, he knew he was supposed to crack it open, but as he said since he only had a minute, he thought he'd "skirt the rules" by draining the liquid. What bothered me was the way they went after him saying that he didn't know what he was doing, when he was. Could he have cracked it in under a minute, perhaps, but maybe he wasn't all that familiar with the fastest way to do it, and was stuck thinking he'd have to use the saw that was provided. I thought he showed ingenuity in trying to at least "give them something," but too bad it just didn't work for him and then they tried to make it seem like what he was trying to do wouldn't have worked anyway.
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Jun 23, 2008 5:32 PM
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