Top Chef Season 4

[plattetude]

Richard-the Chef who by his own self-admission is a student of the School of Molecular Gastronomy, shared a bit of insightful humor about how silly this particular art form can be when he said it's a "bit like a gumball that tastes like a roast beef sandwich that turns into a blueberry pie."  No thank you, I prefer your Salmon please.

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That was actually a Willy Wonka reference, not a molecular gastronomy reference. It was a reference to the chewing gum that Violet grabbed from Mr. Wonka, which had the sequential flavors of a three-course meal -- tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie. Richard also made a crack about how the diners might levitate from their fizzy drinks, as in the movie (and book), and that to get back to the ground, they'd have to belch.

Just for the record.

Christopher

Edited April 5, 2008 by plattetude (log)

[David Ross]

Richard-the Chef who by his own self-admission is a student of the School of Molecular Gastronomy, shared a bit of insightful humor about how silly this particular art form can be when he said it's a "bit like a gumball that tastes like a roast beef sandwich that turns into a blueberry pie."  No thank you, I prefer your Salmon please.

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That was actually a Willy Wonka reference, not a molecular gastronomy reference. It was a reference to the chewing gum that Violet grabbed from Mr. Wonka, which had the sequential flavors of a three-course meal -- tomato soup, roast beef, and blueberry pie. Richard also made a crack about how the diners might levitate from their fizzy drinks, as in the movie (and book), and that to get back to the ground, they'd have to belch.

Just for the record.

Christopher

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Point well taken. Thank you for the correction. Richard's team obviously won for the flavors, the execution of the dish, the presentation and for being the team that was most succesful at marrying their dish to the movie theme. But in some small way I suppose one could say that Richard's comments reflect a satirical view of a popular cooking technique of the day. Doesn't really matter though, that Salmon dish looked awesome.

[David Ross]

By the way, the winning recipe of Team "Willy Wonka"-Andrew, Richard and Dale-is posted on the Top Chef website.

[cathrynapple]

I've seen and heard a lot of people tease about molecular gastronomy and strange flavor combinations and formalist cooking.

Dale, Andrew and Richard's dish was postmodern and creative. Formalist cooking involves the essences of food...it's akin to pieces by artists like DuChamp, Kapoor, and Laib. ( representing, say, "appleness" instead of "apple," in which case the appleness is more emotionally and socially relevant than the apple itself, and can bring about nostalgia and associations, etc.) The progression from formalism to food is a natural one, I think.

People are buying and eating art that, if not edible, they would not necessarily feel a connection to.

Richard seems to have somewhat of a grasp of this concept, though his repeated smoking/ seran wrap projects have made me roll my eyes.

[David Ross]

No Chicago movies, either.  Risky Business Puttanesca anyone? 

s

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I love that! Tom Cruise, (aka Ryan), in his briefs cooking up some pasta. You can really see that connection, (Ryan as Cruise), can't you?

And what about the Chicago based movie "The Blues Brothers?" Could a Top Chef, (maybe Ryan?), create a dish using the simple ingredients from this classic exchange in the movie......

"I'll have four fried chickens and a coke" (Jake)

"And some dry white toast please" (Elwood)

Hmmn. Chicken, Coke and dry white toast. I wonder what sort of dish the Top Chefs would have presented using that theme!

[tmgrobyn]

Oh David your ruminations on the episode are spot on. Especially with Zoe.

I enjoyed this one the best so far and can only hope the next few weeks will continue to raise the TopChef bar.

Ryan as Tom Cruise, totally.

[nakji]

I re-watched the end of the episode this morning, with the final judgement of the losing teams, and I was struck by what Colicchio had to say about the Vietnamese dish, that the dish was something you could have gotten at any Vietnamese restaurant "...for 8 bucks". While it was clear that the dish wasn't as successful as some of the others, having been judged the least favourite by all the diners, I wonder if there isn't some subtle bias there against non-European dishes that aren't centred around a big hunk of protein? Maybe the presentation was too average? It didn't really look like your average Vietnamese summer roll to me, but maybe the tastes didn't hang together well? Fish spring rolls are very common in Viet Nam, so I was surprised when Chef Colicchio said that the rolls were too fishy. Perhaps it was the sea bass? I've only ever had the rolls done with catfish, so perhaps that fish was too jarring. It's frustrating being able to watch at home, but not taste the dishes! As for the movie - "Good Morning Vietnam" for goodness sakes? How about "Indochine"? or "The Lover"?

If you ever feel the need for a really spectacular fish summer roll, however, I urge you to fly directly to Hanoi, and go straight to restaurant Highway 7. They serve a killer spring roll that's made from catfish that's been lightly dusted with flour and pan fried, and rolled up with wasabi mayonnaise and Hanoi pho herbs in the long, thin square rice papers that are served dry, and that melt on your tongue when you bite into them.

As for Zoi - yikes. I'd respect her more if she could get through the judging without crying. There's no crying in baseball!

As soon as Richard mentioned Willy Wonka, I knew he'd win the challenge. It was inspired. I think it's clear that he and a few other chefs are operating at a much higher level than the rest. I think we'll see the top five from this episode as the last remaining chefs as time goes on.

I also thought Manuel was a real class act when he left. Next week looks good!

[David Ross]

Oh David your ruminations on the episode are spot on. Especially with Zoe.

I enjoyed this one the best so far and can only hope the next few weeks will continue to raise the TopChef bar.

Ryan as Tom Cruise, totally.

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Thank you, but please don't encourage me too much. Tonight I'm watching this episode for the third time--and I'm picking up more silly snippets on which to comment-"I can tell you for SURE that combination-(white chocolate and wasabi)-doesn't work."

Yes Zoi, we heard you loud and clear. So did you actually taste Richard's teams winning dish? No less that Daniel Boulud, certainly an accomplished palate, stated that the combination did work. Personally I would love to have Richard, Andrew and Dale serve that dish to me.

Zoi-Can you state, based on fact, that the taste of the flavor combination (white chocolate and wasabi), "doesn't work?" Or--is our assumption true--that you didn't taste the dish you ripped but rather, you are just pissed at yourself, (lady of pasta salad and limp lamb), that you are becoming overwhelmed with jealousy for your fellow competitor's and it may be clouding your cooking?

I've probably already said too much about this week's show so I'll stop commenting for now. Just for a bit. This is going to be one delicious and tempting season of Top Chef.

[dockhl]

Ryan, in his briefs cooking up some pasta.

EEEWWWWWWWWW.......

Thanks a lot for that image, David!

I find that it is on so many times during the week, and there are SO FEW things I am willing to watch, that I watch it several times.

OK, I'll say it.

I wish it was on more than once a week.

*Hangs head in shame at being outed...............*

[tmgrobyn]

heh David. I'll try to to laud too many compliments!

On the "I know it just doesn't work" comment; I wanted to say yes and the chocolate with bacon is a big bomb too.

[nliedel]

I usually chalk off any dippy things said after a challange as, 1. a bit of sour grapes, 2. relief of stress. Not that sour grapes is okay, but they're human, so I don't really take it too seriously. Although, some of hte best verbal repartee has come after challanges.

[Zeemanb]

Does anyone recall whether or not the cheftestants have always had beer available to them as they sit in the back waiting for judging? For some reason it stuck out to me this week when the weepiness about the white chocolate began....booze is a major reality show staple, and I couldn't remember if they always sit back there drinking. I know from one of the reunion shows that they can sit back there for four or five hours as the judges deliberate....but I'm sure the Bravo producers would NEVER set them up to provide us with spectacular alcohol fueled drama...

[dockhl]

I remember wine from before, more than beer. But I'd guess they'd have both.

Deliberate? ya think? Remember the reunion show where (??) someone was so drunk? Who was that?

[nliedel]

I remember wine from before, more than beer. But I'd guess they'd have both.

Deliberate? ya think? Remember the reunion show where (??) someone was so drunk? Who was that?

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The beer, in the case of this season, is one of their sponsors. So I'm not surprised they are drinking it.

[dockhl]

D'oh ! (Where IS that head slapping icon?!?)

[Ndy]

I remember wine from before, more than beer. But I'd guess they'd have both.

Deliberate? ya think? Remember the reunion show where (??) someone was so drunk? Who was that?

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That was Ken, and it was hilarious.

[cathrynapple]

I seem to remember first season people taking shots and drinking wine after challenges. We have to assume that most of them would rather be drinking somethign nice or at least a glass of wine as opposed to cheap beer, so it must be deliberately placed. Or mayber they've stocked the fridge with nothign but.

[Bricktop]

The obvious one I guess would be liver, fava beans and a nice Chianti, (que disgusting toungue sucking sound) for Silence of the Lambs.

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That was my very first thought too. And it would have been pure genius for them to offer the diners "just one thin mint".

[CtznCane]

The braised rabbit and liver ideas would have been great ones. As for not a main course, someone could have chosen to make Apple Pie and cited American Pie for their movie.

[nliedel]

Okay, the mint comment got my brain spinning about Monty Python movies.

Life of Brian:

Mock ______ Soup

Holy Grail:

Anything with rabbit, as long as it was spicy.

Suab in a coconut foam.

I am going to stop now. If I continue...

well, it's just going to involve a chocolate-covered exploding albatross and that can't be good.

Edited April 7, 2008 by nliedel (log)

[pogophiles]

Holy Grail:

Anything with rabbit, as long as it was spicy.

Suab in a coconut foam.

And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu...

[nliedel]

Holy Grail:

Anything with rabbit, as long as it was spicy.

Suab in a coconut foam.

And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu...

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Rats on toast, I meant to type squab.

If we include the orangatans, then we're just back to the Lincoln Park Zoo and it's all into endagered species from there.

Save the breakfast cereals!

of course, they do make that breakfast cereal with the organatan on the box...I suppose it could be used as some sort of topping, once crushed.

I can see it now, the cream casserole quick fire! Using Monty Python as a theme.

[Claudia Greco]

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[KensethFan]

My guess on this would be that you add the carrots, ginger, onion, and corn oil into the pan. Then you add a portion of the carrot juice, reduce, add more carrot juice, reduce, and so on until the carrots are soft.

BTW: I think Alice in Wonderland would have been a great movie to choose. One could get really creative with that.

It says:

"Roast carrots in saute pan with ginger, onion and corn oil. In stages, add carrot juice, cook all the way down and add twice more until soft."

I don't understand this. Forgive me if this sounds stupid ... but to me, you roast in a roasting pan in the oven, or you saute in a saute pan on a stove. It sounds like he's  calling for you to roast in a saute pan on a stove -- right? I don't now how else you'd keep adding carrot juice and cooking it down. Any tips for roasting in a saute pan on the stove? And what's the difference between roasting and sauteeing when it's done on a stove? Thanks for any insight you could provide.

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[tmgrobyn]

The Freshman! Could've taken some chicken and dressed it up to be some rare species only the rich and famous would dare eat!