Top Chef: Texas

[IndyRob]

I wish they'd go back to the 'signature dish' challenge for the first elimination. I think it would serve as a better introduction of the chefs and a no-excuse first elimination.

[David Ross]

So it appears someone over at Bravo has been watching too much Survivor.

Redemption Island? Seriously, WTF?

It felt cheap when I saw the clip for next week. Oh no, please no. They won't bring back the "Pig Butcher Boy" for "one more elimination cook-off." Will they?

[David Ross]

Padma on a Horse and a Top Chef Chili Cook-Off.

[Shalmanese]

I really don't understand the timeline for this episode. They were shown shopping at whole food before sundown on Day 1 and judging happened after sundown the next day so they had more than 24 hours in the middle. Everyone was shown to be awake in the morning the next day so what the hell was everyone doing for the rest of that day?

Also, Chili is not a complicated dish, I don't get why it would take a team of 3 chefs an entire night to make it. At the very most, they could have had 1 person awake and two people sleeping in shifts which would have made everyone well rested at the end of it.

Loved the quickfire idea though.

[Lisa Shock]

The quickfire was interesting and fun to watch.

The elimination challenge seemed like it had a lot of artificial situations that didn't really add anything except drama for the camera. I am kind of wondering about the whole business of cooking at the house and how teams had to vie to use various ingredients and equipment. Some of this did not seem fair.

Also, Texans came across as being very anti-bean. As a bean-lover I found this prejudice to be very closed-minded. -Yes, the challenge was essentially a catering challenge, where pleasing the customer is the foremost concern. And, I understand that to their minds, the archetypal Texas chili has no beans. That said, we live in a world of basil 'caviar' and nitrogen frozen popcorn. Guess I'm not liking challenges where the hoi polloi judge the food.

[pastrygirl]

Also, Chili is not a complicated dish, I don't get why it would take a team of 3 chefs an entire night to make it. At the very most, they could have had 1 person awake and two people sleeping in shifts which would have made everyone well rested at the end of it.

I too thought it was strange that they didn't take turns sleeping.

[jsmeeker]

Team Moto gets broken up. Wasn't expecting that.

When the teams described their chills, we never found out anything about the chile component. WTF is up with that? Just the way they edited the show?

Yes, chili doesn't take all night to cook. Dunno why they were cooking all night. Also, while I've never had it, I don't think I would like brisket in chili. It would get stringy if braised/stewed for a long time. That texture is all wrong. Surprised a few teams went crazy to buy all the brisket at Whole Foods.

[Lisa Shock]

Yeah, I expected Team Moto to be strong through at least the halfway-point in the season.

After emphasizing the various types of peppers in the quick fire, it was, now that you mention it, odd that there was no analysis of types of chiles used.

And, I also wondered about the meat. I though chuck was standard in competition chile.

[Jaymes]

Also, Texans came across as being very anti-bean. As a bean-lover I found this prejudice to be very closed-minded. -Yes, the challenge was essentially a catering challenge, where pleasing the customer is the foremost concern. And, I understand that to their minds, the archetypal Texas chili has no beans. That said, we live in a world of basil 'caviar' and nitrogen frozen popcorn. Guess I'm not liking challenges where the hoi polloi judge the food.

I find this statement to be so startling as to be absolutely stunned at the inaccuracy of your conclusion.

Texans most certainly are not "anti-bean." On the contrary, Texans are among the statistically highest consumers of beans in the nation.

I'm sure you've heard of Texas barbecue. All (and I mean every single one) of the barbecue joints offer beans and, in many of them, the beans are considered so essential to the enjoyment of your barbecue meal that they are complimentary. Several of these barbecue restaurants even have soupy cowboy-style pinto beans sitting in large pots at the same place where they have the onions, pickles, jalapeno peppers, and other complimentary condiments. These soupy beans are ubiquitous in the central and southwestern areas of the state, reminiscent of the beans that "Cookie" simmered in large caldrons hanging over chuckwagon campfires on those long cattle drives north to the railheads. And Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurants offer panoply of beans: charro, borracho, frijoles de olla, refried, soups, dips, salsas. We eat gourmet-style bean dishes in our upscale restaurants, where the beans are served in purees, foams, pastes, salads, meat and fish dishes, everything imaginable.

And as you enter the eastern regions of our state, alongside "ranch-style beans," you find the sweet baked-bean traditions of the south, served with east-Texas-style barbecue, pulled pork, ribs, or with fried chicken, catfish, pork chops, hot dogs, hamburgers. The supermarkets here have big bins of dried beans that you buy in bulk. They're everywhere.

Just not so much in the traditional chili con carne.

For you to reach the conclusion that Texas is "anti-bean" based on one episode of a television show is utterly amazing. Although many Texans (admittedly probably in the privacy of their own home) actually do put beans in their chili (and I happen to be one), reacting with feigned indignation is just part of the "schtick."

If you saw a TV episode where out-of-towners went to Philadephia and ordered a Cheese Steak with Swiss Cheese at Pat's, and got roundly lambasted for that choice, would you decide that the entire state was "anti-Swiss-cheese"?

Edited November 25, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[annabelle]

The remaining member of Team Moto, his name escapes me, looks like one of the Hansen brothers from the old Paul Newman hockey movie "Slapshot".

There are a lot of myths about Texas on this show, as Jaymes mentioned with the No Beans Rule, and the cheftestants should lay off the phoney Texas accents and leave the hats at home. It probably doesn't matter to the Padma lovers, but girlfriend can't ride.

[Lisa Shock]

Jaymes, none of your points about beans were made in the show. There were no positive comments made about beans in the episode whatsoever. What actually aired were lots of clips of people repeatedly asking 'this don't have beans in it now, does it?' and such, along with lots of grins and happiness when they were assured of a lack of beans.

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

[annabelle]

Lisa, I would conclude that the editors of the show are a bunch of damned yankees.

[jsmeeker]

Jaymes, none of your points about beans were made in the show. There were no positive comments made about beans in the episode whatsoever. What actually aired were lots of clips of people repeatedly asking 'this don't have beans in it now, does it?' and such, along with lots of grins and happiness when they were assured of a lack of beans.

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

I think the anti-beans in chili comments came from the customers.The Texans. They know what they are talking about. The chefs simply catered to the tastes of the region. Smart.

[Jaymes]

Jaymes, none of your points about beans were made in the show. There were no positive comments made about beans in the episode whatsoever. What actually aired were lots of clips of people repeatedly asking 'this don't have beans in it now, does it?' and such, along with lots of grins and happiness when they were assured of a lack of beans.

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

I think the anti-beans in chili comments came from the customers.The Texans. They know what they are talking about. The chefs simply catered to the tastes of the region. Smart.

Yes, but remember, the one that lost was the sweet mole-inspired one. Not the one with the three kinds of beans.

[Shalmanese]

Jaymes, none of your points about beans were made in the show. There were no positive comments made about beans in the episode whatsoever. What actually aired were lots of clips of people repeatedly asking 'this don't have beans in it now, does it?' and such, along with lots of grins and happiness when they were assured of a lack of beans.

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

I think the anti-beans in chili comments came from the customers.The Texans. They know what they are talking about. The chefs simply catered to the tastes of the region. Smart.

Yes, but remember, the one that lost was the sweet mole-inspired one. Not the one with the three kinds of beans.

The crowd got to pick the favorite but the judges got to pick the least favorite. It's almost certain that the two bean recipes were excluded from winning as the rabid anti-bean contingency would have torpedoed their chances but, as long as they tasted good, they were safe from the bottom.

[David Ross]

If you'd like to review the recipe of the winning chili, (all the recipes no less), go to this section of the Top Chef website here and get a more clear picture of the ingredients that the Cheftestants put in their chili bowl.

[Jaymes]

Jaymes, none of your points about beans were made in the show. There were no positive comments made about beans in the episode whatsoever. What actually aired were lots of clips of people repeatedly asking 'this don't have beans in it now, does it?' and such, along with lots of grins and happiness when they were assured of a lack of beans.

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

So are you suggesting that the producers/editors should have aired a disclaimer delineating all the other ways that Texans routinely use beans so that viewers wouldn't reach an incorrect conclusion about Texans and bean habits in general based on one episode that showed a few Texans eating one dish?

_______________

Edited November 30, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[Jaymes]

I didn't conclude that all of Texas is anti-bean. I said that that Texans came across (were portrayed by the editing staff) as anti bean and very inflexible about their definition of chili, which I found odd in a cooking competition that usually celebrates creativity.

And...

Insofar as Texans being "very inflexible about their definition of chili," although I wasn't around in the days of the vaqueros and the cattle drives north, I've been told that the original Texas chile was basically nothing much but beef simmered long and slow in a little water, or maybe beer if they had it, with a variety of chiles - no tomatoes, no beans. Much like what we think of as New Mexico green chile today, to which nobody seems determined to add beans, and about which nobody gets upset.

If Texans are proud of their original dish, and want to stick to and honor that tradition, I just cannot see how anyone could conclude that makes them "anti bean" - any more than Italians saying that a proper carbonara never includes cream makes them "anti dairy."

I'm looking forward to the next episode, and something else to speculate about.

Maybe barbecue?

That should be equally interesting.

Edited November 30, 2011 by Jaymes (log)

[Twyst]

Paul Qui came and gave a demo at my culinary school last week. Tried to ply some info on how things shake out on top vhef from him but had no luck

Hes a very nice guy and his restaurant is amazing so I will be cheering him on for the remainder of his time there.

[annabelle]

Oh noes! No more Chuy's awesome dad stories. I'll bet Dakota would have had enough money to pay her traffic tickets if she hadn't spent it all on ink.

That cigar thing was disgusting looking. The remaining Team Moto guy doesn't look to be in for the long haul.

[Jaymes]

Oh noes! No more Chuy's awesome dad stories. I'll bet Dakota would have had enough money to pay her traffic tickets if she hadn't spent it all on ink.

That cigar thing was disgusting looking. The remaining Team Moto guy doesn't look to be in for the long haul.

According to the folks that are watching "Last Chance Kitchen" (available online), wherein chefs booted from the main show get a cookoff with other booted chefs for a chance to return, Chuy bested the big guy, Keith. So Chuy isn't necessarily out of it for good.

[annabelle]

That's good to know. I liked the little guy.

[jsmeeker]

Yay! They are in Dallas. And they shopped at the Whole Foods I shop at. Cool. Of course, I am not allowed to park my Honda Accord in the fire lane . Though I am a little surprised they didn't go to the newer and MUCH larger location a few miles south.

[Bruce Earls]

I am suprised they didn't go to Central Market. Assuming organic isn't as important as food variety and quality, Central Market is my favorite by a large margin. To expand on the topic, CM has a robust selection of organic produce, but also an even braoder and often fresher selection of regular produce. CM has graded beef, including prime cuts, which Whole Foods doesn't. At least in Austin, CM has a much wider selection of seafood. Their cheese selections are much more diverse, their deli has a huge selection, I could go on and on.

Of course, I am not actually suprised, Whole Foods is listed in the credits as a sponsor. It is truely a shame that the chefs do in show commercials for the Toyota Crapola or whatever it is. I want chefs that want to make great food, not ones that want to do commercials. If I want commercial producing chefs, I'll just watch The Next Food Network Star.

[annabelle]

The whole show is a commercial. Ad buys pay for the network.