Top Chef: New Orleans

[Jaymes]

Well, the judges did yell at Travis (Captain Vietnam) for his odd idea - but they did remark that the sauce wasn't that horrible by itself and if it had been served with meatballs would have been a decent Italian dish. :-) The shrimp, OTOH, was mangled, it seems - and according to the judges' preferences...and it is frequently the case that poor execution send someone home over almost anything else. I'm guessing that if the dish had been perfectly done it would have been a different matter? OK, I just went back and reviewed the JT for the losing team - and Eddie Huang faulted the concept (for the shrimp dish) the worst, Padma Lakshmi faulted the rice the worst, Tom Colicchio faulted the shrimp the worst...and "Head Judge" wins out, it would seem. The tomato sauce was semi-defended by Emeril Lagasse as being equivalent to some generic sauce and indeed the comment about adding some meatballs and it would have been OK was said at the table.

Shirley's dish was not really "Vietnamese" - again, according to the judges - although she did say back to them that the folks on the docks told her repeatedly that they used butter in cooking their shrimp. In his blog, Hugh Acheson talks about her dish being a successful Viet-fusion dish; and when she was declared the winner Eddie Huang described her win as the best "capture of the spirit of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans". That formulation of the rationale for the decision did catch my notice.

Which makes me wonder if, had the shrimpers' wives said that since they've arrived in New Orleans they're all using an Italian-American red sauce, would Cap'n Vietnam be praised for "capturing the spirit of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans"?

I think that ruining a key protein seems to be the worst sin. Overcooking shrimp until it's rubbery and unpleasant does demonstrate screwing up a pretty basic skill, regardless as to what else you do with it.

Edited October 25, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[Brown Hornet]

The other factor somewhat in Travis's favor is that the judges actually thought his dish with the sausage was at least ok. Most of the time on top chef, screwing up a basic cooking skill, like frying shrimp, will trump a conceptual error.

[huiray]

No comments about episode 5?

Well, for myself I can't say i was too sad to see that fella with the mop for a hairdo get sent off. He didn't make it in LCK either.

Big catering events like this one (again!!) never seem to appeal to me that much in the context of this show, "reality game show" or not. R**nolds Wrap up to the ceiling w/ product placement *very* at the forefront... Ehh, but the QF was decently entertaining. Lea Michele's Halloween bash yet again resulted in a set of dishes that the cheftestapants (Max Silvestri's term, :-) ) put out that hewed to her limited specifications a little too much, even if Justin (for one) disregarded her specifically stated direction for "no beets" - but he got away with it. It still seems weird to me that they ended up with *three* arancinis, for example. Lots of cheese. (Not a favorite foodstuff for me, with exceptions) Surely there are more ways to put out vegetarian/vegan dishes.

Hugh Acheson's blog on episode 5: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/quin-whaaa

Gail Simmons' blog on episode 5: http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/substance-over-style

[huiray]

Well, the judges did yell at Travis (Captain Vietnam) for his odd idea - but they did remark that the sauce wasn't that horrible by itself and if it had been served with meatballs would have been a decent Italian dish. :-) The shrimp, OTOH, was mangled, it seems - and according to the judges' preferences...and it is frequently the case that poor execution send someone home over almost anything else. I'm guessing that if the dish had been perfectly done it would have been a different matter? OK, I just went back and reviewed the JT for the losing team - and Eddie Huang faulted the concept (for the shrimp dish) the worst, Padma Lakshmi faulted the rice the worst, Tom Colicchio faulted the shrimp the worst...and "Head Judge" wins out, it would seem. The tomato sauce was semi-defended by Emeril Lagasse as being equivalent to some generic sauce and indeed the comment about adding some meatballs and it would have been OK was said at the table.

Shirley's dish was not really "Vietnamese" - again, according to the judges - although she did say back to them that the folks on the docks told her repeatedly that they used butter in cooking their shrimp. In his blog, Hugh Acheson talks about her dish being a successful Viet-fusion dish; and when she was declared the winner Eddie Huang described her win as the best "capture of the spirit of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans". That formulation of the rationale for the decision did catch my notice.

Which makes me wonder if, had the shrimpers' wives said that since they've arrived in New Orleans they're all using an Italian-American red sauce, would Cap'n Vietnam be praised for "capturing the spirit of the Vietnamese community in New Orleans"?

I think that ruining a key protein seems to be the worst sin. Overcooking shrimp until it's rubbery and unpleasant does demonstrate screwing up a pretty basic skill, regardless as to what else you do with it.

Some further thoughts...

Gail Simmons' blog on episode 4 (Vietnamese challenge): http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/lemongrass-gate-and-other-oddities

The comments (from readers) there raise objections to the judges' dissing of the Green Team and point out that tomatoes are indeed used in Vietnamese cuisine. One poster indicated that Travis was trying to make an actual Vietnamese dish, namely http://foodaffairvietnam.blogspot.com/2011/07/tom-sot-ot-ca-chua-tomatoes-and-chilli.html .

(See here also)

The issue of tomatoes and (that) tomato sauce is a grey area, at least for me. Certainly tomatoes are used in Chinese, Thai, Malay, SE/E Asian etc cuisine, even if the fruit is not native to the region - but it has become absorbed into the cuisine. (Yes yes, we've had discussions about "fusion cuisine" versus "gradual incorporation of foreign influences into the cuisine")^¶ Even tomato ketchup is used in various dishes in the SE Asian repertoire, too...(and I myself have no difficulty with using it in certain dishes I might whip up) That Bene's sauce in episode 4 was trashed by the judges as an American-Italian sauce and inappropriate to the challenge may have been true - although he said he put in fish sauce - but tomatoes themselves are no longer "foreign" to the cuisine(s). Perhaps it still came down to execution and how the flavor/character of the sauce was developed. What exactly was it, in the end, that made it an "Italian-American" or "American-Italian" red sauce rather than the Vietnamese sauce for the dish in question? Nevertheless, I still tend to agree with the posters' comments on Simmons' ep 4 blog that Tom Colicchio is off on his commentary about cuisines such as this (i.e. "ethnic", in a general sense...) - I've had doubts about him in this regard from previous seasons, (as an example) like when he slammed Ed Cotton's tea-smoked duck, the very one that had been praised by a Chinese diplomat as being very good, very authentic.

^¶ ...and Vietnamese cuisine of course has many French influences absorbed over the years that became defining parts of the dishes, including bánh mì and phở, two things which are considered to be signature dishes of the cuisine by many.

ETA: The commentators on Hugh's blog on episode 4 also weighed in about the dish Cap'n Vietnam was thinking of as being a bona fide dish. Execution may have been the issue but "tomato sauce" was not the problem.

Edited November 3, 2013 by huiray (log)

[gfweb]

Good points. My objection was much like others'...how are these judges to judge Vietnamese food???

[Jaymes]

Episode 4: Hugh Acheson's blog is up, and I think it's a good one with some brief chit-chat about the Vietnamese presence in N.O. and some snark about Eddie Huang. :-) He also has good comments about various issues raised on the episode.

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/hugh-acheson-i-love-the-smell-of-lemongrass-in-the-morning

Saw this earlier. Didn't click on it. Just did.

Boy am I happy to be giggling over bits like this:

"They arrive at Dong Phuong for some baked goods and Banh Mi. Eddie Huang (Chinese ancestry) from NYC via the Florida suburbs, seems to be an expert in Vietnamese cooking."

[Jaymes]

Even tomato ketchup is used in various dishes in the SE Asian repertoire, too...(and I myself have no difficulty with using it in certain dishes I might whip up)

I lived in Asia for a time - Hong Kong and the Philippines - and at one point had a particularly tasty fried rice dish. I asked the cook about it but she spoke no English, only Thai. My dining companion was Thai and she engaged the cook in a chat about the dish.

Finally, after they finished talking, my friend began explaining the dish to me. She went through the usual list of ingredients and then she said, "And you have to add American-style ketchup. That's what makes it Thai."

I swear to you this conversation happened, some forty years ago, between two native Thai, in Hong Kong.

[gfweb]

Episode 4: Hugh Acheson's blog is up, and I think it's a good one with some brief chit-chat about the Vietnamese presence in N.O. and some snark about Eddie Huang. :-) He also has good comments about various issues raised on the episode.

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/hugh-acheson-i-love-the-smell-of-lemongrass-in-the-morning

Saw this earlier. Didn't click on it. Just did.

Boy am I happy to be giggling over bits like this:

"They arrive at Dong Phuong for some baked goods and Banh Mi. Eddie Huang (Chinese ancestry) from NYC via the Florida suburbs, seems to be an expert in Vietnamese cooking."

Acheson and Huang do not like each other.

By Top Chef's logic (Rhode Island via NOLA) + (Florida Chinese NYer) = a Vietnamese judge.

[Shalmanese]

The comments (from readers) there raise objections to the judges' dissing of the Green Team and point out that tomatoes are indeed used in Vietnamese cuisine. One poster indicated that Travis was trying to make an actual Vietnamese dish, namely http://foodaffairvietnam.blogspot.com/2011/07/tom-sot-ot-ca-chua-tomatoes-and-chilli.html .

(See here also)

At the end of the day, the question of authenticity was moot since the person who was sent off was sent off for technique reasons. Double frying the shrimp and then coating it in a wet sauce resulted in unappetizing shrimp.

[Jaymes]

Loved this response on Hugh A's blog:

"Wow. Eddie H has a law degree. And two felony convictions. And the thing he seems to be proudest of is the two felony convictions? What a comment on our society. But, the two felony convictions do make me happy. Let's hope he gets a third and gets locked away somewhere. Then perhaps we won't ever have to hear from him again, until they do a Top Chef 'Sandwiches in a Prison Kitchen' episode."

[gfweb]

LOL. Check out their Twitter war from last summer.

[huiray]

For those interested, the links to the Grubstreet recaps of the last three episodes:

Episode 3: http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/10/top-chef-season-11-episode-3-recap.html

Episode 4: http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/10/top-chef-nola-recap-eddie-huang.html

Episode 5: http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/10/top-chef-season-11-episode-5-recap.html

The reviewer has a stinging rebuke of Travis in the the episode 4 recap. (The "Vietnamese episode")

[huiray]

Even tomato ketchup is used in various dishes in the SE Asian repertoire, too...(and I myself have no difficulty with using it in certain dishes I might whip up)

I lived in Asia for a time - Hong Kong and the Philippines - and at one point had a particularly tasty fried rice dish. I asked the cook about it but she spoke no English, only Thai. My dining companion was Thai and she engaged the cook in a chat about the dish.

Finally, after they finished talking, my friend began explaining the dish to me. She went through the usual list of ingredients and then she said, "And you have to add American-style ketchup. That's what makes it Thai."

I swear to you this conversation happened, some forty years ago, between two native Thai, in Hong Kong.

Well, I was prompted by these reflections on the judges' dissing of tomatoes in Vietnamese cuisine to make a riff on tôm sốt cà chua last night: http://forums.egullet.org/topic/145774-dinner-2013-part-5/page-11?p=1939597#entry1939597

Y'know, I've certainly had prawns/fish/chicken/etc in tomato sauce dishes done in a Chinese-type/SE-E Asian style in Malaysia/S'pore/SE Asia when I was growing up, as well as occasionally elsewhere; and have posted about not dissimilar prawn-in-tomato-sauce dishes here on eG...(see here (scroll down the post) and elsewhere on that thread) In my old age I plumb forgot about dishes like these when I was watching/listening to the TC judges rip into the Green Team for that prawns-in-Italian/American-red-sauce dish.

A favorite dish of mine in my youth was chicken wing pieces in tomato sauce - the wings (bone-in, skin-on) are chopped across the bones into chunks that have all of the "knobs" intact then stir-fried in a tangy-savory tomato sauce with stuff like ginger, garlic, etc (not too many things!), sometimes w/ hot green chillies added in if desired. (No, I don't recall problems with bone splinters. They were chopped by Chinese chefs with their large, sharp, honkin' big cleavers.)

OK, back to Top Chef.

[huiray]

TC NOLA Ep 6 Recaps:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/11/top-chef-season-11-episode-6-recap.html

I had to go back and review the episode after reading the first line of this recap. Yup there it was, popping out of Saloosha's mouth. "Sweet"? I'm tending to the opposite opinion as the episodes go by.

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/silence-of-the-undercooked-lamb

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/gloopy-soupy-and-radish-dresses

Not sure why people seem to fawn over John Besh's looks or snark about his hair.

Travis seems to have problems with knives that are sharp and blames them ("too sharp"!) for his faulted knifework.

Bye, Bene. I thought your chicken dish didn't *look* that bad visually but I gather it didn't taste too good. I thought Sara scraped by and Travis had a lucky escape.

---------------------------

TC NOLA Ep 7 Recaps:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/11/top-chef-season-11-episode-7-recap.html

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/and-dont-call-me-shirley

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/bizarre-potatoes

I did not like the "Musical Cooking Stations" at all. It felt like a parody and seemed quite artificial rather than a demonstration/exercise of "depending on each other" in teamwork in a kitchen, where the dishes are known beforehand and are not formed under the conditions of that QF with chefs who have completely different approaches and viewpoints, it seems to me.

I think Travis was at least slightly responsible for Nicholas's problems with his fish dish, but in the end it was Nick who seasoned and cooked the fish. That fried chicken dish should really have been attributed to Brian, Travis *and* Nick, not just the first two.

Bye, Patty. I think she had been skating on thin ice almost from the beginning anyway.

Heh, it seems from the previews that next week (SPOILER) Saloosha tells someone to suck a dick (again).

ETA: I did find it curious that Patty had NEVER heard of the word "potluck", even though she has been in the USA for several years, graduating from the CIA in 2010. Really? The word had never crossed her awareness before? Odd.

Edited November 15, 2013 by huiray (log)

[Shelby]

I just caught up on the last 2 episodes.

Yeah, the potluck comment struck me weird, too.

[Jaymes]

I did not like the "Musical Cooking Stations" at all. It felt like a parody and seemed quite artificial rather than a demonstration/exercise of "depending on each other" in teamwork in a kitchen, where the dishes are known beforehand and are not formed under the conditions of that QF with chefs who have completely different approaches and viewpoints, it seems to me.

I wasn't a big fan of the "Musical Cooking Stations," either. But do think it's okay, since it wasn't an elimination challenge. After all, I'm sure they sit around scratching their heads trying to come up with new and interesting ideas. So, while it had a great many annoying aspects, it was sort of entertaining.

I wish they had come up with some way for the winning chefs to be everybody that had worked on that dish. That would have felt much more fair and rewarding. I know they couldn't have given immunity, or 5K, or whatever it was to all three chefs, but they could have come up with a prize that would have worked for three cheftestants. I'm sure they could have thought of something- I know I could have. And then, there would have been much hugging and laughing and bonding among the winners and everyone could have felt like they contributed something and had a part in the win.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Jaymes (log)

[huiray]

Top Chef NOLA Ep 8 Recaps:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/11/top-chef-season-11-episode-8-recap.html

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/gris-gris-boucherie-ya-ya

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/team-top-chef/top-chef-goes-to-hog-heaven

Hip tang is the new mumbo-jumbo term.

Saloosha tells Justin to suck a dick. Well, IMO I don't blame Justin for getting annoyed at people commandeering his wood stove/grill without any compunctions at all then getting huffy when he glares at them after he had specifically set up the stove himself (it seemed he was one of the few who knew how to do it, too) and had requested that people respect his cooking space.

Sad to see Louis go. Even though everyone's dishes were thought to be good overall and the judges were nit-picking to select the losers, Louis' dismissal did fly in the face of his pork being judged well-cooked (in a pork contest) and diners at the boucherie were going for seconds of Louis' dish (and therefore also must have liked the popcorn in it) - but obviously the judges don't think much of the preferences of people who eat the food that they (chefs, as a group, including their esteemed selves) cook for folks who would pay money for their food in normal circumstances. ;-) :-) Louis has a chance still, though. In LCK he gets back his TC jacket, which Janine has to finally surrender to him. Good run, Janine.

-------------------------------

Top Chef NOLA Ep 9 Recaps:

Restaurant Wars.

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/top-chef-season-11-episode-9-recap.html

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/fin-found-floundering

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/what-danny-meyer-taught-gail-simmons

Restaurant Found was truly a clusterfuck. That was pretty bad. I was slightly surprised at first; but on reconsideration it could not have been a good thing for that group (Green Team) of strong clashing egos and chefs with decided ways of doing things to be on the same team and expect them to get on well together. Drawing up a menu first right at the start would have helped too, I agree. Rosie the Riveter (Sara) I think did deserve to go home in the end - I tend to subscribe to the opinion that she directly made things worse in the kitchen by her (lack of) FOH performance and ticketing chaos - seemingly (at least in part) from her not properly instructing the servers in the first place, not giving an actual ticket to the kitchen for the judges' tables, etc (although Justin was a little rigid in requiring one); and Colicchio at JT also said that he thought she caused a lot of the turmoil in the kitchen. Justin's dish was bad, but so was hers...and so she went. Restaurant Fin was a surprise to me too - it really went well, and everyone worked well together but Travis (FOH) and Nicholas (EC) were both especial pleasures to watch in the execution of their duties. Well deserved win.

Sara fails to dislodge Louis from his command of LCK.

-----------------------------

Top Chef NOLA Ep 10 Recaps:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2013/12/top-chef-season-11-episode-10-recap.html

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/what-danny-meyer-taught-gail-simmons?page=0,0

Good additional commentary in both recaps, I thought. Of course, Acheson nevertheless does not skimp on the drollness in his recap. A studmuffin (so drools Stephanie) is in the house.

A fair bit of emoting in this one - especially from the male chefs, which was nice to see in a way. Nicholas almost loses his composure but puts out the winning dish. I'd like to sample that. (Hmm, curious...the recipe is not up on the Bravo website. In fact, none of Nicholas Elmi's recipes are there.) Not much else to say on this one - all the dishes were thought to be good or at least decent with nothing particularly negative about them. Still, biscuits with raw centers was probably correctly called out as the most egregious error. Bye, Travis - just when you were hitting your stride and getting over your earlier excessive cockiness too.

In LCK (using some ingredients common to E Asian cuisine) Travis put out a great "Asian" dish but Louis Maldonado holds on to his TC jacket - just barely - with (retrospective) help from his Korean wife who taught him a lot about stuff from that part of the world (and BTW, Travis, which he - Louis - did not talk about incessantly).

[huiray]

Top Chef NOLA Ep 11 Recaps:

www.grubstreet.com:2013:12:top-chef-season-11-episode-11-recap

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/hugh-decides-eight-is-enough

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/gail-simmons/gail-talks-ovengate

Carlos is being portrayed as a 'user' and a prick. Nick is losing patience especially w/ Carlos. Sorry to see Justin leaving, he was being true to his cheffy nature...too bad the audience (including the judges) was expecting mac-and-cheese kind of stuff instead.

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Top Chef NOLA Ep 12 Recaps:

http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/01/top-chef-season-11-episode-12-recap.html

http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-11/blogs/hugh-acheson/hughs-sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay

Carlos should have gone, IMO. Carlos. Not Carrie. Carlos is not being portrayed in a good light in both episodes 11 and 12. I don't blame Nick (and others) for venting about Carlos.

Good win, Stephanie.

-------------------------------

LCK: Louis holds on to his TC coat through Ep 11 and Ep 12 LCKs. Too bad, Justin & Carrie. He's looking very strong.

Edited January 3, 2014 by huiray (log)

[annabelle]

I've not watched this last installment but did manage to watch Restaurant Wars and the soul food place episodes. I'm underwhelmed with this show this year.

For instance, I never caught the names of either restaurant. "Restaurant Bound"? what, I was thinking. And Fin. As in over? Talk about tempting fate.

I can't stand having Yankees (Tom C.) judging soul food/southern cooking challenges. Tom C. can stay out of the kitchens, too since all he does is snark for the cameras. Several people on here have eaten at his restaurants and proclaimed that they weren't all that, so he should stick to his knitting.

[gfweb]

I can't stand having Yankees (Tom C.) judging soul food/southern cooking challenges. Tom C. can stay out of the kitchens, too since all he does is snark for the cameras. Several people on here have eaten at his restaurants and proclaimed that they weren't all that, so he should stick to his knitting.

I ate at one of his NYC places a while ago, the one by Bellevue. It was just OK, tough (as in undercooked) ravioli app and overcooked meat. I assume he wasn't in the kitchen. FWIW his book, Think Like a Chef is worth reading, esp if you are going to be a contestant on TC. In it he spells out his points of view and biases.

[annabelle]

Thanks for the tip! Since he pretty much hates everything, except his own cooking, it should be a fast read.

[huiray]

Tom Colicchio happens to be the head honcho and judge on this pet show of his, but I certainly agree he is not "all that". I definitely think his expertise is really limited to "Modern American" or "Italian-American" cuisine for the most part and he really should not be judging things outside of those areas *especially* in "ethnic-type" cuisines where he has shown really questionable decisions. I have said before that "Top Chef" really should be called "Who Wants To Cook For Tom Colicchio & Co." (i.e. those who share his specific idiosyncratic palate and preferences)

[gfweb]

Ahhh. I didn't like how last night was handled by the judges...suggesting that immunity be given up. Sure the dishes sucked, but the chef was pushed by Crenn to do that foolishness. That's the nature of immunity in TC, it puts the non-immune at some greater risk.

And at this stage of the competition WTF is the deal with immunity and team challenges? And having other chefs plan the menus? W T F

Bad elves.

[huiray]

Ahhh. I didn't like how last night was handled by the judges...suggesting that immunity be given up. Sure the dishes sucked, but the chef was pushed by Crenn to do that foolishness. That's the nature of immunity in TC, it puts the non-immune at some greater risk.

And at this stage of the competition WTF is the deal with immunity and team challenges? And having other chefs plan the menus? W T F

Bad elves.

I just only got around to viewing this episode on my DVR.

I agree with you. It was handled badly by the judges. Jacques Pepin should NOT have even suggested to Nick (who had the immunity) that he resign and he was wrong to have done so. Nick had won immunity fair and square and which HE, Pepin, had granted in the QF because Nick was the one who executed his dish (Pepin's own dish) the best and done so with what he, Pepin, had said was this extra "organic quality" to it. That Nick's dishes in the EC turned out to be the worst ones were due in large part to CRENN'S pushing for them, as you mentioned, and his (Nick) taking them on, even though they were avant-garde and outside of his comfort zone, *because* he had immunity and thought he was trying to protect the team (at least at the time he was thinking it) by taking on the riskiest dishes. Additionally, he was hovering over the other team members' dishes (Shirley's and Stephanie's) and trying to help ensure those were done as well as could be...and it was difficult to see the, uh, difficulties they had with Nick and the situation subsequently.

Note to self: I've never eaten at Dominique Crenn's restaurant(s) and now have no wish whatsoever to do so anytime soon.

Since the judges felt that both Stephanie and Shirley had executed such lovely dishes, but accepted that they could not send Nick home - why didn't they NOT send anyone home this time? They've done that before. Fine, have a double elimination next time; or tack on an additional episode to deal with it - variations of both have, again, been done before...that would have been a better decision IMO.

Also IMO Carlos is still a dick.

[huiray]

As for chit-chat out there about why Nick had immunity but should have gone home - well, plenty of TC cheftestapants (Max Silvestri's term) have had immunity before *and* had the worst dish or performance *and* would have gone home if not for said immunity (e.g. Carrie in the current season just two episodes ago, for her cold broccoli and yoghurt) but the judges had never made an issue of it before in the same way they did in this episode.