COOKING UNDER FIRE from PBS: April 27 premiere

[culinarycathexis]

Who in the world would want to go to NJ???????

[culinarycathexis]

You'll have to excuse me if I do not define Katie's grandstanding as "leadership".  IMHO leadership is more than gruffly ordering people about. 

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I think the magic of television protrayed her as gruff. ANd why is it when a female is being assertive she is seen as being a b**ch and when a man is assertive he is seen as confident? You must remember it is a male dominated industry.

[sladeums]

I don't know if PBS did this in other broadcast areas but in my area they were showing previews for the final episode before showing the previews for the second to last episode...the focal point of the finale preview being the identity of the last 3 contestants.

Kinda takes the surprise outta this next one for me.

[Allen]

if anybody's up at 8 am tomorrow, you can see ming and todd square off with a quickie mystery basket on the Weekend Today Show.

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Unfortunately I think I was awake. Did I see teriyaki sauce, pesto and a cheddar cheeseburger all on the same plate or was that a dream.

[Michael Ruhlman]

come on, man, that was a stroke of genius by a true artist under pressure on national television. It actually tasted really good--swear to god.

[Allen]

It actually tasted really good--swear to god.

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I'll take your word for it since you were there.

By the way, what is the deal with the 86 pan, I mean other than that All-Clad is likely a sponsor. It's like hey your fired and by the way here’s your complementary souvenir pan.

Here's a thought. When the contestants are introduced in the first episode give them a nice set of knives and a valise style case for them. Then each week after the final critique ask the contestants return to the kitchen and check the 86 board, the person whose name has been added to the list must take their knifes and leave – you know like in a real restaurant. I’m sure you could get a knife company interested in some product placement.

If the knife idea doesn’t work out perhaps you could give them a case of Coors Light, of course the former cook would grab this themselves from the liquor delivery on their way out the back door - again kind of like in a real restaurant.

[Phatlouie07]

i hope sara wins. katsuji is one arrogant jerk. how can you think that your palate is better than people who have been in the buisness a lot longer than he has been. he didn't even taste his food, a cardinal sin in any restaurant kitchen. kinda disrespectful in his input, his dishes needed seasoning because you, todd, and ming were "seniors" and "seniors" need more seasoning in order to taste their food?? glad he's out.

[coquus]

According to Harold McGee, people start losing their taste in their forties, all three judges are there, I dunno .

[AlexP]

According to Harold McGee, people start losing their taste in their forties, all three judges are there, I dunno  .

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Even if Katsuji statement has scientific truth, he would not even know if the food were seasoned correctly if he did not taste it. He did not have the experience to cook those dishes properly without tasting. I was hoping that he would turn around in the competition, but unfortunately he got worse in my opinion. His statements from last night were just pathetic.

The show last night had good intensity. There were no complete disasters like in other episodes, just a poor performance

I am curious to know what type of season finale we will have. I thought the final would be working the line, and they kind of did that yesterday.

Are there definite plans for a second season?

Alex

[Genny]

Yea Katsuji is gone! What a small insecure little boy, sad actually. It looks like it is between Katie and Sara. Tough choice! I think it is amazing though that in the 'male dominated' professional kitchen, 4/12 starters were female and 3 of them are the last ones standing. Todd seems to like Katie and he and Ming were both impressed with Sara.

Michael, does Todd's vote count more than yours and Mings since it is for his restraunt? For instance, if you and Ming both vote for Sara but Todd votes for Katie, does Katie win it?

[BCinBC]

Dang I missed last night's episode, and it was the kitchen line one too. I will now have to set the VCR to tape it at 1.30 AM Sunday!

I'm not surprised to see Katsuji go, to me he always came across as way too bullheaded and arrogant to cook under anyone. The real mystery is, who is the real Katsuji? Read his bio, then read his comments after being 86'ed (which kind of coincide with the image of him presented in the show). Polar opposites.

And who is this JayBassin, with 5 posts - ONE being the prediction of Sarah winning? Insider? Ruhlman's alter eG ego?

[Michael Ruhlman]

At this stage both Ming and I are giving Todd the ultimate say because it is his future employee. That said, the final two competitions being a mystery basket and a give-us-all-you-got situation, the verdict has been clear and unanimous in each case, as it had been throughout the whole competition so we didn't run into any problems, though i suppose we could have.

most pbs stations i believe are running the last two episodes back to back, btw.

[BuzzDraft]

Mais non, cynical buzzdraft.  The producers made it clear from the outset our decision was ours to make alone. 

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MAN! Could I have been MORE WRONG? My apologies for being cynical and thinking I know something. Just my luck, I make a public ass of myself and my gaffe not only gets noticed, but replied to by Chef Ruhlman.

So, can I have the "86 Pan" Katsuji tossed loudly onto the stove?

Don't know if it's only the editing, but Sara really emerged, Kentucky Katie seems now to be all tough talk yet has been called on the 86 carpet more than her share (how many lives does this cat have?), and Autumn admitted her heart isn't in this competition anymore. Those "Senior palates need more salt" and "They can keep their rats, I'm going back to the sunshine and pretty girls" cracks were typical rationalizing of the insecurity of so many LA people I've known.

It was interesting to see the real line cooks performing last night. This is a pretty good show, just like Chef Ruhlman promised early on.

[BuzzDraft]

According to Harold McGee, people start losing their taste in their forties...

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He must have been talking about our fashion sense and comb-over hairstyle.

That's why we over-40's can't go to the pool anymore. That, and the fear of getting harpooned.

[ken T]

You'll have to excuse me if I do not define Katie's grandstanding as "leadership".  IMHO leadership is more than gruffly ordering people about.  

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I think the magic of television protrayed her as gruff. ANd why is it when a female is being assertive she is seen as being a b**ch and when a man is assertive he is seen as confident? You must remember it is a male dominated industry.

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Nowhere did I say or intimate she is a bitch. I know the male vs female breakdown in the industry. And I do not equate grandstanding for the judges as being assertive. She would be a very disruptive figure in a kitchen with her attitude.

[Mrs. P]

The Cooking Under Fire finalists are doing an online chat with the Washington Post today at noon (already started)

WP Chat

[Mnehrling]

Thanks for the heads up. I must say, this is probably the first reality show where from the outset the finalists seem like the right people.

Katie seems to have the experience in a fast paced environment and knows how to handle pressure.

Autumn has a warm personality that most people would like to work with. She's created some great dishes.

Sara seems to be the quiet brilliant sort that anyone can count on. She has sneaked in to become my bet for the winner.

Edited July 11, 2005 by Mnehrling (log)

[BigboyDan]

Three chicks, huh?

[culinarycathexis]

what did you want three guys?

[Michael Ruhlman]

how about the best three cooks?

the producer of the show asked me to make sure that anyone who wanted to see the conclusion should know that in most places it's a double show tomorrow starting at 8pm. He says they're great shows, and I believe him though he's biased. and we can only imagine what dire musings jinmyo would have on the subject...

perhaps afterwards i can be persuaded to reveal the identity of culinarycathexis...

[BigboyDan]

In a line cook contest: the chance that natural events would result in only the three females becoming finalists out of twelve contestants is, well, zero. Either the males were chosen as dolts comparatively, or the females were chosen as superior, or the females were simply favored in the process. That's it.

[Michael Ruhlman]

I agree, odds are against it and it doesn't mirror the industry obviously. The women were not favored by any means. So the question is really why did women who were better than men try out for the show?

One possibility is that only cooks who were at a certain level tried out for the show. The women and men were at the same level professionally, but the women, who have a harder time advancing in the male dominated kitchen, were at a higher level technically. Thus, in the relatively unbiased format of cooking under fire, which only sought to measure technical ability, the women were destined to win.

This outcome, given industry bias, now that I think about it, may have been inevitable.

[touaregsand]

In a line cook contest: the chance that natural events would result in only  the three females becoming finalists out of twelve contestants is, well, zero. Either the males were chosen as dolts comparatively, or the females were chosen as superior, or the females were simply favored in the process. That's it.

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Coincidence or ratings?

I'll take Michael's word for it. Tha man is a pillar I tell you, a pillar! (I'm not joking)

[BigboyDan]

Favored doesn't necessarily imply intent. I've worked with many 23ish line cooks over the last thirty years (I was one too) and the good ones were worth every penny spent on them, the too few females were worth their weight in gold. Nothing improves the dynamic of the line more than including competent females.

Now from what I saw on the show, most tests seemed to meet the skill sets that a Sous chef should have, that which exceeds that of an early-twenties line cook. I wonder how the show would have been different if the contestants had been 27ish...

[Genny]

Hey Big Boy why don't you come on over and...ah hell, I tried but couldn't go there. You know...

There was a 30-something professional, he got an early boot. My impression? Too lazy.