Posted by Raphael, August 1, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Slated to air last Friday, but bumped because of a Qantas jet explosion that occurred the same day, Nightline ran their piece on Iron Chef America last night. The segment, described as a "behind the scenes" look that was supposed to "reveal secrets," actually revealed nothing we didn't already know: they use stand-ins before the Iron Chef is selected, the contestants know the secret ingredient ahead of time (it's one of three), and the Chairman isn't really the nephew of the original Japanese version's Chairman. He's just an actor.
When asked about the judges, Cat Cora said, "you have to grin and bear it. There are times when you want to put a choke hold on someone but, you know, you just stand there and take in their feedback and appreciation." There was also a brief chat with frequent judge and Bon Appetit restaurant editor Andrew Knowlton, who gets nervous during "battle quail or battle turkey and [sees] the ice cream machine flip on."
The best part of the segment came from Alton Brown, who explained what a total bloodfest last season was:
This season there's been a fair amount of blood. People have been cutting themselves, lopping off things... the chefs are more likely to injure themselves because sous chefs tend to handle knives better...[The chefs] become big on TV and they become sloppy with knife skills... It's like, 'Oops! I've cut the dickens out of myself.' ... You know, blood all over... Sous chefs are laughing."
Posted by Raphael, July 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM
"What we do is the same thing like those on Broadway. Everyday you open the curtain and it's a new show." —François Payard
Learn more about renown French pastry chef François Payard of New York City's Payard Patisserie and Bistro in his interview on Nightline's "Platelist" series. If you're not craving chocolate right now, you will after watching Payard make chocolate French toast and chocolate cake. After watching the video, grab the recipes and read more of the interview at Nightline's website.
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Posted by Raphael, June 20, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Nightline continued its "Platelist" series last night with none other than Gordon Ramsay. He does the standard cooking demo and the brief biography but shares some particularly harsh words for food critics:
"Unfortunately, today at the age of 41, my persona gets judged over my substance, which is really frustrating," he said. "I've been cooking for 21 years, and it shows on the wrinkles of my face. But here's the scenario: I'm now being judged by individuals that know less about food than I do. But yet, you have to take it like a man. Well I don't want to take it like a man anymore. I'm fed up with the sarcasm, the damn right rudeness and more important, the arrogance of food critics. Have they actually spent a 16-hour shift cooking 70 to 80 lunches, 120 to 150 dinners short staffed, fish cook is not turning in, produce inconsistent because of the weather?"
Oddly, Nightline cut out parts of the interview from the broadcast and posted larger excerpts to its website: Ramsay, the serial marathon runner and strong believer in physical fitness, insists that his staff be fit, expecting them to hit the gym, going so far as to weigh his chefs every time they step into the kitchen:
"Staying fit is part of the important role of a chef today. I think the days of the balding, alcoholic, fat chef have long gone. The pressure on young chefs today is far greater than ever before in terms of social skills, marketing skills, cooking skills, personality and, more importantly, delivering on the plate. So you need to be strong. Physically fit," he said.
"So my chefs get weighed every time they come into the kitchen. And they run. And they seriously look after themselves. They have free memberships to the local gyms, and more important, I need them to … not just to train their palate but to look after themselves."
Video after the jump.
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Posted by Raphael, June 10, 2008 at 12:15 PM
"We used to have this rule, my friends and I, that if we couldn't get on the first subway... we went to breakfast. And maybe that was the beginning of my food career."
ABC's Nightline continues their "Platelist" series with Chef Bobby Flay. In between demonstrating recipes for Bar Americain's Gulf Shrimp and Grits and Fulton Fish Market Cioppino, he talks about being a bad high school student, his father's influence, and his earliest food memories. You can read more of the interview on Nightline's website. Watch the video after the jump.
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Posted by Raphael, May 30, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Oreos may be the wold's best-selling cookie, but it has yet to make much of a impression in biscuit-obsessed England. Nightline covers the Oreo invasion on British soil: what's the Oreo's strategy, how is it being received, and, most importantly, does it dunk well in tea? After the jump, watch the analysis of the Oreo takeover.
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Posted by Raphael, May 27, 2008 at 9:10 AM
Josh "Mr. Cutlets" Ozersky, editor of The Grub Street, was a guest on last Friday night's Nightline, in which he goes to Hill Country Barbecue to discuss whether calorie labeling in restaurants would affect people's ordering:
I'm a purist. I love it when it's incredibly complex and layered—when all the arts of gastronomy have gone into a dish. But it should all be based on the beauty and simplicity of animal fat.
I don't think calorie counts are going to stop people from ordering something that's really good.
Ozersky compares the calorie contents of a grande mocha Starbucks coffee with whipped cream and pound cake (800-plus calories), a Big Mac (540 calories), Au Bon Pain's Southwest Tuna Wrap (860 calories), a tropical fruit smoothie from Dunkin' Donuts (720 calories), and the biggest stunner—what he calls "sucker salads": the Pecan Encrusted Chicken Salad at T.G.I. Friday's, clocking in at 1,360 calories.
Ozersky: "Pecans seem healthy. They're nuts. Chicken is skinless, there are greens. It's colorful and healthy, yeah, but it's almost as many calories as three Big Macs."
When asked if calorie labeling would improve people's lives, Ozersky replies, "It doesn't make my life better. I have a freakish existence. But I'd say it probably makes for a better society."
Video after the jump.
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Posted by Raphael, May 9, 2008 at 12:30 AM
Last night's Nightline featured Michael Pollan talking about his twelve commandments for eating from his book In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto:
In general, I'm inclined to stick with the tried and true when it comes to food. And let the novelties be tested for a while. I think we need to begin to spend more on food, both in terms of money and in time. I know that's not a popular message. People like their convenience foods. But this experiment of outsourcing our food preparation to corporations has failed us. I mean, it's left us really unhealthy, really unsatisfied. And I think it's undermined the family life and undermined the community.
Video after the jump.
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Posted by Ed Levine, April 22, 2008 at 10:00 AM
The Papal Menu, Revealed
Pope Benedict XVI and Lidia Bastianich, who cooked for the pope while he visited New York City.
For Lidia Bastianich, cooking for Pope Benedict XVI was more than an honor. In her own words, it was a "closing of the circle."
Forty years ago, when Lidia was 12 and living in a refugee camp in Trieste, Italy, with her parents and brother, a Catholic relief organization provided them with safe passage and the proper visas to emigrate to America. But Lidia and her parents had to go to the Vatican to get the blessing of the pope at the time, Pope Paul VI.
So one can only imagine how thrilled she was to cook not one, not two, but three meals for the current pope during his visit to New York City. And Pope Benedict XVI turned out to be a serious eater, which is not surprising, given the fact that his mom was a hotel chef. This is what Lidia and her colleagues served His Holiness.
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