Last night the season finale of the ratings powerhouse Hell's Kitchen aired, pitting Louis Petrozza, catering director, against 25-year-old Christina Machamer, the culinary school student. Gordon Ramsay, known for expecting his chefs to be physically fit, picked Machamer as the winner over 47-year-old Petrozza, basing his decision on her "potential and drive." She gets the position of "executive chef" (in title only) at Ramsay's new Los Angeles restaurant, a prize "worth" $250,000. Hitting the inbox today was a press release from the cooking school Machamer attended, the Culinary Institute of America, that helped explain why she was labeled a "culinary student" for the duration of the show. The backstory, after the jump....
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In Salon this morning, Regina Schrambling is frustrated by how we refrigerate so many things that would do just fine on the pantry shelf: In an informal e-survey of roughly 20 friends in six states, some of whom eat for a living, I found the same pattern. A number did know what foods go rancid in the pantry: nut and olive oils in particular (only corn and sesame oils have never turned on me) and fresh peanut butter (salmonella is not the only threat). They knew real maple syrup can go moldy at room temperature, and that true grits, cornmeal, wheat germ and other grains susceptible to spoilage actually benefit from the cold.Still, all but one refrigerate scores of other...
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