Serious Eats: porterbl1's Profile

p.s. the reason I harp on the chef's backgrounds (and suggest that it makes the 8-week contest just 'entertainment' rather than a valid competition) is also this: in the Iron Chef America show so far over the past few years, what have we usually seen?

Every time Bobby Flay cooks, we see him trotting out all his southwestern techniques and ingredients. Every single time. And Mario Batali always cooks in Italian style. Always. Its considered a strength, and oftentimes it is how they win their battles. Going with what they know. They're not embarrassed by it.

And during the tasting at the end of each show, they can explain where the context of every dish came from. Where they encountered it, what its origins are. They are really 'contemporary food historians'.

So, it's easy to see that Michael Symon is also going to revert back to his strong suit in each show as well. Why wouldn't he? It's what will help him win. But what does he have to say about food in the larger sense?

Whereas, if John Besh had won, we would have had a conduit into the rich food traditions of New Orleans: creole and cajun cooking, southern cooking, the French and Spanish influence, Caribbean influence.

This is a clear 'fork in the road' that FoodNetwork was confronted with and I think that their new direction towards homey, non-star chefs underpins the way the contest went.

Think about it: they're using a test which involves cooking an in-flight meal to determine which of these two chefs winds up on Iron Chef America? It's outlandish. Where the heck is the relevance in that, to designing a properly informative and engaging TV show like ICA? Okay, Symon 'wins' the airline meal ribbon. Still: is he the best chef to have on the show? Bobby Flay might have lost that airline round, but he is still obviously a really great choice for Iron Chef.

I see the point many have made about preferring down-home cooks. Okay, that's a matter of opinion I suppose. But for my money, FoodNetwork already has too many bland, suburban, housewife-ey cooks, rather than top-notch chefs in its programming.

We have now: two shows from Rachel Ray, the Gourmet Next Door, that tall blonde soccer-Mom (daytimes) 2DudesCatering, Everyday Italian, Paula Dean, two guys who show us how to cook for parties (the guy from Napa Valley and the other dude), and a dozen others! Looks like 70% of FN programming is geared to low-budget meals!

Cortez_the_Killer at 12:23PM on 11/23/07

From Serious Eats

'Next Iron Chef': The Finale

Can't go along with your logic or your analogy. The Beatles didn't invent rock'n'roll. They were interpreting something that was already established in America--the real birthplace of blues and rock. To make your analogy work with regard to Michael Symon and Mediterranean food, you'd have to posit a Beatles group that had never heard Elvis or any American blues at all, and expect them to still be as good.

1)
I maintain that where Symon hails from is a crucial matter. Because we're talking about authenticity here. The real power these chefs have, is because they present themselves as figures of integrity and authority in a certain branch of regional food. They've trained and explored at length, in a rich local food heritage, which finds its way into their cooking. Food is culture. The way that local Spanish chefs make a meat sauce in Barcelona or the way that sushi chefs in make miso in Kyoto was the heart of the original Iron Chef show.

Else, why did the original Iron Chef Japan have each chef represent a major world cuisine? Iron Chef French, Iron Chef Italian, Iron Chef Chinese. This makes eminent sense and was a fundamental part of the program's success. This methodology provides a way to learn about food in a systematic way, rather than piecemeal.

And although it was not stated as such, this is clearly what Iron Chef America was mimicking with it's lineup. But now, they've unraveled this simple and effective arrangement--because Symon comes from the sucking void that is Cleveland, where he does his own thing--whatever that is. He hasn't traveled, but poses as an expert in Greek food. Okay, so where is the authenticity? Where is the depth? What can he transmit to us directly from the Greek food culture? You tell me. Is he capable of doing authentic dishes or just Cleveland, Ohio's version?

I mean, what is more important here? That we have a dumbed-down 'American Chef' program so that suburbanites can feel comfortable in the kitchen, or can we keep the integrity high and come to grips with the fact that the greatest cuisine in the world springs from sources outside our own country? French, Italian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Latin--let's stop pretending these are American creations and turn to the sources. Or, if we stick to American regions, then go with Southwest, Italian, Southern, or Californian. But pray tell what can any of us learn from Cleveland?

2)
And my other point is that he is also redundant in a show with two other Mediterranean chefs. What sense does this make? Or doesn't redundancy bother anyone else but me?

3)
But I guess my beef is with the way the producers handled this whole affair. I mean, there are so many places along the way, or in the concept itself, where you can see strings being pulled and events being rigged. Someone else mentioned, for instance, that it was obvious an ethnic chef with a thick foreign accent (Chef Marou) or another female chef weren't going to be chosen, right from the start. Food for thought.

Or, how convenient was it that one chef got slammed for 'failing to salt his dish properly' when, (behind the scenes) it was an ice bath which accidentally spoiled his dish at the last minute? And then this whole thing about Ruhlman and Symon going back nine years, and Ruhlman having some kind of personal preference for the midwest? And then Ruhlman jumps on Besh because his consomme wasn't clear enough? Come on. What I'm saying is that this is hardly a realistic competition to begin with.

The competition stages are interesting (and make good television) but they shouldn't be the total criteria on which a new chef for this show was chosen. Remember that when 'The Next Food Network Host' was chosen, two finalists reach the endgame and then FoodNetwork viewers voted.
Obviously the benefit of such a scheme is that it eliminates all the chefs who actually made drastic mistakes. But to eliminate John Besh from a silly final round battle in Kitchen Stadium against Symon?

Also, I hardly think Chef Symon blew anything 'out of the water'. His dishes were sloppy and insipid where Besh's were complex and composed. There was an imbalance in the silly choice of stage-winners each time. 'For example, Symon won the 'Resource test' how? By preparing a 'family style' plate and giving each judge a glass of juice?

In my opinion, losing the 'Artistry test' so badly that it nearly eliminates you from competition is a key reason not to add a chef to a cooking *television show*. Such a show is all about artistry. A contrived reality-show 'contest' (using the word 'contest' very loosely here) shouldn't be taken so seriously that we (or FoodNetwork) forget that this is television. If they're going to carefully import Michael Symon into the program, fine. But I'm calling it a hideously bad decision, and the excuse that "well this WAS a contest" is more of a smokescreen than anything else.

Cortez_the_Killer at 2:22AM on 11/23/07

From Serious Eats

'Next Iron Chef': The Finale

I don't agree that Symon is disastrous for the show. I think he has personality and will grow into a great on-camera presence. Where Symon is from is hardly an intelligent reason for dismissing his abilities and potential. (Following that mentality into music we'd have ignored the Beatles when they came on the scene. I mean, it's not like any great rock and roll music had ever came out of the UK....) Besides, this isn't Iron Chef France, it's Iron Chef America and I prefer Symon because I'm not interested in another pretentious erudite who can show me the cuisine of the world (there are plenty of travel-food shows I can watch for a global food passport if that's my wont), I want someone who harkens more toward myself as an average American - who can come from this (as some apparently consider) "humble" beginning to create Iron Chef quality creations.

Besh was barely consistant, often good but rarely great, and I didn't perceive that he was going to get any better, where as Symon blew the socks off the judges when he was great, and seemed to learn from his mistakes and adapt and grow with humility and grace despite his "crass" personality.

On the subject of the direction FN is going - I agree; we're headed down a slippery slope here. It's great that it's being enjoyed by more people now, people who never considered themselves to be great cooks. It's increased the knowledge and skill of the average cook and convinced people who shied away from the kitchen that they, too, could create wonderful dishes; and I believe the large part of that was the introduction of non-pretentious, more relateable personalities. It made good food, and its preparation, more tangible to the average person. I started really watching FN when The Naked Chef came on - it was fresh and new and I could relate to it.

That being said - they need to find a healthy balance. I enjoy watching Ace of Cakes - his personality is refreshing and edgy, but he's professional and that balance allows me to enjoy his show but take his advice seriously. I perceive Symon to be the same way. However; though I haven't seen that Two Dudes catering or whatever it's called yet, only saw a commercial for it - it was heinous. It conjured images in my mind of these guys standing on opposite sides of a garage packaging food, tossing something across to each other, dropping it, and picking it up off of the grease-ridden garage floor and packaging it. I'm sure that's not really how it is, but that's where that commercial took me in my mind.

FN needs to take a step back and make sure they're maintaining a balance between approachable, personable, and professional.

mariwashere at 9:17AM on 11/20/07

From Serious Eats

'Next Iron Chef': The Finale

FYI, Alton Brown was interviewed last week in a New York newspaper and vigorously denied that Batali is leaving 'Iron Chef'. Make of that what you may.

I myself am hugely disappointed with the choice of Michael Symon. I'm ceasing my viewership of this show, it is abominable that they chose this guy.

Why? For one, he is from CLEVELAND. None of the world's great cuisines come from Ohio, last time I checked. French-trained John Besh would have been a valuable conduit to American audiences (via Iron Chef) for French cooking. How they overlook this is beyond me.

Seriously--to have an Iron Chef program with three Mediterranean-style cooks and two specifically Greek-style chefs is ludicrous. Michael Symon is redundant because the show already has Cat Cora.

John Besh is simply more depthful, more intriguing. He diverges from the whole 'garlic, oil, lemon' style of cooking which characterizes so many other chefs.

And side by side, Besh is simply the better pick for this TV show. He excels in the 'artistry' side of food where Symon is sloppy (almost getting eliminated for his lack of artistry early in the competition).

Remember, this program is purely a visual show--we cannot taste what the judges taste. What a chef's dishes look like, therefore, is crucial for viewers. If we see a fabulous creation that captures our imagination, we will remember it long after the episode closes. It's what made the original Iron Chef show so powerful: mesmerizing visuals. Yet, the network lets Besh-the-artist go home and keeps Symon-the-slob. It's absurd.

Further point: Besh is smooth, polished, erudite and worldly, suave--the camera loves him-- whereas Symon is a bit of a midwestern boor. He' s a slouch, crass; he's loud and awkward. In the series tests, he was underconfident and lost his cool occasionally. Just not a guy to emulate.

So, I think letting this unfold the way it did was one of the worst decisions FN could have made and I agree this network is headed down the wrong path. They may have thought they were doing the right thing but it is clearly not the best thing for the show.

signed,
Cortez

p.s. And I am flabbergasted at the intelligence that Ruhlman and Symon go back 9 years. That is totally a conflict of interest.

Cortez_the_Killer at 1:45AM on 11/19/07

From Serious Eats

'Next Iron Chef': The Finale

I'm kinda skeptical about an ABC News report that can't go back and fact-check Giada De Laurentiis' name.

heartnibbler at 4:20PM on 11/14/07

From Serious Eats

'Next Iron Chef': The Finale

@blondee47: I'm not quite sure if I understand why you're upset with Amy Pataki.

If I'm reading your comments here correctly, you had not read her October 6 article until yesterday (Nov. 12). At which point you took issue with her Toronto Star piece spoiling the ending.

However, you had chosen to click through to the "continued" part of this post, which clearly stated there would be spoilers.

So I'm confused as to why you're retroactively upset with Ms. Pataki when this very post should have served as a spoiler, negating anything that may have been in that October 6 newspaper story.

Adam Kuban at 4:53PM on 11/13/07

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