View All PostsGael Greene
Hiccups! Cocktails and Pub Grub
Gael Greene describes judging alongside some Real Housewives of Orange County.
Apr 21, 2010Poor Mark’s ambitious seafood sausage had to sit in that muck he presented as Yorkshire pudding. It wasn’t till later at the critics’s table that we learned he’d been done in by a faulty oven gauge.
I love kidneys. Properly-prepared kidneys do not have any foul taste or odor. But I guess you rarely see kidneys on a menu today because most people won’t eat them, chefs included. Given his fear of kidneys, Graham did the best he could do with fine beef tenderloin and an excellent root vegetable ragout.
Ludo is an original. Whatever he’s thinking, it just pops out of his outh. He was not very chivalrous in his put down of the housewives. But as a certified Frenchman I bet he would have done a great riff on steak and kidney pie. As for his Irish stew, he knew he was lost in a fog He is definitely not Irish and it wasn’t Irish either.
Jonathan’s lazy man’s shepherd’s pie was a stretch too, but all it’s parts were absolutely luscious. It was close for me at the end but I had to give him the five points his dish deserved.
Gael Greene, www.InsatiableCritic.com
Follow me on Twitter.com/gaelgreene
I must say that these two challenges were two of my all-time favorite challenges (I've watched every season of TC and TC:M) and I was overjoyed to see them tackled by the Masters!
Kudos to Bravo!
I was very surprised that Wylie was not called out about his store-bought sausages. He would have been reamed for that by the judges on Top Chef.
I must say Gael that although you are utmostly qualified to judge, your disdain for Wylie's cooking and the field of molecular gastronomy both last season and in this recent episode has made me lose some respect for you.
@FanFare56 I would recommend that you watch the video that demonstrates how to cook Jonathan's dish. It is actually a very complex dish with a very thoughtful approach to melding a lot of different flavors together. The appearance may not be up to your standards but the taste is what won the judges over.
Hi Gael: I also felt that the OC housewives were completely unable to tell a good dish from a bad one. Please, Bravo, quit trying to cross promote your shows. The housewives need to stay where they are. It is really unfair to have these chefs dishes judged by someone who wouldn't know good food from a pile of you know what! Missed James this week. I do appreciate your insight into the dishes served and keep up the good work!
I agree with some of the other posters. First of all, Top Chef contestants have been chewed up and spit out in past seasons for using store bought sausage products instead of producing their own. Also, the OC Housewives are definitely not the best choice as guest judges in the scenario given. And I was surprised that Vicki was not there as I would say she might be the most 'well-rounded'.
To be honest, in comparison to some of the dishes of have seen on this season's Top Chef Masters I was a bit disappointed in the effort put forth by the chefs in this episode. While Ludo is French, I don't think that excuses him from having just plain good manners!
Hello Gael,
It was great to see you judge the QF with the OC women. Their opinions seemed swayed by your experienced palate. I felt they were undeserving of being judges of food because they rarely eat what is served and have no taste buds, dulled by the many cocktails or wine that they swig. Ludo was right that they were not real judges. They came off as giggling idiots. Thank goodness you were there to counterbalance their lack of food knowledge.
The elim challenge was supposed to be pub grub made great. I didn't see anything come close to greatness. None of the plates were pretty. None of the dishes went far enough to transport the mundane comfort British junk into gourmet fare. Jonathan slathered whipped potato glop over lamb chops. Big deal!
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