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Top Chef Quiz: Culinary Olympics

partysugar — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:15:16 -0800

Things took a serious turn on the most recent episode of Top Chef. The cheftestants had to cook serious food for some serious chefs. Thomas Keller appeared, the Voltaggio brothers struggled, and Kevin experimented with the culinary technique known as sous vide. How closely were you watching? Find out when you take the quiz!

Photo courtesy of Bravo

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Biggest Headline of 2008: The Bocuse d'Or Gains Momentum

YumSugar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:00:41 -0800

This year has been a momentous one for the Olympics - not just in sports, but in the culinary arena as well. The Bocuse d'Or - considered the Olympics of food and the world's most prestigious award for French cuisine - is scheduled for Jan. 28 and 29, 2009 in Lyon, France. The rigorous selection process, however, gained plenty of attention in 2008.

It all began this Summer, when we caught up with Hung Huynh at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and the Top Chef Season 3 winner revealed his wish to be a semifinalist - which he was. In July, the American Bocuse d'Or advisory board, which includes Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Tom Colicchio, selected eight semifinalists to compete for the coveted chance to represent the US. The judges appointed were even more prestigious, with highly respected chefs such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten involved in choosing a winner. On September 26 and 27, the semifinalists faced off in a culinary challenge hosted by Al Roker, Food and Wine editor Dana Cowin, and John Besh at the Epcot Center.

After two full days of competition, Timothy Hollingsworth, a sous chef at The French Laundry, was selected as the US representative. Currently, Hollingsworth is training directly under Keller as he prepares to represent America in next month's championships, where Paul Bocuse, the French founder of the competition, will be on hand to observe and officiate. No American chef has ever won the final competition and the closest one has come to seeing gold was sixth place in 2003. Could Hollingsworth be the first?

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Bocuse d'Or Announces Superstar Judge Lineup

YumSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:00:59 -0700

The panel of judges for next month's Bocuse d'Or - the Olympics of the culinary world - were announced last Friday. Many of the judges, such as Laurent Tourondel and Jean-Georges Vongerichten, hail from New York, which makes me wonder if the giants of the gastronomic world really do believe that New York is the center of the culinary universe.

As if the list of uber-chef judges isn't intimidating enough, Paul Bocuse, the French founder of the competition will be on hand to observe and officiate.

The semifinals, which take place on September 26 and 27 in Orlando, determine which two of the contenders will represent the US in the Bocuse d'Or finals. To see the complete list of judges, read more.

Michel Bouit, former Bocuse d'Or director, Chicago, IL
Hartmut Handke, former Bocuse d'Or contestant, Columbus, OH
Daniel Humm, chef, Eleven Madison Park, New York, NY
Traci des Jardins, chef, Jardinière, San Francisco, CA
Gavin Kaysen, former Bocuse d'Or competitor, New York, NY
David Myers, chef, Sona, Los Angeles, CA
Patrick O’Connell, chef, Inn at Little Washington, Washington, VA
Georges Perrier, chef, Le Bec-Fin, Philadelphia, PA
Alain Sailhac, chef, French Culinary Institute, New York, NY
Andre Soltner, French Culinary Institute, New York, NY
Laurent Tourondel, chef, BLT Restaurants, New York, NY
Jean-Georges Vongerichten, chef, Jean-Georges, New York, NY

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Bocuse d'Or Candidates Announced

partysugar — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:15:20 -0700

The eight semifinalists who will compete for the coveted chance to represent America at the culinary Olympics, the Bocuse d'Or, have been announced. Among them are Top Chef Season 3 winner Hung Huynh. It's no surprise that Hung was chosen for the competition, when I spoke with him at the Food and Wine Classic, he mentioned his desire to participate. Hung and the other seven candidates were selected from 150 applicants by an advisory board that included Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, and Tom Colicchio. The semifinalists will face off in a culinary challenge on September 26 and 27 in Epcot Center. The final two will be trained personally by Thomas Keller and will represent America in the finals. To find out who the other competitors are, read more.

Damon Wise, corporate chef at Craft, withdrew his name*
Tim Hollingsworth, sous-chef at French Laundry
Rogers Powell, instructor at French Culinary Institute
Richard Rosendale of Rosendales in Ohio; USA Culinary Olympic team captain
Michael Rotondo, chef de cuisine at Charlie Trotter’s
Kevin Sbraga, culinary director of Garces Restaurant Group
Percy Whatley, Delaware North Parks exec chef

*Update: Damon Wise has been replaced with John Rellah Jr., executive chef at Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, New Jersey.

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Food Network Aims to Entertain With 2010 Lineup

YumSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:30:20 -0800

Looks like Food Network's switching gears to focus less on cooking expertise and more on entertainment. On the roster for 2010: more Brian Boitano, and a new show, Worst Cooks in America.

Worst Cooks in America, which premieres Sunday, Jan. 3, features 12 "hopeless cooks" who are divided into two teams, one under the tutelage of network vet Anne Burrell and the other led by Arizona chef Beau MacMillan.

The show's premise: bad cooks undergo a five-week "culinary boot camp" where they will learn kitchen techniques from Burrell and MacMillan that they must apply in weekly elimination challenges.

After the contestants have been narrowed down to two, they will compete for a grand prize of $25,000 in a final challenge that has them preparing a three-course meal for a panel of food critics who think the dishes have been prepared by chefs Anne and Beau.

For even more entertainment, Brian Boitano fans should also stay tuned for the return of the Olympic medalist, who's back with a second season of the screwball show What Would Brian Boitano Make? in March. Will you tune in to watch either of these shows - or are they too far a departure from the classic cooking shows that once dominated Food Network?

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Norway Wins Bocuse d'Or, Team USA Finishes Sixth

partysugar — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:00:18 -0800

The two-day culinary Olympics, known as the Bocuse d'Or, took place yesterday and today in Lyon, France. A 28-year-old chef, Geir Skeie, from Norway won the competition. There was much hope in the food industry that the American competitor, Timothy Hollingsworth, would win. However, Hollingsworth didn't even place. A Swedish chef took home the silver, while the French chef walked away with the bronze. This year was the first time that the Americans made a conscious effort to win the competition. Thomas Keller and a team of American chefs searched the country for a possible contender to represent the US. In July eight American semifinalists were announced. Hollingsworth won the highly-publicized competition in September and spent the next several months preparing for the finals at a special training facility near the French Laundry in California.

In the Bocuse d'Or finals each chef has to prepare two dishes: a seafood entry and a meat entry. The food is judged by 24 chefs from 24 countries. Two-thirds of the score goes to the quality of the food, while the final third counts for presentation.

Hollingsworth has yet to comment on the competition, but he is no doubt feeling (like most American foodies) a little disappointed in the outcome. To check out a huge gallery of images from the cooking competition, read more.

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Yummy Links: From Sustainable Seafood to Coffee Stains

partysugar — Fri, 30 May 2008 06:44:00 -0700

Make the world a better place by purchasing sustainable seafood. - Gourmet
Move over Pez, there's a new candy dispenser in town and wii love it! - Candy Blog
Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller are looking for an American chef to represent them at the culinary Olympics. - Eater SF
Deep fried cheese ravioli?! Why didn't I think of that? - The Food in My Bread
With the price of food sky rocketing, you can never have too many tips on how to save at the grocery store. - Glam Dish
Presentation of food is important, here's how to plate your food like a chef. - Start Cooking
Calling all home mixologists: make your own maraschino cherries. - Serious Eats
Get rid of coffee stains with dishwashing soap, water, and vinegar mixture. - CasaSugar

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Talking Top Chef With Jennifer Biesty

YumSugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:28:31 -0700

This year Top Chef threw a new twist at us. For the first time there's a couple participating on the show. Will they have an advantage? Will they mess with others heads? And will they still be together when it's all over?

Recently we had a chance to talk with Jennifer Biesty, one half of the dynamic duo and executive chef at the popular Coco500 in San Francisco. To find out what she had to say about her experience on Top Chef, as well as what's next for her, read more.

YumSugar: Why'd you decide to audition?
Jennifer Biesty: There's nothing really else out there quite like Top Chef. It's kind of a cross between culinary olympics and - I found this out later - a little bit Survivor, Real World. The part that made me interested was the chance to compete and be acknowledged against your peers.

YS: What was the audition process like?
JB: A bunch of us, five of my friends, went down on a whim. They ended casting calls at 4 p.m., I got there at 3:30. I was surprised to see how many people were there and who was there, a lot of chefs from the city. You lined up and you waited to get into the room. You brought your résumé and head shot, and they asked you a bunch of questions. It was way more on the Hollywood side, I knew I had to look a certain way.

YS: Was the experience what you were expecting?
JB: As far as the challenges go, yes it was. The whole situation is pretty stressful. Not knowing what you were walking into every day, I definitely expected that. But the level of difficulty . . .

YS: Did you feel like you and Zoi [her girlfriend and fellow contestant] had an advantage?
JB: Yeah, in a way. Everyone else is like, I miss my girlfriend, my son, daughter, dog. We just missed our dog.

Being able to be together was great. It was distracting as well. But it was an advantage to be able to talk to your partner, your best friend, and support.

YS: How was it competing against her?
JB: It was difficult. It's kind of a touchy subject. It was a lot of fun at times, especially in the beginning. We're both confident and really capable chefs. We just looked at the other competition and said we can crush these guys. We used the advantage of being a distraction.

YS: Were you concerned about what the other contestants would think?
JB: We were concerned at first, but once we met everyone we weren't. We thought there would be one antagonist or possibly some homophobia, but we ended up not facing any of that.

YS: Are you worried about how you're going to be portrayed?
JB: A little bit, not too much. Of course you can't help but think back and wonder if they're going to show this scene, or that scene. But no, I'm not really that concerned, more curious.

YS: This year you guys could each bring $200 worth of your own things. What did you bring?
JB: That was interesting. They tell you that, but you don't know how you'll be able to use these things. I thought maybe it would be a challenge, so I tried to get things that would work well together if they had to. I brought great local olive oil, good barrel-aged Italian vinegar. Oh and I brought my own spice rub, with wild fennel that I collected from Marin. Just the kind of stuff that you could build a base with, you know?

YS: So what's next for you?
JB: I'm still at Coco500, but I was working on something before the show. Working on my own project. I don't know if I'm going to be leaving, maybe after the Summer/early Fall. Being on the show will be able to get me to move quicker on it, maybe find investors. Zoi and I have talked about opening a place in Sonoma, but that might be a few years out.

Also, I'm really open. I really enjoyed the whole media side of it. I found it really intriguing. I would definitely be interested in doing that. If Toyota wants me to do a commercial, I'll do that, too!

Photos courtesy of Bravo