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Let me start by saying I am not a reality TV show kind of person. I never watched Jersey Shore, Housewives of some city, or anything like that. I tried to watch Survivor in its first season because it was all the rage but I just thought it was stupid. Now, I do try to catch the auditions from the “Got Talent” shows because, well, they are funny. But once the top so many people are picked my eyes glaze over and I am done with it. I am more of a NCIS, CSI, and Castle girl. I love my TV shows and I also adore cooking shows. Rachael Ray, Bobby Flay, and Mad Hungry are ones I love to watch over and over. Plus I just added some new ones that are really great. A couple weeks ago a friend told me about “cooking competitions” and swore that these were not “reality shows”. Since I am a huge, huge Gordon Ramsay fan she told me to just try Hell’s Kitchen, I would love it. OMG, wow. I have been a vegetable all week watching reality cooking competitions and I am not sure what that says about me. Here are the 3 I have watched and why I like them, or don’t.

Hell’s Kitchen:

I have always been a fan of Gordon Ramsay and I had never really seen him in these types of shows. I love his cookbooks and from some TV appearances I have seen. Also, I really love The “F” Word because it is fun to see him in that environment and seeing his family clips, plus the interviews and the amazing food. I decided that I would start with the most recent, Season 10. The first episode was okay but I was simply amazed by how Mr. Ramsay presented himself. By episode 2 I had only two questions:

1. There are millions of chefs in the world and you want me to believe that these were the best he could find?
2. What ghetto did he find those girls at?

I have never in my life been so embarrassed to be a female. The men were bad but the women were, as my friend Ronni would say, Cra Cra. Also, I was dumbfounded that these women could win challenges but couldn’t perform service? Seriously, what a crock of duck sauce. It was like a train wreck, you didn’t want to watch but you couldn’t help it. Plus, I think Mr. Ramsay is pretty smoking when he tells people to get out and piss off. I guess you could say I have a love/hate relationship with Hell’s Kitchen and a complete adoration for James!

Master Chef:

Again, I started with the latest season and I fell in love. Now this is what competition should be about. Yes, there is drama but you are not swimming in it. These contestants take the battle where it should be, the kitchen. While I can only handle Hell’s Kitchen in small doses, I watched the entire season of Master Chef in a weekend. It amazed me how HOME COOKS could make such amazing dishes that 3 amazing chef judges loved. Oh yeah, there were some not so great dishes and that made it even more fun. By the third episode I was already rooting for two of the ladies Monti, because she was a rebel like me, and Christine because her presence was just so aspiring. I won’t spoil who the winner was because if you have not watched it, you NEED too, right now!

There were twists, turns, surprises and just pure fun. I am not sure I could do it but I can tell you that watching these home cooks, that were around the same age as I am, make amazing food inspired me. Maybe it is not too late for me.

The Taste

For those that may not know The Taste is a new show that has 4 top chefs, Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre, Brian Malarkey doing blind tastings from aspiring Chefs and Home Cooks. They do not know who made the food or what is in it. After “the taste” they choose whether or not they want this person on their team.

What is this garbage? I hadn’t watched 5 minutes and already did a huge eye roll. It just seemed a little to contrived that the first person chosen was a food blogger. Food blogging is all the rage right now and for the first person to be one, well it didn’t set well with me. Then as the episode wore on I wanted to smack the judges, hard. Nigella, my hero, was so indecisive and so apologetic. I wanted to hurl a couple of times. Ludo, he just got on my nerves and so did Malarkey. But the biggest disappointment was the man I love to hate, Anthony Bourdain. This man has traveled all over the world, ate from amazing tables, he knows food for heaven’s sake. All he did the whole episode was apologize for not choosing someone. Good heavens man, pick your manhood up off the floor and say “Hey, that one taste sucked, go home.” Of course it did not surprise me when the drama bitch was first showcased that she ended up on his team. Again, just a little too contrived for me. Now, I give myself credit I did stomach it for the 3 episodes but by the end of the third one The Taste had been told to “Get out of the Kitchen!”

(Nigella, you are so beautiful, so passionate, please for all that is holy find some of that when your team is in the kitchen. It was actually painful to see you lead.)

You can see videos HERE

As I researched more I found that there are plenty more out there. Chopped, The Worst Cook in America and The Iron Chef are on my list to watch. I have heard of these shows but never watched them, they seemed too much like reality TV for me but I am willing to give them a try and hopefully I will find some new shows to love!

Do you watch cooking competitions? If so, what is your favorite?

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