• 9715698@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Is it really for American audiences? He seems the same to me in the UK Kitchen Nightmares

      • Stern@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        In the U.K. he’s way less hard on folks then in the states. Of course, it could also be they’re way less combative. No Amy’s Baking Companies in the U.K. I don’t think.

    • FireTower@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Spot on. Him on TV playing into his character seems like a POS. But from some of his other stuff he seems like a decent dude who acknowledges he doesn’t know everything.

  • guyrocket@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    A British chef? Oxymoron much?

    Brits are going to teach the world about FOOD? Do they even know what spices are? Does ANYONE else think BEANS on TOAST is GOOD?

    Next we’ll get some Jamaican bobsledders, one-handed clapping, military intelligence and accurate estimates.

  • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I really enjoyed watching Alton Brown on “hot ones”, he was cool and composed the entire way through, actually had critique of the flavors and why they didn’t work well, he never complained about the spiciness of the food, but had a nuanced and appreciative evaluation of what was occurring in his mouth.

    The algo recommended this chuckleheads appearance on hot ones next, he went full schtick with it, I don’t think I got hallway through before getting tired of it.

    I enjoy seeing him humble (how to cook eggs), or humbled (James May head to head), but I don’t like his manic energy and crass style of criticism delivery.

      • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        I don’t watch a lot of hot ones, but his is shoulder above heads better than any other episode of ‘hot ones’ I’ve seen. There have been other good episodes, but for a sauce/flavor breakdown Alton Brown does it phenomenally

        • athos77@kbin.social
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          9 months ago

          I watched it last night and the way he was just like, “oh, nice use of ginger”, “too much cilantro”, and “I can fix this!!” was great! He wasn’t focusing on the heat, he was focusing on the taste and it was great!

          • Donjuanme@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            It’s amazing to me that he can separate the discomfort from the quality, I went into the other "chefs"that have done the show looking for similar evaluation, and I’ve been disappointed every time. Alton Brown is truly another level of professional, I need to re rewatch good eats.

    • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
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      5 months ago

      Thanks for sharing! I had not seen that!

      I love how it ended.

      “It’s 3-2.”

      “It got two?”

      “Um, so, uh, the winner is… James.”

      “Are you any good at driving?”

      “Beaten by a fucking shaggy tramp, that spent four hours peeling his fucking potatoes!”

  • DarkGamer@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    His video on how to make eggs has totally changed how I prepare them, now breakfast is my favorite meal. I like his cooking more than his reality TV schtick.

  • Snapz@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago
    1. All trash beyond the early European version of kitchen nightmares
    2. Probably generally fine as he actually started as a decent chef in actual restaurants, but they are very likely not “his” recipes and instead written and maintained by an editorial staff.
    3. Unfortunately modeled after actual fine dining restaurant chefs from my first hand experience (though things are likely evolving from after the financial collapse forward and the general shift away from fine dining).
  • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    I think it’s mostly a personality made up for TV. He seems fine. I don’t think I would consider the majority of TV chefs to be the top tier in the culinary world. Not to mention, the definition of the “best” recipe isn’t static. There’s a whole lot of “well how much work do you want to put into it?” and not to mention “are you OK if it has an entire stick of butter in it?”

  • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    He yells at people for using thermometers on Hell’s Kitchen. Hey carpenter, how dare you use a nail gun! One of the most useful tools for making sure food is safe and he thinks it makes you less of a chef.

    • lobut@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      They’re going to be a head chef at one of his restaurants. I don’t think it’s a crazy requirement as so many contestants are able to do it just fine.

      • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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        9 months ago

        It’s taking an important tool out of the tool box for no other reason than his personal bias against them.

        • lobut@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          You don’t think it’s a metric of competency? I don’t know, I’m not in the restaurant industry but it seemed like a skill to me.

          • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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            9 months ago

            Just because it’s a competency doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the tools available to you. Should I not use woodworking jigs because I’m competent in cutting dovetails? It makes the job easier and less prone to errors.

            • lobut@lemmy.ca
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              9 months ago

              Gordon always makes it a point that it’s extremely easy to do, but I genuinely don’t know cooking so I can’t check the veracity.

              However, I also can’t check your analogy either because I’m not great at cooking nor woodwork. If it were programming and someone had to use GitHub CoPilot during an interview to do what I considered an easy task then I’d not want to have them at a high level.

              Once again, my analogy I’d probably bollocks because I don’t know cooking.

              You bring up some good points. I just figure it was a high level competition, but I see where you’re coming from.

              • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
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                9 months ago

                I think a better analogy would be if you were interviewing and someone didn’t do simple functionality testing because they were such an awesome coder, what would you think

    • FireTower@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I think his microwave critique was targeted at commerical kitchens not home cooks. There’s a significant difference in expected quality between ordering out and home meals for many people. IMO he’d be a hypocrite if he used them in his restaurants.

      • NoIWontPickaName@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Would you still feel that way is the best steak you had ever eaten in your life was cooked in a microwave?

        I’m not even saying that’s possible, but dammit, you can turn Oreos into a really good cake in the microwave, and with how it all Hass to work for that actually happen, I don’t know that you could do it any other way, or than if you even did that it would be nearly as good.

        Seriously you need to take some Oreos crush them up in a coffee mug that’s microwave safe obviously and then mix in just enough milk to make it look like a really thick batter, damn near into a dough.

        Then microwave it for 30 seconds to a minute depending on your microwave.

        If you have ice cream, or even just whipped cream, or anything like that, it would go really good on top of super hot, moist, chocolatey, gooey, but still firm cake, I would go ahead and use that.

        • FireTower@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          I am not anti microwave. But it doesn’t have a place when you need to make a dish with a crisp texture. It’d be great for warming mash potatoes but maybe not for a steak.

          It is a tool like any other. The issue is when cooks only use the microwave and not their other options. IMO.

  • lobut@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    I like the F Word. Most episodes are on YouTube and it’s far better than his other personas that you’ve probably seen.