![]() I don’t happen to want to whip up a refried bean-smeared, ham-egg-and-cheese-topped frozen waffle, even if it did win the elimination challenge to “prepare breakfast on the beach for surfers.”Īnd I’ll pass on the seared elk loin and the seared ostrich fillet, though the seared scallops with purslane and marinated grapes sounds good. The taste - it didn’t suck.”īecause the show is structured around gimmicky challenges such as “make a sexy dessert for a fetish party” or “create a gourmet entree that can be reheated in a microwave,” finding an appealing recipe in this collection drawn from the Quickfire and elimination challenges is difficult. “Those chops that was like economy class of Air Cambodia.” Or “Your twice-baked potato, in spite of its absolutely Flintstonian execution, was, for me, the single most enjoyable mouthful of food I had this evening. They’re filled with his comments made from time spent as a guest judge. Some anecdotal information provided: “During the ‘4-Star All-Stars Reunion,’ Ilan spilled Marcel’s carefully cubed mangoes out of the fridge.” Gasp.Ī couple of pages devoted to Bourdain, “Beware! Bourdain,” are compelling. Then there’s the diagram of the kitchen floor plan, pointing to: sink, sink, stove, stove, ovens, microwaves, refrigerator, refrigerator. It’s not a definitive list, as that “might spoil it for future contestants.” Regarding olive oil: “No pantry - on TV or otherwise - should be without it.” Cooks everywhere are bowled over. “Top Chef Staples” lists some of the pantry ingredients in the “Top Chef” kitchen, including salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. The other sections at the front of the book are some real yawners. (Of the first group of “chef-testants,” he says, “I recognized something of myself in each of them.” Hopefully, he’s not sticking his fingers in the sauce, a move that, readers learn, helped cause the first season’s first casualty.) They’ll have to get past a fairly maudlin introduction by “Top Chef’s” top chef Tom Colicchio. I want to know who won what when - and in the competitive spirit of “Top Chef,” why would I want to make a dish that wasn’t a winner? Why not divide the dishes by season? Let’s not pretend here. Why the attempt at setting up chapters the way cooks might use them? It’s confusing. The book is divided into the first three “Top Chef” seasons and divided further into recipe chapters that fall under breakfast, appetizers and small plates, entrees (meat, poultry, fish, vegetarian) and dessert. ![]() But can you actually cook from it? Would anyone want to? The charts (a handy elimination bracket that even a kindergartner would appreciate), the quotes (“I’ve got a false testicle, and I’m ready to cook”), the trivia (the second-season winner’s favorite piece of equipment is the short plancha spatula) and graphics (“Top Coif”) are ridiculously hilarious (emphasis on the ridiculous). The eliminations, the winning dishes, the biting comments from Anthony Bourdain - the hairstyles. HAS all that is “Top Chef” been distilled into a single cookbook? Apparently so.
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