Reason I started watching this show: It comes on NBC right before America’s Got Talent.
Reason I started muting this show and reading a book until America’s Got Talent came on: The premise is intriguing but ultimately flawed.
Here’s how it works: Home chef? Think you can beat one of the best celebrity chefs in the world? Come on the show, bring your five best recipes. You know, the ones that have been in your family for generations, that you’ve made at least a hundred times. The ones that have been tweaked and tested to perfection through decades and thousands of taste testers.
You have fifteen minutes to cook, all the while a professional chef who doesn’t know what he or she will be making when he walks on the stage has the same fifteen minutes to come up with a winning recipe on the fly and try to stop you from winning $100,000.
If that sounds easy, it’s probably because it is. Pro chef or not, coming up with a recipe from scratch in fifteen minutes isn’t going to beat a time-tested recipe prepared by someone who has made that exact recipe a hundred times.
The home chef almost always wins. It really takes all the suspense out of it and it’s no fun to watch.