Write Everyday Project #2, Chopped!

Since I know I'm going to be busy pretty much all day tomorrow, I'm going to do my writing for Saturday now.  Technically it's pretty much the same day as my first post, but we're past midnight and I think technicalities count.

So, having just caught episodes two and three of the current season of Chopped Champions, it occurred to me why I like the show so much better than the other competitive cooking shows.

It is pure cooking.

You see, most cooking competitions muddle things up with other elements.  The Next Food Network Star is more about your camera presence than your food.  The Great Food Truck Race is mostly about about location and selling your food.  Iron Chef America lets you pre-plan your menu and gives you three sous chefs!

Only Chopped, in all its variations, is really about one chef and his or her skill at making food to the exclusion of all else.  In Chopped, you and three opponents get 20 minutes and a basket of unusual ingredients to cook an appetizer.  The least successful of the four of you is "chopped" and leaves the show.  The remaining three competitors get another basket and 30 minutes to do an entree.  Again you're judged, and the surviving two chefs get a third and final basket and another 20 minutes to do a dessert.  The winner is judged on his or her overall meal and takes home $10,000.

That's it.  The chef able to think on his or her feet and cook the best under difficult conditions wins.

And that simplicity is what I like.  It doesn't matter if you're telegenic or if you have business sense, or how good you are at directing subordinates.  How good is your food?

What could be fairer than that?

The show is so simple, in fact, that they resort to gimmick seasons, like the current Chopped Champions where winners of the regular show compete against each other in a two round tournament for $50,000.  There was even a season where the contestants were all members of the Food Network "family," including some judges from Chopped itself!

So, if you find yourself with an itch to watch chefs duke it out, I recommend Chopped.