Food News About And Around – Top Chef; Mayo Without Eggs; A Bocuse D’or Backer-Outer And Ripert And Bourdain Chat On Radio

Top Chef Masters

The chefs for the second season of Top Chef Masters have been selected and there are a few repeats from the first go-around - unfortunately, not my fav though, Michael Chiarello. (He obviously did so well last time that they didn’t want to hand it to him on a silver platter.)

Mark Peel, Wylie Dufresne and Rick Moonen are back, as are Ludo Lefebvre, Jonathan Waxman and Graham Elliot Bowles. I wonder if people will say those chefs had the advantage of competing before if any of them win?

Of the new chefs, one of my favorites is Susan Feniger. She’s one half of the Too Hot Tamales. I’ve always liked Govind Armstrong too, (he’s hot), and I’m excited to see Marcus Samuelsson. The full list of all the competitors is here.

The judges are the same as last time - critic Gael Greene, Saveur editor-in-chief, James Oseland, food critic Jay Rayner and Top Chef judge Gail Simmons. Kelly Choi will be back as the host. BTW, Gail is getting her own show on Bravo to host, Top Chef Just Desserts.

The second season of Top Chef Masters will start on March 7 at 11 pm, before moving to 10 pm the following week.

Homemade Mayonnaise Without Eggs?

Is it possible? Most definitely. Amanda Hesser reports on her website, Food52, on the making of this magical mayo. It’s from David Leite's book, The New Portuguese Table.

What’s the magic ingredient? Whole milk. Yup, apparently whole milk and oil DO emulsify to make a light silky mayonnaise. The secret seems to be adding the oil VERY slowly at the beginning.

Here’s another story about this wonderful eggless mayo and it includes some of David Leite’s interesting variations as well.

Bocuse D’Or Drop-Out

I really don’t mean that to sound so negative, because I thought it was dumb, IN THE FIRST PLACE, when Kevin Gillespie won a chance to compete for a place on the American team of the Bocuse d’Or competition. Let’s be honest, maybe we could see one of the Brothers V competing in this imposing challenge, but Kevin? He's too relaxed, too nice, too laid back.

NOTE: Kevin won this opportunity in the episode that had me weeping (well, VERY misty-eyed, at least) at the end.

So what exactly happened when Kevin Gillespie dropped out of the Bocuse D’Or competition, just weeks before it was to be held at the CIA in Hyde Park, NY?

OR, at least, THAT'S when Andrew Friedman, writing on his website, Toqueland, noticed that Kevin’s name was no longer on the list of competitors. He called Bocuse d'Or USA for clarification and reported on January 22nd that he was out. (Friedman is also the author of Knives At Dawn, about the US quest to win the Bocuse D’Or.)

WHY did Kevin drop out? Because “he didn't have time to prepare, and didn't want to let the country down. He felt like there was somebody else who deserved that spot. He's a perfectionist and didn't feel like he could do his best with everything going on,” reported a spokesperson.

The “everything going on” is his commitment to Bravo to do all kinds of appearances and other promotional activities. It’s a shame when those things prevent a chef from actually chef-ing. The committee invited him (I have no idea WHY) to participate again in the 2013 try-outs (held in 2012).

It’s not that I think Kevin, himself, is so ill-equipped to compete for a Bocuse D’Or spot. It’s that the chefs, who DO compete, completely dedicate themselves to the preparation of it for months in advance. (In Europe, they allow many months – or more – to prepare.) Here's more background on what it takes to get ready.

Tom Colicchio, in his lengthy blog post at the time, definitely thought Kevin deserved at shot. Would he say that now, I wonder?

The chef who was selected to take his place, Jim Burke, executive chef/owner of James restaurant in Philadelphia, was – in HIS OWN words – an underdog. He got a late start because he was filling in for Kevin and, because he owns and cooks at his own restaurant, he didn’t have a big organization behind him. He turned out to be right.

The winner of the Bocuse D’Or USA competition, held at the beginning of February, was James Kent, Sous Chef, from Danny Meyer's Eleven Madison Park in New York. His assistant was another sous chef from Eleven Madison, Tom Allan.

The Tony and Eric Show

Anthony Bourdain, the Howard Stern of the cooking world and Eric Ripert, singular in his gracious- and graceful–ness, will be joining together to host a food-centric radio show, Turn and Burn.

A lot of publicity has been given to one feature of the show, which will “expand the food porn genre into radio.” Basically, Tony will describe culinary wonders in an erotic way and then delight in trying to get Eric’s more restrained narrative of said items to become increasingly profane.

THAT part seems like a huge waste of two culinary geniuses. I LOVE the idea of a food show on radio. I could listen to folks talking about food forever, but why bother with the blue slant on the show?

Why not let Tony be Tony and talk as he wishes, but also let Eric be Eric and let us hear his elegant musings on culinary matters, rather than simply trying to shock us by being a Bourdain/wanna-be.

The language can go where it will, as the show will be broadcast on Sirius/XM on the Martha Stewart Living Radio station.

The idea for the pairing came about as a result of the two chefs appearing on At Martha's Table on Sirius/XM. Guests will include Martha and Mario Batali and the show will have an initial run of five weeks, airing every Thursday from 7 to 8 pm, beginning February 18th on Sirius channel 112, and XM channel 157.

More About The Bocuse d’Or

Kevin earned the right to compete for the 2011 Bocuse D’Or, but that doesn’t assure him a place at the table in Lyons. He still has to compete with other American chefs.

The Bocuse D’Or evolved from a professional cooking exhibition and trade fair that took place in Lyons, France. Paul Bocuse, as honorary chairman of that event, came up with the idea to have a cooking competition component in front of a live audience. The first Bocuse D’Or was held in 1987.

First prize is 20,000 euros and a gold statue of Paul Bocuse in Chef’s garb, second prize is 15,000 euros and third is 10,000 euros.

It was a pretty brilliant idea. Remember the Food Network didn’t even start broadcasting until 1993. There were no nightly televised food competitions. There were not the number of food-centric shows that there are now.

This unique idea started out calmly enough until 1997, when the Mexican team engendered support from the audience with mariachi bands and cowbells, which now is a staple at the bi-annual competition. (The cowbells, not the mariachi bands.)

There are 24 teams composed of a lead chef and young (22 years old) commis chef. They have 5 hours and 35 minutes (I’m guessing they are extremely grateful for that extra 5 minutes) to to make one meat and one fish dish, each surrounded by three imaginative, complicated garnishes, executed with precision.

The teams work in side by side stadium style kitchens. No cooking in advance is permitted, except for stock and measuring out of certain ingredients. Each ingredient, including intricately turned vegetables, is prepared within the allotted time. They know which proteins they’ll be cooking well in advance.

In 2007, after Gavin Kaysen came back from his chance to win gold in Lyons, he said he wished he had had some of the same support that the other teams (many European ones) had with their budgets in the realm of 1 million dollars (for training). These chefs take months off to do nothing but train in specially designed replica kitchens, which gives them a tremendous advantage.

Gavin had to buy his own equipment and had nowhere near the same time to prepare as his competing chefs did. He placed 14^th in part because, during the competition, a FRENCH dishwasher ATE one or two of his garnishes! How much of an accident could THAT have been?

Paul Bocuse, himself, was interested in upping the US’s presence. His son, Jerome Bocuse, presides over the Chefs de France restaurant at the Epcot Center and is on the board of Bocuse d’Or USA.

Chef Paul Bocuse recruited Thomas Keller, to be President of the Bocuse d'Or U.S. team and Daniel Boulud to be its chairman. They met the challenge.

A test kitchen was built next to Keller’s French Laundry. Timothy Hollingsworth, the US chef chosen to compete at the next Bocuse d’Or, was given a 3 month paid hiatus from his job behind the stove at the French Laundry to train with a coach. He came in 6^th, which tied the previous highest showing for an American. There was disappointment, though, because of all the resources that had been thrown his way (although still not as many as the Europeans).

When I’ve watched the Bocuse D’Or, it’s been absolutely fascinating. I sat there open mouthed at the phenomenal complexity, the fastidious execution, holding my breath at the final products, miraculously standing tall, defying every law of gravity.

But the Bocuse D’Or is a competition, not a television show, although it is televised in excerpted form. We see only a tiny part of what goes on during the competition. We hear nothing of the judges’ deliberations. We just see sweat and strain and toil and then the top three winners are announced and a lot of flag waving and anthem playing ensues. It’s mysterious and magical.

Of all the chefs this season, I think Bryan would be the most likely to succeed in a Bocuse d’Or type competition. But Kevin is the one that got a shot. He’ll need a lot of coaching and probably some divine intervention to do well, but he could pull it out just like he has so many challenges this season.