Monday, October 20, 2014

Opera Inspires Chefs on Gordon Ramsay's "Hell's Kitchen" For Fox

The October 15, 2014, episode of Hell's Kitchen on the Fox network had 12 chefs competing in the following challenge: "The teams must create Italian opera-inspired dishes and go head-to-head against a member of the other team.....The team that earns the most points from Chef Ramsay and guest judge Chef Celestino Drago will win a $3,000 shopping trip and VIP dinner at Cecconi’s in West Hollywood, while the losing team will prepare the squid for the next dinner service. Later, during the dinner service, teams will prepare Italian dishes for VIP guests, including members of the Italian Consulate. After nerves in the kitchen lead to two major mistakes and one team is kicked out of the kitchen, both teams will have to present teammates for elimination. Find out who will move on and who will be kicked out for good." Each chef chooses a singer that is holding a scroll with some opera related title on the front (opera titles, characters, arias or songs often sung by opera singers) with a related food item on the back. One
chef selects another to go up against in the kitchen and then that chef chooses the singer to reveal the dish they will be cooking for in the competition. Although it looks more like the singers are performing in a Madrigal Dinner, the entire concept is clever. Watch the full episode by clicking here. [Source, Source]