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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 8:35 pm
I think Marcel is more than "socially inadequate" (if you think of his definition of a lustful dessert). <snicker> (Gotta get my mind outta the gutter today! I do, I really do!)
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 8:37 pm
I have noticed, however, that Elia no longer speaks up in Marcel's defense, as she used to do. I think Elia is also starting to be a bit fed up with Marcel, and it's showing in her pity of him. Betty really turned out to be a piece of work, didn't she? I was impressed with her early on (and loved the soup/grilled cheese sandwich she did that ended up on the Friday's menu). But she's really gone downhill since the beginning. (Didn't she win several challenges early on, too?)
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 9:15 pm
I like Marcel more than some of his snarky detractors.. but clearly he attracts the bullies so either there is something he's doing, or, uh.. he's just an easy target. Not to mention the foams.. interesting how several of them ride one horse like that. I lost the Bettylove pretty quickly. I suuppose part of it could be editing since they used her all the time for commentary but she fed them the snarky lines .. And this last thing.. I'm NO cook, but she clearly had Equipment Malfunction coming the moment she chose those narrow flutes for soup.. does anyone actually serve soup in something like that? And then of course the soup itself was apparently not the right texture and the whole thing was visually unappealing (not as unappealing as the mess Marcel made with that coffee.. that was horrible! And I agree.. Michael didn't get immunity, fine, but he should have gotten a gift at least for the first challenge. But maybe we are thinking Hell's Kitchen? Have they ever given gifts on this show at this point??
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 9:31 pm
Yes. Some of the gifts that I can remember were a whole set of expensive knives (I think that might have been when Betty was called out for cheating for changing the recipe during the "fat" camp). I think the winner mentioned something about sharing it, and the judges said go ahead but you should really keep them all. Also, someone got an invitation to cook for a Miami chef and have their recipe put on their menu. Mmmmmm.... that's the only 2 I can remember right now.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 9:32 pm
It could well be that they are all right, but I haven't observed any reason so I reserve judgement and the people who come out looking ugly to me are the attackers. I've lived long enough to see how a Lord of the Flies mentality can cause a group to turn on someone because then they remain safe.. So I'm not about to ASSUME stuff and then be against Marcel. I mean, isn't it simple logic to close the fricken' refrigerator? LOL And Betty.. I mean she is so irritating, I'd be wanting to be hostile to her as well. I do agree he lacks people skills but there isn't an abundance of that floating around in this bunch. Oh yes, warm would be more lustful for me.. maybe a perfect apple crisp with..well I'm not a cook but some to die for topping (not a foam)? Actually what I wanted to reach in and grab was Elia's chicken!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 9:34 pm
Ah thanks, Grooch, yeah Michael should have gotten something wonderful for his kitchen.
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Grooch
Member
06-16-2006
| Thursday, January 04, 2007 - 9:56 pm
Lol, Seamonkey! I have been wondering about Marcel also. Are their attacks fair or not? It could be editting or not. But I seem to remember someone posting here (sorry, I forget your name) that said they worked w/ him, and he is portrayed correctly. But at the same time, Elia has worked with him and she has been defending him. He may be young and immature, but he is still learning. When everyone was complaining about his constant use of foams, didn't one of the judges say that they enjoyed it? Maybe they are "bitching" about him, but at least I see the guys confronting him about it, getting it out of their systems and hopefully he will learn. And like I said, what the show shows, he always seems to help out with the others. Now that Betty is gone, I am going to have a VERY hard time to pick someone to leave for the next episode.
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Lilfair
Member
07-09-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 5:56 am
The whining that goes on rivals that of the sick room at my pediatrician’s office. My Betty love came and went fairly quickly too. I like drinking soups so I thought Betty’s idea of the fluted glasses was a great idea but like mentioned upthread and by the judges the soups should have been thinner…that would have been a no brainer. I make a lot of soups and would never consider serving a creamy soup without a spoon. I have no real favorite this season. But Marcel does seem to be getting on everyones nerves. I think it has more to do with feeling threatened by him than his cocky personality. The cherry comment was extremely poor and I think that comment alone will prevent him from winning this competition.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 7:30 am
I'm pretty sure that part of the reason the chefs don't like Marcel has a lot to do with his attitude. He always seems to come across as thinking he's better than the others. Remember the big words he throws around (offhand I can't remember exactly what he's said, but the multisyllabic words can be infuriating). Yes, he's young. Yes, he has a lot to learn. But he doesn't think he does, and I think that's what grates on the others. I'm not sure who I wanna pick as a winner. I guess as long as it's not Marcel or Cliff, I don't really care. (Not that I don't like Cliff, I just haven't really seen him do much to really grab attention.) I have a sneaking suspicion that it may come down to Ilan and Elia, although I'd love to see Sam in the F2. Isn't it interesting how Michael did such a good job, while in pain and on drugs? I wonder if he can continue to excel next week, assuming he runs out of pain meds! 
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 7:35 am
Y'know, Tom's blog hit the nail on the head about Michael. Not necessarily that the fact that he was a bit out of it helped him to stay out of the fray, but that he (Michael) is actually paying attention in the kitchens. And is learning as he goes along. Which I'm not sure can be said of the others. Here's a quote from his blog: quote:My first reaction was that Michael -- who was taking heavy-duty painkillers after an emergency wisdom tooth extraction -- should cook on Vicodin more often (just kidding, spare me the hate mail). But when I thought about it, I realized that Michael has no doubt spent the last few weeks watching and listening to the cooks around him. He’s been picking up good habits and learning that there is a lot more out there than the food he’d been exposed to in the past.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 7:52 am
I just had a thought... Ilan's funnel cakes were soggy because Elia suggested he dunk them in simple syrup. Do you think she did that purposely, to sdabbotage him? I thought it was a bad idea when she suggested it, and then to see what happened (the soggy mess), I kinda wondered what the heck was she thinking? And it turns out it was a bad idea. Of course, Ilan should've just chucked the funnel cakes. Or crushed them up and sprinkled them alongside the brittle, to add texture to the dish. Still, I wondered then and I wonder now (since it was a dessert competition between Ilan and Marcel, and Elia seems to stick up for Marcel no matter what).
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 8:06 am
I wondered the same thing, Cost.
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Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 8:39 am
oh, i forgot to ask..did anyone else notice the continuity problems during the dinner? The candles were way burned down on the table at the 'beginning', then they were tall again through out the whole dinner and then burned down at the end. I became more interested in the candles! LOL
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Jami
Member
10-08-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 9:19 am
I read on one of the judges blogs that they had lots of "smoking breaks" during that dinner. So I would assume that they had to replace and restart candles.
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 10:49 am
Remember, too, that it was a 3 hour "dinner". So along with all the breaks (to set the cameras, for the smoke breaks, or whatever) there was the length of time for the dinner itself. Each course took 20 minutes to get to the table.
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Konamouse
Member
07-16-2001
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 12:00 pm
Why didn't he think about a oyster dish for "Lust". That was my first thought. There was no salad course. Big gap in the 7 course "dinner". But it was a pretty presentation. My mouth was watering over that chicken. 'squeek'
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 12:49 pm
Seems to me that part of this "test" is in how they deal with people and in kitchens they'll always be dealing with people with attitude. Big words.. well I'd tell 'em to get a dictionary if that intimidates them, but I guess that is because I grew up with parents who didn't dumb down vocabulary for us and, luckily had a couple of English teachers who did the same favor (and boy that came in handy on Nationl Merit exams). As he matures, he hopefully will learn when and when not to use his big words, if he is doing that. I hadn't noticed but then I don't pay exquisite attention to these shows, unless I watch something twice because I'm really interested in the nuances, then I'd likely pick up on stuff like that. The think about Marcel is, I always want to mess with his hair.. I don't think Elia was trying to sabotage; she has made more than one bad quick judgement.. and of course it was up to him to try the suggestion and he still could have junked the funnel cakes. Several times the judges have told one or more of them that it would have been better to junk some aspect of their presentation, but I'm sure it is really hard to "give up" on something they thought would be a good thing. Michael and his drugs.. hmm well when I was taking psych classes, we learned about State Dependent Learning and I remember being taught that experiments showed that if you learn material in an altered state and then are tested on that material in an unaltered state, sometimes that knowledge isn't so accessible. I remember drugs/alcohol were pointed out as in, better not study that way if you want to do well on the test.. lol.. I did lift an eyebrow and wonder.. maybe it relaxed him, detached him (as someone mentioned abovr) and also maybe he normally is chemically "relaxed" when he does his best cooking? Whatever it was it did work for him in this episode. And it IS nice to see someone learning, too. Now, I'd be interested in those smoke breaks and wonder, sometimes when a judge wonders if the chef actually tasted the dish.. I just wonder how reactions differ between non smoking judge and smoking chef or non smoking chef and smoking judge? I have known ex smokers who say that they taste things they weren't tasting (good and bad) after awhile smoke free. Ah yes, the chicken... yes!
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:23 pm
I posted that two of the men I work with have worked with him in New York and at the CIA. They say he is being accurately portrayed and the editing isn't slanting his attitudes or behavior in any way to make him look better or worse. They also think that the amount of animosity that the rest of the contestants are showing him is pretty over the top. That crap about him snapping at Betty was ridiculous! He just did what any of us would do. For the majority of the other cooks to then decide to not help him serve his course was juvenile, petty and unprofessional. If they hadn't helped him serve the course, it would have been very apparant that the cooks were sabotaging Marcel. The worst thing would have been that the CUSTOMER would have had to wait for his or her food! That is the true culinary sin. To make the customer wait when there is no reason for it is inexcusable. The guys I work with don't like Marcel, but they are pulling for him to at least outlast the people who have been so rude and unprofessional to him. Not to defend him, but he harrassed Betty after she told him that she was in favor of anything that went wrong for him because of his complaining and whining. That when things go wrong you just suck it up and deal with it. Then he very immaturely started to harrass her during her cooking, and thoroughly enjoyed her difficulties with getting enough heat to grill her cheese sandwiches. He had been whining about not having enough heat in the fryer for his onion rings, she didn't need to turn the whole situation into a personal attack. He's a jerk but so is she.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:28 pm
I like Michael, I would like him to go all the way. I liked Elia early on but something about her gets under my skin a bit, dont know what it is. I suspect she will win this thing though
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:36 pm
To me there are only two foods that people associate with lust. Those are oysters and chocolate. I don't really like oysters, so I find it hard to judge there, but for a chocolate desert, I would have served a rich chocolate brownie with a warm chocolate sauce, topped with whipped cream and nuts. And I would have served strawberries instead of cherries. Chocolate and strawberries just invokes a picture of lust more than chocolate and cherries.
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Gemma120in2002
Member
07-05-2003
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:52 pm
I agree Allie. People absolutely think of strawberries before cherries. I researched whether or not cherries suppress the libido and all I could find is that in concentrated amounts such as drinking large quantities of cherry juice, that it could adversely affect the sex drive because cherries contain melatonin. The seven cherries on that dessert and the tablespoon or so of juice per dessert used to make the gelee and foam are hardly enough to counteract the stimulating effects on the libido that chocolate brings to the table.
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:53 pm
Maris, I am glad to know I am not the only one who is not real fond of Elia. I think she is probably one of the best chefs in the group, but I think she has a very high opinion of herself. Some of the things she has said about the judge's comments on her dishes, show that she does not take critizims well. But unlike Marcel, she is smart enough not to express these feelings to the rest of the group. She also seems to have trouble adjusting to the fact that she is in a competition, not in a real life situation. She seems almost resentful of the challenges that are set, like she thinks they are beneath her and that they should just be cooking like they are in a real resturant. Because of this, she has made some really unwise decisions, like the decision to cook the food in the previous competition during the event. And being unwilling to listen to Mia about the foods to be served. That is OK if you are doing something that is only going to reflect on yourself. But if you are on a team, you should be more willing to bend a little. I thought Mia was crazy to sacrifice herself for Elia, when it was Elia's on stubborness that caused the problems.
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Allietex
Member
08-16-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:55 pm
Gemma, I agree. And the thing here was the perception rather than the reality. And people generally perceive strawberries as being more sinful than cherries.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:56 pm
Mounds of the best Caviar and the best Champagne, -- that would do it for me.
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Maris
Member
03-28-2002
| Friday, January 05, 2007 - 1:58 pm
That is exactly it Allie, I dont even know why she is in the competition since by her total demeanor she carries herself like she should be at the judges table and not competing. The fiasco of cooking at the event and only cooking three items in not nearly enough quantities should have put her on the red carpet out of there.
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