Top Chef: I was really uncomfortable with Colicchio's "we need to see more of you; we need to see you cook Vietnamese" comment to Hung.
Wasn't that in response to Hung's "I learned to cook in my Vietnamese mother's kitchen" speech, though? If Hung is trying to prove to the judges that he's passionate about cooking by talking about his ethnic heritage, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask why that doesn't come through in his food.
[eta:
It's not that I like Hung - becuase he's not really my horse in this race but I don't want him to not win because of something so nebulous.
And see, I don't think it's nebulous at all. The reaction to Hung's food from almost all the guest judges has been that it's technically well prepared but there's no there there, which translates to a less enjoyable meal than something prepared with less precision but more attention to flavor. If Hung paid more attention to flavor and less attention to showing off his knife skills (and don't even get me started on the utter bullshit that is sous vide), I think he could win. But he's not cooking food he wants to eat, he's cooking food he thinks will score points.]
It was the juxtaposition of Tom saying that he doesn't see Hung in his food right after Hung tells his immigrant story.
Well, it kind of struck a nerve after a week of the whole Asian as technician discussion (not here) and then to have Ripert and others come out with the same thing.
Yeah, exactly, sumi. That was why it was ringing bells for me. It's in the context of the whole season.
If Hung is trying to prove to the judges that he's passionate about cooking by talking about his ethnic heritage, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask why that doesn't come through in his food.
I dunno about this, though. I read him talking about being passionate about cooking by talking about his family. That doesn't necessarily translate into Vietnamese food influences. And it certainly could translate as easily into French food influences, which he does show.
I deleted the episode, so I can't go back for the exact quote, but right after he said, "We need to see more of you in your food" he went on to say something along the lines of "You're Vietnamese, right? We haven't seen any of that." I'm wildly paraphrasing here, so you can extrapolate at will. But it seemed clear that the implication was "more of you" == "more Vietnamese" which, no.
It was especially weird a comment coming at the end of the cowboy challenge. What, exactly, was going to be Vietnamese about an elk preparation?
But it seemed clear that the implication was "more of you" == "more Vietnamese" which, no.
I didn't get that at all! huh. Anyway, it's an interesting discussion.
and it's making me crave Vietnamese food like whoa! There was a great place down the street from where I worked in the 'burbs but I don't know about here in the city. I'll have to check it out.
I dunno about this, though. I read him talking about being passionate about cooking by talking about his family. That doesn't necessarily translate into Vietnamese food influences. And it certainly could translate as easily into French food influences, which he does show.
Or, say, both. I'd love to see him take on Asian-French fusion.
Even though my post was about fusion, it didn't need to be said twice.
And it certainly could translate as easily into French food influences, which he does show.
But he doesn't really prepare French food, he prepares food using French restaurant-kitchen techniques. (Which all the chefs do, since virtually all restaurants run French-style kitchens regardless of the kind of food they serve.) Being classically trained != cooking French food.
I deleted the episode, so I can't go back for the exact quote, but right after he said, "We need to see more of you in your food" he went on to say something along the lines of "You're Vietnamese, right? We haven't seen any of that."
He actually said "You were born in Vietnam," or something along those lines, IIRC -- more about his childhood than his ethnicity, if you get what I mean. Not that it's much better, but it's not like he was telling Brian Malarky to cook more Irish.
Possibly because he really dislikes Eric Ripert.
