GingerSnap101
This show pretends to be a cooking competition, but it is set up for the home cook to win every challenge.First, the home cook gets to select 5 dishes that they know well and have practiced.Second, the home cook competes against one of 5 professional chefs for each round.The home cook gets to choose what dish the professional chef will be cooking against them. So the BBQ king is asked to cook grilled cheese and tomato soup. Three of the professional chefs don't cook desserts. So the home cook chooses a dessert for them to cook.Third, the "judges" are allegedly ordinary people who love home cooking. They always taste the home cook's food first. And rarely have anything major to complain about the home cook's food.Fourth, the home cook is awarded a cash prize for each round they win. It's $5,000, $10,000, $15,000 and $20,000 for the first four rounds. The home cook can double their total winnings by winning the final round. The maximum prize is $100,000.After 3 episodes, the home cook has won 13 of 15 challenges. I assume the professional chefs are paid a standard fee for appearing on the show. They have nothing to gain and nothing to lose in each challenge.The home cooks that have been cast for the show have some common traits. The first three episodes have featured photogenic women. All three have some sob story to tell - I want to take my children to Guam, I lost my job, my daughter had a congenital disorder.The producers of this show must believe that we are really stupid to believe this load of bullcrap.
Joe Rath
Generally i like food competition shows but i didn't care for this one. There are several flaws in the format, Richman adds nothing, and the outcome seemed set-up, at least for the 1st episode.The tasters were all amateurs and appeared to have a bias for dishes that appeared to be made "unprofessionally". Therefore the outcome seemed disingenuous. There were several dishes that the amateur contestant had to prepare in competition with various professional chefs. The number of dishes didn't allow enough time for the viewer to appreciate any single one. Got tired of the countdowns to plating very quickly.Really disliked this show.
