"chopped" news and stories

"Chopped," Food Network's reality series that pits four chefs against each other in a battle for supremacy, has always had a great gimmick: Each contestant has to create dishes using all of the ingredients provided in a "mystery basket." Squid, gummy bears, Nutella -- you name it, these chefs have seen it. But now the series has a new trick up its sleeve: Chopped All-Stars. For a limited five-episode run starting Sunday, March 13th, at 7 p.m. EST, the series will feature Food Network personalities competing head-to-head for a $50,000 cash prize for charity. Our own Sarah DeHeer caught up with host Ted Allen and judge Alex Guarnaschelli at the Food Network kitchens in Manhattan to find out more.

Next Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT, the Food Network will premier Chopped, its new chef-competition series with host Ted Allen. On the Food Network's site, you can check out the contestants of the show, many of them coming from the NYC restaurant scene. On Allen's blog, he defends the need for another "cook-off show" by explaining that, unlike existing shows, on Chopped, there are four new chefs that compete on each episode. The one that wins that episode receives $10,000; the one with the worst food is "chopped." Since each episode features new contestants, there is none of the drama and sleep deprivation present on shows like, 'Project Runway'.

Alright, so Chopped is not entirely based on shows like Top Chef. Nevertheless, after watching its video promo I couldn't help but to view it more like an Saturday Night Live satire of Top Chef and Project Runway, than as a serious TV show. Clips of contestants panicking and asking "what am I going to do?" and saying "my worst nightmare" seems slightly ridiculous if host Allen is going to state that the show is so different than previous chef-competition series. "This January, a new kind of competition." Really? At the end of the clip, Allen, in Heidi Klum style, states "you have been chopped." While the show seems to borrow several elements from other reality based competition shows, we'll have to wait until next Tuesday night to judge whether this a fresh concept or more of the same.