Here’s your opportunity to compete for the TV Show Master Chef. You have to go to their website and fill out a 10 page application.
If you have been watching the show, and think you are ‘the one’ who can actually win this thing, it’s worth it.
WHY AREN’T YOU APPLYING, CHEF?
Well…. It’s a long story.
I HAVE TIME….
Ok. Many, many, many years ago I was living in Los Angeles when Gordon Ramsey created his first TV Show. I was really excited. I had seen him with his family at his Restaurant (at the time – no longer owns it), and later took a picture with him and his kids at Nascar). I wanted this to work but there were rules like: you couldn’t make anything that couldn’t be eaten cold, because there was no ability to re-heat.
Bummer. No ability to heat it up? Not good. But I didn’t care. I was going to win this opportunity to be on TV.
I worked for hours and created a great dish that can be eaten hot or cold (we all know that food has way more flavor warm or hot, then cold, right)?
I DIDN’T KNOW THAT, CHEF!
Well…. yeeaaah. How come some people chill the white wine and just let it sit on the table without it being in a chiller?
WHY CHEF?
To get all the flavors of that wine as it warms up. They do that in Europe. That’s where I get some of my training.
OK CHEF! SO WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE SHOW?
I really didn’t want to tell this story. Oh. Ok. You have to remember that I was like a sponge at that point – absorbing everything I could off the food channel, experimenting with food over and over to perfect some of the recipes I make today.
So I cooked and cooked and cleaned and cleaned. I dragged my daughter with me (then a student at UCLA) for support. She was young and hip and I was …. well…. not young and hip. lol I was just an incredible foodie with an insatiable palate. Not bad to look at, but certainly not young and hip. I arrived an hour early, only to find there was a line around the block. And we’re talkin’ city blocks!
I waited, we waiting in the heat, hour after hour after hour as it slowly crawled around the block, (no refreshments, no water bottles given out, nothing)! And each person standing next to me thought they were the one to get on the show. So I listened to story after story …. just to be polite and pass time.
And they weren’t personalities. No one made me laugh, although I did want to cry once or twice, looking at some of their food! lol
Four frickin’ hours of my time. Of our time. I finally got up there. NO GORDON RAMSEY. Just a snotty little 17 year old (well, she was probably 22, but what’s the difference) who looked at my food, tasted it, asked one question and said “No. You didn’t get in”.
Nice. After all that time and effort. No conversation to see how I present myself, how interesting or funny I am. NOTHING. And do you want to know who did get in?
YES! TELL US CHEF!
A 30 year old blonde, who wore an apron with an olive painted at each nipple, and a painted jar of oil at her twat. Her food? A plate with olives and a couple of other things she didn’t even make. Nice. It was all about sex. Not food. I was pissed. I’m still pissed! lol
My daughter and I immediately proceeded to our next venue…. it was a Sunday. So off to the bar, to drink bloody Mary’s until I was totally snookered and couldn’t feel the disappointment. I remembering bringing in my chess set and playing a guy, and wiping the floor with him! lol
So I say: Have fun! Try out! Especially if your young and hot looking.
It’s just not my thing. And I hate to say it… but I’m glad that’s what it was. I wasn’t ready to be on a show that wasn’t about me and my cooking. I’m in competition with me, to be the best me I can be. I don’t want to compete with other chefs…. ever! When I do Cooking Shows at the Del Mar Fairgrounds 4 times each summer, I feature other chefs, I mentor other chefs. Why would I want to compete? lol That’s crazy!
For those of you that do follow me, I have written and will be shooting in the upcoming year a pilot for a show not currently on the air. I’m going to pitch it to PBS. Calling the shots, not waiting in line to be picked. That’s more my style.
GOOD LUCK CHEF!
Thanks!
Luck. When preparation meets opportunity. So good to create my own opportunity and do my own prep!
Happy Eating,
Chef Marian