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The Taste 1/16/14 (spoilers)

Did anyone else catch Audrey's exit interview during the closing credits? Here's a blog post she made about her disease (complex regional pain syndrome) and leaving the show:


Considering the edit she got I'm surprised the show passed this along.

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  1. I finally watched one episode. I was glad it was recorded so I could FF through all the silly out-of-the-kitchen conversations, especially from the contestants. Two hours was WAY too long.

    6 Replies
    1. re: chicgail

      Way too long. I think they can justify an hour and a half - but definitely not two.

      1. re: cresyd

        I could completely do without the judges chit-chatting in their trailer area while waiting for the individual dishes to be completed.

        1. re: LindaWhit

          I could handle that if the end was trimmed a bit.

          I have to say this episode definitely put in some value to why this method of tasting/judging is odd. First, Nigella's team goes down to two, now Marcus's…..it feels odd. Though I trust that no producer would want it to happen that way, it just feels awkward.

          1. re: cresyd

            I think the way of eliminating after losing the team challenge is weird. Just whoever the mentor doesn't care for that day. Not so much on what they cooked.

          2. re: LindaWhit

            Speaking of the trailer area, whatever stylist set those things up should be embarrassed. Nigella with the clearly plastic flower garlands, Tony with the "bad boy" trash signs, ... Silly Silly Silly.

        2. re: chicgail

          I don't mind it too much but it does get lengthy. I think the producers thought it would be a great idea to get viewers to be get to know the mentors more.

          A bit of editing out for length would make it better.

        3. Hot mess got by this week. I'm shocked that Marcus lost two members from his team. Getting rid of the pain warrior/blogger was a no brainer. Regardless of her weight loss/disease, she's not making food the judges want to eat. And paella, even if made perfectly, isn't suitable for one bite. I don't know how you get a little chicken, shrimp, chorizo, mussel, etc. onto one spoon.

          Marina baffles me with her ethnicity. Is she Vietnamese? What was in her roll? Marcus said it wasn't even good, much less decadent.

          3 Replies
            1. re: LindaWhit

              I think Hot Mess is the name for the remaining Nigella team.

              1. re: Firegoat

                Ahh, got it. Makes sense. And they still are. :-)

          1. Thank goodness Blogger Girl is gone, regardless.

            Interesting that Nigella flat out told Jacquelyn she had to knock it out of the park, as she wasn't going to use Crystal's dish during the group challenge.

            Impressed that Vegan Girl chose to eat the fois gras, although she was obviously gagging at doing so. (Here's the thing - is she actually vegan, or just vegetarian that will eat seafood on occasion?)

            Don's paella was a bad choice on his part. As was Marina's spring/summer roll.

            The Lee and Jeff Show continues. So much focus on both of them; I expect a massive screw-up on one of their parts soon enough.

            1 Reply
            1. re: LindaWhit

              Vegan girl impressed me too with her willingness.

              I think she is actually a Pescitarian, meaning she will eat fish and maybe a little seafood.

              I don't think she holds herself to such extremes in diet and is willing to try things more than she lets on.

            2. I got the feeling Audrey might have been "recruited" by the show since she has ALL of these millions of fans and they gave so much air time to her comments about her blogs. Viewers are viewers ... that and her comments about her fans wanting her on TV and then they give her that weird soapbox at the end of the show. Feels weird, almost like they promised her something if she went on and brought her "Fans."
              That said, glad to see her go.
              The vegan girl with the annoying laugh I understood to once be hard core vegan, but now was pescatarian.
              I thought Ed Lee was a much better mentor than Aaron Sanchez. I was very much not inspired by his enchilada demonstration.
              Is it just me or has Nigella come off as very unlikable this season? And I like Nigella! It seems like she hated everyone on her team except the professional cook.
              I absolutely hated the "stunt bucket" of fried chicken at Bourdain's trailer. Did you notice that no one ate it? Shots of Ludo and Nigella holding a piece but not eating it. Later when his team comes to the cabin, the bucket is still full.
              I like that they are showing more of the food this year, but they could cut a half hour out of the show by cutting down on the judge's constant, "oh I hate to do this... blah blah blah" when cutting contestants.
              rant over.

              7 Replies
              1. re: Firegoat

                But they also gave Reina that weird soapbox at the end of the first go-round as well. You remember - how Nigella was jealous of Reina's beauty? :::snort:::

                1. re: Firegoat

                  Aaron Sanchez looks like a schlub. His sleeves were so long they went way past his wrists.

                  Nigella, as usual, picked an awful team. Hot mess indeed. Her team will be eliminated first, most likely next week. Does that reflect her palate as not as sophisticated as others?

                  Last year Ludo won, and he was by far the most accomplished chef. This year he is matched by Marcus, and then there's Lee, who was picked by all the judges but chose Tony's team.

                  1. re: Worldwide Diner

                    So far, I'm not impressed with this year's guest judges. Lee and Sanchez are primarily known for their appearances on other reality shows. Season One sort of impressed the heck out of me in that regard: David Kinch, Gabrielle Hamilton, Carbone and Torrisi, Morin and McMillan, and Jose Andres. It was kind of mind blowing to see that caliber of chef on the show. Not sure if it will be as stellar this year from the looks of it.

                    1. re: djquinnc

                      I liked how Ed Lee came off. And his other reality show was top chef. I like his new book as well.

                    2. re: Worldwide Diner

                      "Aaron Sanchez looks like a schlub. His sleeves were so long they went way past his wrists. "

                      I thought that too. He did not look so good Sort of like a claymation version of himself.

                    3. re: Firegoat

                      They could have cut time spent with the chicken bucket and used it for the enchilada. I wanted to see what he was doing but it was a lot of fast-cut dumping. In fact each of the chefs had demonstrations that could have used more time (I'm assuming, since I remember they happened but don't remember a thing about them).

                      More cooking, less trash talking. Think that'll happen?

                      1. re: Firegoat

                        Now how could Audrey possibly have been "recruited"? The auditions were blind and the judges had no idea -- none! -- whose dish they were tasting. She surely got cast on sheer culinary merit.

                      2. Audrey - sorry just not a fan.It takes some chutzpa to call yourself the brave pain warrior...I mean sure write about yourself... but reallllllly?

                        5 Replies
                        1. re: girloftheworld

                          Yeah, she came off as really unpleasant on the show, but I just read one of her blog entries about her elimination, and I'm slightly won over. It sounds like she suffers pretty badly. I can't call myself one of her "fans," but she seems okay.

                          1. re: girloftheworld

                            Audrey just gets on my nerves. She wanted to inspire other sufferers by being on the show yet how was that suppose to happen if as she says she had no intention of telling anyone about her issues? Enough about her blog and her "fans".

                            1. re: rasputina

                              it smells of a lot of bullshit to me, as does her blog post.

                              1. re: Firegoat

                                I know this is getting far afield from food talk, but I was suspicious in her blog post about these nerve block "surgeries" that she had. Nerve blocks are usually minimally invasive injections. If her medical condition was that acute, the producers would not have risked the liability of casting her. Her whole demeanor reeks of pretty pervasive narcissism and histrionics. Which might have been the precise reason why they casted her.

                                1. re: Firegoat

                                  oooookkkk the scares on her wrists may have been a red flag to the casting people