TV Shows

[Homer Potvin]

Well, those shows are all scripted to fit the thematic narrative arc. Not only will Ramsey fix your restaurant, he will fix your marriage and help you rediscover your love for hospitality. It's not going to look good on camera if you don't serve disgusting food, have a trash walk-in, dead rodents, and make every greenhorn mistake in the book. That's all staged. And it takes 36-48 hours to prepare demis, bone broths, some stock bases, etc. None of that applies to making a hamburger for instance.

I've been a part of many film shoots in the restaurants. None of the rescue or fix ones because my restaurants don't suck, but ALL of them are scripted for a desired result. We've done a bunch of reality shows that have the stars going to restaurants, and there's always a variety of scenes we have to prepare for months in advance. The producers pick a spot and will tell us that maybe they'll want to have the whole cast sitting together, so we have to prepare or that. They might want the restaurant to be full with regular diners for more atmosphere and less script, or they might want to film them talking, which could take all day, so they'll do it in an empty restaurant with the cameras positioned just so. Or they may want a couple of Housewives to get wasted and scream at each other, so we have to prepare for that. They may drink real alcohol or they might not. They might do eight takes of one ho tossing a drink at another ho, so we have to prepare for that.

It's all entertainment. There's no real about any of it.

And on a different topic, if I ordered supreme of salmon commodore, would you be able to make it? What about filet of beef perigourdine?

Why not? It's not rocket science. None of it is. Cooking is very scientific and stable if you know what you're doing. You have to have the stocks, sauces made and the ingredients prepped first, but you wouldn't be offering it if you couldn't. And just everything has a 10 minute pickup. You couldn't run a business without it. Obviously a well done steak or a 3# baked lobster takes longer, but 90% of everything you've ever order is parcooked to within a few minutes of completion.

 

[CdnWriter]

but 90% of everything you've ever order is parcooked to within a few minutes of completion.

What does "parcooked" mean? I assume that a dish that takes 30 minutes in a 375 oven is prepped ahead of time but I always thought that restaurants were faster because they used industrial strength ovens and they could shave the cooking time down by cooking at a higher heat than my residential oven could.

I've never hear it called "parcooking" before though so I'm thinking it's not the same thing.

 

[Homer Potvin]

What does "parcooked" mean? I assume that a dish that takes 30 minutes in a 375 oven is prepped ahead of time but I always thought that restaurants were faster because they used industrial strength ovens and they could shave the cooking time down by cooking at a higher heat than my residential oven could.

I've never hear it called "parcooking" before though so I'm thinking it's not the same thing.

It means to cook it most of the way, but not all. Like pasta, which might take 15 minutes to boil, is "parboiled" for 10 minutes, sometimes a hundred pounds at a time, then finished for 3 to 5 minutes when ready to serve. Or baked potatoes, which take forever, are parcooked to within 5 minutes so they can be popped into the oven when ordered. The same thing goes for your proteins like chicken, veal, and pork. They are prepped and parcooked first then finished when needed. Steak is really the only thing cooked to order, though a lot of fish and seafood doesn't take long and can be cooked fresh, like shrimp, scallops, and clams.

Industrial ovens don't cook things faster. They cook more at a time and do so without breaking as easily. A higher temp doesn't shorten time. It just burns the food. Most things need to be cooked from the inside out, using there inherent fats, juices, starches, and other shit. Try baking a cake at 600 degrees to test that out if you want a hoot. It's not the level of ambient heat but the way the chemical reactions inherent to the food behave when heated. Infrared ovens and grills are a different story, but I've never seen one.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Well, those shows are all scripted to fit the thematic narrative arc. Not only will Ramsey fix your restaurant, he will fix your marriage and help you rediscover your love for hospitality. It's not going to look good on camera if you don't serve disgusting food, have a trash walk-in, dead rodents, and make every greenhorn mistake in the book. That's all staged. And it takes 36-48 hours to prepare demis, bone broths, some stock bases, etc. None of that applies to making a hamburger for instance.

I've been a part of many film shoots in the restaurants. None of the rescue or fix ones because my restaurants don't suck, but ALL of them are scripted for a desired result. We've done a bunch of reality shows that have the stars going to restaurants, and there's always a variety of scenes we have to prepare for months in advance. The producers pick a spot and will tell us that maybe they'll want to have the whole cast sitting together, so we have to prepare or that. They might want the restaurant to be full with regular diners for more atmosphere and less script, or they might want to film them talking, which could take all day, so they'll do it in an empty restaurant with the cameras positioned just so. Or they may want a couple of Housewives to get wasted and scream at each other, so we have to prepare for that. They may drink real alcohol or they might not. They might do eight takes of one ho tossing a drink at another ho, so we have to prepare for that.

It's all entertainment. There's no real about any of it.

I've done live theatre shows and concerts for years, so this sounds very familiar. Of course reality TV, like any other form of entertainment, is scripted. If it wasn't, it would have to be improvised ... and I'm guessing that no chef likes to improvise if he/she doesn't have to.

I'm not a chef, but even I can see it's common sense. Cooking is scientific and uses precise measurements and temperatures, so improvising is risky. Am I right? *crosses fingers*

A higher temp doesn't shorten time. It just burns the food... Try baking a cake at 600 degrees to test that out if you want a hoot.

Wouldn't that blow up the oven? *L*

Then again, I've come across stories of beginner "cooks" who called tech support for the oven to ask something like, "If a recipe calls for 30 minutes at 300 degrees, then couldn't I set the oven for 600 degrees and it would be done in half the time?" *shudder*

And that's not even mentioning this would-be Darwin Award winner: Husband puts gun in oven, wife surprised. The horror ...

 

[JLT]

I've done live theatre shows and concerts for years, so this sounds very familiar. Of course reality TV, like any other form of entertainment, is scripted. If it wasn't, it would have to be improvised ... and I'm guessing that no chef likes to improvise if he/she doesn't have to.

Julia Child used do do this all the time on her TV show. She'd prepare something and stick it in the oven, and then yank the same dish, now cooked, out of another one. The only way to do it for a TV show.

I'm not a chef, but even I can see it's common sense. Cooking is scientific and uses precise measurements and temperatures, so improvising is risky. Am I right? *crosses fingers*

There was a man named John McPherson who had a radio show around the time of the Great Depression, and a television show after World War II. He went by the name of "the Mystery Chef" and he also wrote a series of cookbooks that are now collector's items. My mother had a couple of them, and I found one in a used bookstore that I refer to from time to time.

I'm mentioning him because he believed that anybody can cook if they can follow the directions exactly. He said (and I'm paraphrasing it, because I don't have the book in front of me). "Water boils at 212℉ at sea level. If you are boiling an egg for the first time, the water will be 212℉. If you're a person who's been a chef for twenty years, the water will still be 212℉. So even if you're a first-time cook, you can cook as well as that chef as long as you follow the recipe I provide."

That sentiment was echoed by author/mechanic John Muir in his famous book How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, when he said that to follow his repair procedures, it was not necessary to think, because he'd already done the thinking for you. Instead, you must do the procedures exactly as he wrote them, and do them with love. (He did add that there are times when you must think a little bit.)