The Food Network’s show “Chopped” returned for its 11th season earlier this month, and even with its simple format, it continues to be the station’s most viewed show.
The competitive cooking show, which first aired in Jan. 2009, features four chefs each episode. Some of the passionate participants are professionally trained, while others pursue cooking as a hobby.
Host Ted Allen explains the three rounds at the beginning of every episode: appetizer, entrée and dessert.
The basic format of the show stays stationary, but different factors come into play. For example, the episode “British Invasion” only presented chefs from the U.K. who used English influences in their cooking.
The most popular string of “Chopped” specials featured past winners battling against each other to gain the title of “Chopped Champion.”
Because of the major success of the best-of-the-best battles, “Chopped” continued to air similar competition episodes, raising the stakes of the grand prize.
Each chef is given identical baskets filled with three to five “mystery ingredients” that they must incorporate into a dish within the given time limit of 20-30 minutes, depending on the round.
The chefs are also given access to a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator. Each competitor must present four final plates per round before time runs out.
One chef is eliminated after each round, and the winner receives a prize of $10,000.
The ultimate kicker of the competition is the arbitrary ingredients the chefs must work with. A dessert mystery basket in season two had matzo, pomegranate molasses, roasted chestnuts and baby fennel.
Most appetizer and entrée rounds have some sort of protein in the mystery basket, but other than that, the ingredients can be anything edible.
There are always culinary twists the chefs need to be prepared for. Difficult ingredients used in the past include Indian corn and ostrich eggs.
The three judges vary by episode but are all well-renowned food lovers and chefs. Some of them reappear in a majority of episodes, such as Aaron Sanchez, Alex Guarnaschelli, Scott Conant and Amanda Freitag.
Judges watch intently as the chefs work and gladly point out any flaws or safety procedures being ignored.
After the chefs display and explain their dishes to the judges, the three critics taste the meal and comment on it in front of the creators. The judges rank the dishes presented to them on creativity, taste and presentation.
“Chopped” has a straightforward structure, but its viewership keeps increasing due to the subtle surprises.
New episodes of “Chopped” air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. on Food Network.
Reach the reporter at kmstark1@asu.edu
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