on Apr 10th, 2008Ming Tsai on food
Ming Tsai, the renowned chef-owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachussetts, was the guest judge on Top Chef 4 last night. As is Bravo’s custom, it offered him a blog spot and instead of writing a post, it’s a Q & A in bloggy form and is well worth reading. His views about food and cooking lose nothing in the translation for those of us who cook at home and his philosophies are certainly in keeping with my own and those of this blog.
About his focus on good, simple food, he says, “I think if it takes you 20 steps to make a carrot taste like a slightly better carrot, it’s not worth it.” Perhaps it’s no surprise he’s not an enthusiast of the sous vide technique we saw yet again last night. “Different is not always better, but simpler is always better.”
That carries over to his own TV shows. He never dumbs down for us or talks down to us and his recipes for home kitchens are completely doable.
His brainpower is obvious and he is the only chef I’m aware of who prepped at Andover and got his degree from Yale. In mechanical engineering, no less.
His own website, with recipes and Vodcasts, is here and the Bravo post is here. Of course, he dishes about last night’s episode and tells who he thinks will win. After what I saw last night, I do hope he’s wrong.
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What an enjoyable and informative entry. Many thanks.
I will keep an eye out for his shows . . . always appreciate simplicity and intelligence!
Thanks, Blue. Aside from the usual PBS, you’ll also find him on Create, the PBS how-to offshoot. I’m sure you have it.
Back when the Food Network was about cooking, he had a show there which I run across from time to time in the middle of the night. Heaven forbid FN should run a real cooking show when most people might see it.
I finally saw this episode yesterday. I’m definitely going to try the winning dish.
The author of the salmon melodrama should have gone home.
Ick.
” . . . tells who he thinks will win.
After what I saw last night, I do hope he’s wrong.”
I’m having a hard time even differentiating the cast, yet.
And what’s with the whole badass schtick from every. single. one. of them? #$%@*bleep*@$#% Give it up and cook!
I know what you mean, sage. After last week I’m hoping this doesn’t turn into another Season 2 hatefest, but I couldn’t get beyond 2 or 3 episodes of that season.
The language has gotten so bad that Colicchio wrote about it in his blog last week or week before. Enough with the drama.
TC did a really good job of addressing it on his blog. Lots of good comments from viewers, too. It’s just needless sensationalism.
It must be embarrassing to be unaware of that going on until it airs, interspersed with your own face, throughout. Hopefully he’ll see to it in future contract negotiations that the editors cultivate a modicum of class.
And the streetwear hats as chef’s toque? ~ Spike, I think, ~
ICK!!!
Oh, yes, that’s Spike, the one with more ugly hats than I have fingers, and despite my knife skills I do still have all my fingers. And what is it about this show that attracts contestants with fauxhawks? Gah!
Agreed about Chef Tom and maybe they will do something next season. For me, the show’s about the food, not spurious vocabularies.
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