So, I have been watching Top Chef  since Season 3. It has all the right components for great reality TV. Plus, it’s all about food, which is something I find so interesting. I feel like I am pretty good in the kitchen, so anything that can make me a better “chef,” I am all for.

So, when I found out about a show called “Chopped” on the Food Network channel, I had to see what it was all about. (I believe someone mentioned it on Twitter. Go figure.)

WELL.

Let me just say, it has all the fun components that the Top Chef Quick Fires have, but each of the 4 contestant are giving a basket full of 3 or 4 items that must be used in each course.  After the first round, the appetizer round, which is only 20 minutes, one person’s dish is rated the lowest and therefore, that is contestant is “chopped.” The remaining 3 contestants compete in the entree round which lasts 30 minutes. Another chef is chopped again. They end the show with the dessert round with the remaining two contestants. The winner of the dessert round/overall efforts wins $10,000.

While each show is intense and exciting, with all the time constraints and wacky ingredients, it truly teaches its viewers how to cook. By having an over-the-shoulder viewpoint in the game, the show can’t help but show you different ways to cook that you never thought of. Quite inspiring.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I am going to be cooking eel anytime soon or incorporating gummy bears somewhere in my meal, but the chemistry involved in cooking is evident. This show teaches you that.

Plus, it leaves you on the edge of your seats. Another great getaway from regularly scheduled programming.

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