Television Review: Take Home Chef
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that in each episode, a chef walks up
to a "random" shopper in a grocery store and offers to take
care of the cooking that night. They then agree on a menu,
gather the ingredients, and return to the shopper's home to
cook. While it's obvious that this is a controlled environment,
parents who watch with young kids might want to remind their
children that talking to strangers isn't OK, no matter how
friendly or responsible they seem.
Families can talk about the risks of talking to strangers. Why
is it important to be alert in public places? What should kids
do if they're approached by a stranger? Families with older
children can discuss how to prepare a meal. Why do you read a
recipe? How do you time your cooking so that all the elements
are ready in time? Or take it one step further and make a meal
together.
TAKE HOME CHEF serves up viewers a half-hour of home cooking as an unsuspecting shopper is whisked from the grocery store and treated to a personal food preparation lesson in his or her own kitchen. Australian-born chef/author Curtis Stone serves as the show's host and cooking instructor. In each episode, Stone zeros in on a shopper and guides cameras around the aisles as he and his new student work together to choose the ingredients for the meal they're going to prepare. Next stop: the shopper's home, where Stone provides meal preparation tricks and tips. At the end of each episode, the shopper's family returns home to a surprise gourmet meal.
Foodies will appreciate the insider tricks that Stone divulges. For example, in one episode, he suggests spearing grilled shrimp with slices of sugarcane rather than plain wood skewers to make the food sweeter. Viewers looking for compelling reality fare may be disappointed -- Stone's energy and useful tips help keep viewers' attention, but the episodes feel a bit weak without the surprises, challenges, or suspenseful moments inherent in most reality TV -- but fans of cooking shows will likely find Take Home Chef tasty enough.
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