Buzzword Bio Bingo #2: The Videos

Okay, sorry for the delay, but I had to re-watch the videos to catch everything I wanted to cover and the site was being bitchy... BTW, Dear Bravo, could we maybe cut down the commercial time for the site videos a wee tad? Kisses! JRB.

Andrew

Andrew tells us he's 30 and was born in Brooklyn, NY (which he pronounces as if he were born in Tennessee), grew up in Florida, and is now in NY again.

His mother was an eclectic cook and influenced him.

Buzzword Bio Bingo #1: Cooking is an art form (which involves all five senses).

Rant time!

I am sick of chefs explaining that they like cooking because it's an art form. Can we put a moritorium on that? When we interview musicians and writers, that's not the first thing out of their mouths, y'know. They tell us specific things, don't they? (Don't they? Will I have to next invent Musician Buzzword Bingo?) I'm equally sick of being reminded that cooking involves all five senses (though honestly I don't think hearing comes into play much). Tell me something specific! Tell me you love the way smell and taste interplay, at the very least, or that you feel satisfaction when you put out a beautiful plate, or that you like the puzzle of fitting together ingredients in new ways. And you can create memories with good art? Say it isn't so! (That's not limited to cooking, kids. Honest.)
[End rant]

Andrew would win the "unfortunate phrasing" competition if I were holding one by using the word 'regurgitate' in reference to food.

Cooking style: "Different". This one is a near-buzzword, but I'm not counting it. He then lists the exact same styles of cuisine he did when discussing his mother.

Favorite cuisine to both cook and eat: Jamaican, for its strong flavors and its scotch bonnet peppers. I give him credit for being able to say why, and for picking a cuisine that you don't hear about as much.

Favorite comfort food: Hot wings. Repeated.

Must-have kitchen appliance: Buzzword! Er, I mean, Japanese mandoline. (Incidentally, why Japanese? I've seen mandolines that don't have this qualifier attached. Are they really different? Help a non-professional out here.)

Favorite ingredient: A spice called urfa biber, which he says is a smoked Indian pepper at first then corrects to Turkish (the latter is correct). His attempts to describe it are funny.

Buzzword Bio Bingo #3: His strategy will include pouring his soul onto the plate. I think he really should keep that thing somewhere safer.

Antonia

Antonia introduces herself by telling us about where she works.

She got into cooking because it's all she did as a child, which seems a little circular, but okay... and then she tells us she was "forced" to be in the kitchen "but loves it". She's a "feed all guests" type, and notes it's because she's Italian.

Cooking style: Simple, fresh, really good comfort food, which she goes on to define. I'll ignore her mention of seasonality because it's in an okay way, but I still twitch when I hear the word.

Favorite cuisine to cook and eat: Italian, and then goes on to say what she likes about it.

She also loves desserts, which she admits she isn't good at.

Favorite kitchen appliance: Buzzword! Er, I mean, Japanese mandoline. (Okay, to be fair, yes, it's a great tool, but still, why Japanese?)

Favorite ingredient: Buzzword! Er, I mean, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Least favorite ingredient: Saffron. (Take that, Ilan!)

Dale

Dale is from Chicago, but it's not where he lives now.

Got into cooking because of his Filipino heritage (which does make sense, the Filipino friends I've had are definitely big on cooking big family meals). He's first generation American.

Favorite cuisine to cook and eat: Vietnamese... which I'll give him a pass on Asian buzzword for because of his background and that he named one specific Asian cuisine, and why.

Comfort food: Braised oxtails and peanuts, a food his mom made (he gave the Filipino name for it but I couldn't figure out how it was spelled).

Must-have kitchen tool: Chef's knives.

Favorite ingredient: Oxtails, because of their difficulty, interestingly.

Least favorite ingredient: Eggplant, but he had to think about it... I'm guessing he's willing to try a bit of anything.

Erik

From San Francisco, but originally from NY. He's an executive chef.

He got into cooking because his family is a professional cooking family.

Buzzword Bio Bingo: He has a great Passion for cooking.

Buzzword Bio Bingo #2: Cooking is art. Obliquely said.

Cooking style: Classic (including Buzzword Asian), but comfort food... hrm.

Favorite cuisine to eat: American food (steaks, ribs, barbecue). Good for him! I know a lot of people look down on American food, but there's some really good stuff that's typical American, so it's really nice to see a professional say this.

Favorite food to cook: Fried chicken, from his grandfather's recipe.

Favorite kitchen appliance: Knives, including his "Japanese steel". I love that he says "steel", because he sorta looks like a biker to me.

Favorite ingredient: Truffles (and he explains why).

Least-favorite ingredient: Foie gras (apparently he's my buddy on this one).

Jen

Jen's from San Francisco.

Became interested in cooking at a young age, originally a busser, and got to work in the kitchen from there, and she ended up going to culinary school right out of high school.

Cheftestants: Please take note of how she describes what she likes about cooking. These are the ways you say "art form" and "seasonal" without being boring or Buzzwordy! Good job, Jen...

Her style she refers to as "rustic", and while she again mentions the seasonal ingredients, the way she does it avoids the Buzzword Bingo point.

Favorite cuisine: California, Mediterranean, especially Italian

Favorite junk food: She doesn't eat junk food, but she loves carnitas tacos. Um... well, okay.

Must-have kitchen appliance: Buzzword! Er, I mean, Vitaprep blender.

Least favorite ingredient: Wild rice, because it's like grass (and then she goes on to note it is grass, heh).

Favorite ingredient: Fresh-made pasta.

Lisa

Lisa is from New York and unemployed.

She's been interested in cooking since she was a kid (apparently like everyone). She thinks the best part is giving someone a dish that brings up good memories or they feel is orgasmic. There's another way to not-mention art and its effects to note.

Favorite cuisine: Buzzword, er, Asian-influenced. She goes on to mention she likes cooking most cuisines but Japanese and Italian are not her strengths and she favors Thai, Vietnamese to both cook and eat.

Comfort food and indulgence: Cereal for the former, chocolate-covered strawberries for the latter. I think 'cereal' may actually be a first for this category, but I can see how it's a comfort food for sure.

Favorite appliance: A spoon! And a Buzzword! Er, a Japanese mandoline.

Most over-rated ingredient: Lobster. I'm with ya.

Go-to ingredients: Cilantro, lime juice, fish sauce.

She doesn't like cooking with or eating salmon.

Buzzword Bio Bingo #2: Her strategy includes Passion. (The rest of it is pretty good, though.)

Manuel

I said I'd mention something interesting about Manuel when I got to his video, so let's start with that: When he says his name and his nickname (and later on when he uses some Spanish words), he has a very definitive accent. The entire rest of the video, he sounds like a generic American. I presume this speaks to his having grown up with two languages. If you didn't find this interesting, well, I'm done, so let's move on.

He tells a funny story about his childhood introduction to cooking.

He loves cooking because it's instant gratification (which he goes on to clarify he means that it's fast to do, unlike music or painting, and so therefore, another example of how to note you like the artistic qualities of cooking without saying "cooking is an art").

He calls his personal style eclectic, simple, homey, bold flavors.

Favorite cuisine: Mexican, because of his heritage and its familiarity, especially the chilis and spices.

Favorite comfort food: Tacos; you can wrap anything up in a tortilla!

Favorite appliance: His juicer; he loves using fresh juice in cooking.

Doesn't like: Raw (bell) peppers.

Loves: Salt... which normally I'd probably snark about, but, he mentions actual different varieties.

Manuel, congratulations, you made it through an entire interview without a buzzword! Love ya, man.

Mark

"Hello, my name is Mahk, and Oi am from a little place, uh... called New Zealand."

Heh, sorry, I just love accents. He's been in the U.S. for about three years. He got into cooking because he needed a job. Heh. He started a dishwasher and moved on from there.

What he likes best about cooking is the gratification of cooking for family and friends.

His style is influenced by, well, the stuff close to where he grew up: NZ, Australia, Japanese, Indian. And take note: he mentions that his tastes varies with the season because of what's available. That's how you do it, yup, especially with the mentioning of specific seasonal qualities.

He loves Krispy Kremes.

Favorite kitchen appliance: The stove, heh. I frankly imagine him being asked this question and his initial answer being to respond "Are you taking the piss, mate?", based on how he says this.

Favorite ingredient: Tomatoes.

Least favorite ingredient: Bleu cheese, which he doesn't like the smell of.

Hrm. He managed to avoid Buzzword Bingo, too. Maybe I'm being unfair to the chefs... nah.

Nikki

Nikki is a New Yorker, yup.

Buzzword Bio Bingo: She always had a Passion for food and wine.

Her first job was an a pork store? What's a pork store? Did I hear this wrong? I replayed it several times... I keep hearing it that way.... what the HELL is a pork store? She loves the energy of cooking and making people happy.

Her cooking style is (buzzword) "seasonal". I'm not sure how you can call that a cooking style; it may inform the ingredients, but not the methods. She does go on to say she plans her menus around the seasons and likes using organic products, which makes up for this a bit.

Favorite cuisine to cook: Italian.

Comfort food: Matzo ball soup. I actually thought at first she might be Jewish, but she says she's Italian and you don't meet many Italian Jews... and then she says this... is she maybe both? Who knows?

Favorite appliance(s): Ice cream maker (it's fun), can't live without utility knife.

Favorite ingredient: Leafy greens.

Least favorite ingredient: Beans.

Her strategy is to pay attention and focus, which is a good idea no matter what you're doing.

Nimma

She's from Hotlanta, Georgia.

She first got interested in cooking as a young teen; her father's in the restaurant business (in fast food) and she used to go to work with him.

The thing she likes about cooking is the ability to cook how you feel, how flexible it is.

Her cooking style is "simple, but flavorful", she doesn't like to stick to specific cuisines.

Favorite cuisine to cook and eat: Italian.

Comfort food: Anything starchy, especially pasta.

Favorite kitchen appliance: Pasta machine, and (buzzword) Vitamix blender.

Favorite ingredient: I think she said vincotto? I had to look it up, it's a balsamic vinegar. I'd give her a buzzword point for this except it's specific enough to avoid it. But she does get one for then mentioning olive oil on top of it. Are there cooks that don't like olive oil in this country? Seriously?

Doesn't like: Green peppers, there's more flavor with the reds and yellows. (This is true, though I do think that green peppers go well in sauces and such.)

Richard

Let me talk about Richard's hair for a moment. First, the fauxhawk is still over. But at first what I thought is, here's an older guy who saw this and decided to adopt it just because he liked it (not because it's In Fashion), and doesn't he kinda remind you a bit of the J. F. Sebastian character in Bladerunner? And in an odd way, that turns out to be apt, because while it's subtle, as Richard talks, it suddenly dawns on me: He's this season's Mad Scientist.

His first cooking-related job was at a McDonald's, which he's moved up from, obviously. He likes the camraderie of the kitchen, which reminds him of the team-work of sports. What he likes best about it is the artistic freedom to whatever you want and to make people happy.

His style, he describes as "modern, thoughtful, inspired, creative".

Favorite cuisine is... well, "modern" food, but he's not sure how best to describe it. What he goes on to explain is to say that it's not specific cuisines, but rather things from them.

Food indulgence: A big juicy cheeseburger. (He says he doesn't know anyone who doesn't like one, and I'm like, um, vegetarians? Jews? Ahh, never mind.)

Favorite kitchen appliance: Immersion circulator. It was here that I realized "modern" meant "food science". It really snuck up on me, I admit... not what I expected out of the apparent high-school jock.

Favorite and least favorite ingredients: He doesn't have any, because style and tastes for him vary over time.

Richard, despite being the designated Mad Scientist, manages to completely avoid the Buzzword Bingo thing by being specific and informative. Good interview. I still am boggled he's our Mad Scientist, but I'm curious to see how an older chef incorporates those techniques.

Ryan

Another person who got into cooking as a kid, and I immediately peg him as being a rich kid with parents who spoiled him. May not be fair, we'll see.

He likes best about cooking, that with "our" two hands, "we" can "create, stimulate, and do beautiful things", and "there's not a lot of people who can do that". Um. I don't even know where to start with this, other than to note that never has the cooking-sex vocabulary overlapped more... and, well, no, I'll stop there.

Cooking style: Seasonal... and I'm debating about whether or not to award him the buzzword point, because he then goes on to say he likes changing with the seasonal ingredients, which is more reasonable. But again, "seasonal" doesn't really strike me a style, per se, so, yeah: Buzzword point.

Favorite cuisine to cook: Mediterranean.

Favorite cuisine to eat: Pizza, an "old staple" of his life.

Favorite junk food (aside from pizza, one presumes): Ranch dressing.

Favorite appliance: Vitaprep buzzwords.

Favorite ingredients: Seasonal ones. Here, the answer is reasonable.

Least-favorite ingredient: He hates raw bell peppers, which seems to rather be a theme this year.

Spike

Another person raised in a family full of professionals.

What he loves about cooking is not just the food but also the social, entertainment, and other business aspects.

Personal cooking style: He feels it's hard to narrow it down because he's young and had a lot of influences from his family heritage and business.

Favorite food: Greek.

Favorite kitchen appliance: His spoon, which he says is like part of his body. Scary.

Doesn't like: Liver.

Most favorite ingredient: Lemon. But not those wimpy American lemons, because those suck, apparently. Dear Spike: Don't buy lemons from the convenience store, maybe you'll like them better.

Buzzword Bio Bingo: Being a Passionate cook is part of his strategy.

He also mentions "don't try to re-invent" and "salt and pepper", so it's not a stupid strategy, it just has a stupid buzzword.

Stephanie

A home-town girl.

She became interested in cooking after a visit to Epcot's Around the World foodery. Huh.

Favorite thing about cooking: It's a buzzword. Er, an art form. She redeems herself a little bit by noting she's from a family of artists and this is just her way of expressing herself. But, still a buzzword point, sorry.

Cooking style: Simple, classic techniques with exciting flavor combinations and good texture and colour. And having fun.

Favorite cuisine to cook: Italian, with a twist.

Favorite cuisine to eat: Everything.

Favorite food indulgence: Large quantities of cheese.

Must-have kitchen appliance: A Vitabuzzword.

Favorite ingredient: Preserved lemons.

Least favorite ingredient: Hominy.

This is a woman who really enjoys her cooking, I can tell.

Valerie

Another hometown girl.

She became interested in cooking in part because her mom was a bad cook, but she didn't really get into it professionally until later in life. She likes the creativity of it. Note she does not say "cooking is an art".

Cooking style: Simple. Elegant. Buzzwordy. Er, Asian.

Favorite cuisine: Any type of Asian, and she even names quite a few.

Favorite thing to eat: Barbecue ribs. Yum.

Must-have kitchen appliance: Besides her chef knife, a mandoline. And then she says "like, a Japanese mandoline", which sounds like she was asked to clarify... so no buzzword point for that, but seriously, can someone please clear this up for me? It can't be just to differentiate from the instrument, because context should be enough for that...

Favorite ingredients: Garlic and onions.

Least favorite ingredient: She doesn't really feel she has one, but she doesn't like beets to eat.

Zoi

Zoi is originally from Seattle, and now lives in San Francisco.

She became interested in cooking late by comparison, at 20. It started as just a job, but she ended up falling in love with it. The coolest thing about cooking for her is that she gets to do what she loves as her job. I like this answer a lot.

Her cooking style: Classic, rustic, mostly-southern European. She likes local, seasonal ingredients. Note she does not claim this is her style, so no buzzword point.

One cuisine she loves to cook and eat: Italian

Comfort food/indulgence: "I don't eat fast food." "I love fried chicken." Um. Okay.

Must-have Really cool appliance: a wood-burning stove.

Favorite ingredients: She has many favorites, but especially anchovy in small quantities.

Least favorite thing to eat personally: Beets.

---

So... given the actual number of chefs who avoided Buzzword Bio Bingo points, maybe I was exaggerating a wee tad. But honestly, I think the ones who did it more than made up for it. Now, I do understand there are trends in cooking and similarities in why people become great chefs, but I think I've explained why I'm biased against some of the things I've heard too much.

For the others... okay, I admit it, "olive oil and balsamic" didn't appear much at all. But as I said elsewhere, they just seem so basic. I mean, as I ask above, are there cooks in the U.S. who don't favor olive oil for its versatility if nothing else? I have some in my cupboard, one of the three oils I consider essential (the others being safflower and peanut), and I'm not even a professional. And balsamic vinegar, really, another basic ingredient.

"Passion for cooking", just a quick expansion on this: Hey, you know what? You've entered a cooking competition, we didn't think you did that for your health. I would venture to opine that all great chefs have a passion for their art. And that goes for you people trying to serve me your hearts and souls, too.

"Asian" influence. I don't think I have to explain to any foodies or professionals why this qualifies a buzzword, and I'm guilty of using it myself. Plus it's so vague, though that's a secondary problem. Still, that latter is why I am more willing to give a pass to people who name specific countries.

"Japanese mandoline" I covered, but then there's "Vita mixer/blender". My problem with this is that it's just a brand name. It may be a particularly good brand, but it can't possibly be the only one that produces good mixers and blenders. Or is this another Xerox/Kleenex/Other genericized brand name thing? Or am I missing something by not being a professional? I mean, feel free to tell me if I'm wrong, that somehow Vitamix is the epitome of blenders such that they qualify as unique things.

Okay, I'm done. Next up: the actual episode reviews! Yay!