'Worst Cooks in America' isn't just a title: They're horrible

Chef Beau MacMillan said his starring role in the new competition "Worst Cooks in America" left him feeling optimistic about his future.

He knows he'll always have a job.

The chef and culinary instructor said he knew the contestants on the show, which debuts Sunday night at 10 p.m. on Food Network, would need plenty of handholding and help. But he didn't realize just how completely helpless they would be.

In the opening episode, the 12 players -- all competing for a chance at a $25,000 payday -- were asked to serve up a signature dish for MacMillan and fellow chef Anne Burrell. One contestant, Marque Hernandez of Brea, above, prepared asparagus for the judges by cutting off most of the tops -- and serving the hard, stringy bottoms. (He explained that he thought they looked better that way.) Another contestant cooked a whole chicken by plunging it into boiling water, plating it up, and then covering the beige, rubbery skin with a canned sauce. Goulash was made, inexplicably, with rice and lentils thickened with flour and mustard. And one person made a pasta dish and added pineapple at the end. "For crunch."

"These guys could not follow common sense, infantile instructions....They were just deer in the headlights," MacMillan said.

Also in Sunday's episode, the chefs demonstrate a dish and then asked the contestants to recreate it. The recipes were written on a blackboard for all to see. Chef MacMillan lowered the bar on his team even further: He told them to just make the dish "look" like his. Still, several competitors failed in spectacular fashion. One player, realizing she was in trouble, piled serving utensils on top of her dish to hide what was below. Another went crazy with added garnishes. MacMillan looked down at that plate and began fuming, tossing the greenery aside before he would even taste the dish. (Read more about the show here.)

"They would just let their imagination get the best of them every time, and try to do something way out of their range," he said. "There were fires, smoke. It was so hard to watch. They blew up that kitchen every day."

MacMillan said the show wasn't just a culinary bootcamp for the contestants. "It taught me so much about who I am as a teacher." He said the show left him a little sad, as well. "It's a lost art, cooking." Food awareness is greater than ever before in this society -- the cooking shows, the magazines, celebrity chefs, the proliferation of restaurants, the awareness of concepts such as seasonal eating and the slow food and farm-to-table movement, etc. But that doesn't translate into an ability to cook at home.

Which means lifetime employment for a chef and culinary instructor.

--Rene Lynch

Photo caption: Marque Hernandez, left, with chefs Beau MacMillan and Anne Burrell. Photo credit: Food Network.

Comments

[Jaye Foxx]

I, indeed agree, that last seasons' contestants didn't need the rude remarks of Anne B. !! After all, she is ONLY a sous cook on Iron Chef America... and WHO CARES that she " like's to sport a skirt "..Anne put on some slacks! You're FAT! You need a net on YOUR hair !! I am positive little hairs fall out of your hair because it is OVER PROCESSED!!! I would cook beside Beau MacMillan any day! Jennie needed to GROW UP and get a CLUE! I may not be a 4STAR Chef but I can cook better than Anne!!!

[Pat Barnes]

Chef MacMillen should be ashamed....he continually harassed poor Jennie and she kept her cool till the end. I could not have cooked with someone in the background constantly yelling at me about what I was doing and asking was it right! Cooking is fun, not stressful like he made it for Jennie.
He should have given Jennie the $25,000 out of his own pocket because it was his fault she did not win!!! He was only thinking of himself and winning.....not Jennie! Shame on you Chef MacMillen!!!

[J]

Omigosh. This show is one of the funniest shows on tv. I'm so applying for the next round of worst cooks.

[Susan]

"Cooking is a lost art"???
Okay, that's just hyperbole. There's lots of good cooks out there- you just don't see them getting big jackpots on television for putting a tasty dinner on the table each night.

However, there ARE fewer people who know how to plan and cook a balanced healthy diet for themselves and their families these days, and this has resulted in our country eating more fatty, sugary pre-packaged foods and a skyrocketing obesity and diabetes rate.

If the President and Congress REALLY wanted to cut healthcare costs, they'd make basic school Home economics a federally mandated requirement in ALL schools. If every person in America knew how to make easy, cheap and healthy home-cooked meals, we'd all be richer and healthier!

[Johnny Gosh]

This show is BOGUS!! I was led to believe that this was going to be about the "worst Cooks" in America, who would be taught to become better cooks. Yet, the "worst" were sent home on the first night of the program; & they kept the ones who could otherwise do well enough on their own! GO FIGURE!!!! I will no longer be watching this farce.

[Gordon]

@ Emily

No more offensive than using disability to insult the chefs.

[swissmiss]

I was sorry that so many were let go at the end of the first show. These people REALLY need help. Another blog suggested they should have all been given intensive training and THEN compete.

I think that would have been more helpful to everyone.

And at least give them a parting gift of a few cookbooks on how to cook simple meals - don't just boot them out.

[lee mary]

The worst cook in America is Rachael Ray.

[CAC]

The Food Network has degraded into nothing but shows with titles like "Semi-Homemade" and "30 minute meals" that substitute opening a can for real kitchen skills. Then they have the audacity to put on a show like this one, and allow the comment that cooking is a "lost art". The Food Network is largely responsible for this "lost art". They are breeding their own contestants. Sad...

[Khrystyne]

This show doesn't look like it will do well - & I can't stand Anne Burrell. I was watching the uber Iron Chef last night (Flay/Comerford vs. LaGasse/Batali) & the FN pimped this show at every commercial break.....

[Carissa]

These likely are the same people who insist on stainless steel appliances in their kitchens (to make them feel like professional chefs), along with food preparation-unfriendly granite countertops. I don't get it.

[GaryK]

OMG. This is now the funniest show on television. I'm just afraid the show will get less funny as the season goes on.

[Emily]

This show is offensive; not only does it treat its already handicapped contestants like children, it treats them as though they already should be amazing chefs!

When these unfortunate contestants don't perform or understand what "saffron" is and how much it costs, the professional chefs scoff and berate them. As for "infantile instructions," how does "blanch and soak" sound? Do you know what that means? Because I cook, very well, and I don't!

These contestants have not been through culinary school. They don't know how to chop or cut properly. These professionally trained chefs are acting like sanctimonious jerks. It's almost like telling a grade schooler they're a complete moron for not being able to write grants.

I will not be tuning in for this show. I was looking for something upbeat and fun and perhaps positive and inspiring for those who cannot cook so well; instead I was treated to ordinary joes (accountants, grant writers and others) being beat down and made to cry because they cannot cook like pros.

[Natalie]

Oh my god! I thought I came up with the idea for this show. Looks like someone beat me to it. I would be a perfect contestant!

[miss_msry]

Boy, these people sound pathetic. How hard is it to follow a recipe? It might not taste like it came from a 4-star restaurant, but it should be edible. And I've only set my kitchen on fire three times in the last 20 years. And the house never burned down, but the ovens had to be replaced.