Coco Chanel C’est Magnifique!

“To be irreplaceable, you have to be different.”  (Coco Chanel)

Attractive, ambitious, charming, capricious, creative, elegant, simplicity, feisty, progressive, rebellious, legendary! 

Vive Chanel!

Challenges, Success, Prodigy

Success — largely a matter of hanging on when others have let go; thick skin + tenacity (Anonymous)

Watched Chopped last night, a “brutal” show on Food Network.  Here are the rules:

• Goal: Four chefs compete (no assistants) to create a delectable three course meal — each dish reflecting the flavor, texture, presentation, and uniqueness of the mystery ingredient.  One chef is eliminated after each round.
• Time: 20 to 30 minutes from coming face-to-face with the missing ingredient to plating for the judges.
• Prize: $10,000

What would you do if you had to create a palatable appetizer in 20 minutes using celery, cheese, soba (buckwheat) noodles, and chicken wings?  (Chicken wings alone can take more than twenty minutes to cook!)

Three judges’ comments range from “You call yourself a chef when all you’re doing is placing cheese and celery on the plate?  You’re job is to incorporate the flavors with artistic presentation.” to “I’m extremely angry with your dishes.”

Positive response occasionally surface but pales in comparison to the blunt criticisms (all right, the winner leaves with $10k so taking the heat comes with the territory.  But still, they’re humans, you know).

My hats off to the chefs for cooking their chicken wings.  Mine may still be raw after 20 minutes (I’m just a curious viewer).

******

And then there’s Akim Camara — child superstar without a care in the world!