I’d Like Clean Food, Please
I’ve had a lot to say about Top Chef and I’ve said it to them. They pay no attention, of course. Like their grey cell of a holding room for the contestants–the cardboard box tables and random trash for decoration. On a show so sponsor dense, they should have a yellow wall of Glad products, something…
But my real problem is their complete disregard for hygiene. On the shows this season, I have witnessed chefs pick items off the floor, wipe their noses and not wash their hands. They stack grocery bags, food trays and bins on the floor and then immediately onto a food prep surface. The best example of that yet was when Robin loaded her bins on the floor of the walk-in and then stacked them atop one another, putting the bottom of one tray (direct from the mat where every chef had been standing moments before) right on top of the raw food inside. They pull items out of the trash, drag their aprons across and through the garbage cans, wear their chef coats while they brush their hair or run around town. They sit on food prep surfaces, stand on walk in shelves. This week, one of the brothers picked up several items from the floor, then immediately went about arranging his prep area, leading me to the most telling bits of all–They never, ever wash either hands or produce.
What I want to see (as a customer, a fan and a viewer), is a series of challenges involving safe food handling, proper hygiene and cross contamination.