By Debbie Mitchell
This week's Foodie Friday takes a look at cooking and competing. I am a huge fan of cooking competition shows, so when I heard about Martie Duncan (@MARTIEparty) competing on this season's Food Network Star I was intrigued. When the show premiered in May there were 15 cooks competing for the top prize to have their own show on the Food Network. Duncan, a home cook, party thrower and food blogger who has no professional training or restaurant experience is one of 15 competing against a gang of trained chefs for the title of Food Network Star. Martie is seven weeks into the season 8 competition and things are heating up. First take a look at the fearless home cook who got picked for the competition.
I talked to Martie on the phone today and asked her Did you ever imagine you would get this far?
''Yes, I did. I would never have agreed to do the show if I did not think I had a chance to win. I knew going in that cooking under pressure would be my biggest challenge. I knew the restaurant chefs and culinary school grads would have an advantage over me. As a home cook, I don't cook fast or under pressure; I take my time and really enjoy the process. However, most chefs don't do a wide variety of food-they specialize. I make everything from cocktails to desserts for my blog. And the show is called Food Network Star not Food Network Chef... in the past, several home cooks have won. The judging is 50% cooking skills and 50% presentation and personality. I weighed the options and felt I had a unique skill set of both cooking and on-camera skills and that gave me the confidence to go ahead and go for it. I've had to fight my way up from the bottom several times but I'm still in it!'
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| Martie's Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Food Network Star |
How did you learn to cook?
'"Well, I am not a chef. I am a home cook and I'm a food blogger... but more than that, I am a party-thrower. I always have loved to entertain and have always cooked for parties and holidays. My mom was an amazing cook and I learned a lot from her. I also have several friends who are outstanding cooks. We've collaborated on dishes over the years- especially for a party or special occasion. I'd say I'm self taught but really so many people have contributed to my knowledge of food and cooking, especially all of the great restaurant chefs we have back home in Birmingham, Alabama. I eat out several times per week and then go home and replicate their dishes with my own spin on them."
This is your first cooking competition show. What has been the biggest surprise about the competition?
"Hahaha- there were tons of surprises. The producers like to throw as many curve balls as possible at you to see how you will react under pressure. A Food Network Star faces many different challenges so they test you at every turn. For me, the biggest surprise was the vast difference in commercial grade appliances and equipment versus what I use at home. Each different set had different appliances and trying to learn them in the middle of a competition would eat up a lot of my time. Since I had never cooked in a commercial kitchen, I had NO idea there would be such a huge learning curve. Cooking at the speed that you need too was also a challenge. It is very different from working in your own kitchen where you know where everything is and how everything works. Your survival instinct kicks in and you figure it out and do what needs to be done. "
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| Martie Tuna Noodle Casserole Food Network Star |
When it comes to competing in a cooking show, what do you keep in mind while preparing the foods?
"I think there are three things that are key: cook what you know, stay organized, and use more flavor (spices, herbs, salt, etc) than you typically would think to use. The judges have eaten a lot of incredible food. You have to bring big flavor to compete. For parties, I usually try to keep my flavors in the middle of the road to keep everyone happy. On a competition show, you cannot do that."
The chefs are broken up into teams of (5) with a chef mentor, a new format for this season. The mentors choose their team members. The winner of the competition will continue to work with their mentor who will be a producer on their new show. The mentors are Chef Bobby Flay, Chef Giada De Laurentiis, and Chef Alton Brown. Bobby Flay says he picked the (5) best that he thought could cook. My feeling is if you can cook, I can teach them how to do television. Giada De Laurentiis says At the end of day we are selling a product. You can be the best cook in America if you can't sell your goods nobody is going to care. Alton Brown says he was looking for something interesting in their personalities, and his team had something sticky in their personalities.
Martie, how did you get chosen for the show?
"I saw an open casting call notice on FoodNetwork.com last summer. I jumped in my car the next day and drove to Chicago to audition. That began a long process of call-backs, auditions, interviews, questions, etc that culminated in a final audition with Alton Brown at his studio in Atlanta. He selected me for his team of 5. It was all very secretive and confidential until the cast announcement was made.
When Alton told her she was chosen for his team, Martie says "I jumped up and down and did a little happy dance." Martie says Brown told his team that he was looking for people who could be teachers and authentic in their motivation to be on Food Network Star. He asked me why I wanted to do it. I told him, "I was looking for a platform to do some of the things that I want to do. I want to get the word out that cooking at home is a lost pleasure. Holidays are just an excuse to eat. Some of my best memories were tied to cooking and eating. That has been lost, people are so caught up in entertaining and cooking perfectly. I want to give people peace and stop them from being intimated by cooking. Do what you like and make those memories at home and get over the fear of entertaining."
If you could have been on another team, which mentor would you haven chosen?
"I was perfectly suited for my team. Our team was a bit weird and quirky. We worked well together and everyone was very generous to each other. I would have struggled on the other teams. The restaurant chefs would have found my lack of restaurant experience frustrating."
One viewer did not agree with the elimination choice in one episode and left this comment on the website ".......Martie should have gone before Judson........" How do you respond to folks who think you should have been gone by now?
"There was a head to head show down in episode 5 at elimination between Judson and I and the judges sent Judson home. When you know you are on the chopping block and a step away from going home it is pretty brutal. My brand and point of view was well established and I think that helped me stay."
Who do you consider your biggest competitor on the show?
Well, there is nobody who does what I do on the show. My point of view is easy, affordable entertaining. I want to help people become excited about entertaining at home again- to make memories with family and friends. That said, everyone on the show has a unique point of view... and there can be only one winner. If you are asking me who I'd vote for if I were not on the show, I'd have to say my Team Alton teammate Justin Warner. Now, I probably won't be serving Justin's Fish Skeletons at a party any time soon, but I just love how his mind works.
FoodNetwork will announce the top three finalists on July 15th and in another new show twist, America must vote for their choice of the top three. After the show airs on the 15th viewers can VOTE on FoodNetwork.com. So VOTE!!! The winner will be announced in a reunion show in New York on July 22.
Leave a comment and tell me who is your favorite homecook?
TV/Social Media Producer Debbie Mitchell is an Emmy nominated producer who is a member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA) and is currently a member of the James Beard Broadcast and New Media Awards committee. If you are blogger or brand interested in blogger outreach campaigns or a personality interested in television placement follow Debbie Mitchell @TVProducerDeb or contact http://TheBloggerConnection.com.
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