Friday, May 16, 2008

A Call to All Would-Be Masters


The Hagakure reports Yamamoto Tsunetomo to have said that when a samurai is in understanding of his own Way, then he might be exposed to all ways and be more and more in accord with his own.

I say that if a Way be worthy of a master, then that way should guide the master with each of the great elements: Earth, Fire, Air, and Water.

In pondering these things, the form of the next great battle of chefs was revealed.

The Second Challenge
  • Each contender will inherit lots drawn from two sources
    • The first draw will assign one of the four great elements
    • The second will reveal a region from one of the four far-flung corners of the earth
  • It will be the task of each chef who accepts the challenge to master in a single dish both (1) the element and (2) the style of the region draw
  • This dish should demonstrate that the would-be master's style is great enough to encompass all ways that luck or fate may cast upon them
  • As with the first challenge, the chefs will be divided into two groups
  • Each group will be judged by the chefs of the alternate round
  • The reigning Master Chef will take advantage of his prerogative to cook in neither round and judge all contenders
  • All preparation must occur on site
  • Each group will have two hours in which to complete their dish
  • These dishes will be judged on two criteria
  • The conceptual use and integration of the challenge of the lots
  • As always, the magic flavor of a great dish that bares the mark of master's hand
  • Critique will be given publicly by each taster
  • The scoring will be
    • Olympic style (1-10 with one-tenth gradations)
    • All scoring by the judges will be done in secret and revealed only after all dishes have been tasted and judged
  • The chef with the highest average score will be rewarded the title of Master Chef and will be passed the Golden Whisk
Who dares answer the challenge of the Master Chef?

No comments: