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Chopped

816 statements
159 feature instances
33 referencing feature instances

Chopped	type	TVTItem
Chopped	label	Chopped
Chopped	page	Chopped
Chopped	comment	Crossing Iron Chef and Top Chef, Chopped is a Cooking Show competition. Like Iron Chef, the competitors are given secret ingredients they must use; Chopped gives them a basket containing three or four per course instead of just one. Also like Iron Chef, they have to make an entire meal, but only three courses rather than five. Like Top Chef's "Quickfires", the time limits are short, typically twenty minutes for the appetizer and thirty minutes for the entrÃ©e and dessert dishes.The show follows a simple recipe: each show starts with four contestants (preferably of varying careers, training, and specialties). There are three rounds of fast paced cooking with a basket of secret ingredients (at least one ingredient in each basket should be quirky, obscure, or difficult to work with). Quickly beat in a mixture of Jerkass and Nice Guy judges. Do not forget a can of "I'm Screwed...", this is needed to keep you sucked in! Bake for one hour and serve while hot. Goes well with a serving of Good Eats for dessert.Opinions on the show will vary, but it could be compared to Iron Chef lite. However, given the short prep time available, the lack of assistant chefs, the frequency of off-the-wall ingredients, and the do-or-die nature of each course, this format may be more difficult than Iron Chef.The success of this show and its format led Food Network to create similar shows with formats similar to this, most notably its Evil Counterpart, Cutthroat Kitchen.As of 2020, Chopped also now has TWO spin-off/sister series. The first is called "Chopped Junior," which is the same as the original show, except all the contestants are children (aged 9 to 15) and each of the three rounds are thirty minutes long. After the 2019 "Chopped Sweets Showdown" $50,000 Tournament, "Chopped Sweets" aired in 2020 with Chopped judge Scott Conant (who also hosted Best Bakers in America) hosting.The show is part of Food Network's primetime block of programming and has run since January 2009. About five episodes at a time are available on Hulu, while the entire series is available to stream on Discovery+.
Chopped	fetched	2024-03-14T13:00:31Z
Chopped	parsed	2024-03-14T13:00:31Z
Chopped	processingComment	Dropped link to BizarreFoodsWithAndrewZimmern: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Chopped	processingComment	Dropped link to CutthroatKitchen: Not a Feature - ITEM
Chopped	processingComment	Dropped link to DefrostingTheIceQueen: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
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Chopped	processingComment	Dropped link to EdutainmentShow: Not a Feature - IGNORE
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Chopped	processingComment	Dropped link to TheNextFoodNetworkStar: Not a Feature - ITEM
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Chopped / int_10e5b4f4	type	Visible Silence
Chopped / int_10e5b4f4	comment	Visible Silence: The dessert round of the third Chopped Redemption. This isn't just simply Manipulative Editing: it really was deathly silent during the whole round to the point that judge Amanda Freitag said "They are working so quietly. You can hear a pin drop."
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Chopped / int_1439161f	type	Heroic BSoD
Chopped / int_1439161f	comment	Heroic BSoD: Some of the chefs can suffer this when they see what's in the basket, especially if they have zero familiarity with the ingredients. Chef Vinson Petrillo almost got chopped in his debut episode because of this. In the Chopped Champions Grand Finale, this is why he gets chopped. Definitely Book Ends. One of the Teen chefs suffered this after cutting herself. She recovered in time to (barely) finish all 4 plates.
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Chopped / int_149ff4b0	type	HilarityEnsues
Chopped / int_149ff4b0	comment	Judge Alex Guarnaschelli can fall into this sometimes, although she'll usually only be mean if the chef deserves it. The fact that she has the exact same expression no matter what she's about to say has led to more than one contestant begin to defend their dish just as she's about to say how good it is. Hilarity Ensues. One incident of note for Guarnaschelli: one contestant only managed to plate a single serving of her appetizer, but either by her choice or by luck, it ended up in front of Alex. She spent the entire deliberations arguing in that chef's favor. Fortunately, the other two judges refused to bend. Another incident that stands out was when one contestant plated dishes that only featured 3 of the 4 mystery ingredients, and she was so impressed by his dish (and irritated by another chef who barely used 2 of the ingredients) that she argued in his favor.
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Chopped / int_14ed6ab7	type	Does This Remind You of Anything?
Chopped / int_14ed6ab7	comment	Another chef was an antagonistic snob with a well-liked California restaurant who not only talked shit about her fellow contestants and their abilities, but also proudly admitted to invoking her right to refuse service to whomever she wanted at her business. She also won.
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Chopped / int_15b2cab3	type	Tempting Fate
Chopped / int_15b2cab3	comment	Tempting Fate: In one episode, "Better Saffron Than Sorry," a chef commented after the first round that "At least they didn't make us use lamb testicles." Guess what was in the next basket? However, he knew more-or-less what to do with them — because he'd seen them used on a previous episode of Chopped! In a pizza themed episode, one chef was constantly talking about how he was willing to work with anything other than pineapple. Guess what was in the dessert basket?
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Chopped / int_17257125	type	The Wild West
Chopped / int_17257125	comment	The Wild West: The backdrop to the 2012 Chopped: Grill Masters tournament, complete with Ted as the "sheriff" and the judges wearing stereotypical clothing. The tournament was held in the outdoor Old Tuscon Studios in Arizona, which meant that the chefs had to deal with 90+ degree heat and 30+ mph winds. Also only a pantry with no outdoor refrigerators.
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Chopped / int_1777688d	type	Genre Savvy
Chopped / int_1777688d	comment	You'd be surprised how often contestants serve judge Scott Conant mistreated Italian ingredients — especially pasta. Although they have become Genre Savvy enough to not offer him raw red onions anymore.
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Chopped / int_188668f2	type	Redemption Quest
Chopped / int_188668f2	comment	Redemption Quest: Obviously the Redemption episodes. The 2014 Thanksgiving episode doubled as a Redemption episode because the four contestants were judges who have never won on their own show.
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Chopped / int_18aff462	type	Artistic License â€“ Biology
Chopped / int_18aff462	comment	Artistic License â€“ Biology: No, Chris Coombs, rattlesnake meat does not contain venom, especially since the rattlesnake's head is absent in the basket. Although he may have confused it with eel, whose blood is toxic and must be either cooked to render it harmless or drained out of the raw meat.
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Chopped / int_18d15922	type	Title Drop
Chopped / int_18d15922	comment	Title Drop: "So whose dish is on the chopping block?" "Chef [x], you've been chopped."
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Chopped / int_19769f50	type	Defeat Means Friendship
Chopped / int_19769f50	comment	On a related note, Lance Nitahara lost against Madison Cowan, and then won against Yoanne Margis in the second Redemption episode. He then became a sous chef for Chef Cowan in "Team Chopped." This crosses over into Defeat Means Friendship in Nitahara's case due to his respect of Chef Cowan when they both initially battled.
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Chopped / int_1e7c47ab	type	Stealth Pun
Chopped / int_1e7c47ab	comment	Stealth Pun: One episode was themed after a circus. They bring in Ron Ben-Israel as a guest judge. Guess what kind of atmosphere his show takes on?
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Chopped / int_1f250372	type	I Need a Freaking Drink
Chopped / int_1f250372	comment	I Need a Freaking Drink: One incredibly nervous contestant ends the dessert round this way, and is nice enough to pour her opponent a shot as well. Happens more often than not when alcohol is a basket item. A couple of contestants have expressed this sentiment as they leave after being Chopped (and many more give that impression even if they don't say so).
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Chopped / int_21e5b9c7	type	Failed a Spot Check
Chopped / int_21e5b9c7	comment	The look on one chef's face when time was called and he suddenly realized that he had left a crucial part of his dessert service in the blast chiller.
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Chopped / int_2319aa2e	type	All or Nothing
Chopped / int_2319aa2e	comment	All or Nothing: Winner gets $10,000. Losers get nothing. (Except on the charity episodes.) Making risotto in the appetizer round. Making a good risotto in twenty minutes, while also utilizing all four mystery ingredients (almost certainly in another part of the dish), is an incredibly dangerous gamble. Those few players who pull it off have almost certainly clinched their victory for the episode then and there. It's far, far more likely, however, that you're going to blow it and ensure your elimination.
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Chopped / int_233da103	type	Cordon Bleugh Chef
Chopped / int_233da103	comment	Cordon Bleugh Chef: Averted, at least most of the time. The mystery ingredient combinations can get pretty bizarre, but the chefs have a fully stocked pantry and fridge at their disposal so they can come up with something workable. However, one particular viewer's choice special invoked this with the basket ingredients being cheese doodles, durian, lime Jell-O, and imitation crab meat. The judges flat out admit that they can't think of any way to make an appetizing dish using these.
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Chopped / int_260926c3	type	Failure Is the Only Option
Chopped / int_260926c3	comment	Failure Is the Only Option: Occurs occasionally if two specific ingredients show up in the basket together. The judges will frequently criticize any attempt to "segment" the ingredients into being separate on the plate rather than all combined harmoniously into a single dish, and anyone that's seen the show (or just heard this in a previous round) will know this. Except the basket has, more than once, included fish and cheese. So if you make two separate things on the same plate, you could get chopped. If you put the fish and cheese together, you could get chopped. The time they got fake crab, jello, cheese doodles, and Durian - four ingredients that you can not make anything edible out of.
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Chopped / int_2719ab04	type	Special Guest
Chopped / int_2719ab04	comment	Special Guest Judge: Sam Kass, Assistant White House Chef and a Senior Policy Adviser, for the Lunch Ladies episodes. Anne Burrell, previous Chopped All-Stars competitor, for the second All-Stars finale. Alton Brown, Giada DeLaurentiis, and Bobby Flay for the "Food Network Stars!" episode. Ron Ben-Israel for the circus-themed episode. Jeff Mauro for the sandwich episode Andrew Zimmern for the "Bizarre Baskets" episodes.
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Chopped / int_28c1d543	type	Defrosting Ice Queen
Chopped / int_28c1d543	comment	Defrosting Ice Queen: Alex has a reputation for being a no-nonsense Jerkass, but she seems to be getting less intense, and she's not above crying over sad stories or happy moments. Her softer side is prominently on display in the 2014 series America's Best Cook, where she cranks up the warmth and encouragement in mentoring the East team.
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Chopped / int_293f8cd8	type	I Meant to Do That
Chopped / int_293f8cd8	comment	I Meant to Do That: Commonly invoked by contestants in response to execution issues brought up by the judges (as in, "Well, I personally like my steak cooked until it's really tough").
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Chopped / int_294ed981	type	Bilingual Bonus
Chopped / int_294ed981	comment	In 2013's "Chopped Champions: Part 1", Chef Sylvain Harribey said "This is all shit!" But he said it in French.
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Chopped / int_297170d3	type	Halloween Episode
Chopped / int_297170d3	comment	Halloween Episode: Once a year starting in 2010, and with at least one of the mystery ingredients having something to do with Halloween. The chefs were instructed to put that theme into their dishes. The set was decorated in skull candles and other Halloweeny things, and the judges wore masks to start the show. The Junior spin off usually has them as well, with the addition that the kids are wearing their costumes for the show as well.
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Chopped / int_2a090d00	type	Lampshade Hanging
Chopped / int_2a090d00	comment	One fellow took a taste of lutefisk and said it was like biting into an old kitchen sponge. Which he immediately denied he'd ever actually done.
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Chopped / int_2b5ab7c1	type	Analogy Backfire
Chopped / int_2b5ab7c1	comment	May be combined with Analogy Backfire: The usual argument is "if you gave us a chicken, would you expect us to use both the breasts and the legs?" In several episodes where contestants were dealing with whole birds, the judges complained if they only received one type of meat.
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Chopped / int_2bdae2ae	type	Awesome, but Impractical
Chopped / int_2bdae2ae	comment	Awesome, but Impractical: One contestant was a practitioner of molecular gastronomy and spent the first round making weird food-gels. Everyone thought it was awesome, but it took so much time to do the whole rest of the dish suffered and he was chopped in the first round. One chef decided to use tarragon soda and sugar in order to make spun sugar, spending a great deal of time flicking strings of sugar across the ends of two large knives. However, this chef also put his spun sugar on top of his warm dessert, causing all the work he put into this fancy garnish to melt into a pool of green sugary goo.
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Chopped / int_2e6a41e0	type	Gratuitous English
Chopped / int_2e6a41e0	comment	Gratuitous English: The occasional competitor whose first language isn't English can sometimes end up wording things like this.
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Chopped / int_35ae6a23	type	Lethal Chef
Chopped / int_35ae6a23	comment	Lethal Chef: This can occur when the chef doesn't fully cook something, or fails to clean something properly. Or bleeds all over something and serves it anyway. Or when he bleeds all over the food so badly during preparation without putting on gloves that one of the producers forced the chef to start the dish all over. Can become literal if cherimoya comes into play. The cherimoya seeds cannot be used because they are used in pesticides and are extremely poisonous. As a result, Ted must announce before the start of the round that the seeds must be removed prior to preparation. Unfortunately, more than once, the seeds did appear in some of the judges' dishes. On the third episode that featured the ingredient, Ted forgot to tell the contestants that the seeds cannot be used, and one of the chefs tried to toast them. Luckily, Ted caught the mistake in time. One chef dropped the meat from their dish on the floor and then proceeded to serve it anyway. The judges refused to eat it and he was out on that round. On the fourth Halloween special, one of the secret ingredients was eel, and Ted made it a point to remind the contestants that they had to skin and butcher it carefully, because eel blood is toxic. Didn't stop one of the competitors from deliberately ignoring him, though. One basket included the legendary ghost peppers, chili peppers that are rated at more than 1 million Scoville heat units (basically the kind of pepper that one needs to usually sign a waiver for before consuming). One of the chefs used them to add heat to her stir-fry, but didn't have enough time to remove the seeds from the peppers. She's chopped as a result, since the judges say outright although her dish had good heat and flavor, it was literally like eating around shards of glass.
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Chopped / int_35db4433	type	French Cuisine Is Haughty
Chopped / int_35db4433	comment	French Cuisine Is Haughty: Played straight and subverted. French-trained chefs have competed on Chopped (even a certified Master Chefnote Not that kind of Master Chef.), complete with dishes that non-French-speaking people can't pronounce. However, none of them have appeared upper-crust or arrogant. Heck, the Master Chef was one of the more humble contestants considering he was competing to pay his staff so they didn't have to look for work in a bad economy (He won). Played straight and subverted in another instance where one chef was trained in Classical French Cuisine and, in his intro video and Confession Cam moments, came across as arrogant, but was amiable to his fellow chefs backstage, even complimenting another chef on her inventive dish and, when chopped, took his loss with grace. Played straight in terms of cooking technique. Many of these chefs do feel that French technique is superior because French technique, as they say "is the only proper technique."
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Chopped / int_38dbef5	type	Intentional Mess Making
Chopped / int_38dbef5	comment	Intentional Mess Making: One chef once intentionally left a napkin on someone else's plate to get the other chef in trouble.
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Chopped / int_3a4f1e40	type	Celebrity Edition
Chopped / int_3a4f1e40	comment	Celebrity Edition/All-Star Cast: Literally, with the Chopped All-Stars episodes, which feature Robert Irvine and Duff Goldman as contestants, along with a few of the traditional judges. The second season features four of the Iron Chefs, including Cat Cora, who hasn't been on ICA in quite some time. With the third season of Chopped All-Stars, you can now include Iron Chef-caliber chefs, including Chuck Hughes and Elizabeth Falkner. There is also a celebrity episodes with non chefs such as Laila Ali and Joey Fatone. The 2013 Holiday Special counts. Antonio Sabato Jr., Dawn Wells, Anthony Anderson, and Teri Hatcher competed. And the elimination/winner order is shown.
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Chopped / int_3bc88a7f	type	Foregone Conclusion
Chopped / int_3bc88a7f	comment	Foregone Conclusion: On the particularly bad episode where the entrÃ©e round was deemed an Epic Failure, the only chef that didn't contaminate the Cornish hen became the Champion. Even judge Maneet Chauhan confirmed it on the final chop. Ever witness a chef present a plate that has specks of their own blood on it? Don't expect to see that chef survive the round or win the competition. A competitor once failed to plate anything. He didn't just leave all four ingredients off the plate - he presented four empty plates to the judges. Three guesses as to who got chopped, and the first two don't count. Subverted in another episode where a chef made the same mistake, four empty plates, but another contestant neglected to remove poisonous seeds from a certain fruit in the basket. The empty plate chef expected to be chopped, thinking the other would at least get points for plating and creativity, but the judgesâ€™ comment was â€œIt turns out there is something worse than serving us no food, and that is serving us poisonous food.â€� It was the poisoned seeds that led to a chop.
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Chopped / int_3c598f56	type	Conflict Ball
Chopped / int_3c598f56	comment	Conflict Ball: The producers of the show have tried to force the contestants to hold it by refusing to put more than one of any specialized item (ice cream machine, deep fryer, etc.) in the kitchen, essentially making the contestants race each other for it or give them ample opportunities to screw each other over by the misuse of it. The editing's sense of disappointment when the chefs don't fight over it during the dessert round is almost palpable.
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Chopped / int_3c88d6c2	type	Flat "What"
Chopped / int_3c88d6c2	comment	Flat "What": One contestant's reaction to lime pickle.note A strong-tasting Indian condiment of preserved limes with chili and garlic
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Chopped / int_3d226e02	type	Pineapple Ruins Pizza
Chopped / int_3d226e02	comment	In a pizza themed episode, one chef was constantly talking about how he was willing to work with anything other than pineapple. Guess what was in the dessert basket?
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Chopped / int_3dcc914f	type	Took a Level in Kindness
Chopped / int_3dcc914f	comment	Took a Level in Kindness: Chef Nate Appleman, who had been the resident asshole in his season of The Next Iron Chef, went on to compete in the first All-Stars tournament, where he was humble and courteous. And in the end, just like the ending of the Chopped Champions, the judges were bawling because his son (who was suffering from Kawasaki Disease, and thus was competing for Kawasaki Disease Foundation) came out and joined his father on the victory.
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Chopped / int_3fc3406b	type	Haggis Is Horrible
Chopped / int_3fc3406b	comment	Haggis Is Horrible: When canned haggis turned up in the baskets, the only contestants who aren't grossed out are a guy whose mother cooked Scottish dishes when he was young, and a French chef who doesn't know the word and mistakes it for some sort of pÃ¢tÃ©.
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Chopped / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
Chopped / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: Many of the special episodes where the contestants are competing for charity. One charity gets $10,000 (or even $50,000)... And three charities (or twelve charities) get a bit of minor publicity.note It's not stated, but all charities are awarded money, just not the larger 5-figures of the winner (usually ranging between $2000-$5000) or the bragging rights. Most all shows of any sort with charities/celebrities in competition will still award a prize of some sort to participants It was worse on the second season of All-Stars when Chris Santos was explaining why he was playing for charitynote His cousin was suffering a very debilitating disease, and the money was supposed to go to his charity., Alex Guarnaschelli shed tears of sympathy. Chris Santos was chopped on the first round.
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Chopped / int_42d9daf9	type	No Fair Cheating
Chopped / int_42d9daf9	comment	No Fair Cheating: Contestants are prohibited from bringing outside ingredients into their meals. After it was discovered that All-Star Jacques Torres pulled out a bag of chocolate from his pocket during the appetizer round, although this wasn't the only problem the judges called him out on, Torres was immediately eliminated from the competition.
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Chopped / int_44fc28e8	type	Honor Before Reason
Chopped / int_44fc28e8	comment	Chef Helen allowed a competitor to use her grill and ingredients from her station because she wanted to win by her cooking ability alone. Crosses into Honor Before Reason.
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Chopped / int_4604fd4d	type	Worthy Opponent
Chopped / int_4604fd4d	comment	Worthy Opponent: Often said by the competitors of each other in the dessert round. Lance Nitahara did this twice — in his first match, he was quick to applaud his opponents, particularly Madison Cowan, who defeated him. In his redemption match, he was so certain that Yoanne Margis outdid him that he offered to buy a ticket for Chef Margis to visit her grandmother in France, which was her planned use for the prize money if she had won, after the judges gave Chef Nitahara the victory. Chef Helen allowed a competitor to use her grill and ingredients from her station because she wanted to win by her cooking ability alone. Crosses into Honor Before Reason. Quite subverted by Chef Sammy Davis, Jr. He really wanted to face Chef Michelle Garcia. Sammy really did not care for Chef Tryg Siverson because he saw him as an annoying, cocky Jerkass who was full of it... to the point of leaving onion skins on Tryg's plates to send a message. Unfortunately, Chef Michelle got chopped in the entrÃ©e round, so he was facing Chef Tryg. He visibly hated Chef Tryg, whereas Tryg couldn't care less. Almost every episode will have one contestant or other ask another for an ingredient. Almost no chef in the show's history has deliberately withheld an ingredient or lied about the whereabouts of one still in the fridge or pantry.
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Chopped / int_4781adbb	type	Jerk with a Heart of Gold
Chopped / int_4781adbb	comment	In the dessert round of first semifinals match of the 2nd Chopped Champions, one chef proceeds to smack talk the other competitor right in front of the judge's faces during the round. He ended up having undercooked pie crust, which got him eliminated. Similarly, in the season 3 episode "Sweet Redemption", Chef Chris acted like a proper jerk throughout the show (as detailed above under Jerk with a Heart of Gold), culminating in his trash-talking his competitor Chef Amy directly to the judges at the end of the dessert round (all the more shocking because he'd helped Amy out at a crucial moment when she couldn't get a can open). He was chopped for various errors he'd made throughout the episode.
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Chopped / int_4ae82f6a	type	Pop-Up Trivia
Chopped / int_4ae82f6a	comment	Early seasons had techniques and ingredients explained via Pop-Up Trivia. Nowadays, this is rarely done in favor of the chefs, judges or Ted talking about them.
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Chopped / int_4b86a724	type	Getting Crap Past the Radar
Chopped / int_4b86a724	comment	Getting Crap Past the Radar: The show normally bleeps out cursing, but foreign words sometimes escape censorship: Chef Chris Sell, in the episode "Belly Up": "Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks!" In 2013's "Chopped Champions: Part 1", Chef Sylvain Harribey said "This is all shit!" But he said it in French.
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Chopped / int_4c30f8f0	type	Twitchy Eye
Chopped / int_4c30f8f0	comment	Twitchy Eye: One contestant had a very noticeable one that twitched whenever the judges said something negative about his food.
Chopped / int_4c30f8f0	featureApplicability	1.0
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Chopped / int_4f4372e9	type	Early-Installment Weirdness
Chopped / int_4f4372e9	comment	Early-Installment Weirdness: Season 1 through 3 had a various amount of things different from what viewers are now accustomed to, including: Ingredients that actually made sense together, such as duck, ginger, green onions, and honey for an entrÃ©e. Nowadays, there's usually at least one "curveball" ingredient in every basket. Appetizer rounds being thirty minutes long. This was cut to twenty minutes from Season 2 on. Junior still keeps all rounds at thirty minutes, however. The implication that producers would sometimes remove ingredients from the pantry that are usually there. One episode has the sugar bin disappear in the dessert round and another removes all but two eggs from the pantry. Cutthroat Kitchen regularly used variations on this theme as sabotages, allowing one chef to commandeer all of a particular ingredient or take it away from one or more opponents. A very dimly-lit studio and dampened colors. Things were brightened up (in both cases) as the show went on. The number of mystery ingredients. Season 1 episodes had anywhere from three to five. Most of Season 2 and 3 followed a three (appetizer)/four (entrÃ©e)/four (dessert) format. After Season 3, they stuck to four for all rounds. The strictness of rules in regards to who the judges vote out. One episode had a contestant dropping a piece of meat on the floor and still plating it for the judges. Back then, he made it to the dessert round, but nowadays that would pretty much mean a guaranteed elimination. In the early episodes, leaving a basket ingredient out guaranteed elimination. Nowadays, whenever somebody misses an ingredient, Ted says that it is a major mistake, but it is not an automatic elimination. Doing it twice, however, is a guaranteed way of getting chopped, no ifs, ands or buts. Early seasons had techniques and ingredients explained via Pop-Up Trivia. Nowadays, this is rarely done in favor of the chefs, judges or Ted talking about them. Before Chopped Champions season 1, the dessert round had the chefs already standing in their station with Ted in the middle to start the round. Nowadays, the dessert round opens with the chefs walking in from opposite directions to face each other before Ted says "Open your baskets." Oh, and the lighting is darkened until Ted says "Open your baskets." Speaking of Chopped Champions, the first (technically) Champions tournament was a hybrid King of the Mountain special, where you had to defend your title over four shows. That format was so weird that no one remembers it. The current tournament format was actually started in the second tournament, with the four-heat elimination followed by a grand finale. Early on, chefs who would cut themselves would simply glove up and carry on with their cooking. In a move to eliminate the chance of contaminating their dishes with blood, any chef that draws blood (regardless of the severity of the injury) will be pulled aside automatically by the medical team to get treated, and any food that does get contaminated gets thrown away immediately.
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Chopped / int_5049f19d	type	Do Well, But Not Perfect
Chopped / int_5049f19d	comment	Do Well, But Not Perfect: Discussed by Jet Tila for the 2015 All-Stars Tournament. In the finals, he made the perfect appetizer, which is NOT what he wanted to do. As discussed in a previous episode by the judges, do they (the judges) award the win to the chef who hits a Home Run but drew strikes, or do they award the win to the chef who hit singles every round? Generally speaking, Chopped Champions win 2 out of three rounds, controlling for all criticisms and ceteris paribus. While winning the Appetizer round may put a target on your back for the entree round, it at least guarantees you a spot in the Dessert round (unless you manage to royally screw up), even if the judges were harsher on you. If you did manage to make a mediocre dish for the Appetizer but didn't get chopped, you definitely cannot do a second mediocre dish for the entree round. Otherwise, that guarantees that you'd be chopped. The best example of this trope put into play, although no intentional, was through Chef Vinson Petrillo in his debut episode. His appetizer was a near disaster with just "putting all four ingredients on the plate". He was the 2nd worst that round and the only reason he survived was because another contestant missed one of the mystery ingredients. That made it easier for him to come back in the next two rounds with perfect dishes.
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Chopped / int_5313c266	type	Bookends
Chopped / int_5313c266	comment	Chef Vinson Petrillo almost got chopped in his debut episode because of this. In the Chopped Champions Grand Finale, this is why he gets chopped. Definitely Book Ends.
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Chopped / int_5973fab5	type	Does Not Like Spam
Chopped / int_5973fab5	comment	Does Not Like Red Onions: Scott Conant. Justified, because serving raw onions generally isn't a good idea.
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Chopped / int_5a6c9d5c	type	Combat Commentator
Chopped / int_5a6c9d5c	comment	Combat Commentator: Ted Allen and the judges follow a similar structure to Iron Chef, commenting on the cooking techniques of the competitors. The competitors themselves get in on the action in after-action interviews.
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Chopped / int_5d753b19	type	The Smurfette Principle
Chopped / int_5d753b19	comment	The Smurfette Principle: Most of the people who have competed on Chopped are men, but nearly every episode has at least one female contestant—rarely is there ever an episode where all the contestants are guys (there have actually been episodes where all the contestants are women).
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Chopped / int_5f6c6cc1	type	Can't Get Away with Nuthin'
Chopped / int_5f6c6cc1	comment	Can't Get Away with Nuthin': If a chef places three plates of food perfectly but leaves one plate empty (or missing an ingredient that went on all the other plates), the lacking plate will be put in front of one of the judges, not set aside for the chopping block. This especially comes into play if one or more dishes had ingredients plated after the time has expired. The judges will always call out the offending chef. (Perfect example: Coolio in the 2014 Tournament of Stars.) Happens when contestants just "put the secret ingredients on the plate without doing anything other than chopping them." Usually. In the first All-Stars tournament, Jacques Torres pulled cocoa nibs from his pockets and the judges took note of it. When it came down to who to chop, it was either Anita Lo (who had failed to complete all four plates) or Jacques Torres (burnt chorizo on cocoa nibs). The judges opted to chop Chef Torres for using an illegal ingredient.
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Chopped / int_6136e02f	type	Brain Food
Chopped / int_6136e02f	comment	Brain Food: A literal example when "goat brains" were one of the secret ingredients. Pork brains canned in milk have also been used. When given a whole head, brains are a go-to ingredient (along with cheeks).
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Chopped / int_6159beb1	type	It Tastes Like Feet
Chopped / int_6159beb1	comment	It Tastes Like Feet: One contestant believes he's in a lot of trouble because the basket contained two "foot-flavored ingredients" : papayas and jura erguel cheese. Another chef commented that passion fruit tastes like perfume. A third chef had never used rose water and made the mistake of tasting a spoonful. "It tasted like a bar of soap!" Lampshaded by Geoffrey Zakarian. One fellow took a taste of lutefisk and said it was like biting into an old kitchen sponge. Which he immediately denied he'd ever actually done. Another contestant actually described a cheese as "tasting like feet", and considered that a good thing.note The infamously-smelly Limburger cheese is indeed made with the same bacteria that makes your feet stink On one episode, chicken feet were the featured ingredient in the entrÃ©e round. Two of the three chefs were chided for not cutting the toenails off before plating the entrÃ©es (see the Berserk Button entry about inedible items being a no-no). In a subversion, however, all three chefs actually managed to make tasty dishes using the chicken feet!
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Chopped / int_627264e0	type	Death Glare
Chopped / int_627264e0	comment	Death Glare: Alex Guarnaschelli has a magnificent one whenever her Berserk Button gets hit. The camera will sometimes even give her close-ups for it.
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Chopped / int_6289c429	type	Oven Logic
Chopped / int_6289c429	comment	Oven Logic: Invoked and played straight many times, especially if the chef misjudges the time it takes to cook the food. Or when a chef cooks pork chops on the whole rack or double bone, but find out with five minutes to go that the center is raw.
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Chopped / int_6a1a1f8a	type	Glasses Pull
Chopped / int_6a1a1f8a	comment	Glasses Pull: If Scott Conant is wearing glasses and he starts to take them off during the judging phase, you know you're about to get a verbal ass beating.
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Chopped / int_6b35bdff	type	Serious Business
Chopped / int_6b35bdff	comment	Serious Business: Chefs that claim Chopped is "just a game" or that they are "trying to have fun" are quickly berated by the judges and reminded that the culinary profession should always be treated with respect. Amateurs, however, are exempt from this rule since they really are there to have fun.
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Chopped / int_6bccf2ba	type	Supreme Chef
Chopped / int_6bccf2ba	comment	Supreme Chef: The winners of the Champions' tournaments, called Chopped Grand Champions.
Chopped / int_6bccf2ba	featureApplicability	1.0
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Chopped / int_6c81c95	type	True Art Is Incomprehensible
Chopped / int_6c81c95	comment	True Art Is Incomprehensible: Some chefs pull a variation of this trope when asked why they cooked their dish a certain way or why it was plated that way. They will say something like "I thought this flavor with this flavor would work" or "This dish should be plated this way because X." When those artistic reasons do not work, the chefs look pretentious, even if the judges don't say it outright. One example: Chef Nate Appleman proceeds to do a pappardelle soup flavored with water note He used fresh pasta (required ingredient) and pureed it with water, adding no flavor to it.. When asked why he used water to make the soup, he responded "I like the taste of water." The judges proceed to criticize him saying that the pappardelle soup does not have flavor and it's way too starchy. One chef literally pulls this card straight when she leaves gooseberries unopened on the judges' plates. Her justification? The judges did not take too kindly to this. Heck, Scott Conant gave her an epic tongue-lashing and outright called that chef "pretentious." Needless to say, she got chopped because of it. Geoffrey Zakarian declared one contestant's food to be "too intellectual", which is ironic considering how people viewed him on both Chopped and Next Iron Chef. The judges are not above this either. One chef used a pair of tongs to hold a fish filet steady while she butchered it, which apparently is a no-no in the culinary world because it can break the filet. The only reason the chef used the tongs was because she had cut herself and was afraid of contaminating the fish; nevertheless, the judges berate and scold her for "disrespecting the food", and cast doubt if she could be considered a "real chef" since she has only been working with food for four years. note It should be noted that the filet tasted fine by the judges' account.
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Chopped / int_6ef9d3fe	type	Christmas Episode
Chopped / int_6ef9d3fe	comment	Christmas Episode: Twice. Called Chopped Holiday. The set is decorated to evoke Christmas Eve. At least one of the mystery ingredients have something to do with the December holidays. The chefs were instructed to put a holiday theme into their dishes.
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Chopped / int_737394ab	type	Iconic Item
Chopped / int_737394ab	comment	Iconic Item: The mystery ingredient basket. It's even made an appearance on Cutthroat Kitchen. The cloche (serving tray cover) that Allen lifts off the judges' table to reveal the dish of the chef who's getting chopped in each round.
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Chopped / int_77d826c7	type	Stern Teacher
Chopped / int_77d826c7	comment	Stern Teacher: Scott Conant. Probably ranks up with Geoffrey Zakarian as one of THE toughest judges on the show. However, he cares that the chefs bring a great product to the judge's table. He is also great a giving pep talk to the chefs.
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Chopped / int_7870735b	type	From Bad to Worse
Chopped / int_7870735b	comment	In the Dessert round of each episode, chefs who lose their roulette bet are given a choice: either accept the bad ingredient and start cooking, or take one pull on the slot machine. If at least two reels match, they can trade in the bad ingredient for a good one; if not, they have to swap it for an absolutely HORRID ingredient. One chef loses her slots pull, and must use calf eyeballs. She manages to work them into a not-too-distasteful dessert, and wins her heat because her last opponent had more issues with ALL his courses, not just dessert.
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Chopped / int_7cc8d769	type	Sore Loser
Chopped / int_7cc8d769	comment	There was one contestant who got very angry at the judges for being chopped. He went on an angry tirade of how he was an excellent chef, his customers liked him, he earned many accolades and awards, that he was too good for the competition, etc. In the "walk of shame" part, it ended with him angrily unwilling to follow the camera guy to the glass door and the parting shot showed him walking out in civilian clothing still in an angry rant.
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Chopped / int_80204ff5	type	Verbed Title
Chopped / int_80204ff5	comment	Verbed Title
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Chopped / int_8135d194	type	Elimination Catchphrase
Chopped / int_8135d194	comment	Elimination Catchphrase: (Before revealing the chopped chef's dish) "Whose dish is on the chopping block?" (After revealing it) "Chef [X], you've been chopped. Judges?"
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Chopped / int_8183248	type	Never Mess with Granny
Chopped / int_8183248	comment	Never Mess with Granny/Cool Old Person: One day's champion was an elderly woman who had served as a parachuting wartime nurse. Two episodes have put the focus on grandparents, with only grandmothers in one and only grandfathers in the other.
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Chopped / int_832c1497	type	Non-Gameplay Elimination
Chopped / int_832c1497	comment	Non-Gameplay Elimination: Any chef who injures him/herself during a round has to stop working and be checked out by on-set medical personnel. They have the authority to send the chef home immediately if they decide the injury is too severe to continue safely.
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Chopped / int_867c3744	type	New Rules as the Plot Demands
Chopped / int_867c3744	comment	New Rules as the Plot Demands: During the finale of the "Alton's Challenge" tournament in 2017, the judges decided not to chop anyone in the second round. This is the only episode to date in which three chefs have gone head-to-head-to-head in the Dessert round.
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Chopped / int_8797239c	type	Bait-and-Switch
Chopped / int_8797239c	comment	Bait-and-Switch: The ingredients (usually offal) sometimes gets this treatment. The name says one thing, but when either the judges or Ted talks about it, it really means another thing. Take for example "duck white kidneys." Take a guess what that is. Answer Duck testicles How about "Rocky Mountain oysters?" Answer Bull testicles How about "Lamb fries?" Answer Lamb testicles. Sensing a theme here? In the 2015 April Fools' Day episode, most of the ingredients were one food designed to look alike the food they were called. A caramel apple was actually shown to be an onion, an ice cream sundae was actually potatoes and gravy, a meatloaf was actually a cake, a grilled cheese was actually pound cake, tomato soup was actually strawberry soup, etc. One contestant in the dessert round actually turned the tables by making his dessert look like something else.
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Chopped / int_87ab7f69	type	Sharp-Dressed Man
Chopped / int_87ab7f69	comment	Sharp-Dressed Man: Ted Allen, full stop.
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Chopped / int_8829dfa0	type	What the Hell Is That Accent?
Chopped / int_8829dfa0	comment	What the Hell Is That Accent?: One chef had an accent that was so unfamiliar to the judges that none of them could even begin to place it. When they ended up directly asking him during judging where he was from, he explained that he was originally from Italy and learned English in Australia.
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Chopped / int_890d4ef2	type	Humiliation Conga
Chopped / int_890d4ef2	comment	Humiliation Conga: You will suffer this in the following circumstances: You become the Chopped Champion in your debut episode, but you get chopped in the appetizer round in Chopped Champions. You place second in your debut episode, only to get chopped in the appetizer round in Chopped Redemption. Chris Coombs suffered a very bad case of Type Two, especially losing to the same chef that originally got chopped for plating only one rattlesnake dish.
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Chopped / int_8a48681	type	Casino Episode
Chopped / int_8a48681	comment	Casino Episode: The show has held two casino-themed tournaments to date. The 2022 "Chopped Casino Royale" tournament. When the basket ingredients are revealed in each round, a chef can either keep them all or get rid of one they think they might have too much trouble using, similar to discarding in a hand of draw poker. Any chef who dumps an ingredient moves to a gaming table and has to roll two dice. Eleven cloches are set up, numbered 2 through 12; whatever total the chef gets, that cloche is lifted to reveal a new mystery ingredient they have to use, with even numbers giving much more desirable ingredients. In one case, a chef wound up getting duck tongues as his replacement, but he wasn't worried because he hunted ducks and knew how to cook the tongues. In the finale, the grand prize starts at $25,000. After the ingredient swaps in each round, each chef is offered a chance to roll the dice and try to add to it if they want. The total of each roll is multiplied by $1,000 and added to the prize (for even numbers) or subtracted from it (for odd numbers). The 2023 "Chopped Casino Royale XL" tournament changes the rules a bit. To swap an ingredient, this time the chefs must use a roulette wheel to bet on red or black. A winner gets to pick one of six good ingredients hidden under cloches, while a loser must pick from six bad ones. In the finale, a different chef in each round is given a chance to take one pull on a three-reel slot machine if they want. The reels are loaded with dollar signs and cleavers, which respectively raise and lower the jackpot (initially $25,000) by $5,000 for each one that comes up. In the Dessert round of each episode, chefs who lose their roulette bet are given a choice: either accept the bad ingredient and start cooking, or take one pull on the slot machine. If at least two reels match, they can trade in the bad ingredient for a good one; if not, they have to swap it for an absolutely HORRID ingredient. One chef loses her slots pull, and must use calf eyeballs. She manages to work them into a not-too-distasteful dessert, and wins her heat because her last opponent had more issues with ALL his courses, not just dessert.
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Chopped / int_8c8d53db	type	One-Note Cook
Chopped / int_8c8d53db	comment	One-Note Cook: A quick way to get chopped. Basically half the contestants on Chopped: Grill Masters are purely "meat-and-potatoes" chefs.
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Chopped / int_8cb1a369	type	Took a Level in Jerkass
Chopped / int_8cb1a369	comment	Took a Level in Jerkass: Chef Katie Rosenhouse, a perky and likable chef who competed in two episodes, went on to compete in Sweet Genius, where she was overly smug, would complain about mandatory ingredients and even rounds (stating she hated chocolate and working with it), and would incessantly whine about how much she wanted to win because she had lost on Chopped (though she did not use the name Chopped, but it was clear what competition she was talking about).
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Chopped / int_8d0785d5	type	Didn't Think This Through
Chopped / int_8d0785d5	comment	Didn't Think This Through: In the 2014 "All-Stars Tournament", during the "Rachael v. Guy" episode, rapper Coolio filched a lemon from Carnie Wilson's station and squeezed it out onto his dish after time had been called, during the appetizer round. He did it right in front of Ted and the judges, who called him on it, and he was forthwith chopped.
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Chopped / int_8de2e803	type	Confession Cam
Chopped / int_8de2e803	comment	One chef spent about 1/4 of her Confession Cam segments talking about being a military wife and mother and the other 3/4 loudly shitting all over the other contestants, including quite bluntly insulting their cooking ability, and was also one of the few chefs on the show who didn't attempt to show any sort of humility in the backstage segments and would outright tell the other contestants that she was too good to be eliminated. She ended up winning.
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Chopped / int_8f9f71a8	type	Crazy Enough to Work
Chopped / int_8f9f71a8	comment	Crazy Enough to Work: One episode had an ex-convict who turned his life around and became an executive chef make it to the last round. One of the ingredients for dessert was croutons. He turned it into a crouton ice cream surprising everyone. He won the episode.
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Chopped / int_90e31482	type	Laser-Guided Karma
Chopped / int_90e31482	comment	Laser-Guided Karma: In the dessert round of first semifinals match of the 2nd Chopped Champions, one chef proceeds to smack talk the other competitor right in front of the judge's faces during the round. He ended up having undercooked pie crust, which got him eliminated. Similarly, in the season 3 episode "Sweet Redemption", Chef Chris acted like a proper jerk throughout the show (as detailed above under Jerk with a Heart of Gold), culminating in his trash-talking his competitor Chef Amy directly to the judges at the end of the dessert round (all the more shocking because he'd helped Amy out at a crucial moment when she couldn't get a can open). He was chopped for various errors he'd made throughout the episode. In the finals of the 2nd All-Stars Tournament, Chef Penny smack talked all of the competitors, claiming that she could win against Marcus Samuelsson and Jeffrey Saad, as well as getting Michael Symon eliminated. note Michael Symon made the mistake of leaving out okra, which had nothing to do with Penny's skill. In the entrÃ©e round, she ended up putting inedible bonito skin in all of the judges' plates, and got chopped for it. Even more humiliating was that in the round Penny was eliminated in, everyone cooked North African/Middle Eastern cuisine note (Couscous was one of the basket ingredients, so the chefs were forced into the North African/Middle Eastern direction that round.), Penny's specialty. Double subverted and then averted in the same incident. Jeffrey happily noted that Penny served bonito skin which would get her chopped. Oh, she did get chopped, alright. But then Jeffrey served bonito skin to Chris Santos. Cue Oh, Crap!. Chef Lauren boasted one of the most toxic personalities ever displayed on the show, taking every opportunity to talk down her opponents and say how much better than them she was. Even when she was eliminated in her first appearance, she had the gall to curse at Chef Sara (the episode's eventual winner) and openly tell the judges they had made a factually wrong decision (pretty hard to know unless you've tasted all the dishes). For some reason, she was brought back for a Chopped Redemption episode....and was eliminated in round one, all the while displaying the same vile, malicious, holier-than-thou attitude she had in her first appearance. In the "Looking for Love" episode (an otherwise normal episode of the show where the contestants were 8 amateur cooks paired up on blind dates), the teams did about as well in the game as they did on their dates. The team eliminated after the appetizer were openly contemptuous of one another (although moreso the guy than the girl). The team eliminated after the entree were cordial and friendly to each other, but both admitted they saw no potential for a romantic relationship. The two finalist teams both clearly had "couple" potential, although the runners-up were already planning a trip to Australia (the guy's home nation) together, putting them a nose ahead of the winners in that department.
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Chopped / int_92d7976	type	You Keep Using That Word
Chopped / int_92d7976	comment	You Keep Using That Word: The contestants may call a dish X but the components may not necessarily fit. It's a big Berserk Button for the judges. So much so that more than a few have been chopped based at least loosely on this issue.
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Chopped / int_9446f847	type	Death or Glory Attack
Chopped / int_9446f847	comment	Death or Glory Attack: One contestant, in a standard 30-minute dessert round, decided to bake a cake which, if you aren't familiar with baking, almost certainly takes up to if not more than the time limit. Had he not finished it in time, he would have been left with literally no dessert and a certain loss. Against the odds, he managed to pull it off to the judges' applause and win.
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Chopped / int_950bbfa7	type	Take a Third Option
Chopped / int_950bbfa7	comment	Take a Third Option: During the final of the Alton Brown Challenge, the judges opted to eliminate no one after the entree round, as all three chefs Nick Wallace, Gavin Jobe and Chris Holland had made incredible entrees.
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Chopped / int_963086ce	type	Damn You, Muscle Memory!
Chopped / int_963086ce	comment	Damn You, Muscle Memory!: On the occasional show where the contestants aren't professional chefs, be they teenagers, working moms, non-culinary celebrities or what have you, Ted Allen usually slips and still refers to them with the "Chef" prefix at least once. During one of the Teen challenge episodes, Ted called off the remaining time. One of the teens called back "Thanks Dad!", causing Ted to speculate that he'd practiced at home and his Dad would call the time for him.
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Chopped / int_96b89043	type	Not So Above It All
Chopped / int_96b89043	comment	Not So Above It All: As the after hours Webshow reveals, the judges are just as fallible into falling into the same pit falls as the chefs they judge. All of them will restore to smack talking or panicking quite often. One episode that had them working with a basket contain deep dish pizza dough, rabbit escabeche, Swiss chard and pineapple cheese spread saw Alex Guarnaschelli accidently burn the dough she was working with. When testing a basket from the rock star special with spiced German liquor, lemon rolls, rock candy and ginger, Chris Santos realizes near the end of the round that he grabbed corn starch when he meant to get powdered sugar.
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Chopped / int_978937d6	type	Brand X
Chopped / int_978937d6	comment	Brand X: Ingredients are never identified by brand name, instead being given a bland description; "chocolate-hazelnut spread" rather than "Nutella", or "fruit ring cereal" rather than "Froot Loops", or "crescent roll dough" instead of "Pillsbury homemade crescent rolls". Most pre-packaged ingredients are repackaged or, as in the case of sealed jars and cans, the original labels are replaced. It gets fairly absurd with Sriracha, which is called "Asian hot sauce" on its label, but referred to as such in dialogue. Averted with the 2016 Grill Masters Tournament, which includes Sargento's Cheddar Cheese, Bush's Baked Beans (Smokehouse Flavor), and Beringer Wines named as such. Justified as the tournament is sponsored by Sargento and Beringer, with the latter providing their Vineyard for the location. Bush's Beans ended up using footage from the round it was featured in for their nationwide advertisements.
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Chopped / int_9843be73	type	As You Know
Chopped / int_9843be73	comment	As You Know: There's quite a lot of this in the Rules Spiels. Particularly bad in the episode with four English chefs: "As you know, this is an elimination-driven competition..." Lampshaded when he recites the rules to returning contestants or, in All-Stars, the judges: "You know the rules already, but let's keep up tradition." In the second judges' episode, he says "You already know the rules, but I'm going to recite them anyway, because that's what I live for." In the third (2013) Judges episode, Allen stated the rules normally, then one of the chefs stated "you know, that sounds familiar." The show has gotten so infamous and popular that Allen has pretty much foregone the usual rules explanation, going with a slimmed-down version at the beginning.
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Chopped / int_98b1dc8f	type	Luck-Based Mission
Chopped / int_98b1dc8f	comment	Luck-Based Mission: The "Spin It to Win It" tournament in 2024 pits 16 chefs against each other over five episodes. At the start of each of the first four episodes, Ted spins one wheel to choose the new chefs who will compete that day (four in the first episode, three in all others). In each round, the chefs are given a basket with only three mystery ingredients and Ted spins another wheel to choose the fourth one and decide how much money will be added to the jackpot. Higher values are paired with tougher ingredients. The winner of each episode faces three new challengers in the next, and the winner of the last episode takes home the entire jackpot.
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Chopped / int_9bcd82c0	type	Took a Level in Badass
Chopped / int_9bcd82c0	comment	Took a Level in Badass: The premier example is Chef Jessica Mogardo, who at the time of her Chopped appearance was working for free and living in her sister's apartment. She was so nervous in the beginning of her competition that Marc Murphy had to calm her down. She ended up winning her episode against three more experienced chefs. Cut to a couple of years later, where she would find herself on Iron Chef America working as a sous chef for Jose Garces. She would later become the executive pastry chef for Garces' restaurants as well as regularly appearing on ICA. Oh yeah, and she was also on a season 2 episode of Sweet Genius, which she won as well. In his episode, Chef Vinson Petrillo was so nervous that it took three judges to calm him down. After being nearly eliminated in the appetizer round for simply putting the four secret ingredients on the plate, he goes on to produce two perfect dishes in the next two rounds, eventually ending up the winner. He would later appear in the the third season of Chopped Champions, where he placed third overall. On a meta level, Chopped Grand Champion Madison Cowan went on Iron Chef America with "Team Chopped" against Jose Garces on Battle Kale. And, like the rest of his battles on Chopped, he won. On a related note, Lance Nitahara lost against Madison Cowan, and then won against Yoanne Margis in the second Redemption episode. He then became a sous chef for Chef Cowan in "Team Chopped." This crosses over into Defeat Means Friendship in Nitahara's case due to his respect of Chef Cowan when they both initially battled. Chefs Alina Eisenhauer and Katie Rosenhouse, who did not win on Chopped (Katie having competed twice), went on to compete on Sweet Genius, which has a similar premise to Chopped, and they both manage to earn hard-fought victories.
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Chopped / int_9c8701b5	type	A Day in the Limelight
Chopped / int_9c8701b5	comment	A Day in the Limelight: Ingredients that none of the chefs (and possibly none of the viewers) have even heard of make their way to the baskets sometimes, like karela and dulse. In the case of an ingredient called violet mustard, not even the judges, who are highly accomplished chefs, had heard of it before. (It was subsequently presented to the judges' table for them to taste) This makes Chopped in theory also an Edutainment Show. During the second Chopped All-Stars tournament, Marcus Samuelsson, who had appeared as a judge a small number of times before, sat for four of the five tournament episodes. Then he became one of the regular judges. He then went on to compete in and win the second All-Star tournament. Chuck Hughes, already a big-name chef in both the US and Canada, competes in the 4th All-Stars tournament, although he was eliminated after the appetizer round. He then becomes a regular judge in Chopped: Canada. The judges' episodes in the All-Stars tournament definitely count as this, as well as web-series Chopped: After Hours. Keegan Gerhard (of Food Network Challenge) and Jacques Torres got their days in the limelight during their appearances in All-Stars Viewers rarely see Ted Allen cook on any show so it's refreshing to see him cook in the After-Hours web specials. Ron Ben-Israel got his day in the limelight when he did the Webisode of the circus-themed episode. Four butchers that also had cooking skills had their own episode, with two rule changes: each round called for a meat-based entree (no appetizers or desserts), and the time limit was raised to 45 minutes since they had to butcher their own meat.
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Chopped / int_9d17b859	type	Made of Iron
Chopped / int_9d17b859	comment	Made of Iron: Chefs often cut themselves in the middle of competition. They just as often clean up, put on a glove, and keep going. Or, as noted above, just keep going. Anne Burrell got splashed in the eye with burning oil in the first round. And won. By the end of the episode, she barely had the hurt eye open. Yoanne Margis spilled boiling water on her legs, got up, finished the round, and then went on to the finals with second degree burns on both legs.
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Chopped / int_9dd2329c	type	Camera Abuse
Chopped / int_9dd2329c	comment	Camera Abuse: One example is seen in a version of the show's opening where a contestant opens a bottle of champagne and the alcohol explodes out of the bottle appropriately, hitting the low-angled camera.
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Chopped / int_9dfb8296	type	This Is Gonna Suck
Chopped / int_9dfb8296	comment	This Is Gonna Suck: A general reaction of contestants to the mystery baskets. Also a reaction of more reserved contestants on realizing too late they've made a severe technical error on their plate, which they know will be immediately called out by the judges.
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Chopped / int_a0eeac39	type	Odd Name Out
Chopped / int_a0eeac39	comment	Odd Ingredient Out: The mystery baskets use this and the Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick trope, since they will have a mix along the lines of "Protein, vegetable/starch, something random but familiar, something random that you've never even heard of before." For example, one appetizer basket contained: catfish, tomatillos, rutabagas, and marshmallows. An entrÃ©e basket had elk tenderloin, caperberries, parsley root, and chocolate-hazelnut spread. One main course basket contained yellow miso paste, pork shoulder, mountain yam, and astronaut ice cream.
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Chopped / int_a2b38d3b	type	Eye Scream
Chopped / int_a2b38d3b	comment	Eye Scream: Anne Burrell once got hot oil in her eye while competing.
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Chopped / int_a2b998a0	type	Wouldn't Hurt a Child
Chopped / int_a2b998a0	comment	They also are much softer whenever children are competing.
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Chopped / int_a536f3a3	type	Gender-Blender Name
Chopped / int_a536f3a3	comment	Chef Siggy Sollitto (from Season 4, failed to plate more than one serving because of the rattlesnake meat) and Chef Gwen LaPape (from Season 1, failed to plate anything). Actually, the Redemption episode "Make No Mistake" brings back four contestants, including Chef Gwen, who have made My Greatest Failure in their debut episodes.
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Chopped / int_a65288e2	type	Ascended Extra
Chopped / int_a65288e2	comment	During the second Chopped All-Stars tournament, Marcus Samuelsson, who had appeared as a judge a small number of times before, sat for four of the five tournament episodes. Then he became one of the regular judges. He then went on to compete in and win the second All-Star tournament.
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Chopped / int_a6cda066	type	Rule of Three
Chopped / int_a6cda066	comment	Rule of Three: Three rounds, three aspects of judgingnote (officially speaking it's taste, presentation and creativity), three judges, and three eliminations.
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Chopped / int_aa61064a	type	Runs with Scissors
Chopped / int_aa61064a	comment	Runs with Scissors: One contestant got so wrapped up in a round that he did not realize he ran from the cooking area to the pantry and back with knife still in hand (blade out!), much to the horror of the judges.
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Chopped / int_abaead71	type	Reality Show Genre Blindness
Chopped / int_abaead71	comment	Reality Show Genre Blindness: Contestants never seem to figure out that rice, polenta, and risotto are nearly impossible to cook properly within the short time limit for each round. Most of the chefs who present rice-based dishes have undercooked them, and only one to date has turned in a good risotto. You have to make sure you label things properly. The Judges will ding you for this. Somewhat averted in Junior or specials in which non-chefs compete. The ice cream machine in the dessert round. If both chefs want to make an ice cream component, the one who doesn't get to the machine first had better forget it and figure out a backup plan.
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Chopped / int_acecb17d	type	Chekhov's Skill
Chopped / int_acecb17d	comment	Chekhov's Skill: A baker or pastry chef who survives until the dessert round will likely win the episode.
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Chopped / int_ad1db87c	type	Oh, Crap!
Chopped / int_ad1db87c	comment	Oh, Crap!: This can often be the word-for-word reaction of both competitors when they realize that they're making the same dessert, or when they find an ingredient that is completely foreign to them—or they realize that they've forgotten an ingredient just after the time has been called. Occasionally the reaction of the judges on witnessing either a questionable decision by the chef or a major violation of kitchen safety and health rules. In one episode, this is the only way to describe the reaction of a chef who had to cook with two different ingredients to which he was fatally allergic. The look on one chef's face when time was called and he suddenly realized that he had left a crucial part of his dessert service in the blast chiller. In one episode, the final round came down to a catering chef and a pastry chef, and the mystery ingredients seemed to scream out pastry! The catering chef said simply, "She just won $10,000." He then went on to win. One chef's reaction to toasting his half-plated dessert with the blowtorch, then not being able to turn it off again. He wound up leaving the still-lit blowtorch on his station while he finished plating, then put it on the stovetop after time was called, prompting this (unspoken) reaction from the judges. One judge called him out on how dangerous this was.
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Chopped / int_ad641426	type	Trademark Favorite Food
Chopped / int_ad641426	comment	Trademark Favorite Food: Marc Murphy loves potatoes. And bacon. The judges love arugula and apple. Amanda Freitag loves chocolate, seen most notably when she's judging the chocolate episode and is basically squeeing the entire time, especially during the dessert round.
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Chopped / int_ae4b1ce1	type	Caustic Critic
Chopped / int_ae4b1ce1	comment	Caustic Critic: Oh yeah. Most of the judges. Especially Conant. Though in later years, they seem to have softened. This is somewhat justified in that the contestants are all professional chefs with years of experience and culinary school under their belts. During the Celebrity Edition episodes and on the spinoff shows Cooks vs. Cons and Bakers vs. Fakers which feature contestants who're not experienced chefs, the judges are significantly more lenient. They also are much softer whenever children are competing.
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Chopped / int_aebae11c	type	Viewers Are Morons
Chopped / int_aebae11c	comment	Viewers Are Morons: Discussed and then subverted. In the Viewer's Choice episode, Geoffrey Zakarian was very surprised at the ingredients the home viewers chose for the contestants, thinking, "They could NOT possibly know about those kinds of ingredients."
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Chopped / int_b157ddd7	type	Webisode
Chopped / int_b157ddd7	comment	Webisode: Chopped: After Hours, which allows the judges to take a shot at the basket ingredients of the recent episodes. Also, this gives the judges a chance to show viewers what they mean with certain lingo such as "transformation of ingredients" and "thinking outside the box" and hiding unpleasant ingredients intelligently. Amanda perfectly shows why she wants chefs to learn how to do a basic cake.
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Chopped / int_b1dde8fd	type	Loophole Abuse
Chopped / int_b1dde8fd	comment	Loophole Abuse: In Part 3 of the Napa Grill Masters competition dessert round, one of the required ingredients was pistachios. Both chefs realized they didn't have time to unshell them all so they used already shelled pistachios from the pantry, thereby fulfilling their requirement of needing to have pistachios on their plates. The rules say you have to transform the ingredients. Ain't No Rule saying you have to use the entire ingredient! For example, if you are given a pre-made Quesadilla, you're technically incorporating it even if you're only taking the filling out of it.
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Chopped / int_b2f26025	type	Genki Girl
Chopped / int_b2f26025	comment	Genki Girl: Chef Amanda has her moments, especially during the After Hours competitions.
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Chopped / int_b4696332	type	My Greatest Second Chance
Chopped / int_b4696332	comment	My Greatest Second Chance: Basically anyone who fared very poorly in their first appearance, who then returns for Chopped Redemption. Chef Siggy Sollitto (from Season 4, failed to plate more than one serving because of the rattlesnake meat) and Chef Gwen LaPape (from Season 1, failed to plate anything). Actually, the Redemption episode "Make No Mistake" brings back four contestants, including Chef Gwen, who have made My Greatest Failure in their debut episodes. For Chopped All-Stars and the Food Network Star special, Aarti Sequiera and Jeff Mauro (for failing to debone his fish). In a few rare episodes, two chefs make major mistakes in the first round which would ordinarily lead to immediate chopping. The chef who survives this decision has to prove themselves even more if they want to have any chance of winning the day's championship.
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Chopped / int_b4eff8a8	type	Epic Fail
Chopped / int_b4eff8a8	comment	On the particularly bad episode where the entrÃ©e round was deemed an Epic Failure, the only chef that didn't contaminate the Cornish hen became the Champion. Even judge Maneet Chauhan confirmed it on the final chop.
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Chopped / int_b5914444	type	Noodle Implements
Chopped / int_b5914444	comment	Noodle Implements: Duh. Sometimes they're even literal noodles.
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Chopped / int_b6a37e0b	type	Deaf Composer
Chopped / int_b6a37e0b	comment	Deaf Composer: Several chefs have created dishes with mystery ingredients they can't taste due to allergies or other dietary restrictions (e.g., a kosher chef cooking prosciutto or a vegetarian chef cooking meat). When one chef got through two rounds despite being allergic to ingredients in both, his competitor worried about how well he might do when he could actually taste the food. The rabbi chef on an episode with religious figures refused to eat the food because it wasn't made in a kosher kitchen. He asked his neighbor to taste it for him. The neighbor recommended more salt but the rabbi thought there was enough. He was then eliminated for not putting in enough salt. And in one episode, one chef couldn't taste anything because all three rounds contained a mystery ingredient that he was allergic to. Luckily, he does remember the taste of the ingredients to know how to compose them, which may have prevented him from getting chopped earlier. And then there's Chef Kurt Ramborger, who is the first deaf chef to appear on the show.
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Chopped / int_ba3b41d6	type	Ironic Echo Cut
Chopped / int_ba3b41d6	comment	Ironic Echo Cut: It's not unusual for the show to cut directly from the judges discussing what their strategy would be with the ingredients directly to one of the contestants doing the same thing. Sometimes it works in reverse, too.
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Chopped / int_bc00493f	type	Precision F-Strike
Chopped / int_bc00493f	comment	Precision F-Strike: Geoffrey Zakarian in the episode where the judges compete. AarÃ³n Sanchez asks him to save him some eggs. Geoffrey's response is a joking "Fuck you!"
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Chopped / int_bc74ef27	type	Berserk Button
Chopped / int_bc74ef27	comment	Scott Conant appears to be taking up the role of Jerkass Judge (see Berserk Button). Vikram Vij seems to be Conant's Canadian counterpart in this respect.
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Chopped / int_bcfc7495	type	Cowboy Episode
Chopped / int_bcfc7495	comment	Cowboy Episode: The 2012 "Grill Masters" Tournament had opened with "Sheriff Teddy" about to light the flame with a match struck on his sheriff's badge, with Marc "Mad Dog" Murphy, Amanda "Fast Draw" Freitag and Aaron "El Diablo" Sanchez judging. All were in Western costume for the opening sequence, and these particular episodes were taped outdoors at Old Tucson Studios near Tucson, AZ. When the "Grill Masters" Tournament happened in 2015, though, it was more an outside grilling location instead of an Old Western one.
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Chopped / int_bd6a6886	type	Secret Ingredient
Chopped / int_bd6a6886	comment	Secret Ingredient: Reversed. Just like Iron Chef, the ingredient is a secret kept from the chef, instead of a secret kept by the chef. And is the whole point of this show.
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Chopped / int_c2c15b23	type	Bait-and-Switch Comment
Chopped / int_c2c15b23	comment	Bait-and-Switch Comment: Used humorously by Jun Tanaka in the third Chopped Champions Finale:
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Chopped / int_c313d43a	type	True Companions
Chopped / int_c313d43a	comment	True Companions: Not in a traditional sense, but all of the judges have respect for each other and support each other, even if sarcastically. The episodes where judges are competing can have moments that are hard to watch, because the judges who are actually judging are visibly uneasy with the thought of having to chop their coworkers. Alex is even close to tears when Amanda gets chopped. It translates over to Iron Chef America, where Guarnaschelli would appear as one of Zakarian's sous chefs in his early Iron Chef battles. They have that much respect for each other's cooking ability. When Guarnaschelli becomes just the second female Iron Chef after Cat Cora, she gets paired with Zakarian (this time as his equal) for the 2013 Halloween ("Scary Ingredients") and Thanksgiving episodes.
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Chopped / int_c3245c20	type	I Lied
Chopped / int_c3245c20	comment	I Lied: During the dessert round of the 2012 Christmas episode "Chopping in a Winter Wonderland", the male contestant (William) tells the female contestant (Rachel) that he's not planning on making an ice cream dessert, so Rachel starts to prep out her planned ice cream dessert. When Ted tips off Rachel that William is indeed using the ice cream machine (which would cost her valuable time in waiting for her turn), she chews him out in disbelief ("I can't believe you're making a fucking ice cream dessert!"), to which William simply looks back at her in a Smug Snake fashion. It doesn't matter in the end, because Rachel ends up winning.
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Chopped / int_c3943bf3	type	Pilot
Chopped / int_c3943bf3	comment	Pilot: One was taped at the Culinary School of the Art Institute of New York, but never aired. According to Allen, it was set in a mansion and the host was a butler with a Chihuahua. Each time a chef was chopped, his/her losing dish was fed to the dog.
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Chopped / int_c4b0faae	type	Can't Hold His Liquor
Chopped / int_c4b0faae	comment	Can't Hold His Spice: Geoffrey Zakarian. Made funnier when AarÃ³n Sanchez, Chris Santos, or Maneet Chauhan are part of the judging panel and they all get served a relatively spicy dish they can handle. Amanda Freitag also seems to struggle with spice at times.
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Chopped / int_c5249b29	type	Nice Guy
Chopped / int_c5249b29	comment	Chris Santos — inedible objects on the plate, though in his case its more of a "mildly annoyed button". Though he will harp on chefs who do somewhat unsanitary things like tasting liquor from the bottle and pouring the liquid into his food, and the ever-dreaded double dip.
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Chopped / int_caa28b82	type	Cloudcuckoolander
Chopped / int_caa28b82	comment	Cloudcuckoolander: Judge Susan Feniger. She often isn't even looking at the person to whom she is talking. Given her behavior and her appearance, she would have been the perfect choice to play Professor Trelawney.
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Chopped / int_cbe3d017	type	Damned by Faint Praise
Chopped / int_cbe3d017	comment	Damned by Faint Praise: The judged will typically begin with praise for the most successful elements of the dish before moving on to its shortcomings. If the praise lingers on minor elements of the dish, they likely had nothing else good to say about the meal. This was especially notable in one celebrity edition in which a player just cut the ingredients up and put them on a plate. the judges pointed out at least he arranged them in an appealing way, but he was naturally eliminated first.
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Chopped / int_cdc710ad	type	Cooking Duel
Chopped / int_cdc710ad	comment	Cooking Duel: The final round is a one-on-one competition between the two chefs who make it to the dessert round.
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Chopped / int_cdcdb2b2	type	Cooking Show
Chopped / int_cdcdb2b2	comment	Cooking Show: It is on the Food Network, after all.
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Chopped / int_ce104b8e	type	Serial Escalation
Chopped / int_ce104b8e	comment	Serial Escalation: Each successive season tops the last with weird and challenging basket ingredients: The Season 8 redemption episode featured a dessert basket containing duck eggs, russet potatoes, farmer's cheese, and honey herb cough drops, which aren't even technically food. How about "chicken in a can"? So odd that Ted actually said the ingredient name twice. Canned Haggis. And the infamous basket containing blackberries, kiwi fruit, wonton wrappers, and gummy bears.
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Chopped / int_cef6a167	type	Second Place Is for Losers
Chopped / int_cef6a167	comment	Second Place Is for Losers: Which is why many second-place chefs return in a Chopped Redemption episode to avenge their loss. Three-fourth of those end up with the same fate or worse.
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Chopped / int_d148b019	type	Mundane Made Awesome
Chopped / int_d148b019	comment	Mundane Made Awesome: Competition cooking? The only thing better than this is competitive eating.
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Chopped / int_d2c0e2ed	type	Schmuck Bait
Chopped / int_d2c0e2ed	comment	Schmuck Bait: You'd be surprised how often contestants serve judge Scott Conant mistreated Italian ingredients — especially pasta. Although they have become Genre Savvy enough to not offer him raw red onions anymore. The ice cream machine. Just using it in earlier seasons would almost certainly ensure contestants the victory. As the show went on, more and more chefs used it, but with varying degrees of success. Truffle oil. Ninety percent of the time, the judges will groan when they see truffle oil being used, which makes one wonder why it's there in the first place. The problem with truffle oil is that if you use too much of it, it's all one can taste. But used properly, it can give a subtle taste to the dish. Perhaps the one time it was used successfully, the chef in question was using it to complement actual truffles (which were one of the mystery ingredients) During the Southern Chefs episode, Ted noted that they had just put in instant grits in the pantry to see if any of the chefs would fall for it. And one of them actually did. And the same contestant got chopped because of "lack of creativity" associated with using instant grits. Rice. You can probably count the number of times a competitor served rice that wasn't undercooked on one hand. This would be easily resolved if the show just gave the contestants an actual rice cooker, but then it would no longer be this trope. On that note, risotto. It requires constant attention and stirring to get it right, which isn't so easy in 30 minutes with everything else the chefs are trying to juggle. Only one chef has done risotto correctly (and even he was surprised it did), which makes one wonder why they keep attempting risotto. Pain Perdu or French Toast. If you attempt to do it in a dessert round when one of the secret ingredients isn't bread, you will be marked down majorly in creativity. As explained by Judge Geoffrey, "I've seen Pain Perdu done so many times. I'm jaded about it." One has to assume the Chopped kitchen is continuously stocked with the pizza dough for just this reason, as any use of it (especially if a contestant thinks it will help them cut corners by using it as faux puff pastry for a dessert) usually results in a bland and hard-to-chew disaster. The show seems aware of this fact, and once had an episode where every mystery basket included some form of raw pizza dough. Speaking of which: puff pastry. When it's used as a container for something else (as opposed to being baked alone), it almost always ends up undercooked. Bread pudding is another. Like the puff pastry, it usually ends up undercooked, and therefore looks, feels, and tastes unappetizing. Picking either of these is simply Tempting Fate.
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Chopped / int_d5b7a6e3	type	Denied Food as Punishment
Chopped / int_d5b7a6e3	comment	Denied Food as Punishment: Inverted. If the chef doesn't make exactly four servings (three for the judges and one for display/the Chopping Block) or get all the elements onto the plate on time, the judges may not be able to taste everything (and therefore cannot consider it for judgement). However, if the chef does something that is outright unsanitary or hazardous (usually bleeding into the food), the judges will absolutely refuse to taste that dish. Ted is usually quick to point out that even this doesn't guarantee elimination, as such a dish can still be graded on two of the three criteria (plating and creativity), but it leaves the chef dependent on another competitor making a worse mistake. In one episode, the judges were so grossed out by a contestant bleeding profusely, even under several layers of gloves, and still working with his hands instead of utensils that they refused to taste anything. Cross-contamination also seems to be an issue at times, e.g., putting cooked chicken on the board you originally cut it on when it was raw.
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Chopped / int_d6f284a3	type	Anti-Frustration Features
Chopped / int_d6f284a3	comment	Anti-Frustration Features: A non-video-game example: The ice cream maker is one of the most difficult pieces of equipment to use in the kitchen, because it must be cleaned between uses. During rounds in which the contestants are required to produce an ice cream component, the show provides additional ice cream makers so the contestants don't have to waste time cleaning the machine, waiting for each other to finish using it, or try to race for it. If a particularly troublesome ingredient such as rice or polenta is provided as part of the basket ingredients, it's often already prepared so that the contestants have to transform them. Whenever the contestants aren't professional chefs or Junior, the judges go much easier. They generally are much more constructive and educational, telling them specifically what they can learn from their dishes. And speaking of Junior, the contestants are provided with stepstools so they can reach the shelves easier. You actually don't have to incorporate an entire ingredient in particular (see also Loophole Abuse). During one viewer special, where the basket ingredients were Lime jello, cheese doodles, imitation crab meat, and Durian, the judges more or less admitted there was no way you could make anything appetizing out of that. Sometimes, if an expected ingredient takes a long time to prepare, they are given extra time. In contrast, during rounds where they are given a shorter time limit, every basket ingredient is specifically chosen to not take a long time to prepare, so that they don't end up in a no-win scenario.
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Chopped / int_d7fc9fd0	type	Vitriolic Best Buds
Chopped / int_d7fc9fd0	comment	Vitriolic Best Buds: The judges definitely give off this vibe during the After Hours episodes.
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Chopped / int_da03a529	type	Bait-and-Switch Boss
Chopped / int_da03a529	comment	Bait-and-Switch Boss: Michael Symon in the second finals of All-Stars. Considering his expertise cooking under pressure, it looked like he was the shoe-in for the final two. But then he gets eliminated for leaving off an ingredient in the appetizer round. That, in turn, would make Marcus Samuelsson the "boss" of that episode, who is just as tough as Symon.
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Chopped / int_dc3d72e6	type	Something We Forgot
Chopped / int_dc3d72e6	comment	Something We Forgot: Happens all the time, when a contestant who thought they'd finished an excellent dish in the final minute of the contest sighs in relief ... only to notice that one of their four basket ingredients is still sitting there, overlooked and untouched, at the side of their work station.
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Chopped / int_dd4d4d19	type	Taught by Television
Chopped / int_dd4d4d19	comment	In one episode, "Better Saffron Than Sorry," a chef commented after the first round that "At least they didn't make us use lamb testicles." Guess what was in the next basket? However, he knew more-or-less what to do with them — because he'd seen them used on a previous episode of Chopped!
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Chopped / int_dd891949	type	Who Writes This Crap?!
Chopped / int_dd891949	comment	Who Makes These Baskets?!: Many contestants ask this after finding some of the more bizarre basket combinations.
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Chopped / int_dd91f8d8	type	Audience Participation
Chopped / int_dd91f8d8	comment	Audience Participation: As of late some of the special episodes, such as the amateur chefs' episodes, Chopped Redemption and the Leftovers episodes, are influenced by viewers at the Food Network polls.
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Chopped / int_e8c0fe9f	type	Walk of Shame
Chopped / int_e8c0fe9f	comment	Walk of Shame: Whenever a contestant loses a round, they are seen walking thru a lonely bare hallway to the exit, and forced to say an epilogue as to why they lost.
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Chopped / int_e9e35e8f	type	Exact Words
Chopped / int_e9e35e8f	comment	Exact Words: When it comes to trick mystery ingredients like boxed macaroni & cheese or Neapolitan ice cream, the implicit challenge is to use all parts of it. More than once, contestants have argued that they only used the easy part (i.e., just the pasta or just the vanilla ice cream) on the grounds that the rules say "use as much or as little as you want." Scott Conant actually agreed with the contestant's reasoning. May be combined with Analogy Backfire: The usual argument is "if you gave us a chicken, would you expect us to use both the breasts and the legs?" In several episodes where contestants were dealing with whole birds, the judges complained if they only received one type of meat. Used humorously by Geoffrey Zakarian in a Webisode. What did GZ do with the Fortune Cookies? He just used the "fortune" part of the cookie to decorate the sandwich.
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Chopped / int_eac3ee70	type	April Fools' Day
Chopped / int_eac3ee70	comment	In the 2015 April Fools' Day episode, most of the ingredients were one food designed to look alike the food they were called. A caramel apple was actually shown to be an onion, an ice cream sundae was actually potatoes and gravy, a meatloaf was actually a cake, a grilled cheese was actually pound cake, tomato soup was actually strawberry soup, etc. One contestant in the dessert round actually turned the tables by making his dessert look like something else.
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Chopped / int_eb7c34cf	type	Crossover
Chopped / int_eb7c34cf	comment	Crossover: This is one of the few shows on Food Network that receives the crossover treatment from other Food Network competition shows, such as Rachel vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and The Next Food Network Star. And on those crossover episodes, the rules and/or basket ingredients are much, much easier to work with. And then it crossed over with Cutthroat Kitchen: its aforementioned Evil Counterpart. In this case, Allen himself was the judge, and host Alton Brown auctioned off the Chopped mystery ingredient basket as a sabotage (with access to a small pantry of backup items). Alton has headed up a couple of special Chopped tournaments, throwing unusual cooking requirements and combinations of bizarre mystery ingredients at the chefs that were suggested by Cutthroat Kitchen fans.
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Chopped / int_eb8e4fa8	type	Jerkass
Chopped / int_eb8e4fa8	comment	Quite subverted by Chef Sammy Davis, Jr. He really wanted to face Chef Michelle Garcia. Sammy really did not care for Chef Tryg Siverson because he saw him as an annoying, cocky Jerkass who was full of it... to the point of leaving onion skins on Tryg's plates to send a message. Unfortunately, Chef Michelle got chopped in the entrÃ©e round, so he was facing Chef Tryg. He visibly hated Chef Tryg, whereas Tryg couldn't care less.
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Chopped / int_eb8ec7c8	type	Jerkass
Chopped / int_eb8ec7c8	comment	Jerkass: Often the judges, and sometimes the chefs. One chef who was the only one to vote against allowing judges to taste a late submission by another chef. They have since changed the rules to prevent this. Judge Alex Guarnaschelli can fall into this sometimes, although she'll usually only be mean if the chef deserves it. The fact that she has the exact same expression no matter what she's about to say has led to more than one contestant begin to defend their dish just as she's about to say how good it is. Hilarity Ensues. One incident of note for Guarnaschelli: one contestant only managed to plate a single serving of her appetizer, but either by her choice or by luck, it ended up in front of Alex. She spent the entire deliberations arguing in that chef's favor. Fortunately, the other two judges refused to bend. Another incident that stands out was when one contestant plated dishes that only featured 3 of the 4 mystery ingredients, and she was so impressed by his dish (and irritated by another chef who barely used 2 of the ingredients) that she argued in his favor. Scott Conant appears to be taking up the role of Jerkass Judge (see Berserk Button). Vikram Vij seems to be Conant's Canadian counterpart in this respect. One chef openly admitted that the prize money wasn't even the reason he wanted to win; he wanted the bragging rights, especially against his ex-girlfriend, who also happened to have competed on the show previously. He also stated that he was supposed to be getting married, but rather than use the money from the competition to buy a wedding ring, he decides he wants to go to Las Vegas. He won. One chef, aside from being jerky to his competitors, started arguing with the judges after he got chopped in the last round, pointing out the flaws they mentioned in the winner's dishes and asking if his dishes had those problems. One competitor threw such a drama fit after being eliminated that he actually refused to walk by the "chopping door". He stopped, waved the camera off angrily, ducked into a different room, then emerged with his things and left by a different door. He was that much of a sore loser. As if that was not enough, he outright admitted that he was cooking for himself and not for the judges, then he actually gets angry when the judges comment on what they disliked about the food and eventually eliminate him. Surprising no one, Penny from The Next Food Network Star in her appearances on the All-Stars battle. She was as rude as ever to the other competitors, and she repeatedly made it very clear that she was there purely for the attention and because she apparently thought if she won, Food Network would decide to give her a show after all. Her charity was always mentioned as an afterthought, if at all. One chef spent his introduction playing up his training in French cuisine, comparing himself to a train coming through and squashing all competitors, and even proudly stating that his marriage ended in divorce due to him putting his job ahead of his wife. When the mystery ingredients for the appetizer round are revealed (cube steak, salsa, queso fresco, and frozen French fries), he bemoans how he is "above" these ingredients. They apparently don't like him either, because they end up getting him Chopped. One chef spent about 1/4 of her Confession Cam segments talking about being a military wife and mother and the other 3/4 loudly shitting all over the other contestants, including quite bluntly insulting their cooking ability, and was also one of the few chefs on the show who didn't attempt to show any sort of humility in the backstage segments and would outright tell the other contestants that she was too good to be eliminated. She ended up winning. Another chef was an antagonistic snob with a well-liked California restaurant who not only talked shit about her fellow contestants and their abilities, but also proudly admitted to invoking her right to refuse service to whomever she wanted at her business. She also won.
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Chopped / int_ee7fca3d	type	Silver Fox
Chopped / int_ee7fca3d	comment	Silver Fox: Geoffrey Zakarian.
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Chopped / int_ef3d1b57	type	Technician Versus Performer
Chopped / int_ef3d1b57	comment	Technician Versus Performer: Happens often enough in the dessert rounds when chefs with different styles face off. The judges often describe one as having a very precise style of cooking, with the other cooking more creatively and soulfully. This usually balances out to a very close last round.
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Chopped / int_efdb5236	type	In Another Man's Shoes
Chopped / int_efdb5236	comment	In Another Man's Shoes: When the judges have to compete in Chopped tournaments for charity. They not only have to remember what the other judges will ding them on, but remember what they would ding others on as well (and hope they don't fall into those same mistakes themselves).
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Chopped / int_f23ad6de	type	Food Porn
Chopped / int_f23ad6de	comment	Food Porn: Some of the ingredients are incredibly obscure to the audience, and sometimes even the chefs. Long shots of every ingredient and dish are also provided in this style.
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Chopped / int_f2e13990	type	AintNoRule
Chopped / int_f2e13990	comment	The rules say you have to transform the ingredients. Ain't No Rule saying you have to use the entire ingredient! For example, if you are given a pre-made Quesadilla, you're technically incorporating it even if you're only taking the filling out of it.
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Chopped / int_f3c5ae29	type	Constructive Criticism
Chopped / int_f3c5ae29	comment	Constructive Criticism: The judges use the "Feedback sandwich" method (Especially on Junior and episodes where the contestants are not actual judges). They start off by pointing out what they did well, then go into the more critique on whether or not what they did worked and why. Then they finish by pointing out something they did right.
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Chopped / int_f46fb603	type	Pungeon Master
Chopped / int_f46fb603	comment	Pungeon Master: Ted Allen loves his puns. "If your dish doesn't cut it, you will be chopped" is a borderline Catchphrase of his. Chopped: Canada's Dean McDermott is even more of one than Ted Allen, to the groans of the judges.
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Chopped / int_f6f6adeb	type	Railroading
Chopped / int_f6f6adeb	comment	Railroading: In the Dessert course of the first Chopped Champions finale, the basket contained cake flour and the contestants were given fifty minutes. One of the judges made it clear that the setup was to, effectively, force the contestants to bake. Partially averted in the second Chopped Champions finale. In the dessert course, the basket contained arucana eggs, bread flour, goat's milk and turbinato sugar. The judges, again, commented that basket seemed to say "Bake me!" One contestant proceeded to make a parfait instead. In the judges-only Chopped All-Stars, they gave the contestants a whole duck for the entrÃ©e round and then an extra 10 minutes in the expectation that they'd use most of the duck. The judges weren't thrilled when Geoffrey Zakarian proceeded to use just the breast.
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Chopped / int_f8fe0279	type	Impossibly Delicious Food
Chopped / int_f8fe0279	comment	Impossibly Delicious Food: Considering the randomness of what's inside the baskets, the good dishes are often this. Viewers often wonder how this can be since they don't always look visually appealing. The appetizer basket of the second All-Stars Tournament episode contained canned haggis. Because fresh haggis wasn't bad enough. And all four chefs made it delicious! One contestant, lacking confidence in his ability to fillet eel, decided to make a soup... along with cream, peas, and peaches. The result was surprisingly good. There's also something of an unwritten rule that even if you mismanaged one of the required ingredients (or even completely left it off), you can still be spared from elimination if what you did manage to serve was this. One specific example is chef Jun Tanaka, who dropped his entire tray of frogs' legs on the floor during serving, but manage to salvage exactly four that stayed on the tray, meaning each dish had one frog leg on it. He was allowed to stay because it was just that good and he ended up becoming Grand Champion that season. This also happened to chef Grace Lichaa in the "Unsung Heroes" episode. She forgot an ingredient in the appetizer round, but made a salad that impressed the judges so much (one said it was the best salad she'd ever had on the show) she survived that round. She later won the entire episode.
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Chopped / int_f9f2c33	type	Running Gag
Chopped / int_f9f2c33	comment	Running Gag: Not invoked very often, but it does come up sporadically in terms of the ingredients, where one ingredient in each of the rounds has something suspiciously in common with each other. Themed episodes do not count unless there's a Stealth Pun involved, as it's clear what kind of ingredients are in the basket. In the firefighters' episode, the ingredients were hot dogs (appetizer), Italian hot peppers (entrÃ©e), and coal candy (dessert)note A cinnamon-based candy that's made to resemble coal. One episode had duck confit in the appetizer, duck breast in the entrÃ©e, and duck eggs in the dessert. In another episode, one chef used chocolate in all of his dishes. He won. Averted in one episode where fish was an ingredient in both appetizer and entrÃ©e rounds, but not in the dessert round. One could have made this a running gag if they had made cod roe ice cream. One episode had a type of candy as a basket ingredient in all three rounds. One episode featured a chocolate item in the baskets of all three rounds. Two episodes had leftovers in for all rounds, the second of which left contestants with very little to work with. In the beer-themed episode, besides beer and beer flavored items, many of these ingredients are what is considered "bar food". In a Grilling episodenote The contestants must grill at least one item for the finished plate. there was ketchup in the appetizer, mustard in the entrÃ©e, and mayo in the dessert. In an episode based around Australian ingredients, each basket featured a different type of Moonshine. In a pizza themed episodenote Each dish must either be a pizza or be heavily inspired by it., each round's basket contained a spin on a pizza topping, with white anchovies in the appetizer, bison sausage in the entrÃ©e and dried pineapple and vegan pepperoni in the dessert. In a loose sense, the use of TRUFFLE OIL! with the predicable groan from the judges. In a considerably less funny version, chefs undercooking chicken.
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Chopped / int_fbd285b7	type	Comically Missing the Point
Chopped / int_fbd285b7	comment	Comically Missing the Point: One episode had a celebrity contestant who took the name of the show seriously and just... chopped the ingredients into pieces and put them on the plate. He got eliminated first.
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Chopped / int_fc151e9d	type	Department of Redundancy Department
Chopped / int_fc151e9d	comment	Department of Redundancy Department: In the Webisode of the circus-themed episode, Scott Conant made a "Funnel Cake... Cake"note The Funnel Cake, a required ingredient, was the base for the, uh, cake.
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