Janet Bostwick wrote:
>
> There is an opportunity for learning in this show. Ann Burrell and
> Bobby Flay show the novice cooks how to prepare an item. The novice
> cooks try to duplicate the dish and also do a riff on it. For other
> viewers who may be as challenged in the kitchen, watching others make
> mistakes and learning from them will be helpful and maybe empowering.

This is exactly the value of the show to me. It's a contest with a
prize so they have to eject a candidate in each episode and they eject
the ones doing the worst who therefore need the teaching the most, but
it's a contest so they have to do that.

As I watch the episodes in a season I see folks who never learned to
cook at home. They have no idea how to spell food no to mention cook
it. They have top quality teachers teaching them. They learn rapidly.
They evolve from clueless to doing just fine. All wrapped around a
contest because a lot of viewers like contests. Heck, I like the
contests among the experts so I get why it needs to be a contest.

But the biggest value is watching the evolution under the tutilege of a
teaching chef. And watching the tutilege of the teaching chef.