Cutthroat Kitchen
| Cutthroat Kitchen | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Reality, cooking |
| Starring | Alton Brown |
| Judges | Simon Majumdar, Antonia Lofaso, Jet Tila, Richard Blais |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 15 |
| No. of episodes | 168 + 1 special (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Shauna Minoprio, Julia Cassidy, Michael Davies, Melissa Stokes, Alton Brown |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Embassy Row |
| Release | |
| Original network | Food Network |
| Original release | August 11, 2013 – present |
| External links | |
| www |
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Cutthroat Kitchen is a cooking show hosted by Alton Brown that premiered on the Food Network on August 11, 2013. It features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination cooking competition. The contestants face auctions in which they can purchase opportunities to sabotage one another. Each chef is given $25,000 at the start of the show; the person left standing keeps whatever money he/she has not spent in the auctions. The show is in its fifteenth season as of November 2016. The series shares some basic elements with other four-chef, three-round elimination-style competitions on Food Network including Chopped and Guy's Grocery Games. Numerous Cutthroat Kitchen contestants have competed on these shows.
Each episode features four chefs competing in a three-round elimination contest. Brown gives each chef $25,000 cash before the first round; for insurance reasons, prop money is used instead of actual currency. The chefs each have their own stations to prepare and cook food, and the kitchen includes a wide range of other tools and equipment as well as a pantry stocked with ingredients.
In each round, the chefs are assigned a dish to create. Although most dishes are specific, such as macaroni and cheese, French toast, or fish and chips, Brown occasionally issues a broader challenge such as British pub food or a skillet breakfast. Other than in the first season, and a handful of second and third-season episodes, the first two rounds typically feature savory dishes and the third features a dessert. After the dish is announced, the chefs have one minute to collect all of the ingredients they need from the pantry in one trip, using metal hand-held shopping baskets. When the time runs out, Brown shuts the pantry doors; any chefs who remain inside must surrender an ingredient of Brown's choosing.
In each of the first two rounds, Brown follows the shopping time by auctioning off a series of items that the chefs can use to sabotage one another. Sabotage types include equipment/ingredient changes, restrictions on movement freedom, and loss of cooking time. The highest bidder pays for the item out of his/her remaining funds, and if necessary, decides which opponent(s) will face the sabotage. The auctions are followed by the chefs preparing and plating their dishes in 30 minutes. Brown occasionally offers additional auctions during the cooking time. In the final round, the two chefs remaining begin cooking immediately after shopping for their ingredients, and the auctions take place while they are working. As each round progresses, Brown offers comments (delivered as a piece to camera) on the chefs' cooking methods and strategies to compensate for the sabotages.
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Wikipedia