sf wrote:
>
> As far as I
> could tell, the chefs were pretty good at instructing their teams in
> basic technique and directed them from the observation box without
> intimidation. Frankly, the chefs seemed to be reminding their teams a
> lot about cooking 101, which is read the *entire* recipe first and
> wash your hands.

The contestants seem to be folks who have never seen a cow being milked,
who don't seem to be aware that cans don't grow on trees, who can't take
a taste of a food and make an educated guess about it's ingredients and
how it was prepared. That's alien for foodie folks here on RFC but I've
encountered tons of folks like that on low carb diet support boards.
These contestants started out hardly even knowing what end of the knife
to use. They are doing well for such a starting point.

> Nobody was yelled at and there didn't seem to be any
> pressure, so I don't understand why some team members fell apart. I
> think they were just being drama queens.

The contestants have the embarassment that they have been nominated as
the worst cooks in America by people who know them so it starts out with
them insulted. Then they are taught by top quality professional chefs
when what they really need is a few lessons by a local cook. Then they
get offered $25K if they can beat out the other contestants and if they
don't they get booted off the show on national TV.

I'm not surprised that some break down. I'm pleased that some managed
to go home with obvious pride in how far they progressed how fast.