(Photo: Food Network)
An homage to Julia Child is headed to Food Network. The cable channel has announced a new cooking competition series titled Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen.
Ted Allen will host the five-episode series, featuring chefs using their skills to put a modern spin on Child’s classic recipes. The winner will win a $25,000 Julia Child-themed trip to France.
The cooking competition series will arrive on November 14th, just two days before season two of Julia arrives on Max.
Food Network revealed more about the series in a press release.
Sixteen chefs well-versed in all things Julia Child are ready to put their expertise to the test in the new five-part tournament Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen hosted by Ted Allen and premiering Tuesday, November 14th at 8pm ET/PT on Food Network. With passion and creativity, the chefs will face off in four preliminary heats for a spot in the finale where they will have the chance to battle it out for the ultimate gastronomes grand prize – a $25,000 Julia Child-themed trip to France. As they attempt to put an innovative and modern spin on Julia’s recipes using mystery basket ingredients inspired by her classic French dishes, the competitors use not only their culinary skills, but also their knowledge of what makes Julia Child so iconic. The chefs must live up to Julia Child’s legacy while being judged by a rotating panel of judges including Scott Conant, Susan Feniger, Amanda Freitag, Alex Guarnaschelli, Nilou Motamed, Michael Voltaggio and, from the Max comedy series Julia, actress and author Isabella Rossellini.
“Julia Child is a true icon and culinary hero who influenced, and continues to influence, generations of cooks,” said Betsy Ayala, Head of Content, Food, Warner Bros. Discovery. “This tournament pays homage to a legend while delivering an exciting twist on a fan-favorite series. The action is elevated by the unique challenges and ingredients deployed in her honor.”
Throughout the tournament, inspired by clips from her groundbreaking television series, the chefs mesh their own unique culinary backgrounds with those of Julia Child, all while facing some of the most challenging baskets yet. In one battle, the competitors must use fish heads and brown butter macarons to emulate Julia’s Trout Meunière, and in another they must make a dessert with ramen noodles and French whisky. In the appetizer round during the premiere episode, four Julia Child fans must incorporate a blooming onion in an ode to Julia’s French Onion Soup. And, in the final round, the two remaining chefs must make sweet desserts with a Bitter Frenchman cocktail. In the episode featuring Rossellini at the judges’ table, stars from the Max series Julia including, Brittany Bradford, David Hyde Pierce and Fran Kranz help present the mystery basket ingredients via special messages to the competitors.
Fans can get a sneak peek at some of the mystery basket ingredients each week, learn the judges’ ultimate tips and tricks for mastering the Chopped kitchen and meet the new competitors at FoodNetwork.com/Chopped. They can also share who they think would earn Julia’s seal of approval using #Chopped. And they can check out season two of the Max series Julia premiering Thursday, November 16.
Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen is produced by Notional, LLC for Food Network.
What do you think? Do you plan to watch this new cooking competition series on Food Network next month?
