Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
‘Chopped: Champions’ welcomes back past winners
There’s just no stopping “Chopped,” it seems. The Ted Allen-hosted cooking competition series has been a Food Network favorite since 2009, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. It has more than 300 episodes under its belt, has had well over a dozen multiepisode special series, and adaptations have been made in both South Africa and Canada. American audiences can even watch “Chopped: Canada” on the American Food Network — that’s double the “Chopped!”
Well, 16 Chopped Champions have decided that one win isn’t enough: they’re heading back into the “Chopped” kitchen for a chance at earning the title a second time.
The latest season of “Chopped: Champions” premieres Tuesday, March 29, with 16 past winners returning to face off against each other in this five-episode special competition.
The first four episodes each feature four of these champions cooking for a panel of judges in the traditional “Chopped” fashion: over the course of three rounds (appetizer, entrée and dessert), they’re each given a basket of four mystery ingredients that they must feature in their meal, no matter how esoteric, out of place or just plain weird those ingredients might be.
They’re also working under a strict time limit, but the panel of judges isn’t forgiving. Whoever they decide has served up the worst dish in each round is chopped from the competition.
This is “Chopped: Champions,” though — these chefs have already proven that mystery ingredients and a fast-moving clock aren’t stumbling blocks for them.To give the chefs a bit more of a challenge, the basket ingredients are some of the toughest ever seen in “Chopped.” And, to make things even more interesting, each episode also has a theme that these culinary wizards must cook around.
In the fifth and final episode of “Chopped: Champions,” the winners of the four previous contests finally meet and throw down to determine who is the true Chopped Champion.
Winning “Chopped” and being named the Chopped Champion is a dream for many chefs out there, but winning “Chopped: Champions” is an even bigger accomplishment.The special five-episode competition gets underway Tuesday, March 29, on Food Network.