Can dirty cake pans in a sink be the key clue in Crime Scene Kitchen? Curtis Stone, Michelin star chef and successful restaurateur has created a mystery for team of bakers to solve. Joining Yolanda Gampp and host Joel McHale in the new FOX cooking competition, Stone appreciates the difficult task that these bakers face. Which team will turn little crumbs into culinary greatness?
Stone is a veteran of cooking competitions. From Top Chef to the upcoming MasterChef Legends, he has offered guidance and advice on all types of savory dishes. But, Crime Scene Kitchen is unlike other food television shows. The truth is that these bakers need to blend knowledge, detective work and execution to whip up the ultimate sweet reward.
Recently, Stone took the time to chat about Crime Scene Kitchen and share some of his insight about the new FOX show, baking and a few clues that could help anyone solve a culinary mystery.
While teams are called culinary detectives, Stone believes that the desserts have a difficulty level to the task at hand. Although he admits that “I have a massive sweet tooth,” he thinks “desserts are a trickier solve than a savory dish. Many desserts start with the same basic baseline of ingredients and build off that which makes reverse engineering each challenge a tad tougher.”
Curtis Stone thinks this element to Crime Scene Kitchen makes the show unique.
Food television has grown over the years and Stone has been involved with many parts of it. From professional chefs looking to make a bigger name for themselves to kids looking to showcase their cooking skills, food television can fill a week’s worth of programming.
Still, Crime Scene Kitchen is unlike other culinary competitions. Even if a mystery box begs cooks to solve the connection between the ingredients to create a dish, there is direction, a clear solution, a few more clues to make the dish complete. In this FOX show, the bakers must find their way.
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Stone believes, “The investigative component is what makes Crime Scene Kitchen so unique and sets it apart from a typical cooking competition. These bakers have got the skills to make amazing pastry but throwing in the wrench of having to stop and consider a recipe and their choices requires critical thinking and good communication between the team. There’s $100,000 on the line so it better be challenging. Yolanda Gampp and I were sort of our own team, bringing different backgrounds and perspectives in as judges. It’s gonna be both a lot of fun and delicious!”
Since Stone knows the solution, that knowledge can be both beneficial and detrimental. Watching the bakers go far off track can be hard. Especially, when a team goes off course.
Stone mentioned, “when you see a team start making some headway, then all of sudden take a wrong turn,” it can be difficult to stay quiet. “But it’s pretty fun to see how creative people are, especially under pressure.”
Whether the teams journey down the completely wrong route with the clues or the desserts are spot on, viewers will want to watch all the challenges. There seems to be a little learning curve to the challenges.
The best advice Stone can give bakers would be to “check the sink and then the fridge. I would smell things, and then if it looked safe I would maybe taste clues if I couldn’t figure it out by sight and smell.”
Even though this FOX food television competition is about earning the ultimate prize, home bakers can take away many tips and tricks from the culinary competition. In some ways, it could help bakers recapture that taste from the past that lingers in those food memories.
Stone believes that rediscovering that lost recipe is possible. He said, “Trial and error is key to becoming a better chef/baker. If you’re dedicated to it, and can apply what you know, using different techniques, knowing how to work with certain ingredients, etc – yes, you can definitely crack the code for a lost recipe.”
Be sure to watch the premiere of Crime Scene Kitchen on Fox May 26. As the season unfolds, the bigger mystery may not be the ultimate winner solving all these kitchen clues. Instead, it might be the inspiration to add some baking creativity to the home kitchen.
What is your favorite dessert? Is there a dessert recipe that you wish you figure out its secret to make perfectly?