The Great Soul Food Cook-Off

I have been cooking for many years and don't understand the Soul Food Cooking Styles they had them do... if I was to tell my Grandma to elevate her Collard Greens she would look at me crazy!! I understand the techniques each one brought to the table but the Judges were not good at all and they even cut each others throat at times depending on the plate. Chef Dorian was a BEAST and when I saw her elimination I cut the TV OFF immediately. It's a poor representation of Soul Food and a disgrace to those who were looking for Soul Food Cooking not a pretty plate.. Soul Food is not a pretty plate it's flavor, tenderness, texture , passion and LOVE. They are were good even to the one's who thought they were the best in the country at what they do. When I think of Soul Food I think of getting my stomach full.

This was a great way to represent and showcase culture through skillfully crafted dishes. That said, the finale seemed more of an effort to designate a "humble" winner rather than give credit to the consistent skills of the other 2 chefs. It was enjoyable to watch and made my mouth water but the ending left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. Doesn't bode well for a show based on competition to instead choose a winner based on other factors such as personal growth and humility. That said, I can acknowledge that those are very admirable and valuable traits, however the purpose of a competition is to highlight the most skilled competitors. If they were to choose winners based off of other factors I think those things should be openly disclosed as part of the judgement process. It would set the stage for viewers and competitors themselves to understand how they're going to be judged. I hope all of them were able to enjoy elevated success afterwards.

As a good ole southern boy from New Orleans, I'll take one of everything. But also they do a great job of upping the anti when it comes to old school soul food dishes. They are wonderful in taking the dishes we know and love and amplifying that without losing the dishes character. Also getting to know the chefs and their back stories are beautiful. Man I need to get back down south ASAP. They don't make cooking like they do down there. Also food aside, I binged this in a day. A fun easy watch. DO NOT WATCH WHILE HUNGRY! You'll be salivating the entire time. They also do a great job of giving you a back story on what Soul Food is and where it comes from. 8/10. Would watch next season.

The show is great and contestants are fun to watch. Now for the judges...I could overlook how annoying their comments were, up until the grandma show. How in the heck are you going to pair these chefs with these grandmas you picked and then kick someone off the show for listening to them. It would have been disrespectful not to listen to the grandmas. This was horrible and you ended someone's dream to win, based on your own decisions. You owe that contestant an Apology and some money! And the saddest part is you did this show right before the finale. That chef looks like a great chef and because his grandma you chose used box pudding... all of the judges should be ashamed of themselves. Can't watch anymore of this.

An awkward style of show for a show that has 3 prominent food network chefs and yet reads like they've never seen a well produced cooking show. The judging is very off, seems like they're playing favorites a little bit. The challenges, the time limits, the critiques, the verbiage of "knockout". Everything just lacks identity. Being from the south, we all know that these foods need a lot longer time to develop and render most of these ingredients but then they ding the chefs for not getting things that cannot be done, in a proper time. Assigning everyone different things that cook very differently also shows a real lack of knowledge of the food you're judging. I can't make a slow braised ingredient act the same as a fast acting ingredient.