Vintage recipes are a particular fascination for several HuffPost Food editors. Re-creating popular dishes of the past can be a worthwhile culinary exploration. But when you actually try to re-create the setting of given time periods, you've probably gone too far. But the premise of a new ABC show called "Time Machine Chefs" (yes, really) is pretty much just that.
We're going to let ABC's press release speak for itself, mostly because it uses the phrase "fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a journey through time" and we just wouldn't ever write that:
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a chef in 1416 A.D., or to cook in a medieval castle for kings and queens during the Tudor era? Well fasten your seatbelts and prepare for a journey through time when "Time Machine Chefs" blasts off, THURSDAY, AUGUST 16 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET) on ABC. With no modern appliances, amenities, running water or electricity, four popular chefs must create culinary masterpieces -- and impress three esteemed judges -- with only basic kitchen equipment, their imaginations and craftsmanship. Only one chef will be crowned The Greatest Chef in History.
Although we're generally fans of the chefs that are participating as contestants -- Art Smith, Chris Cosentino, Ilan Hall and Jill Davie (as well as the judges -- Nancy Silverton, Dave Arnold and Silvena Rowe), we remain a little skeptical of the concept overall. And we're not the only ones. Eater found a couple of snarky tweets from chefs such as Christopher Kostow, the chef at The Meadowood, tweeting:
Hugh Acheson, no stranger to food reality TV himself, tweeted at Cosentino to ask:
Not missing a beat, Cosentino responded:
A few other reactions to the show:
Think we're being too harsh? Check out the teaser over at Eater National and judge for yourself. We can't help but point out that chefs emerge from a "time machine" that looks like a refrigerator. Chris Cosentino does get bonus points for mentioning "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," however.