Food TV Reality: Latina Eliminada

Mon03Apr2006

Food TV Reality: Latina Eliminada

To the horror of some of my friends, I am a Food Network addict. So, it comes as no surprise to them that I am also addicted to their Survivor-like reality show which pits would-be chefs against each other for a spot as the newest Rachael Ray protégé.

The show, as nail-bitingly entertaining as it is insufferable (like all reality TV) is comprised of a variopinto line-up of contestants. Okay, so maybe not so varied: you basically got one black guy and one Latina -- a Puerto Rican named Evette -- and bunch of white people. Oh, and an Asian girl, but they told her buh-bye in the very first round.

So once upon a time there was an aspiring TV chef named Evette, a Rican working mother from Florida, vying for a place for her traditional "Latino" cooking style among a more mainstream contestants.

I'd seen this coming since the beginning; it was clear that the judges weren't feeling her "flava" -- that of her food or of her personality. So this week, as sad as it was, after bombing at making some delicious alcapurias, Evette got sent home.

Now I'm not saying Evette was the best in the competition, but her elimination is unfortunate considering there is no Latino-related cooking show on the network. We've got just about every other cuisine, but no one has managed to come up with (or maybe no one cares to) a show that would appeal to a very large viewer base and, in addition, lure in new viewers by the mere virtue of having a Latino face on TV. Never mind that the most famous Mexican TV chef is a white guy named Rick Bayless (who, by the way, is an excellent chef).

Alas, it wasn't Evette's time, nor does it seem to be the time of the Latino cooking show. Interesting, considering there are advertisers who are just clamoring for this type of content, and viewers as well.

Check out Evette's audition tape on FoodTV.com

Check out TVgasm's coverage (all of the FoodTV coverage on this site is hilarious)