The term foodie has become popular because there are so darn many cooking programs on television now days! A foodie is basically an amateur gourmet. A foodie is someone who loves food, both eating it and making it. Shows like Top Chef are designed to show how difficult it can be to get that special dish served up, starting with the basics like proper measuring, cooking temperature, timing, and the ability to know what tastes good. Then things get competitive! The idea behind Top Chef is to narrow down the competition by process of elimination until there is one winner. Top prize has been upped from $100,000 to $200,000 plus celebrity appearances and coveted editorials in gourmet type magazines. Along the way some fail because they don't belong in the heat of a professional kitchen and some just can't quite keep up with the rest. Judges have included some big famous names of the culinary world like Emeril Lagasse and Anthony Bourdain who bring their own style of leadership into the mix and make demands that increase the challenges each week. The very competitive world of cooking at the professional level is rewarding and tests the contestants to the limits of their capabilities, and the loser packs up his or her knives and goes home.

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