Awesome Girls’ Night In: Kitchen Casino!
Culinary competition TV shows have become quite diverse lately. Iron Chef, Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares – each one of them vying for a slice of the pie Gordon Ramsay first baked around seven years ago. Kitchen Casino is one of the newest of these shows, and despite it receiving quite a panning by television reviewers, the concept of the show is ripe for repurposing, and could easily be transplanted into any kitchen across the country as an excuse for a fun evening of cookery-based shenanigans!
So how does the game work? Four people must undergo three casino-themed cooking challenges. In the first, Chef Slots, a slot machine is used to select a cuisine, main ingredient and a theme. The cooks then have 20 minutes to cook the dish, before another ingredient is chosen via three words – flavour (sweet, spicy etc), colour and texture. The contestants then have 10 more minutes until the dishes are tasted and graded! To get the same effect, write out a number of cuisines, ingredients and themes, pop them in three hats, and select. Easy!
Straight away you can almost hear your friends saying “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. A quick tip is to find your energy channeling tool, that nerve leveler and adrenaline maintainer. Your secret weapon is in your pocket and probably what you’re using to time your bakes, the mobile phone! Whilst they’re sharing photos on Facebook and Instagram, totally zoning out and getting distracted, you need to load up Betsafe and their ace slot game Alice and the Mad Tea Party and keep your wits about it whilst others let their milk curdle (so to speak). Already you’re in pole position and primed like a panther.
Next, the chefs are given 40 minutes to create a dish based upon a protein-rich food that best represents their cooking style. Thrice during this period an alarm sounds, a roulette wheel is spun, and whoever it lands on has to swap with the other contestants, continuing to cook their dish! This one is all about adapting to the work others have done to the dish, and the winner will have been able to create something great by the end, despite any meddling! For the roulette wheel, you can use this internet spinner.
Again, don’t let the down time break your focus. Get out the mobile phone again!
In the penultimate round, a deck of cards (each card representing an ingredient) is shuffled and three cards dealt, alongside two cards for each chef that they may or may not use, dependent on what they’d like to make. 30 minutes of cooking is allowed, after which the dishes are once again tasted and graded and a winner crowned!
Kitchen Casino may have been cancelled on TV, but you can keep it alive in your own kitchen! Try it out – you might be surprised by your friends’ culinary prowess! By the way, having your partner as the judge helps!