My wife is among the big fans of cooking contest shows on TV, and through Asian Food Channel (AFC) available in Indonesian under the Telkomvision network in Indonesia, she has got a good choice of shows. On the other hand, I prefer more adventurous and food review kinds like the Makansutra by K.F. Seetoh, and Taste of Indonesia by Bondan & Gwen Winarno. I myself sometimes watch Australian Junior MasterChef, mostly due to the cheerful atmosphere and attitudes of both the contestants and the judges.

A new cooking show came to AFC however, garnered my attention. It's the "AFC's Next Celebrity Chef", which competes chefs from Asian countries in series of cooking competition. My intention however, lies more upon the interest if any Indonesian chefs participates in the show, and it quickly fades as well with the confusion of the show's true intention: is it a cooking contest or a drama tv show?

While I don't deny that drama attracts, but I think AFC's Next Celebrity Chef has taken it over the top. Episodes after episodes, it got more focused toward how the contestants feels about the jury's treatment, especially with chef Bruce Lim, and less on the cooking itself.

Who is Bruce Lim?

For you who are not familiar with chef Bruce Lim, he's a nice and warm looking guy who already hosts "Tablescapes" on AFC, which introduces the modernized Philippines cuisine and cooking.

On the contrary with his previous image though, on AFC's Next Celebrity Chef, Bruce had transformed into a brassy character which on many occasions does not restrain himself from sending plates of cooking into the ground smashing, as a sign of his disapproval with the contestant's cooking quality -- a show that often left the contestant gawked or frozen in humiliation.

My biggest question is, whether chef Bruce Lim is really one bad ass plate slamming chef in real life? Because if he doesn't, then this is a serious case of over-dramatization and bad role-playing.

While it might be tempting to become Gordon Ramsay, he lives his life living in that character and not just on-stage. With Bruce Lim however, the character is inconsistent hence it's confusing; on one side he shows a hearty and warm character upon hosting Tablescapes, while on Next Celebrity Chef suddenly he's becoming the over-critical plate-slamming-happy brazen jury. Which one is his true face? Because now every times I see Bruce on Tablescapes, I imagined him smashing plates to the ground, and while watching Next Celebrity Chef, I imagined his soft and mellow character on Tablescapes: confusing.

Becoming TV Personality

The key to become a TV personality is first of all, that you get the airtime (duh!). An important thing you have to do afterward, is to maintain at all time the consistency of your character's branding. Just like Gordon Ramsay is the kitchen bad boy, Andrew Zimmern is the happy adventurous food lover, Anthony Bourdain is the classy rebellious food traveller, Jamie Oliver is the smart and casual cooking prodigy, while Nigella Lawson is the Queen of Food Porn, they all have -- working through the years -- constantly shown their unique personality throughout shows they hosts, books written, hence the character sticks.

As with Bruce Lim, what will he become? He's fairly less known, even though having some impressive background and experiences, and he's suddenly in a bad mood too often. Seeing Bruce dumps plate on Next Celebrity Chef does not painting him as an someone interesting, but chaotic and a Ramsay's wannabe instead.

Even with his well known harsh chef-mode temperament, Gordon Ramsay in Hell's Kitchen still reserves himself from doing the expected, and in American MasterChef it's Joe Bastianich who does the food dumping more often than Ramsay.

The "I-must-become-the-bad-boy-personality-because-it-looks-like-fun" attitude however, seems to be prone happening to TV personalities -- or even celebrities -- without conscious awareness of their personal branding, or having one at all. I still remember raising my eyebrows during the first season of Indonesian Idols was aired on TV; almost all of the judges, who usually known as cool and positive people, suddenly turned into this over-critical and harsh Simon Cowell's (bad) imitation. And they don't share roles but all wanting to become Simon. Imagine the chaos it produced?

On the other hand I have also become amazed on most times Steven Tyler gave comments during his role as the American Idol's jury. Is he really actually that smart and warm? During the show, Steven lavishly throwing "so good" and "lovely" to performances he likes -- without hesitation, which is so humble and on the contrary to his perceived image as Aerosmith's front man, which most audience I believe expected a rather wild and bad-ass personality. And I have to raise my hat to all the American Idol judges along with Steven, who does not try to replace Simon role as the American Idol's bad boy.

Back to the show itself

As with the AFC's Next Celebrity Chef, they need to put up something more original and touching; not in the lebay* way of touching, but something that inspires. Brazen Bruce might launch the show's popularity, however it's quickly getting weary and lacked originality.

Instead, how about him doing Tinikling dance when he's happy, and Manu Siva Tau when he's not? (byms)

*over dramatization.

It was not until a close attention to the trailers shown on TV, I discovered that Pak Bondan (Bondan Winarno) is now promoting a new catchphrase "Indonesian food is dangerously delicious" on his new food show "Taste of Indonesia" aired on AFC (Asian Food Channel) TV, starting November 2011.

So the big question is, is Indonesian food really dangerous, and why?

Well it is, since the risk of addiction is really high! as Pak Bondan replied himself on his Twitter account:

"Sbg warning box, krn akibatkan kecanduan" ("As a warning box, since it causes addiction").

Though Indonesian food is not everyone's dish, and still fairly less known compared to the food from its neighbouring countries, i.e.: Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, but those that has come to know about Indonesian food usually have one or two favourites -- at least.

Among the dishes foodies enjoyed the most, are Sate Ayam Madura, and Rendang Padang. While the first is an Indonesian BBQ made with skewered chicken chunks, marinated lightly in Indonesian sweet soy and peanut sauce and then grilled; the later is a "West Sumatran caramelized beef curry" to borrow the words of another Indonesian culinary expert, William Wongso. Just like Pak Bondan, Pak William can also be reached through his Twitter account.

The other obvious almost ubiquitous Indonesian dish is Gado-Gado Jakarta; Indonesian salad made with fresh vegetables, chopped tempe, tahu, potato cubes, boiled egg, and dressed heavily in a mixture of peanut sauce. For a heavier meal it usually includes lontong, i.e.: the rice cakes, and for a more succulent dressing some vendors added cashew nuts to the mixture as well.

Another favourite dish usually served in Indonesian food restaurants abroad is Nasi Campur; a dish that's very closely resembling the day to day eats in Indonesia: a steamed rice with various accompanying dishes, usually in the formula of protein + vegetables + sambal. Rendang Padang seems to be the favourite choice for protein, along with Telur Balado (Boiled egg in spicy hot seasoning). Other choices you might find are tempeh (soybean cake) and tahu (Indonesian tofu). Indonesian sambal is the national's pride; it takes so many different form and variations but that's the beauty of it: you get to taste so many varieties yet they are all dangerously delicious. The most common form of Indonesian Sambal usually consisting of red chillies, tomato, shallots, and seasoned with terasi: Indonesian shrimp paste. Be cautious though that in its natural setting, sambal are extremely, if not volcanic, hot.

As about the slogan "Indonesian food is dangerously delicious", it is strongly related with "Indonesia. Dangerously beautiful" slogan which was invented and popularized by Iwan Esjepe from "Indonesia Bertindak", in response to the travel warning issued by northern American countries and European as well some years ago.

“Several countries have issued travel warnings not to visit Indonesia. It's now your time to make a statement that Indonesia is too beautiful to be passed” wrote Iwan in his website.

So, have you find out how dangerous Indonesian Food is? Visit an Indonesian Restaurant around you and decide for yourself. (byms)

Indonesian celebrity chef, Farah Quinn, will appear on AFC (Asian Food Channel) on the show "Ala Chef". Originally shown on national television Trans TV, the show will be aired three times a week for the premier week.