An interview with Chef Brooke Williamson on TOC, her new book, competing and judging
A few excerpts from the article. Link to full article above: The panel has always been a mix of men and women in the judges.
It’s always been very fair. I don’t think there’s favoritism. It’s literally blind judging. So, the judges never know who they’re judging or what gender they are. I don’t know if it’s something more than that, but I can’t speak to that.
I think it’s a lovely display of women at a high level of cooking that you don’t see very often, so everyone takes note when they do.
Was there a reason you decided not to come back to compete this year but to judge, or did all the winners decide together?
We were all given the option to compete or judge. I feel like I’ve done that grueling process several times. I have proven that I’m capable, and I don’t feel like I need to demonstrate the same thing over and over again.
I also compete regularly and enjoy it. So, I still have that outlet, and I do enjoy it, but I felt like I had done all that I needed to do in that particular arena.
I only judged the finale this season. Some personal things came up, and I was going to judge the first couple of episodes, but I could not. So, I only did the finale.