“Fear Factor: Aram Chef”

 The Finale

            Drum roll. After three weeks of grueling training and intense strategizing, Aram Chef is ready to conquer his final challenge: the spinach and tofu omelet. With only his pride and preconditioned taste buds to lose, Aram Chef must prove to the world that these past three weeks of spursing small amounts of disliked foods was worth the effort. To him, the real work was in the preparation.  The finale would have meant nothing without the critical build-up. And the conclusion? Well there wouldn’t even be one without first recognizing the preparation that led to the final challenge.  Now, in previous blog entries, I’d already covered most of the work that was involved in the training, but a quick recap would be helpful to highlight the accomplishments along the way to the finish line.

The Preparation (Previously on “Fear Factor: Aram Chef”)

Phase 1: During Chef’s first week, it was all about research. He used research done by Dana Small and the personal experiences of Jeffrey Steingarten to formulate the theory that ‘mere exposure’ would be his secret weapon in his preparation of the secret ingredients.

Phase 2:  The training sessions in preparation for the big challenge. This is where Chef Aram took his research and applied it. Initially, it required baby steps. For two weeks, he sprinkled microscopic bits of tofu and spinach into his favorite dishes gradually increasing the size of the pieces and the variety of dishes. Whether it be a salad from Benson, or a homemade pasta that the Chef has made himself, this preparation period was critical if I had any intention at all of succeeding at my goal.  At first, it was uneventfully easy. He started with a single leaf of baby spinach from the salad bar in Benson to symbolize the start to his journey towards ‘victory.” Albeit, it was buried under dressing and lettuce, and would probably require an excavation team to ever find it, but nonetheless, it was an entire leaf more than Aram Chef would have ever attempted on any previous day.  Like the Princess who felt the pea under a stack of mattresses, Aram Chef did taste a hint of the culprit, but he overcame the anxiety of the experience, and surprisingly, did not gag or try to wash it down with a milkshake. Exposure therapy motivated him to involve spinach and eventually, tofu, at every meal time. Okay, maybe more accurately, every other day. To his delight, he discovered that even when he recognized the taste of spinach or tofu, his dislike for either waned.

 The Delivery:
This is where the rubber hits the road. Despite the two weeks of preparation, this came pretty sudden. It all started with a simple and harmless (or so it was thought) phone conversation with the Chef’s brother. He asked Aram Chef about school and he updated him with the English project. I told him Aram was going to try cooked spinach (a first for me) the next day at the Benson cafeteria. See, at that point in time the Chef hadn't visited home in a good three weeks due to midterms and other obligations (sleeping in). He was already starting to his family. Usually coming home on Sunday (seafood night!), Chef’s brother had a different idea based on his newly learned information. Big Brother decided it would be a good idea to for unsuspecting Aram Chef to come home early on Saturday so they could prepare brunch together.  Contributing to the shock factor about this proposition was not that Big Brother proposed making a spinach omelet, but that he wanted to make breakfast. The last cooking repertoire that came to mind was oven-baked fish tacos and french fries. Naturally, it only took 5 minutes into the process of making the omelet before Mama Chef came to the rescue.

The Conclusion:

“Nobody’s perfect.” After training his taste buds to the taste of raw spinach and tofu, one might think he would be able to handle an omelet with cooked spinach. Sadly enough, this was not the case. With great angst and humiliation, it was time to man up and confess failure. The green of the spinach lay in stark contrast to the yellow of the omelet, and it just was not a good scene. Chef Aram lost “Fear Factor: Aram Chef”. His prize? The dubious honor of getting to watch his brother smirk. But not for long. All joking aside, leave it to a tight-knit family to turn this all into a learning experience. In fact, in this situation, Chef Aram’s family has actually been pretty supportive since the start of this journey. In solidarity, Big Brother ordered a vegetarian pizza without taking off all of the mushrooms, his own vice. He admitted that it was rather stressful to be open to trying his own least favorite topping.

 In case you may have also noticed that no mention was made of that third ‘special ingredient’: brussels sprouts, it was not simply overlooked. Up until this point, the process had been mentally exhausting and quite stressful, but that does not mean Chef Aram is not up to the challenge. This particular food item could be a fail if the right recipe is not followed, but thanks to the offer of a more experienced chef (Mom), the brussels sprout challenge will take place over the long weekend.

Somehow, the bravery involved in this particular final feat is fitting for Memorial Day weekend.  It may compensate somewhat for the omelet fail. And so, the final surprise: while this was intended to be Aram Chef’s last blog entry, there will be a follow-up write-up that will give a review of the brussels sprouts experience. With a tip of the chef’s hat to Steingarten perhaps the aversion to this particular vegetable can be overcome with the assistance of an experienced and accomplished chef (Thanks, Mom!), and it may quite be possible to find redemption after the finale fail.  Stay tuned.