The Taste: Tuesday at 8|7c on ABC

So I get an message from Influenster.com in my gmail account this morning:

"Your VIP Invite to The Taste on ABC"!

Almost immediately, my active imagination had visions of being whisked away by private jet ... did I mention my imagination is active?

I am not a fan of reality tv.  Competitive cooking shows are usually not the exception.  In some of the shows the judges and competitors have more bite than all the dishes combined ... and that gets old really, really fast.

So, imagine my surprise when I went to watch the first episode, where contestants were auditioning, only left me wanting more!  I've got to go and watch the other three episodes to catch up before next Tuesday so I can jump in mid-stream with the season.

"The Taste" features celebrity foodies Nigella Lawson, Ludo LeFebvre, Brian Malarky and Anthony Bourdain as the judges.  They sit at a table facing away from the kitchen area, so they have no idea whose creation they are sampling.  Attractive models carry a tray with four spoons of each contestant's dish to the judges' table, who from there must determine who goes on and who goes home.

The auditions allowed each contestant to fix any dish they wanted, with the caveat that if the panel did not care for it, the contestant would not go on.  So everyone was bringing their best.  Contestants included both professional as well as "home chefs".  It did my heart good to hear Nigella tell a contestant not to apologize for being a "home chef", and it was interesting to note that many of the contestants who progressed past the first show were not professionally trained.

There was a fair amount of swearing in the episode, but the "bleepers" are right on the money.  And some of the contestant egos are going to make for 'interesting' television in later episodes, but then a number of contestants stated they had quit their jobs in order to even audition, so I have to give them props for commitment.

I am genuinely looking forward to the next episode of "The Taste".  If you haven't been following it yet, there is a link above for the first episode, or if you care to catch the latest episode, go to http://abc.tv/Z3jimp for the "sandwich episode".

So, if you are someone who either likes to prepare food, wants to sharpen your own kitchen skills, or like to eat good food, you owe it to yourself to watch at least one episode of "The Taste".

To my readers and Let's Get Social Sunday hop buddies, I have a question....If you were to audition for "The Taste" next time around, what dish would you bring?

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Disclaimer:  I received no monetary compensation for this review.  If I complete all the tasks, there is a chance I could win some sort of prize; one thing I would like to get is "The Taste" badge for my Influenster account.  :O)