Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

ITV cooking program - Chef Versus Britain

origamicrane
 Share

Recommended Posts

Duncan

Duncan

Posted
Posted

crikey is this still going !

let me get this straight the corrs, as in the band are the latest celebrity judges?

it was bad enough with only torode and wallace to contend with.

Yes, it is still going, and yes, the Corrs do get some input into the judging, but it isn't as bad as that sounds.

They have finished the initial 4 rounds, so they are now left with 4 'semi-finalists'. This week they are being given two or three 'tests' each program, the first of which is to 'prepare a classic restaurant dish' for which they are given a sheet of instructions (though it isn't clear how detailed the instructions are or how closely they are expected to follow them). the second test each day involves some sort of tuition and practical exercise of some sort, so on Tuesday after cooking a mallard they were given a lesson in filleting fish, and then divided into two pairs to prepare food for 'some people who have eaten in the best restaurants'. They were given 2 hours for prep and then had to pack everything up to go to Wembley where they finished cooking and found out who the guinea pigs were.

They get 'marks' for each test (although we the audience just get a general impression of the relative rankings), and at the end of the week one of the 4 will be eliminated. Torode and Wallace are still the main judges, so the input from, say the Corrs, must be pretty minimal. Also, while it is an individual contest, a lot of the emphasis in the last part of each program is on teamwork.

Yesterday's program involved making pappardelle with chicken-liver sauce, and then being shipped off to an army camp at Aldershot to prepare lunch for 40 squaddies in a tent with gas stoves and then dinner for 15 over an open fire.

Recently written about A tale of two cheeks, More SousVide geeky experiments, Eggsperimenting with a Sous Vide Magic, Christmas tasting at Summertown Wine Cafe, UNDER PRESSURE AT PEMBROKE.

For some definition of 'recent'

Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

Posted
Posted

When 32 year old IT consultant Christopher failed to make it into the finals of Masterchef Goes Large, his parting words were something to the effect of "Well at least I'll be remembered as the man who invented avacado ice cream. Its my signature dish, no ones ever done it before."

Well, I hate to be the one to break the news but...(click here).

Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall

Posted
Posted

i've caught this again now i know its actually still running, bit i thought was odd was after serving his ice cream he said 'right now let's taste it'!

on a tangent....

although all this for arguments sake fat duck inspired trickery is exciting and bringing new interest into food, in the wrong hands ie without a basic/classic training it can be a recipe for disaster, trickery over taste.

what won last night? to all intents and purpose a roast chicken with dauph pots, cooked well and importantly delicious, not trying to push the boundaries and forgetting why people eat!

cheers

gary

you don't win friends with salad

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

you know now that masterchef is in the final its actaully getting really interesting :)

quite amazing seeing the lab in heston kitchen and the way the three finalist workied in the top kitchens today.

hmmm yeah think i apply again but i wonder if i willget through again??

maybe i will change my name and use a different address? :wink:

anyhoo for those that want to apply here is the application form

UK Egulleteer apply today!!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/mas...act_index.shtml

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted

I think the format is wofully inadequate. Too much gimmickry. What's the ready steady cook stuff all about. Do they really think that chefs get a box of random ingredients and then think what to make with them? What does cooking on a ship for 600 people prove - forget the teamwork thing, it proved absolutely nothing except that Mark doesn't have a clue about cooking fish. I hate to say it but I feel that he is just hitting a lucky streak, if I hear him gripe again about not having the experience of the other 2 I'll scream, he's mentioning it so much that I'm getting suspicious. Why does the voiceover keep going on about him being a self taught cook - who taught the others? I'm beginning to find him rather arrogant.

That voice over is really getting on my tits as well "exceptional cook" "incredibly gifted". "Amazing technically"

Who? What? Where?

I couldn't agree more with Greg Wallace tonight - Mark's plate of food looked nothing like a typical Michelin starred dish, poorly presented and an ugly looking sauce - not saying it tasted bad but I guess that hundreds of enthusiastic home chefs are producing food that looks and tastes better than that every weekend. Fair play to Caroline who's dish looked and sounded nice

Is anybody else fed up with hearing John Torode's fork hitting his teeth every time he takes a bite of food?

I think Andy mentioned before about the prize of a job in a kitchen. Well I guess they aren't going to be taking you on as a sous chef so it#'s not really much cop. If you show some enthusiasm plenty of kitchens will take you on. Whether you can take the crappy hours an pay is another matter. I'll be interested to see how long the winer sticks their new role out. :angry::shock::angry::shock:

Anyway, glad I got that off my chest, guess I won't be going to SOS for steak again. Incidentally I can't stop watching it - what's the cure? :rolleyes:

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

haha!!

I think you are addicted? :laugh:

the cure? why do you need a cure?

the infection will clear up in a few days time :wink:

Then we can look forward to Hell's Kitchen.

As cooking skills go the tests are pretty irrelevant but they are fun to watch and I think I would have really enjoyed doing some of them.

But yeah if you really wanted to work in a restaurant you could just knock on a kitchen door and just ask. The law of numbers says one will bring you on as a dishwasher and then you can wait a few months before they let you cut the veggies. I would do it but don't fancy earning just £18k for a 12 hour day. :raz:

But you have to admit the finalist have got to do some pretty cool stuff and meet some pretty high level cookies.

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted
haha!!

I think you are addicted?  :laugh:

the cure? why do you need a cure?

the infection will clear up in a few days time  :wink:

Then we can look forward to Hell's Kitchen.

As cooking skills go the tests are pretty irrelevant but they are fun to watch and I think I would have really enjoyed doing some of them.

But yeah if you really wanted to work in a restaurant you could just knock on a kitchen door and just ask. The law of numbers says one will bring you on as a  dishwasher and then you can wait a few months before they let you cut the veggies. I would do it but don't fancy earning just  £18k for a 12 hour day. :raz:

But you have to admit the finalist have got to do some pretty cool stuff and meet some pretty high level cookies.

18k a year for a 12 hour day - sign me up! You'd be lucky to earn that or work so few hours as a commis chef, you might get it as a Chef de Partie. Plenty of kitchens start at 07:30 and don't finish until midnight. Some of them have split shifts so you get a couple of hours off in the afternoon but that still leaves you doing around 14 hours. A really hard life.

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
18k a year for a 12 hour day - sign me up! You'd be lucky to earn that or work so few hours as a commis chef, you might get it as a Chef de Partie. Plenty of kitchens start at 07:30 and don't finish until midnight. Some of them have split shifts so you get a couple of hours off in the afternoon but that still leaves you doing around 14 hours.  A really hard life.

14 hour day? pure luxury!! i remember in the good old days

this is my dad, not me :wink:

My old man would wake at 6am to drive to the new covent garden market to buy daily stock and then work until 1am with just a 2 hour break between 2 and 5pm.

He went for 10 years without a holiday break !!!

Thats why i don't really want to become a chef

see myself more as a hands on restauranteur. :wink:

but it is strange why cooking has become such a aspirational career move?

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

adt

adt

Posted
Posted

fashion and potential celebrity, undoubtedly, but perhaps also the desire to do something real, rather than working in an office selling 'solutions'.

has anyone here traded their highly paid job for 15-hour days, terrible money and burnt thumbs, and if so have you regretted it??

Ian

I go to bakeries, all day long.

There's a lack of sweetness in my life...

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

sorry but was that it?

the final was such an anti-climax!!!

was it me or did none of the dishes looked or sounded particularly amazing?

and there no prize? no follow up? no book deal or tv series?

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Gary Marshall

Gary Marshall

Posted
Posted

i thought thomasina was a deserving winner, the guy was too inexperienced and caroline a good copy cook, thomasina seemed to actually be original and passionate about what she did.

cheers

gary

you don't win friends with salad

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
i thought thomasina was a deserving winner, the guy was too inexperienced and caroline a good copy cook, thomasina seemed to actually be original and passionate about what she did.

cheers

gary

agreed

Thomasina was the only one that actually created her own dishes for the final test so yeah i agree she should have won.

but caroline is probably the most technicl and competent of the 3.

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted (edited)
That foie gras dish looked utterly terrifying. And so much of it.

:shock: I thought it looked really good!

:raz: Only joking! :laugh:

It made me gag looking at it!

Edited by Matthew Grant (log)

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

origamicrane

origamicrane

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
That foie gras dish looked utterly terrifying. And so much of it.

:shock: I thought it looked really good!

:raz: Only joking! :laugh:

It made me gag looking at it!

maybe he was trying to give the judges a heart attack??

oh btw

I didn't make it onto Come dine with me :sad: sigh!!

they said as i live too far from the other contestants as the others are all in South London :hmmm:

ho hum! guess i try another show.

"so tell me how do you bone a chicken?"

"tastes so good makes you want to slap your mamma!!"

Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted

I saw Thomasina at the Tio Pepe London ITV food awards on Monday night. I couldn't get a word as she was surrounded by well wishers (I think). I noticed on the guest list that she was listed as working for Harpers and Queen? The BBC website say that she is in "negotiations to cook in a professional kitchen" Click Here

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

Duncan

Duncan

Posted
Posted
The BBC website say that she is in "negotiations to cook in a professional kitchen"

She was just on Saturday Kitchen and said she is starting working in a restaurant in Richmond from May, but is off to Mexico first. And publishing a book of soup recipes. And there may have been other things I forgot...

Recently written about A tale of two cheeks, More SousVide geeky experiments, Eggsperimenting with a Sous Vide Magic, Christmas tasting at Summertown Wine Cafe, UNDER PRESSURE AT PEMBROKE.

For some definition of 'recent'

Matthew Grant

Matthew Grant

Posted
Posted
The BBC website say that she is in "negotiations to cook in a professional kitchen"

She was just on Saturday Kitchen and said she is starting working in a restaurant in Richmond from May, but is off to Mexico first. And publishing a book of soup recipes. And there may have been other things I forgot...

She wouldn't reveal which restaurant! Seems very low key, what decent restaurants are there in Richmond?

"Why would we want Children? What do they know about food?"

britcook

britcook

Posted
Posted
It will almost certainly be Petersham Cafe.

Pleasant though the Petersham Cafe is it is hardly a "top class restaurant", of which there is a noticeable shortage in Richmond, the closest I can think of is Redmond's in Sheen.

Andy Lynes

Andy Lynes

Posted
Posted

Restaurant Magazine today confirmed that Tomasina will work at the Petersham Cafe from May. You see, I know these things. Trust me.

Janice

Janice

Posted
Posted

A friend and I went there as a try-out for a birthday dinner she was organising - the food was good and the setting very attractive, but it was eye-wateringly expensive for relatively simple dishes (c. £15 for smoked haddock chowder, £19 for a pork chop).

 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...