Masterchef

[Richard_D]

Anyone see this today?

One interview I saw said that this years contestants were supposed to be better cooks than last years. Didn't look like it tonight....

Most of it seems to be grovelling to the judges, 'please give me a second chance, I can do better'. At least no-one said 'I am food' like one of them last year (it still makes me cringe every time I think of it).

[Matthew Tomkinson]

Unfortunately i did see it. I love watching all programmes relating to food. Foolishly like the last series i was excited at the prospect of it and was again very disapointed. The tasks they have to perform seem ridiculous and apart from the segment of them cooking their own dish, completely irrelevant from what the proramme suggests it is trying to achieve. For me bring back Mr Grossman!

[Mark Donnelly]

This programme is pathetic and gives the BBC a bad name. I've only seen the show a couple of times but it is dire. The two hosts are clearly trying to out do each other. John Torode is a grumpy, miserable middle aged man and I have no idea what competencies Gregg Wallace has to judge food.

The ritualistic humiliation of the contestants being made to stand up and listen to which of them is in and which is out is invidious.

10 out of 10 on the cringometer.

[Raj Banerjee]

Agreed on the cringeworthiness. The whole set-up, MO of the show seems to be off the topic of food, like food is just a background to reality TV competitiveness and humiliation. And the judges dont seem to help that along at all.

What do you folks consider to be a good show about food tho, or what would u all like to see in a good food show? More educated discussion/exchange of ideas (like a talk show with food as the subject - Top Gear for food?) or more recipe-based stuff, but maybe something that was like Ever Wondered About Food with Paul Merret? Except maybe we could have different chefs cooking up different variations on a theme?

Cheers

Raj

[Mark Donnelly]

I would like to see michelin starred chefs that are still chefs and not celebreties cook restaurant dishes by course (amuse, starter, etc.). About a decade+ ago (could be longer) there was a great series on Channel 4 (I think) on MPW. This was fantastic. Each episode featured him cooking just one dish. This was in his Harveys days, so you got the thin not bloated Marco. In one episode he cooked braised pig's trotter Pierre Koffmann. Fantastic stuff.

Today I really like Tony Bourdain. Not really a cookery show, but that acerbic social commentary is just fantastic. More please.

[silverbrow]

What do you folks consider to be a good show about food tho, or what would u all like to see in a good food show? More educated discussion/exchange of ideas (like a talk show with food as the subject - Top Gear for food?) or more recipe-based stuff, but maybe something that was like Ever Wondered About Food with Paul Merret? Except maybe we could have different chefs cooking up different variations on a theme?

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With regard to the different chefs cooking on a theme, I was watching some of Nigel Slater's early stuff on UKTV Food over the w/e. He picked a theme, like sausages or chocolate and then got great chefs like Rowley Leigh and Alastair Little. Nigella Lawson even made an appearance in her pre food porn days.

The problem is, all TV commissioning has been taken over by reality crap. There was the Top Gearesq programme recently, can't remember what it was called but it got widely slated - rightly so.

Why is John Torode so miserable?

[britcook]

One thing is for sure, the two front men (presenters is too good a word to use for these amateurs) have learned nothing since the first series. They still have no idea what it is they are supposed to be judging, on the one hand they bang on about "simplicity", "letting the ingredients speak for themselves", "properly cooked" and then one guy does a simple, properly cooked piece of (I think) haddock and they complain that he wasn't adventurous enough. Then an interesting veal with pesto dish is written off as being too complicated. No wonder the contestants look dazed. Of course they would do better next time because they might have some insight into what the two clowns want.

[Matthew Tomkinson]

[

I would like to see michelin starred chefs that are still chefs and not celebreties cook restaurant dishes by course (amuse, starter, etc.).

There was a series of programmes brought out after Ramsay's first book "passion for flavour" that i thought were really good. In the first half of the programme he would look into a product or group of products and then in the second half would cook one course using the ingredient. The cookery was filmed at Royal Hospital Road almost in real time to show how the dish was produced. I think this format is interesting, enlightening and not at all patronising.

Why is John Torode so miserable?

i think that he just thinks he is better than everyone else and on this programme he is

[origamicrane]

I personally would love to see a real masterchef.

real prize money for pro chefs.

were all the best chefs in the uk would be invited to participate.

and you have a panel of judges that blind taste and judge the food.

an ironchef with teeth.

the format would be heats with themes or specific dishes.

then as it gets to the final 16 each task would be a different set piece

like restricted budget, surprise box of ingredinets, mass catering, presentation.

Would love to see a round with all of the uk celebrity chefs battling each other!!

would make absolutely amazing tv i think as real reputations would be on the line!

[Scott]

I personally would love to see a real masterchef.

real prize money for pro chefs.

were all the best chefs in the uk would be invited to participate.

and you have a panel of judges that blind taste and judge the food.

an ironchef with teeth.

the format would be heats with themes or specific dishes.

then as it gets to the final 16 each task would be a different set piece

like restricted budget, surprise box of ingredinets, mass catering, presentation.

Would love to see a round with all of the uk celebrity chefs battling each other!! 

would make absolutely amazing tv i think as real reputations would be on the line!

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would there be a kitchen stadium?

maybe with terraces, and hooligans...

[Richard_D]

For me  bring back Mr Grossman!

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Or bring back the Gary Rhodes version! They tried to stop the accusations that it was just people with a high disposable income cooking dinner party food that they'd practised all year. They gave you two weeks notice of the main ingredient or technique you were supposed to use and the budget was smaller so you couldn't turn up and wow the judges with expensive ingredients. Most importantly the judges made constructive, consistent comments.

I'm going have to watch it tonight, just to see if it's as bad as last nights.

[origamicrane]

would there be a kitchen stadium?

maybe with terraces, and hooligans... 

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won't need the hooligans

we just give them all meat mallets and lock them all in a room for 30 minutes...

[Andy Lynes]

Haven't caught up with this yet but egullet members shoud stick with it for Le Champignon Sauvage later in the series.

[Richard_D]

Haven't caught up with this yet but egullet members shoud stick with it for Le Champignon Sauvage later in the series.

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Any idea when this is on? Not sure I can stick watching them all but would be interested to see this

[Andy Lynes]

They still have no idea what it is they are supposed to be judging

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It's a major flaw with the programme. I can't understand why anyone would want to put themselves through a process where there is no clearly defined judging criteria or reward at the end, apart from appearing on TV which is no reward at all. When you have a competition that is completely dependent on two people's personal tastes which seem to change on an almost daily basis then no one, including the viewer, is going to learn anything from it.

There's no question that both Greg Wallace and John Torode have enough experience and expertise of the restaurant business (the former as supplier, the latter as chef) to qualify as judges, but its just frustrating to have to listen in to what appears to be the culinary equivilent of a pub arguement about the best LP ever made. It might be fun for them but its a whole lot less entertianing for the viewer.

[Richard_D]

They still have no idea what it is they are supposed to be judging

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It's a major flaw with the programme. I can't understand why anyone would want to put themselves through a process where there is no clearly defined judging criteria or reward at the end, apart from appearing on TV which is no reward at all. When you have a competition that is completely dependent on two people's personal tastes which seem to change on an almost daily basis then no one, including the viewer, is going to learn anything from it.

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Well said. I'm sick of hearing that this series is 'edgier' and more 'spontaneous'. From what I've seen that just means no-one really knows what's going on. There is a potentially good concept underneath it all but every single contestant says 'I want to be the next Ramsay/Blumenthal/Worrall-Thompson'. Yeah, right, get a grip! most of them are stunningly mediocre cooks, one or two have some ability, whilst the rest are godawful. I like entering cookery competitions, it's fun (and I'm competitive like that), but I don't think I can skip 10+ years of hard graft by winning one and being catapulted into chef-superstardom. At the end of the day it is currently thought to be very trendy to be a chef, but it's damn hard work (one reason I don't do it), not that many people have the skill and it is so far removed from anything any of these contestants has ever tried.

Phew, rant over

[Mark Donnelly]

So if I could summarise the posts so far...it's a big thumbs down. Bring back Lloyd Grossman and his strangulated voice/accent. actually he was quite funny.

Deliberate, cogitate, copulate (or something like that).

[rjs1]

Haven't caught up with this yet but egullet members shoud stick with it for Le Champignon Sauvage later in the series.

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We're really upset here at Sorrel. They filmed here all day, then told us the programme is going out on 14 February (so presumably will get an audience of at most two)...

[Andy Lynes]

Well, the show is on early enough so that people can catch it before they go out I suppose. Is this Sorrel in London we're talking about?

[grahamR]

I liked the old well-honed recipes for a dinner party format. At least that way the book at the end of the series had something interesting you could use in there.

All this “ready-steady-cook”, “working in a real restaurant” stuff is just padding. Those two muppets that front the show have about as much charisma as a toilet in a French caravan site. Last years “I don’t like salmon” routine was pure x-factor cobblers.

I was much more hopeful for “food uncut” on uk tv food. Sadly they have production values that make Masterchef look like Ghandi. A great shame to see good ideas butchered. One of the early shows did a taste off between a Heston slow cooked beef joint and a Nigella recipe for the same cut. Potentially interesting, but rushed through far too quickly.

[Nicolai]

All this “ready-steady-cook”, “working in a real restaurant” stuff is just padding. Those two muppets that front the show have about as much charisma as a toilet in a French caravan site. Last years “I don’t like salmon” routine was pure x-factor cobblers.

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I would like to register a very strong protest on behalf of the "Friends of toilets in a French caravan sites" as they would not like to be associated or compared in any form or manner to the two muppets.

"Friends of toilets in a French caravan sites" reserve their right to defend their image in the relevant courts of law.

[Richard_D]

Are there any egullet-eers out there who have been on it, or are involved in it? and are willing to stick their head above the parapet and tell us what it was like?

[fatmat]

I don't undersatnd why everything has to be 'harder' and 'edgier'. Why folks in these programmes have to be so damn aggressive. There is no need to be insulting to let people know that they don't quite meet the mark. The contestants are trying their best and working their hearts out - there is no need to be rude about their efforts.

Also, the trouble with the mark is that it varies from day to day and week to week with these guys, and sometimes from contestant to contestant.

Torode and that muppet seem to be basing many of their judgements on the latest trends - presentation techniqes are slated because they are not cool this month - and contestants made to feel foolish because they are not quite upto date with London's latest.

P.S. I feel that the show would benefit by the addition of a female judge to break up the testosterone fueled macho BS

Edited January 28, 2006 by fatmat (log)

[origamicrane]

Are there any egullet-eers out there who have been on it, or are involved in it? and are willing to stick their head above the parapet and tell us what it was like?

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was on the last series, its actually the editing that makes the two of them seem ruder then they actually are.

The comments that are shown are just a snippet of what they say.

After you finish cooking they spend 3-5 minute chatting to you about your dish and they usually make positive and constructive comments to begin with and the they finish off with their final comment and judgement and that is what is shown most of the time which makes it seem that they only ever have bad things to say.

judging is still very random though.

[fabienpe]

was on the last series, its actually the editing that makes the two of them seem ruder then they actually are.

The comments that are shown are just a snippet of what they say.

After you finish cooking they spend 3-5 minute chatting to you about your dish and they usually make positive and constructive comments to begin with and the they finish off with their final comment and judgement and that is what is shown most of the time which makes it seem that they only ever have bad things to say.

judging is still very random though.

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It’s true that they are friendly chaps when the cameras are off but this is superficial. If they were not, the atmosphere would be so awful, contestants would leave. I was considering entering the competition again this year but when I found out these two guys would be the judges again and that the format would be much the same I quickly forgot about it. The idea of loosing again against miss big-breast-out making chocolate cake was not pleasant. As I have no TV I’m not event tempted to watched (though I’d like to see the one filmed at Midsummer House)

By the way they smoke a hell of a lot; to me, this just means they cannot be good tasters.