Masterchef 2018

[kopenhagen5]

I like Masterchef better than the other cooking comps.

Great way to start this season rather than the mass single tasks they used to do.

Now every hopeful contestant gets 1 hour to cook a dish tasted by the 3 judges.

With second chance contestants cooking for a blind tasting.

24 contestants get an apron. 

[imastawka]

I liked the early days of the show, but I stopped watching when the cooking got ridiculous.

It's not for home cooks.  The recipes are waaay too fancy.

I haven't watched this new series yet, but I decided to record it.

I'll give it a go and see what happens.

[kopenhagen5]

I quite agree, some of those chef's dishes they needed to replicate were ridiculous.

But the start of this one seems more down to earth with some very real people.

I'm really impressed with the young 19 year old, but won't give too much away. 

I also like the way contestants help each other on Masterchef,rather than bicker, argue and fight.

I think the general atmosphere on the show is nice and supportive.

[imastawka]

It'll be a marathon for me just to watch 2 night's worth.

The first night was 2 hours.

[kopenhagen5]

Just fast forward the dishes that don't look very interesting. 

[imastawka]

Hey, that's a good diahorrea idea.

I'll do that.

[ambercat16]

I would love to see the contestants be required to prepare a proper balanced meal with a protein and a variety of vegetables rather than some flashy "hero" item with a few garnishes.  Getting fed up (pun intended) with restaurants who have veggies as optional (and additional to the price) sides too.

It is no wonder people have no idea what portion sizes and a healthy balanced meal should look like these days.  

[springyzone]

Gee, I didn't know whose name to click on as there are a few people here I'd like to reply to.

I like all the cooking shows. Masterchef I agree is more about the cooking but I also enjoy MKR, though I do think this year the hosts could well have stepped in a lot earlier to nip some of the trouble in the bud. I know they want some drama but they could easily have given a stern warning that didn't go to air etc before things went too far.

I was overall a bit disappointed this year as I don't think the best team or even the second best team won.

 I am with stawka in that some of the tasks on Masterchef are ridiculous. I only started watching last year but some cooking tasks, I swear the chefs must have made them up to add more steps. Like-10 pages or more of instructions-who would want to do this?

On the other hand, they sometimes have a session for the home viewer where the judges give their simple recipes. They are the only ones from the show I'd ever be trying.

And I had to cheer at amber cats post. I have thought that for years. Vegies should not be optional extras.

There was one dish last night-duck I think-where apparently the duck was fabulous but to me, the plate looked a bit minimal as in-duck & sauce.

Overall, the cooking shows make me feel fairly inadequate as I have never cooked a lot of the things they come up with or used a lot of the techniques. I am sure all the contestants on every show must go to a starter class though where they are told-got to have a creamy element, a crunchy element, a smooth element etc as they all seem to stress over this.

[zanadoo_56]

I am an indifferent cook.  If the recipe calls for loads of ingredients then I don't bother.  Even my mother (who is a wonderful cook) says that these days she can't be bothered with complicated meals, especially where the preparation alone stacks up the dishes etc to be washed.

I like to see how the Masterchef meals look on the plate....so I really only need to see the ends of the episodes. 😉  I also can't stand the contestants saying 'how much it means to them to be in this competition' (ie the tedious begging routine).  Better to fast forward over all that guff.

Mind you, if they ever want to make a cooking competition show out of using the 4 Ingredients cookbooks (maybe with an option of adding an extra ingredient for some recipies) then I'm there.

[springyzone]

Cooking shows. I get a bit sick of people say how much it means to them too.

And how they are cooking with love. (hate that pasta sauce commercial with a passion too).

I'm thinking they mean they were really taking care.

I've taken care too sometimes and still had something flop.

Or how they are cooking for their family, to make them proud.

And I used to think people used ingredients or food in their cooking but apparently they are 'elements'.

But talking of cooking, I was idly browsing the internet today & saw an article about the caterers for the upcoming Royal wedding & a photo of what i presume is an example of one of their dishes at some other function.

Have a look at this photo. Is there a problem with my eyes? To me it looks like a miniature morsel on the edge of a plate. Either it's a massive plate or that's a small serve. 

I know I'm not up with the latest food fashions (I've discovered on these TV shows that food from the 1970s & 1980s is apparently 'out') but I'd be embarrassed to serve a plate with only that on it.

It looks nicely done & all but I keep thinking of that story Gulliver's travels. It reminds me of that.