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. 

[kopenhagen5]

Yep and Kristen is not the first to not listen to the chefs with obvious consequences.

And then there were 10................Top 10 for 2018.

With a special guest next week................His Royal Highness.

That's huge for little ol Masterchef.

[springyzone]

How right you are. It was obvious they weren't liking what Hoda was proposing to do with her cake. She should have re-thought it there & then.

Mind you, I've had a feeling for a while she would not make the actual final 5 or whatever because she hasn't had consistent air play, been slightly too low key.

To me, it looks almost like a given Jess could make it and Sashi should as he still has one more pin he can play.

[kopenhagen5]

The top ten each get $10,000. Lucky them. A nice touch.

And a new four going for immunity. Makes a nice change.

As I thought, two of the regulars in the bottom are in elimination. Time for one to go.

I think we see The Royal Highness soon. 

[springyzone]

I was interested in the challenge tonight (Thank god I don't have to do anything like this, I would be totally stumped). But anyway, there was a bottle of Gin in the ingredients. Not as one they could select, but as one they had to include.

It got me wondering. How far ahead are these chellenges planned etc? 

Not to put too fine a point on it, what if Hoda had still been in the competition? Would she have been expected to handle it?

How far do the judges go towards catering for different people in the competition? For example, what if someone had a bad nut allergy, would they eliminate nuts from the competition? I don't suppose it would be that hard to tweak things but I don't know if I have heard of people to date in the competitions who do seem to have any allergies they have to work around.

What made me think of it was the other day i made my daughter a pasta dish to take home & she rang me to ask what on earth i had put in it. It was just meat, various vegies, pasta & a bottle of gourmet pasta sauce(yes I know, it wouldn't fly on any cooking show but apparently it was very popular with the grandson, he had 4 bowls).

granddaughter came out in hives around the mouth & had to have an antihistamine. Jar revealed it had 1% cashews. Who would have suspected cashews in a pasta sauce. I'd hate to see granddaughter if she ate satay sauce though.

[imastawka]

I also wondered about how far ahead the challenges are figured out, thinking about Hoda.

Khan is coming along in leaps and bounds.  Looking like a real contender at this stage.

Got my fingers, toes, and eyes crossed for Jess tonight.

[springyzone]

He's doing really well.

They are all good cooks but there are still a couple in the competition who are hit & miss. Not that there is anything wrong with their dishes but they always seem to be having trouble with timing-things not setting in time etc

I suppose with the mystery box challenges, you could have a box of goodies pre selected and just substitute for one ingredient as needed, as you went along.

I don't think the judges want Jess to go home because she is young & has her 'food dream' but it will come down to her cook tonight I guess, & how well she tackles it.

[kopenhagen5]

Yeah Khan is good.

Phew, that was close. Thought Jess was in trouble.

The right person went.

Sarah and Chloe always seem to be in elimination.

I also think the judges want Jess to win but it comes down to the dishes presented.

I'm glad Brendan made it back in as he is doing really well after spending some time with professional chefs during his absence.

And then there were 9.

[springyzone]

Was just browsing the internet and came across a report that said something like 'Fans backlash over Indian chef'

What on earth could it be about, I thought, as I saw it and nothing on it particularly worried me.

It turns out some fans are outraged that one of the judges asked Sashi (who has Indian heritage) if he would like to be down there for the challenge (which was Indian butter chicken). His reply was-only for the tasting-and everyone had a laugh. Then another judge replied to it with 'We'll send some up.".

Honestly, is that so evil?

I'd say the quips were not just because of Sashi's indian heritage but because all through the competition, he has shown himself to be a bit of an expert in the kitchen with using spices and that is exactly the sort of food he often cooks, so a challenge like that wouldn't put him as much out of his comfort zone as say, a cake challenge.

In fact, I think it was either last night or the episode before, one of the other contestants was making some sort of flat bread and said 'thank you Sashi' because they said he had shown them how to do it. And roti bread was part of the challenge last night.

Personally, I can't see that anyone meant any harm last night, just being light hearted. To me, the move against prejudice sometimes goes too far, to where we can't even mention or allude to nationality, race, colour or sex of a person any more & it is deemed an insult. Obviously now prior cooking experience goes into that basket.

[kopenhagen5]

Oh really ? The outrage bus has obviously arrived.

Yeah that's ridiculous.

Even if it is purely because he is Indian, nothing wrong with that either.

We involve people if they have an interest or are from a particular background of like topics.

Just like the baker might say to me, "some Danish pastries today ?" because she knows I'm originally from Denmark.

It's a way of making conversation in finding associations.

If anything what a lovely thing for a person to acknowledge and be aware of anothers' interests.

It shows love for that person.

Always a few. 

[imastawka]

Yes, the right person went home.  Phew!  You're right, it was too close for comfort.

Springy, I think you've got it turned around.

The other night Sashi was making some kind of bread and said 'Thanks Sami' (meaning Samira) for showing him a quick and easy way.

I think when they invent outrage it's a slow news day