S12.W8 (E36-40): Heats Week

[Athena]

Begins Monday June 1, 2020.

[katisha]

It seems pretty clear that Reynold is destined to go a long way into this season so I'm glad to see Callum get a win over him because I just love sweet, kind Callum.  I used to like Reynold more before I read those infamous remarks of his and now I'm noticing his arrogance.  Is it wrong that I was more than a bit glad his fancy black silk thing didn't work out?

[misgabi13]

3 minutes ago, katisha said:

I'm glad to see Callum get a win over him because I just love sweet, kind Callum.

My fingers are red from crossing them and then I woke up hubby and the dogs when I yelled when Callum won!  

I don't think they are showing his huge potential in the editing!

[zibnchy]

I would literally push other people out of the way to get my hands on Callum's dish. It looked so *banging*. I'd love to see Callum in the final.

I'm so over Reynold and his over-produced dishes. He took scallops and charcoal (?) and made some gray slime that looked like something I scraped off the bottom of my shoe? Then he actually served it? OK. I would never pay money for that and, if given to me for free, I'd try to trade it for Callum's dish.

Regarding Reynold's homophobia, in his "apology" he said he's not that guy anymore. OK, well, we've seen proof that you were that guy just a few years ago. Can you give us even one smidge of proof that you're not that guy anymore? Anything? One tiny thing? When caught, almost everyone says "Oh I'm not that person anymore." I'll believe it when I see it.

I wish there was a way they could edit Jock out of the episodes.

[limecoke]

YAY!!!!!  So happy Callum won especially when I thought he probably didn’t have a chance.  Loved him in season 2 and he seems to be the same sweet, humble guy.  His dish looked amazing and generous compared to Reynold’s decorated scrap of fluff.   I don’t know anything about Reynold’s controversial statements but I’m put off by his air of arrogance.  Having said that, I expect him to be final two with Poh. But sincerely hope I’m wrong.

[TVbitch]

YAY CALLUM! Maybe they have been slow-playing him this whole time and he actually makes it to the final! 

Reynold's dishes are pretty, but pretentious. 

Are they elongating the season with just one elimination per week? Maybe they realized they would run out of programming? 

[ppl]

Callum's round 2 dish looked so good. My mouth was watering when I saw it. I also loved that he chose to go the strategic route. It shows that he knows how to play the game. I loved the Back to the Future reference he gave too!

Reynold doesn't really seem to play things strategically. He just tries to go all out and hope for the best most of the time. It was a bit surprising that he went so simple in round 1 but I think he has proven that he can balance dishes correctly when he takes care of each element instead of rushing to experiment with flavours/new techniques that we haven't seen before on Masterchef.

[katisha]

I didn't enjoy tonight's heat so much because I think good ice-cream is one of the best things known to mankind, and the thought of sullying it with disgusting ingredients like anchovies (sorry to those who like them, but EEWWWWWWW!) and even chicken (which I like, so long as it's well away from the ice-cream) made my soul hurt. 

And somewhere out there, Ice-Cream Ben's head exploded.

[misgabi13]

11 minutes ago, katisha said:

I didn't enjoy tonight's heat so much

I agree!  The thought of putting meat/fish into a dessert is disgusting!  One of those 'just because we can' things!

At least it is only for immunity (and nobody is going home over this nonsense!!!!),

 

[katisha]

I quite enjoyed this review of tonight's episode which hopefully the viewers from overseas can read as well. Here's some bits I especially liked.

Khanh says he wants to do a dessert version of a typical bar snack: fried anchovies, peanuts and beer. He is making an anchovy ice-cream, and acknowledges that this sounds awful, but says he wants to take out the fishiness and just make it salty. Khanh will also make a peanut praline and a beer granita. He says he is taking a massive risk because he has never done it before and it could be a disaster. It is also a massive risk because anchovy ice-cream sounds like balls.

Khanh moves back to his beer granita and Andy comes over because that dude can smell a frothy from a mile away. He of course asks to try some. "It tastes like beer," remarks Andy, forever the source of insightful commentary.

Andy is on a motivational speaking tour and heads to Emelia next, but she doesn't need his confidence boost – she says she is feeling really good.  But she gets a dose of harsh reality when she takes her pork out of the pressure cooker – she says it tastes "absolutely disgusting". She says it is "so porky" with "serious pork flavour". Reviews are in: the pork tastes like pork.

Edited June 2, 2020 by katisha

[xchouchoutex]

14 minutes ago, katisha said:

I quite enjoyed this review of tonight's episode which hopefully the viewers from overseas can read as well. Here's some bits I especially liked.

Thank you katisha , the review was so helpful since i stopped watching it for now 🙅🏻‍♀️

[Niuxita]

17 minutes ago, katisha said:

But she gets a dose of harsh reality when she takes her pork out of the pressure cooker – she says it tastes "absolutely disgusting". She says it is "so porky" with "serious pork flavour". Reviews are in: the pork tastes like pork.

This cracked me the f up, because I laughed so hard at Emelia's "It's SO porky!" IDK why but I found it adorable. Too bad she couldn't double up on immunity a la Jess. 😕 I'm kind of over Khanh by now, tbh. 

[TVbitch]

Reece must be growing on me cuz I was bummed about his duck floss. Additionally, why are human's so damn weird that I have to be worried about someone's duck floss. That should never be a thing. 

Tess is starting to have that "I've given up" stare. Hope she has a great cook soon. 

[limecoke]

Didn’t really like this heat but the linked recap was hilarious.

Quote

It's also really hard to be the best when you don't cook pasta and your name's not Laura.

This.😂

Yeah, I’m kind of over Khanh but he’s not going anywhere so I choose to FF through his frequent, lengthy blow-by-blow narrations.

[ReallyRealReality]

7 hours ago, katisha said:

I quite enjoyed this review of tonight's episode which hopefully the viewers from overseas can read as well. Here's some bits I especially liked.

We can see it, thank you... good read!  Only one issue I had with it was in the first paragraph... it was Twist Week's Hot & Cold DAY that brought Katie Perry, not week.

I'm still stunned by Khahn's flavor combination.  I've heard of pretzels and beer or peanuts and beer... NEVER anchovies!!!!  I'll give that one a solid pass, thank you.  Never really liked the flavor of beer, only drink one if it's ice cold and a blistering hot day and there's no other option.

[katisha]

Jeez, Laura.  The one time I actually want you to win something, because you're not Poh, you fail me!

I must admit, tonight was the first time it seemed to me Jock was actually judging Laura more harshly than the other contestants.  I wonder if he saw some media coverage early in the piece and maybe adjusted his approach to her?

 

[Niuxita]

34 minutes ago, katisha said:

I must admit, tonight was the first time it seemed to me Jock was actually judging Laura more harshly than the other contestants.

I got the same impression. The judges are usually in sync about their comments but to have Andy and Melissa have nothing but good things to say about her dish and then Jock go on this long diatribe about all the things that were wrong with it felt off, somehow. Or maybe it was just an excuse to justify giving immunity to Poh over a lemon cake (I'm a fan of her, but didn't think her dish warranted immunity). Shame, because I too wanted Laura to win this time.

[babs1226]

I wasn't looking forward to this season because of losing the boys, but I find that I am enjoying it.  I like that the challenges are always changing, I love the change with the immunity challenge so that every week someone gets immunity.  The one immunity pin was a good idea too.  I don't know what to think about who's going to win.  I think it was smart to bring back past contestants to introduce new hosts.  I just hope they continue the same format next season when they have new amateurs again.  

It will be interesting to see who wins immunity.  Everyone is talented.

[retrograde]

Glad Andy was finally able to eat a slice of cake without telling us how he doesn't usually like cake. Growth.

[katisha]

Be still my Callum-loving heart! Yessss! I was so sure Poh would beat him but I was thrilled to be wrong! 😁

[misgabi13]

58 minutes ago, katisha said:

Be still my Callum-loving heart! Yessss! I was so sure Poh would beat him but I was thrilled to be wrong! 😁

I yelled so loudly I woke both dogs (who were at the bottom of the yard) and my husband!

So excited Callum won - I'd eat his G&T dessert in a heartbeat!

I would also eat his toastie over the other two!

Will be interested to see who goes home on Sunday - even though I quite like most of them (I still hope it isn't Simon, Poh, Emilia, Sarah T or Khanh!)

But so, so happy Callum won tonight!

[babs1226]

That was a satisfying competition.  Callum has always been one of my all time favorites on this show.  So good to see him win!

[TVbitch]

Yay Callum! I figured he would make a shocking comeback, cuz they made such a big deal about it. The second courses all seemed yummy. 

These judges do not pull their scores out of their booklets as suspensefully as the old judges. : D 

Do the ladies do their own makeup? Poh would be much prettier (to me) if her makeup was dialed back a bit. ...okay, a lot.   

Simon got a hair cut, looks good. 

[Niuxita]

Yay Callum! I'm usually indifferent about him, but I was happy to see him win, especially after how criminally underscored his toastie and his crab pasta were in comparison to the other two.

Melissa's reaction to Jock's "It's the opposite of 'meh', so it's... 'hem'?" was everything. I'm developing such a crush on her.

[ppl]

Round 1: I liked Poh's sandwich the best. It actually looked like a proper sandwich and it would be something that I would want to eat. Callum's sandwich sounds intriguing. Khanh's grilled cheese is a bit too plain. I would have scored them:

Poh - 9
Callum - 8
Khanh - 7

Round 2: I felt Poh and Khanh missed the brief. Poh's 6 potstickers and Khanh's street food crepes aren't dinner dishes or portions. Snacks yes. Callum is the only one who truly delivered a dinner dish in 20 minutes. Scores:

Callum - 8
Khanh - 5
Poh - 5

Round 3: Khanh struggled and Poh delivered a very good but simple dessert. Callum's looked divine.

Callum - 10
Poh - 7
Khanh - 4 (incomplete dish means a fail)

Total

Callum - 26
Poh - 21
Khanh - 16

Runaway winner. Callum was the only one that delivered in every round. These scores reflect if the dishes had tasted exactly the same way it looked.

[katisha]

I realised tonight that I am going to find all remaining elimination cooks stressful because there will always be one of my preferred contestants under threat. Because it was very obvious Reynold wouldn't be going anywhere once he started on yet another frozen uber-dessert, that left three I like. Of those three I prefer Sarah and Tessa to Simon. It's a shame to say this but his round 2 dish looked like forgotten leftovers which have ended up in a rear corner of the fridge and started to go mouldy!

And if you don't feel up to watching the episode, here's another recap for you.  I especially liked these bits.

Even though Reynold is some sort of dessert prodigy and apparently used to run an "artisan bakery" he says has no idea how to make a pie. You're telling me you can make a chocolate forest with a hot caramel river and magical rabbit hole, but some puff pastry gives you mild anxiety? Get off it, Reynold.

Reynold's pie looks puffed and golden, but he doesn't know how to get it out of the tin. Shut up, Reynold, says Khanh, who can't deal with him pretending he is bad at stuff anymore.

Tessa brings up her grandma's Josie Pye's pie. If you think this is going to be a love fest for Tessa's nan and this incredibly cute story, think again, The judges hate it, Andy says the beef was dry and the sauce was "so reduced and hectic". Andy, please! No one understands you. 

 

Edited June 7, 2020 by katisha

[Christina]

There was no question that Simon was the right choice to go based on his dish. I have a petty reason for wanting him gone, and it's that I'm tired of hearing about Simon being a great vegetarian cook. Simon doesn't cook vegetarian, he cooks vegetables. The only protein we have ever seen him cook was animal. 

I also didn't quite understand the choices they made for the desserts with meat. When Jock first announced the challenge, he said to make a dessert with "protein." There are several desserts made with eggs, tofu, dairy and nuts, all of which are protein. Then I realized they must have been told "meat" specifically. I immediately thought of mincemeat pie, blood fudge, bread pudding with blue cheese and bacon. If I were there, though, I would have completely drawn a blank and came up with something stupid like anchovies ice cream. I am not a quick thinker for things like that and I'm also not a very creative cook; I'm much more of a lazy one. I hate standing over a stove.

[akr]

I'm relieved Sarah & Tessa made it through. I like Simon, and I like broccoli stems, probably more than the florets, but if that's all he had left in the tank, it was definitely time to go, particularly with such poor execution. I don't think he was destined to go much further anyway.

I seem to have a recency bias (I've been favoring Sarah, Khanh, Tessa, & to a lesser extent Simon) but I'm wondering if both Simon and Tessa may not have had enough time in between seasons & that it's starting to show. 

[retrograde]

Even is Simon's dish hadn't been gross, what about sous vide broccoli screams "Australia"?

Reynold's inability to make pastry as a dessert specialist is pretty lame. 

Poh really knows how to make incredible pies. 

[ppl]

Reynold's dessert skills only extend to making cold dessert elements. Baking not included.

Simon's broccoli dish made me sad just looking at it. 

On 4/27/2020 at 6:21 PM, ppl said:

My top 10 list (should/will)

Callum (should + will)
Laura (should + will)
Emelia (should + will)
Reynold (should + will)
Tessa (should + will)
Sarah T (should + will)
Khanh (should + will)
Poh (will)
Dani (will)
Chris (will)
Amina (should)
Brendan (should)
Sarah C. (should)

A few surprises for me. I'm not sold on either Poh or Dani being top 10 material but Dani will be strategic in playing her pin securing her place in the top 10 and Poh isn't going anywhere before the top 10. Chris is sneakily resourceful and that could push him over others like Simon. 

I think Amina and Brendan are pretty good cooks who have good palettes but I wonder if both will be booted before the top 10. Sarah C. is not someone that I would have picked to be in my top 10 at the start. I don't like her at all but I think she has improved quite a bit since season 10.

Checking back on my top 10 predictions list, I got 8/10 in both of the should/will categories. 9/10 if we include both lists. Reece making the top 10 is a big shock for me. At the time of the post, I was still thinking about him blowing balloons from the first episode.

[TVbitch]

14 hours ago, ppl said:

Reece making the top 10 is a big shock for me.

It was a big shock to him too. He walked up to the gantry like he just got away with murder. 

Oh Simon, what on earth were you thinking? Up against four extremely strong cooks, and he presents a limp stalk with some crumbles on it. When he put that sad bowl down in front of the judges, I was . Then I'm like, oh dear, I just laughed involuntarily at Simon's dish ~he is totally going home. 

 

[ReallyRealReality]

Gonna just put this out there... I saw a tweet about Benjamin Cooper's Jungle Curry (40 chilies!) in tonight's episode.  Besides the fact that all curries have peppers, which I can't eat, that dish looks like the storm drains around here after a really heavy rainfall.  

NO!  THANK!  YOU!!!