S13.W6 (E25-29)

[Athena]

Begins week of May 23, 2021.

[katisha]

So I think everyone is giving the spoiler thread a wide berth, and I am not going to reveal anything in this thread. But I will say only this: things are all over the shop so far. Unlike prior seasons where fairly early on they seem to settle on a likely winner, so far four different contestants have been the favourite in the betting and two of the four are not who you would expect at all. Very bizarre. 

[katisha]

Well, my PVR had a conniption before the end of the second round so I didn't see who went home but it turns out it was Jess.  And I can't say I'm even slightly shocked because, hey, she's female!  And the deck has to be absolutely stacked for a guy to win this season.  Have we ever had a more uneven ratio at this stage than 10 men and 5 women?  Frankly, Tommy was bloody lucky to stay.  Not sure how that dessert he made tasted but he was useless in the relay challenge and probably played quite a part in the team being in round 2 in the first place.

This elimination has made me a bit cranky, but the recap cheered me up a bit.

Quote

 

Tommy is about to hand over to "Scott", with no idea what to tell him. He's still tasting parsnip. The possibility that tasting parsnip is a symptom of stroke must now be considered. Amir thinks he's got his head around the dish, which is handy given he's about to leave. He begins to make a dressing, causing Sabina and Justin to cheer long and loud, like people whose sense of reality is so distorted that a dressing can cause euphoria.

The changeover happens. Amir tells Pete that the dish is pork with various apple things. Tommy tells "Scott" "I don't know what we're going to do", for which "Scott" thanks him sincerely. With one cook having a vague idea that he needs to combine pork and apple, and another knowing only that his predecessor had a nervous breakdown, it should be a fun final twenty.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by katisha

[dippydee]

Well that sucked. Look I enjoy looking at Tommy’s pretty face as much as anyone but I really would have preferred Jess to stay over him. My only real consolation is Sabina saving herself in the first round so I didn’t have to worry about her leaving.

[displayname]

Ben Pobjie is so great 😂

Quote

The challenge is in two rounds. In the first round, the two losing teams compete against each other: green vs turquoise. In round two, the losing team will compete as individuals, while all wearing black aprons, thus ironically robbing them of their individuality. This is the cruel paradox of MasterChef.

I wish Tommy or Dan had left. Dan especially has lived enough lives.

[ChicagoMe]

What an utterly ridiculously conceived relay challenge...whoever dreamed that up should be canned! It had almost nothing to do with cooking and placed all the cooks in an impossible situation which made for viewing blahs. I wish they'd give up the shenanigans and just let these guys cook.

Watching Jess leave was heartbreaking and so unfair after Tommy spent the relay doing nothing. Dan should have been gone a few weeks ago. This season is going to give the show a bad name. A lot of bogus-ocity going on. I'm cutting out on this season if Depinder or Kishwar suspiciously disappear.

[displayname]

33 minutes ago, ChicagoMe said:

Watching Jess leave was heartbreaking and so unfair after Tommy spent the relay doing nothing.

I know, this seemed like just such a low blow.

[babs1226]

I like Jess, but I don't think she's been a very strong cook throughout the competition.  You can blame Tommy for freezing during the relay, but Jess was the one who came up with the parsnip & apple puree, but obviously didn't get the balance right, and nobody seemed able to fix it. or had the courage to ditch it.  I did notice that not one man on either team was willing to step up and start things off.  

Of the 4 dishes that determined who was going home, I think Jess's was the weakest.  If she had left all the unnecessary elements off the dish, it might have been a different outcome.

[katisha]

5 hours ago, babs1226 said:

I like Jess, but I don't think she's been a very strong cook throughout the competition.  You can blame Tommy for freezing during the relay, but Jess was the one who came up with the parsnip & apple puree, but obviously didn't get the balance right, and nobody seemed able to fix it. or had the courage to ditch it.  I did notice that not one man on either team was willing to step up and start things off.  

That's a fair call, @babs1226.  It's just that in a season of really weak cooks, the only thing the producers want to make sure happens is that a bloke wins even if none of them actually deserve to.  I have a feeling none of us are going to be thrilled with the outcome of this season, whatever it is, because the strongest cook so far is Depinder and I just can't see her winning no matter what she does.

[Niuxita]

Aaaaand the female contestant slaughter continues. The MOMENT Jess said she was gonna make sure she featured apple in many different ways in her dish, I knew the judges were going to find a way to eliminate her for meeting the all-important brief just too much. Look, I know she was far from the strongest in the competition, but I am so fucking over the male bias on this show. Especially, as someone else has already said, because Tommy is another dead-weight male contestant who played a huge part in his team being in trouble (although I do buy that his dessert had no issues because it seemed to play to his strengths, so OK). His handoff to Scott was just embarrassing. I'm glad they at least ditched the COVID protocol charade and had the decency to give Jess a proper hug. She looked devastated walking out. :(

The only saving grace was Sabina being safe after yet another useless male contestant completely botched her very clear instructions. She literally handed everything to them in a silver platter and Justin still managed to be completely useless!!! I wanted to pull my hair out.

10 hours ago, babs1226 said:

I did notice that not one man on either team was willing to step up and start things off.  

Oh yeah, I noticed that as well. Very quick with the "I'm happy to be second or third, [Jess/Sabina] do you want to start?". Eyeroll.

12 hours ago, ChicagoMe said:

I'm cutting out on this season if Depinder or Kishwar suspiciously disappear.

Same. Probably not long to go for that to happen, after all, there are only 5 women left and there's 2 eliminations per week.

On a brighter note, Melissa needs to never wear sleeves ever. *cough*

Edited May 24, 2021 by Niuxita

[Aerobicidal]

"We're doing a little bit of a role play. . . . We need to know what the equipment is . . . and we need to know what elements we're getting up." Please make that the official slogan of season thirteen. It may be long, but . . . actually, there's no but.

I take back 23 percent of the the negative things I've said about Andy over the last two seasons due to his shade thrown at Justin, his coherent "too much parsnip" critique, and his totally inoffensive (apart from the shoes) outfit. I don't think he chooses his wardrobe for the show anyway, but his stylist doesn't deserve to be fired today.

If I were Scott and the judges told me I was the best dessert chef of the four people in round two, I would take out every rosary, rabbit's foot, cross, and head of garlic in sight and sacrifice a beautiful chicken to pray the curse of Therese and Conor would not take me next.

Editing really made it clear who would be the bottom two, and I would have been happy with both being eliminated since Jess has been completely worthless in almost every episode I've seen and Scott annoys me to no end. I'll take inferior cook over someone who gets on my personal nerves any day. Well, maybe not any day, but I'll take it today.

[katisha]

Well, thankfully this episode was much more enjoyable than any of last week's tedious Beat the Brigade crap. And we know this is a pretty weak season so an invention test isn't going to give us Heston Blumenthal Mk II but at least not everyone made ice-cream and some dishes, such as Pete's carrot steak and Depinder's green curry cake, were actually quite interesting and clever.

Given the attrition rate of female contestants Sabina should be very worried tomorrow but if there's any justice she'll survive and Eric will get the boot. He was painfully inept tonight and has been on borrowed time for a while now. I'd be happy to lose Blokey too but that won't happen.

[dippydee]

I quite liked Petes carrot steak idea but he ruined the “crust” of it. That is way passed charred or whatever he was going for, it was straight up burned. Still points for being more outside the box than most of the others. Depinder’s curry cake sounded interesting too. I would love a bite of that because I can’t even imagine how it would taste.

Sabina’s going tomorrow right? I mean even though Eric and Brent are still there, doing not very much of anything she’s going because they need to increase the odds of their male winner. Still I’m going to keep my fingers crossed for her and hope Eric goes because hes my least favourite of those 4.

[displayname]

We need to start shaking off some of the mediocre men!

[Rosenrot]

On the relay, I was slightly worried that Dan would go all white chocolate veloute on us, but he did really well! I'm so proud of him! 

I'm fine with Amir leaving any day now, thanks. There's just something about him that makes me grind my teeth every time I see him.

15 hours ago, Aerobicidal said:

and his totally inoffensive (apart from the shoes) outfit.

My immediate thought process was "blast it, Andy's gone boring!" 

 

20 hours ago, katisha said:

It's just that in a season of really weak cooks, the only thing the producers want to make sure happens is that a bloke wins even if none of them actually deserve to. 

I'm calling it right now that we will have a female winner this season and I'm basing this solely on the fact that all my favorites happen to be guys and my favorites never win. So there. 😁

Edited May 24, 2021 by Rosenrot

[displayname]

The recap for this episode! https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/masterchef-recap-the-kids-were-right-all-along-you-cant-actually-make-vegies-apeeling-20210524-h1w0py

My favorite is this part:

Quote

A few people who did nothing interesting enough to merit screentime on this episode rush by, and then Brent. His carrot ice-cream with carrot caramel is exactly the kind of dish you want when you're looking to make something nauseating from vegetables. "Brent, I think we've found your weak spot," says Jock, but as weak spots go, the inability to make carrot ice-cream is one that's unlikely to hold you back too much in life.

 

[Aerobicidal]

It's season 13, the season in which the judges demand innovation and creativity from every chef and it's impossible to skate by for just being Blokey McBigHands and making vegetable ice cream--starting (and presumably ending) with episode 26!

Aside from the extreme cognitive dissonance this episode caused me and my equally extreme skepticism of this judging panel being qualified to determine what's innovative, I enjoyed this episode. People I like are doing well (Pete, Depinder, Kishwar, Tom*) and I would be more than happy for the male three of the bottom four to go home tomorrow. That reminds me--there have been so many good and insightful comments made by pretty much everyone aside from me in these threads about gender on the show, particularly this season. I have more to say about it but I don't want to get political so I'll move on to two more snarky notes.

First, Justin with his "dude, man, this is gonna be a sick dish, so bangin'"--STOP. You are not a USC frat boy from 1992. You are not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. And he got praised (no pun intended) today for some crap involving onion ice cream and granita. 

Second, I don't know if Brent was as shocked as I was about the judges' 180 on him, but I don't feel bad because he actively participated in  his edit no matter how much he was encouraged by production. "Me cook meat. Son ask for food. Me put beef in fire. Then put on stick. Son have lunch." 

*White chocolate and carrot is not a combination I'd go out of my way to try, but I've heard of dishes with white chocolate and peas and also guacamole with white chocolate, so it's definitely something some people would enjoy. That being said, spherification is so dated and it's not hard to do at home anymore, so that element of his dish gets a blah from me.

[dippydee]

2 hours ago, Rosenrot said:

I'm calling it right now that we will have a female winner this season and I'm basing this solely on the fact that all my favorites happen to be guys and my favorites never win. So there. 😁

Lol! I for one hope you’re right 😉Team Depinder for me!

If it is the year of the guy, I hope it’s Pete or Tom because none of the have really impressed me at all.

[Rosenrot]

39 minutes ago, dippydee said:

If it is the year of the guy, I hope it’s Pete or Tom because none of the have really impressed me at all.

I really like Tom, Tommy, Pete and Dan, but can't see any of them winning - except maybe Pete, but he has an unfortunate tendency to make bizarre things, and my estimate is that one of these days he decides to make a bizarre thing in an elimination, and then it's bye bye Pete. 

None of the ladies just really do it for me, but I don't think I could be super mad if, say, Elise or Depinder won. If they've decided they want a male winner though, I personally feel like it's going to be Brent and all of us will just be sad. 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Rosenrot

[katisha]

Saw this last night and thought of you, @Niuxita!

Actually, re the comments above, it's hard to think of ANY contestant who's been impressive, of either gender!

[Niuxita]

23 hours ago, Niuxita said:

On a brighter note, Melissa needs to never wear sleeves ever. *cough*

Quoting myself just to say that the wardrobe gods clearly heard my plea tonight.

Yeah, any guesses as to what bullshit reason they'll give to eliminate Sabina tomorrow? Not hitting the brief? Hitting it too much it bruised? I'm on the edge of my seat here!

I kind of do and don't want to know what a curry cake tastes like. Also agree that Pete's super charred steak did not look appetizing at all.

4 hours ago, katisha said:

Saw this last night and thought of you, @Niuxita!

Hee! I'm honoured to now be linked with Melissa in your head, @katisha. However, that new look might take some getting used to...

[displayname]

I do take issue with a lot of "invention" in this episode.

Justin - onion ice cream + caramel + crumb

Brent - carrot ice cream + caramel

Dan - dan dan with brocolli

Kishwar - Indian street food, with potato as the wrapping

Tommy - Vietnamese rice roll, with zucchini as the wrapping

Eric - fried Chinese dumplings with carrot puree as the outer coating

Amir - Turkish dumpling, with zucchini as the wrapping

Sabina - "potato mille-feuille" which is basically a stack of crisps

Scott - apple crumble with anglaise - except the apple crumble is a potato crumble

Aaron - Carrot cake dumpling??? Carrot dumplings with a crumb and dressing??

I really would say only Depinder, Tom, and Pete had inventive dishes, but still nothing outstanding (though I do like where all three were going). Also, I think Eric is done. Here's what he was told, and I don't think it was shown on the episode, so it looks and sounds like a bus.

 

Edited May 25, 2021 by displayname

[katisha]

4 hours ago, displayname said:

Also, I think Eric is done. Here's what he was told, and I don't think it was shown on the episode, so it looks and sounds like a bus.

It was so very clear almost from the get-go that Eric was getting the boot that it was very unsuspenseful all around.  I'm honestly still amazed that he ever got onto the show because I'm struggling to remember anything he cooked.

The only bright spot was Sabina.  I love that she's so Tassie country girl and down to earth, saying things like, "Seems a lot of trouble to go to for a few onions!"  Couldn't agree more and I'm glad she was safe.

14 hours ago, Aerobicidal said:

First, Justin with his "dude, man, this is gonna be a sick dish, so bangin'"--STOP. You are not a USC frat boy from 1992. You are not a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

He was at it again tonight and now I've started noticing it, I can't stop.  I winced at every, "That's so SICK, Beens!"  Cringe!

[displayname]

43 minutes ago, katisha said:

It was so very clear almost from the get-go that Eric was getting the boot that it was very unsuspenseful all around.  I'm honestly still amazed that he ever got onto the show because I'm struggling to remember anything he cooked.

He seems very nice, but yeah. Ready for Tommy, Brent, Dan, Aaron, Amir, and Scott to all queue up and leave next. Any order would do, but again, Dan has lived too many times already, don't need to see him try and beat Rose's black aprons record. (probably should have been in the bottom over Sabina or Scott here, anyway)

Edited May 25, 2021 by displayname

[dippydee]

Yay Sabina! She did so well. It was good to see her calmly work her way through the recipe drama free. 

1 hour ago, katisha said:

I'm honestly still amazed that he ever got onto the show because I'm struggling to remember anything he cooked.

He mutilated a kingfish and he ruined the lamb today ;). You’d think this would be something contestants would practice by now once they know they’re going to be on the show. Inevitably there are a few tasks every year involving some kind of butchery.

 

57 minutes ago, displayname said:

Ready for Tommy, Brent, Dan, Aaron, Amir, and Scott to all queue up and leave next.

Yep. Those guys do need to go soon, the gap between them and some of the others is increasing. I know Dan is uneven and often not good but I still have a soft spot for him. I’d send all the others listed before him. Aaron to go next please. I don’t know how he managed to annoy me in an episode where he isn’t even cooking but here we are.

 

[ChicagoMe]

For a season where they are so clearly shooting for a male winner they really dropped the ball on getting any male talent to speak of.  Depinder has cooked some amazing dishes as has Kishwar but neither of them can leave their cultural comfort zone which does not bode well for them. It's hard to say who'll end up in the top 5, harder even to say who deserves to end up there beside Beenz. There's so much dead weight remaining that it seems the next few weeks are destined to fail to excite viewers. I guess we can leave it to the judges to think up more really fun stuff to set everyone at a disadvantage and render the atmosphere to resemble a freak show rather than a cooking show. Sorry to say, I've already lost my interest.

Edited May 25, 2021 by ChicagoMe

[Rosenrot]

Were the invention test end results always this... trippy in the past? I don't seem to remember they were! 

I'm sorry, Depinder, but curry cake sounds a bit... revolting and it's probably for a good reason that you've never seen one before. (The end result did look better than I imagined, however.) Pete's "steaks" actually looked quite good, albeit too charred for my liking. 

I love how Jock & Mel did a random little dance together. Usually it's just Mel with the random dances! 

Blokey: "... whether I can inject some more carrot presence in the dish."

Me: ????

3 hours ago, dippydee said:

I know Dan is uneven and often not good but I still have a soft spot for him.

Hee, same. His nine lives aren't over yet! 

Edited May 25, 2021 by Rosenrot

[displayname]

1 hour ago, ChicagoMe said:

Depinder has cooked some amazing dishes as has Kishwar but neither of them can leave their cultural comfort zone which does not bode well for them.

Well Depinder did show she can work with South East Asian flavours this last episode. I just want her to do it in savory cooking, and also maybe showcase French savory cooking or something next time. Same with Kishwar and her North African curry...

Edited May 25, 2021 by displayname

[akr]

Well, so long to Eric & his lucky pants (cute pants, Eric!). Unless he hates medicine, I think he'd be better off finishing up his training there and having cooking as a hobby - he can be the colleague who throws great dinner parties, showing off the specialties he does well, & experiment with other things to destress in his time off. Only he knows how he feels about both options, though, so - good luck to him. 

Sabina was again quite impressive, and we got to see some of the other two guys' strengths here. Scott really was in very good shape until the very brief lapse in concentration with the gel, and Brent was smart to redo the onions and good at keeping his cool. I had to go to the recipe to figure out where the legumes were - turns out they were "flowering legumes." There was also a very complicated spiced butter that I guess everybody successfully completed, as they never showed it at all. It would have made the dish more interesting if they'd let us know about it. I mean, it looked good, but it also just looked like a very nice lamb with sauce, berries, & some decorations. 

[Aerobicidal]

Eric was "one of our most talented cooks"? I realize the show isn't going to say "one of the twelve remaining cannon fodder losers is finally going even though it should be two or three," but the show could try to insult our collective intelligence a little bit less.

“Me use big hands on food. Me have sister. She also have big hands. Here look.”

I found this episode to be dull. There was no suspense regarding who would go and the onion-induced stress didn't make for compelling viewing. On a positive note, Sabina is standing out this week in a good way, which almost makes me able to tolerate Justin. (That's not really true, but maybe it will become true if Justin never talks again.)

[displayname]

23 minutes ago, Aerobicidal said:

“Me use big hands on food. Me have sister. She also have big hands. Here look.”

Oh that's so funny 😂

24 minutes ago, Aerobicidal said:

Eric was "one of our most talented cooks"? I realize the show isn't going to say "one of the twelve remaining cannon fodder losers is finally going even though it should be two or three," but the show could try to insult our collective intelligence a little bit less.

“Me use big hands on food. Me have sister. She also have big hands. Here look.”

Well they did also say Jess was one of the favorites, lol.

[akr]

This year it's always, "in a shocking elimination," or "one of our favorites is leaving," or something like that, no matter who's going or how unsurprising it is. Honestly, they probably built up Connor & Therese as much as they did so they could say it was shocking when they left.

By this time I've figured out these teasers mean nothing, other than that an elimination will actually take place, in what will almost certainly be yet another perfectly ordinary elimination episode. It feels like a desperate plea to keep watching. Didn't they used to save that kind of promo for actual surprises most of the time? 

[babs1226]

The mention of his restaurant today really made me miss Shannon.  I hope they bring him in before the series is over.  I figured it was Eric going when they showed a scene from his real life.  I'm glad that whoever was sure Sabina would go was wrong.  Eric has been skating for way too long, so it's good that he was the one to go.  Something tells me that, even if he saw the finished dish, he would still have cut off too much fat.  He just doesn't seem to have very good instincts with cooking.  

[katisha]

Recap is up!

Quote

The amateurs, fighting to avoid elimination, don blindfolds to taste and smell the dish, from which they must recreate it as best they can. Sadly they do not have to keep the blindfolds on while cooking, which would have made for an infinitely more entertaining hour. Also, they have recipes, so really not seeing the dish isn't a big deal at all. I mean they literally have instructions for cooking it written down in front of them. Easiest thing in the world.

Quote

The dish is aged lamb, so the first thing the amateurs must do is grapple with the concept of paradox. How can a lamb be aged, they think, rubbing their temples in agitation. Surely an aged lamb is a sheep? This is why cooking is hard.

😆

[Niuxita]

IDC what anyone says, Elise's banana dress is iconic.

Didn't they also do a sight-unseen pressure test last season? IIRC, it was the one where they had to do a curry that sent Sarah T home even though it probably should have been Poh (that's probably why I still remember it so well). Felt kinda weird how they kept emphasizing that this had NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE EVER, but maybe I'm hallucinating.

Sabina reminded me so much of Emelia when she did pressure tests last season. Just completely calm and collected and methodically pushing through every step like she did it every day. For a perfectionist like me, she was very satisfying to watch. She also, like Emelia, has her own brand of adorable sense of humour. "Not twins, but maybe sisters." Heeeee. Forgot to mention that she said in yesterday's ep that she thinks potatoes are the best vegetable ever, so now I, as a Peruvian (ie. the birthplace of potatoes), am contractually obligated to root for her. So happy she gets to live to cook another week five more days.

Buh-bye, Eric! You were living on borrowed time ever since Wynona was sacrificed at the altar of season 13's male winner. Here's hoping this is the beginning of some much needed dead-weight dropping.

[katisha]

Well, while tonight's Mystery Box challenge didn't produce too much absolutely stellar cooking, more challenges, please, where equipment is at a bare minimum and nobody can make revolting ice-creams that no sensible person would ever actually choose to consume. 

I think the issue is that we have a bunch of moderately talented cooks who can do just fine within their own wheelhouse in terms of a particular country's cuisine or the comfort zone of what they like to cook, but who don't seem anywhere near as skilled outside of that.  I would include even contestants I really like such as Kishwar and Depinder in this category as well as Amir, Tommy, Elise, even Blokey. Of the others, to me Pete is really starting to stand out from the pack in terms of at least trying to think about doing something different and creative.  Tonight's dish from him looked really good.  Sabina is young and enthusiastic and seems willing to learn.  Tom doesn't always get things right but at least he's putting himself out there.  

Glad to see some different faces in the elimination challenge.  Were the editors trying to make it seem that Depinder was pissed off not to be chosen?

[displayname]

Was bored with this challenge, but it seems like Justin has been set up for some sort of redemption arch. I think currently I want either Pete or Tom to win since they're going out of their comfort zone, at least. Will change my opinion once Depinder shows some sort of European savory dish since she's my favorite, though!

Edited May 26, 2021 by displayname

[dippydee]

51 minutes ago, displayname said:

Was bored with this challenge,

Yep. On one hand I appreciate that nobody could make ice cream or granita so that was a win but I think this years cast really suffers from coming after the returning cooks who had more developed abilities and imaginations.

53 minutes ago, displayname said:

Will change my opinion once Depinder shows some sort of European savory

She is my favourite too but I’m about ready to see her cooking something without an Indian feel. I know she can handle desserts and apparently her green curry spicing was correct so she can do other things but I’d love to see her show more variety in her savoury cooks.

 

[Rosenrot]

Well, I knew there was going to be tears when they highlighted Kishwar. But LOL @ "I'm gonna need a bigger car"! Also, Dan just keeps giving me reasons to be proud of him! 

5 hours ago, katisha said:

Of the others, to me Pete is really starting to stand out from the pack in terms of at least trying to think about doing something different and creative.  Tonight's dish from him looked really good.  Sabina is young and enthusiastic and seems willing to learn.  Tom doesn't always get things right but at least he's putting himself out there.  

This. I wouldn't mind at all if they were our top 3 of the season.

12 hours ago, Niuxita said:

IDC what anyone says, Elise's banana dress is iconic.

YES! I want that dress! 

13 hours ago, Niuxita said:

Forgot to mention that she said in yesterday's ep that she thinks potatoes are the best vegetable ever, so now I, as a Peruvian (ie. the birthplace of potatoes), am contractually obligated to root for her.

I really like your reasoning. 😄

[babs1226]

I really liked that challenge, and I thought the judges comments were wonderful.  I think that Jock just gave Justin a smack upside the head,  It will be interesting to see if he listens.  We didn't see Depinder's dish, Aaron's or Scott's.  I don't even know what Aaron made.  The numbers are down now.  They should show everyone's.  Oh well, at least they taste everyone's.

[Aerobicidal]

 

[Niuxita]

Mel looking gorgeous in a ponytail and making bad puns? Be still my heart!

Linda and Kishwar made me emo tonight. I wanted to give them both a hug. Glad to see them both cooking tomorrow so at least the immunity episode will be more entertaining than usual. I really like how good Linda is at fixing last-minute problems with her dishes, first with the eggs that didn't pan out in that very first elimination challenge and now here with the failed vermicelli noodles. This is going to be an asset going forward. I also had to giggle at Kishwar musing about getting a bigger car for her newly adopted children. Heeee.

I definitely feel like Pete is gonna win it all and, you know what, I ain't even mad. 

1 hour ago, Aerobicidal said:

 

That is literally ALL I could think about from the moment I heard that. Thanks for mentioning it, now I'm not gonna be able to stop listening for similar things from here on out. 😆

Edited May 27, 2021 by Niuxita

[katisha]

Tonight's episode was actually really fun and I enjoyed it.  Andy was a really good sport about not being so great at handling the hotter chillis and he genuinely made me LOL when he said, "I think my teeth are sweating."  You might remember George Calombaris used to whinge about too much chillli in dishes, but it was never in a fun or humourous way.  In fact, it sometimes verged on racism because you'd think a professional chef would understand that in some cultures, it's normal to eat very spicy food without freaking out about it, but he almost seemed to take it as a personal insult to his tastebuds.

Even though I don't think she has what it takes to make the finals, I do like Linda and am very pleased she won immunity.

On 5/26/2021 at 1:03 PM, Niuxita said:

IDC what anyone says, Elise's banana dress is iconic.

I have a 50s-style dress with cats all over it so yes, I agree with you and would totally wear a banana dress!

Meanwhile, we had to endure the sight of Justin with a fully sick backwards baseball cap, but I'm grateful he didn't have his pants at half mast around his butt showing his undies like the yoof tend to wear them. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by katisha

[displayname]

I'm waiting for @Aerobicidal's latest comments on Justin.

[dippydee]

That really was fun. I’m so glad Linda got immunity. She’s becoming one of my favs and I worry for her because she never gets screentime so seeing her safe for a cook is good. 
 Of course Dan bless him, managed to make both ice cream AND granita. You can’t have everything I suppose.

2 hours ago, katisha said:

Andy was a really good sport about not being so great at handling the hotter chillis and he genuinely made me LOL when he said, "I think my teeth are sweating."  You might remember George Calombaris used to whinge about too much chillli in dishes, but it was never in a fun or humourous way. 

Not going to lie I pretty much burst out laughing when Linda asked him if he was ok during her tasting. Andy was pretty good about it, he’s growing on me this season. He seems like a good sport. 
 

I know George could be a jerk about the spices sometimes but I really would have loved to see his reaction to these chillies/dishes. The how much sweat is on the top of George’s head scale is almost as good as the Scoville scale for heat ;) 

[Rosenrot]

I really liked that! I love chillis so much, I used to grow them at home and then just snack on them when they were ready. I was worried that they were going to give them the hottest chillis on the planet and then whine at the tasting because the dishes were too spicy, but thankfully there was none of that. Even Andy was a good sport. 

Indeed, bless Dan. 

So much quotable material in that episode. Just gonna say that Jock, I'm ready for the hurt too! Whenever you are, my man! 

3 hours ago, katisha said:

In fact, it sometimes verged on racism because you'd think a professional chef would understand that in some cultures, it's normal to eat very spicy food without freaking out about it, but he almost seemed to take it as a personal insult to his tastebuds.

Yeah, and also you'd think that a professional chef, who is also judging a cooking competition, would have the professionalism to put aside his personal preferences flavor-wise. Poorly made dish is of course one thing, but "I don't like the flavor of banana so this banana dish is not good" is another. 

3 hours ago, katisha said:

Meanwhile, we had to endure the sight of Justin with a fully sick backwards baseball cap

I mean, it was totally sick. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Rosenrot

[Aerobicidal]

Dan, do not listen to the judges! Stop making ice cream. They will overpraise you a few more times but then they will turn on you like they did to Therese and Conor. I almost care about you enough to hope you take this advice.

Of all the episodes since the beginning of season 12, I have never been so happy that George isn't a judge anymore as I am today. However, the "will Andy get sick (and not in the way Justin uses that word) from the bangin' heat, bro?" suspense cut to commercial break was bad even by this show's standards.

It was interesting to learn about the chili peppers featured. I'd only heard of the Carolina reapers--and, in fact, I have three different hot sauces with reapers in them--but would be interested in trying the others. I bet they're so hot you could get sick, bro.

I'm worried that we're approaching the point of the season when a contestant will emerge out of nowhere as a "favorite" and it'll be someone like Justin or Brent. I suppose I should revel in the snark potential rather than get invested in the contestants I genuinely like.

[katisha]

Tears.  Tears of laughter after reading the latest recap.

Quote

 

The chillies have colourful names, like the Lemon Blast, the Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion, the Hurt Berry, and the I Will Murder You And Spit On Your Grave I Swear To God You Scum. Then there is the hottest of all, the Carolina Reaper, named for its deadly heat and its ability to play the Shaggy song O Carolina.

Each amateur randomly draws the chilli they must cook with, and is then forced to taste it, even though Channel Ten claims to abide by the Geneva Convention. Up on the balcony the spectators laugh hysterically at the severe bodily harm being inflicted on their fellow contestants. The chances of someone dying tonight are very much non-zero. For once, when a contestant's head explodes in a fireball, it'll be hard to tell whether it's an ad break or just part of the cook

 

Quote

 

75 minutes to cook a dish featuring their chosen chilli. They may try to quench the heat of the pepper, or they may choose to unleash its full fury, or they may choose to simply kick the judges repeatedly in the groin to save time. Whoever cooks the best dish and/or kicks the groins the hardest wins immunity.

While the cooks cook, the judges try the chillies, causing Melissa to start yodelling and Andy to regret all his life choices. "Feels like my teeth are sweating," he says, as all his mistakes flash before his eyes.

 

Quote

Kishwar is cooking with the Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion chilli, so named for its eight legs and relaxed island lifestyle. She says she's beginning to understand what this chilli does to a dish: i.e. poison it. She declares her intention to make her mudcrab curry hotter and hotter and hotter until anyone who eats it begins to bleed from their armpits. "It's just an honour to eat your food," says Melissa, in the manner of a gladiator declaring that those about to die salute Caesar.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by katisha

[Niuxita]

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd type: I've never related to Andy Allen so much in my entire life. Just flat-out do NOT get the appeal of eating something that makes you feel like your mouth is on fire (and I come from a country that features chilies quite a bit in its cuisine, so it's not like I haven't had the chance to get used to it). How are you supposed to enjoy the taste of whatever you're eating if you're too busy trying not to die? Genuine question. Poor Andy, I spent most of the episode wishing someone would just get him some more yogurt. ☹️ That said, Elise casually going back to eat the second half of that lemon chili like it was nbd was kinda hot (pun intended).

Gutted for Kishwar's improperly cooked crab but STOKED for Linda. Given that we weren't even shown her audition, I never thought she'd outlast the likes of Minoli, Wynona, or Conor, but life is full of surprises, I guess.

3 hours ago, katisha said:

Kishwar is cooking with the Chocolate Trinidad Scorpion chilli, so named for its eight legs and relaxed island lifestyle. She says she's beginning to understand what this chilli does to a dish: i.e. poison it. She declares her intention to make her mudcrab curry hotter and hotter and hotter until anyone who eats it begins to bleed from their armpits. "It's just an honour to eat your food," says Melissa, in the manner of a gladiator declaring that those about to die salute Caesar.

Tears. Streaming. Down. My. Face.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Niuxita
A country is a "what," not a "who."

[misgabi13]

On 5/25/2021 at 11:26 PM, dippydee said:

Yep. Those guys do need to go soon, the gap between them and some of the others is increasing. I know Dan is uneven and often not good but I still have a soft spot for him. I’d send all the others listed before him. Aaron to go next please. I don’t know how he managed to annoy me in an episode where he isn’t even cooking but here we are.

I'm with you - everything about Aaron annoys the crap out of me.  Him and Elise can just disappear and I'd be perfectly happy!