S13.W8 (35-39)

[Athena]

Begins week of June 6, 2021.

[displayname]

Well it was Dan's time to go, but he's a lot less annoying than all the bros, and we're still stuck with them :(

[katisha]

Aww, even though he was definitely one of the remaining "cannon fodder" contestants, I will miss Dan because he's just such a lovely guy. And since he was chosen by four returned contestants the other day to pick an ingredient for them, I don't think I'm the only one. 

Glad Pete got himself together to finally produce a decent dish in the last round, although personally I think gelatinous fish sounds about as appealing as a lamington covered in fish scales!

Did anyone else think Minoli might get in trouble for cooking the exact same dish twice with only a slight variation? I suppose technically nobody said she couldn't do that but still?

Finally, I had to screenshot this! Awkward!

[dippydee]

Oh Dan :( 

So soon after Tom too. I can’t believe Justin, Aaron, Amir and Scott are still there. Even their own editors don’t like them seeing as how they’re barely visible on the show.

I cant believe Minoli got away with remaking the same dish but I’m ok with it. It would have sucked if she left the competition so soon after reentering.

[ChicagoMe]

Nobody said you can't make the same dish twice so kudos to Minoli for doing just that. I thought for sure Pete would be going home with that blasé looking dish - the way he described it almost made me gag. Dan's been out of his element for a while amongst the remaining cooks - a nice guy but a justifiable elimination as long as you really believe Pete's dish tasted better than his.

I know everyone's supposed to be super impressed by the guest chefs but I would probably never in a million years order what that chef made tonite. I was so relieved when the chefs were not asked to repeat his 3 dishes. And also thankful they were not asked to make a dessert so we were spared betel leaf cod scales ice cream.

An otherwise bit of a yawner episode because you knew who was a goner as it went along.

[Aerobicidal]

This episode was so long, I read the first two thirds of War and Peace while I watched it.

As a result, I wasn't that focused on the show and mistakenly thought round three would require them all to make cod desserts. In hindsight, I wish that would have been true.

This episode was so long that it made Lawrence of Arabia seem like a TikTok video.

This episode was longer than Mel's earrings but not quite as long as the ones Conor wore last week.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Aerobicidal

[katisha]

Recap is up!

[ChicagoMe]

I've never read a recap before since I didn't think I'd be able to live through the gory glory of what MC has become this year. However, I just read the most recent recap and enjoyed it far more than the actual show. Maybe best to just stick to the recaps.

[akr]

We've had 35 episodes and still have 14 of 24 contestants - no wonder it's dragging.  I like everybody but I wish we were down to 10.

(edit: I checked yesterday when we are at 34 episodes and 15 contestants - looks like normally at that point we are down to about 12 (including any returnees, whether they had returned yet or not). I wasn't rigorous about this, but enough to confirm that this is an outlier).  

Edited June 7, 2021 by akr

[ChicagoMe]

I don't mind that this season is dragging on...but why is it? In the past it's flown by. I think the focus this year has been more on the judges - dramatic time calls, fake challenges to the chefs concepts, favoritism e.g., Conor/Eric/Dan & outright lying about quality of certain dishes (Pete's cod skin, Conor's olive ice cream, etc.), focus on guest chefs (really, Curtis Stone), and all the chefs forced and overly dramatized fakery of excitement over every little thing - seriously, I'm still laughing about Tommy's near orgasmic experience with zucchini).

I'd like to see the chefs forced out of their comfort zones - cook something unrelated to their regional choices. Tommy something Italian, Kishwar something Middle East, etc. All the cooks have become predictable except for Pete whom I don't necessarily favor but he's trying. There's still a lot of dead wood to get through but does the road to elimination have to be so damn predictable?

[katisha]

1 hour ago, ChicagoMe said:

I'd like to see the chefs forced out of their comfort zones - cook something unrelated to their regional choices. Tommy something Italian, Kishwar something Middle East, etc. All the cooks have become predictable except for Pete whom I don't necessarily favor but he's trying. There's still a lot of dead wood to get through but does the road to elimination have to be so damn predictable?

I completely agree.  In the days of the previous judging panel, they were fine with people sticking within a comfort wheelhouse for a certain amount of weeks but then they'd say, "Well, OK, we know you can do this really well.  What else can you show us?"  If you think about it, this is the first "real" season for Jock, Melissa and Andy and maybe they've been asked to dial back on that aspect of things?  I do know this much - it's not helping the predictability.  We already know that Kishwar makes wonderful Bangladeshi curries.  We know Tommy does great with Vietnamese dishes.  I'm really starting to want some kind of arc where a contestant improves by doing something different and unexpected but I'm not sure if it's going to come.  As you said, Pete is pretty much the only contestant (now Tom is gone) who's attempting to do anything different.

I'm not interested in cooking or eating seafood so tonight's episode was about as much of a yawn as last night's, although at least it was shorter.  My prediction for the boot has to be Amir but it would be cruelly ironic if it was Minoli.

 

[katisha]

But the recap is a good one. :)

Quote

On the boat is a bunch of crayfish. Jock shows everyone the right way to dismember an innocent rock lobster. He shows them the "lobster tripe", so called because it resembles…tripe. He holds the tripe up and says, "Isn't that beautiful?" "Yes," everyone lies. He goes on to show them the ovaries, the stomach, and basically all the parts of the crayfish that you'd want to see if you were a serial killer.

Quote

Meanwhile Tommy is making a Vietnamese dish. Sorry to drop that bombshell on you so abruptly.

Quote

Andy and Jock visit the pink team, who seem to have lost their goddamn minds. Minoli and Sabina are making cray doughnuts. CRAY DOUGHNUTS. To be precise, cray doughnuts with OVARY AIOLI. At this stage they're barely one step short of becoming supervillains. If there's anyone in the history of the world who has ever thought "I would like a cray doughnut", they are surely institutionalised.

 

[dippydee]

29 minutes ago, katisha said:

Pete is pretty much the only contestant (now Tom is gone) who's attempting to do anything different.

If this is the year of the dude as I suspect it is Petes my choice for winner just for trying different things. Sure he makes some questionable things sometimes (that fish from yesterday was kinda gross) but at least he tries.

2 hours ago, ChicagoMe said:

I'd like to see the chefs forced out of their comfort zones - cook something unrelated to their regional choices. Tommy something Italian, Kishwar something Middle East, etc.

The show needs this now. I think the top 10 is usually when they start pushing them a bit more but this year everyone’s stayed so firmly in their boxes that the judges need challenges to push them out of their comfort zones.

Amir to go please. I will be unhappy if Beans or Linda go tomorrow. 

[displayname]

I felt really bored watching this episode for some reason. Partly it's just because we saw the same things again. Kishwar - Bangladeshi. Tommy - Vietnamese. Depinder - Indian. Elise - Italian. It's just become comical now.

[zibnchy]

Call me old fashioned and set in  my ways but I do not think the world needs a fish scale lamington.

I hate coconut. I especially hate the abomination known as desiccated coconut. BUT faced with a choice between coconut and **fish scales** well, honestly, I would scrape all the gunk off and eat the cake.

Oh I just remembered he actually added cod oil to the chocolate. Why does Josh Nyland hate all people?

I appreciate what Nyland was trying to do because they do waste an enormous amount of food on MC but couldn't he just throw everything in a broth like regualr home cooks might. Please don't even remind me about the offal sausage.

Regarding bumping people out of their comfort zones, maybe a Top Chef approach might work. There they each randomly draw an option and have to make that kind of cuisine or use that particular ingredient. Probably be best if they tried this on a non-elimination episode. It might be fun for a team challenge as well. "Depinder, Kishwar, and Tommy, you will be cooking the cuisine of the American South and you must feature the majestic potato." Hijinks would ensue!

I still feel massive love for Kishwar, and nobody better ever make her cry and I would happily eat her food every day, but I'm throwing all my winning vibes at Beans. TeamBeans!

Edited June 7, 2021 by zibnchy
spelling

[katisha]

8 hours ago, zibnchy said:

Call me old fashioned and set in  my ways but I do not think the world needs a fish scale lamington.

I'm very fond of lamingtons (you know, the yummy cakes that are perfectly fine without fish scales) and I felt what Josh Nyland did was verging on sacrilege.

[Aerobicidal]

Forget ovary aioli (and ovary vinaigrette), the term of the episode--and season--for me is now "ethereal onions." Andy's wardrobe has all been designed and furnished by the Melbourne-based fashion house Ethereal Onions. I haven't seen live music since 2019 but I have tickets to the Ethereal Onions show in July. My car is the color of an ethereal onion and my new puppy is also named Ethereal Onion. Somewhere, Conor or Therese has just created an ethereal onion ice cream served with a gossamer onion foam and a diaphanous onion soil.

I don't eat meat and, even if I did, I couldn't eat shellfish, but it was still interesting to see the weird and random stuff in this episode. Maybe it's easier to watch knowing I could never try the food! I would absolutely love a kathi roll, though. There's only one place (that I know of) in my area that makes them, and they are terrible compared to ones I could get when I lived in New York. So, yeah, an episode about ovaries and tomalley actually made me hungry. I think it's a rare psychological condition called Ethereal Onion Syndrome.

[akr]

Someone on reddit observed that Pete seems to be working his way through Christian Puglisi's book, Relæ: A Book of Ideas (then seemed to delete the posts, perhaps because they overstated their point - I don't think he was copying things verbatim, but they were right - the influence seems pretty clear and direct). I looked on Amazon & from the kindle version (sample just includes some descriptions; I'm not going to buy the book to check the full recipes) I'm fairly certain he drew on these recipes: carrot bearnaise (for his carrot steak); cod, kohlrabi, & skins (his cod dish on Sunday); lamb, turnip & samphire (he used saltbush); and probably his cucumber dumplings (cucumber, caraway & lemon), and the crayfish onions, although I didn't specifically find a matching recipe title for that (the sample didn't get to his entry on seafood). (I also saw some photos, including one of the carrot dish, but I don't remember whether that was at Amazon or elsewhere).

There's nothing wrong with that - everybody else is also drawing on things they've read about or cooked before, too - and he's doing this without the recipes in front of him & surely making some adjustments - but he's not pulling these ideas out of thin air, either. (Why would anybody think he'd come up with the fish skin idea without having read it somewhere? And possibly tried it out at some point.) It's very high end cooking and I knew the style looked very familiar but didn't realize it was specifically one chef that he had been leaning quite heavily on. Once it was pointed out, though, I remembered the various cooking shows that had visited the restaurant in Copenhagen (Masterchef UK or Masterchef UK: The Professionals; don't remember who else, but I've seen them at least twice). The style is very clever, very distinctive (also clearly draws on Puglisi's experience working at Noma) and has been influential, and it's not at all surprising that someone with Pete's sensibilities would be drawn to it. 

So, creative? Well, it's a little close to the original, but he's in a learning phase with this stuff, I think, and is definitely trying things others haven't in the kitchen, and I don't think the things he's trying are easy to execute well. But it's not really more original than others drawing on their heritage and cooking variations of dishes they may have done before. It's just a different source of inspiration. I'm sure it's felt like a high risk strategy - will it work, or won't it? - but so far it seems like when he goes to this well, he's found success with it.  

[katisha]

What a relief - one less "bro" in the competition.  I didn't have anything against Amir but he was very one note and didn't adapt well when he couldn't use exactly the kind of traditional Middle Eastern ingredients that he needed. 

Glad to see Alla Wolf-Tasker back on the show and just as glad to see vegetarian food featured in this episode.  I don't think I've quite gotten over the grossness of the ovary aoili from last night.  The dishes that "Beans" and Linda made looked wonderful and like something I'd actually consider eating.

 

[displayname]

Definitely happy to see Alla Wolf-Tasker back. LOL, reminds me of the time Maggie Beer and her verjus used to be regulars. And happy Amir is gone. A couple of the other "bros" next, please.

[katisha]

Amen to that, @displayname!

Meanwhile, here is the latest recap.  He's included a funny tweet from "Baggsy". 

[dippydee]

That was fun. Alla was great and Beans and Linda both did awesome. On top of that Amir went home! Win all round.
 

I also liked that they did a veggie cook, we need a few more of those from time to time.

9 hours ago, akr said:

Pete seems to be working his way through Christian Puglisi's book, Relæ: A Book of Ideas 

He did mention the Puglisi influence in his bento task, I didn’t realise he was using quite so much inspiration. I don’t mind since as you mentioned, he still has to adapt them depending on what’s available. 

[zibnchy]

I was going to throw some kind of tantrum if any of the women went home before Amir. Amir seemed like a lovely guy but now I will happily forget about him.

Next on my hit list: Aaron or Justin

And then there's Blokey. I have a very bad feeling that they're setting us up for a Blokey win. The women who are left are strong and the men who are left are really not. Pete has interesting ideas but his implementation is off. I mean, food (or at least food people go to restaurants for) is supposed to be attractive to the eye. The only thing I would have done with Pete's gross fish skin is scrape it into the bin.

The guest chef, Alla?, seemed really put off by Minoli. I thought it was a weird vibe but also possibly simply editing.

 

[ChicagoMe]

Jock and Andy both made attempts to undermine Beanz and Linda's inventive ideas - kudos to both of them for sticking to their guns but I wish someone would speak up and tell Andy to bugger off. It's a 'damned if you' & 'damned if you don't' game they play with regards to keeping the cook safe or risking everything to put out something new on the dish. Plus, it would make for damn good viewing were Andy to be dressed down a bit - he could encourage but he chooses the opposite. He should just stay up front and stop wandering. Andy, too - stay put so we don't have to listen to "you really don't want to be on the bottom tonite". I mean, how does he know that for sure?☺️

It's still too hard to call it but, after tonite, Beanz has shown she doesn't think inside any box.

[SnideAsides]

I think they just need to bring the Invention Tests back every week to fix the creativity issues, to be honest. Mystery Boxes are fine but those episodes drag without the second challenge because we have to sit through half an hour of tasting in a challenge the producers admit means fuckall, and even the bare minimum effort the producers used to put into it (usually just "pick a cuisine to misappropriate, and three possible core ingredients") would do so much more to discourage repetition than all of the "creative" challenges that just wind up being fancy excuses to let players do the same thing they always do.

Likewise, the problem with this season dragging is because the theme weeks means there's no difficulty curve and it doesn't feel like the players are having to work harder to stay in the competition. Between that, the new schedule meaning there's now five days between elimination episodes instead of four, and losing an elimination in the team week and two in second chance week, it feels like it's taking forever to burn through these people even though we're really not that far off where we'd usually be at this point in the competition.

Alla's one of those chefs they get every so often who seems pissed off just to be there, but it was nice to get a local chef that's actually a known name again. They tend to focus so much on the international chefs and the annual inexplicable Curtis Stone pimping and the "omg a person from an old season!" that everyone else kinda just comes across as "who's available?", and it was nice to hit that sort of middle ground for once. It feels like it's been a while. 

[SG429]

I guess I was stereotyping when I thought Amir said, "Thank you, Allah," rather than "Thank you, Alla."

[Aerobicidal]

"I'm going to treat beetroot just like lamb." Yes, I'm sure that will work just as well as when past contestants treated scallops like broccoli and foie gras like watercress.

Also, when it's episode 37 and someone serves burnt beets with flatbread and a slightly modified tabouleh, it's time to start eliminating multiple people per episode.

The judges' "we don't understand Minoli's explanation of her concept" seems somewhat hypocritical, since I don't understand the judges' explanation of anything 75 percent of the time. Her dish looked like something that would get someone kicked off Masterchef Preschool, but I am willing to believe it was better than what Amir made.

"I can't use meat!" "I can't use Southeast Asian ingredients!" Oh, sorry to hear that you thought this was Masterchef Carnivore Southeast Asia Australia for the first 36 episodes. Also, the way Linda's narrative was edited might have offended me if I had the energy to be offended by this show.

All that aside, I thought this was a good challenge and I would happily eat everything except Amir's dish. I like Alla and I'm liking Sabina more and more. However, I will never like her enough to use her nickname.

[TVbitch]

In the rock lobster episode, Amir again went in for some kind of fist bump and got denied. I'm glad he's gone, cuz it was just getting awkward to watch. 

What is Alla going on about that her carrots actually snap when you bend them, and everybody gasps! My carrots snap, and I get them from Trader Joes. What kind of flaccid carrots have they got in AU markets?!

[Aerobicidal]

39 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

What is Alla going on about that her carrots actually snap when you bend them, and everybody gasps! My carrots snap, and I get them from Trader Joes. What kind of flaccid carrots have they got in AU markets?!

Reynold's next two dessert restaurants are going to be called The Ethereal Onion and The Flaccid Carrot.

On an unrelated note, I (ironically) forgot to mention something about the Alla episode, which is that during the cook the judges were talking about how Minoli's dish was either going to be a total disaster or amazing. I feel like a sap because I forgot that comment by the time the episode proved it was wrong, but at least I remembered it later. This is my brain on drugs--and the drugs are called Ethereal Flaccidity. 

Moving on to the bigger picture, I'm finding it very hard (i.e. not flaccid) to predict who's being set up for the finals. Sick Dude Bro Justin seemed to be primed for a redemption arc, but he's barely been featured this week. Pete and Kishwar are very hit and miss, although with these contestants that's probably enough for the top three. Depinder seems to be the front-runner. I guess my top three prediction would be Pete, either Kishwar or Depinder but not both, and then another male contestant. Something in my waters is telling me it won't be Blokey, although I'd actually prefer him to most of the other sick bros.

[katisha]

Tonight's episode made me both glad and puzzled.  I was glad that not every contestant was inspired by the streets of Melbourne to stick precisely within their safe wheelhouse for the "conceptual" challenge.  Of course Tommy still did, but then he really can't cook anything else so I suppose he had to. However, I was glad to see Kishwar not being inspired by Melbourne into cooking a Bangladeshi curry, but instead pushing herself to make something very different.  Don't get me wrong, her curries look truly amazing but this will be the most boring season ever if at least a few contestants don't start changing things up soon.

What puzzled me was the judges intimating that Depinder had just revealed a whole new pastry skill set.  The judges must have shocking memories because even I can remember Depinder has already shown these skills when Emilia was in that early episode for the Mystery Box challenge.  She can do it but she chooses not to do it quite a lot of the time.  So I have no idea what that was all about but her dish looked scrumptious.

[dippydee]

Depinder’s dish looked freaking delicious. I want it NOW! It was also nice to see Kishwar doing something different. Glad it paid off for her.
 

The task was pretty fun. I did laugh at some of the attempts at photo art from the contestants. I did laugh a little at Petes photo recreation kinda flopping. He always seems to get things just a little wrong. Scott’s dish looked a little gross to me so I guess he did hit the brief of matching a disgusting city pavement.

I hope one of the gals gets immunity. I’m ready to see Tommy go. He more so than anyone is just stuck in the cuisine rut. Depinder, Kishwar and Linda have actually all ventured away from their wheelhouses from time to time.

[ChicagoMe]

I thought Tommy might escape his box tonite but alas, no. Tomorrow looks like a forced pastry cook at the restaurant - let's see how Tommy Vietnamizes it. Hooray for Depinder, Kishwar and Linda. I'd call them for the top 3 if it weren't for the probability that the producers will not permit all women at the top again. But I can't picture any of those guys rising to the occasion. Possibly Pete but he's almost too conceptual (and not so good with time) to find himself elevated within the ranks. All in all, not a bad episode. Thankfully the judges kept their noses out of everyone's way and their mouths shut. Depinder for immunity.

As an aside, I think Tommy decided what to make and then took a picture.

Edited June 9, 2021 by ChicagoMe

[displayname]

Tommy does seem least versatile of the top cooks, but he's still a top cook. I'd like to see Aaron, at least, leave before he does.

Definitely want Depinder to ace this next immunity, as well. At this point I am satisfied with her versatility, she's shown a good repertoire of desserts (French pastry and Indian desserts), ability to handle south-east asian flavours, and in terms of savoury techniques has shown the ability to do a variety of techniques (though still want to see flavours other than Indian).

Edited June 9, 2021 by displayname

[katisha]

 

20 hours ago, displayname said:

Tommy does seem least versatile of the top cooks, but he's still a top cook.

Well, he certainly managed to impress Kate Reid, although the fact that he didn't actually have to make any pastry was definitely in his favour (and he'd be the first to admit it).  Good on him, though, because apart from the ever-present half-raw meat (I know, I know, people apparently like their steak medium rare but personally I would rather it wasn't still mooing at me!) his dish did look yummy.

I think we'd all agree it's been a fairly dull season so far but I read about this a little while ago and it's going to happen on Sunday.

Quote

 

However, one of the biggest moments shows an unnamed male contestant deciding to leave the competition in what appears to be a highly emotional scene. 

“I can’t cook. I just have got nothing left,” they say.

Jock and Mel are both shown with tears in their eyes, listening to the contestant break down.

 

The preview shows Pete walking away sadly as though it's him but I don't actually believe it is.  This will seem totally out of left field but I am wondering if it's Blokey as he seemed a bit despondent in an episode earlier this week.  We know it's not Tommy and I don't think it'd be Justin.  That only leaves Blokey, Aaron and Scott.  Aaron seems a pretty cheerful guy and I just can't see that being him, and Scott seems pretty laid back too.  But if anyone has any alternative conspiracy theories, I'd love to hear them!

By the way, this moment WAS previewed in the first episode of the year.  I don't think they showed the guy saying it but you could hear his voice so now that we know one of them from the other, in theory we might be able to work it out.

Also, the recap is up and I most definitely agree with this Tweet.

 

Edited June 10, 2021 by katisha

[ChicagoMe]

Tommy got Immunity cooking a Vietnamese pastry!! In all fairness, nobody left their comfort zone in this competition and I twiddled my thumbs through the entire episode. I keep crossing my fingers for the "next episode" to see these guys forced to cook something, anything else out of their regions. Tommy, despite his predictable cooking style, makes very tasty looking dishes and he's clearly a front runner. Only because I've been living in India for 20 years and am so sick of Indian food am I unable to be excited by Depinder or Kishwar although they do make some great food. Beenz...does she stand a chance? I hope so. Her versatility can carry her to the end. The show is MC AU, not SE Asia MC. Get these cooks into Europe or the Americas and see what else they've got.

Edited June 10, 2021 by ChicagoMe

[displayname]

Meh.

[Aerobicidal]

"I'm making a Vietnamese sandwich traditionally served on French bread, but instead I'm serving it on French pastry. I'm so impressed with myself."

I liked Jock's blazer. I think Jock Blazer would be a good nom de porn.

I skipped yesterday's episode, and I think that I'm going to skip all the non-elimination episodes in the near future.

The list of people I want to be eliminated is growing by the day, but I think Aaron may reach the top of it if he doesn't go on Sunday.

On a positive note, I finally had dinner in a restaurant tonight. It did not involve any ice creams or granitas or soils, so I suppose I should have asked for a refund.

[katisha]

27 minutes ago, Aerobicidal said:

I skipped yesterday's episode, and I think that I'm going to skip all the non-elimination episodes in the near future.

You didn't miss much.  It was essentially a lesson in how to stage a pastry challenge which non-dessert cooks can win because the pastry's already pre-made for you.  It's getting farcical how they're letting contestants skate by this season.

[SnideAsides]

15 hours ago, ChicagoMe said:

The show is MC AU, not SE Asia MC. Get these cooks into Europe or the Americas and see what else they've got.

The contestants ARE Australian.

Would I like to see more variety? Sure. But it's odd how it's basically always the Asian and Middle Eastern contestants being expected to showcase their skills with different types of European and American food, and rarely the white contestants being asked to give the judges gulab jamun or bibimbap. (Hell, even with European food... why is it always British and French and Italian? Why not Dutch or Finnish or Hungarian or Croatian?)

Also... like, what even IS Aussie cuisine? A meat pie and chips? A lamington? Chiko rolls? That's all nice but it's not really Masterchef quality. A lot of food in this country is influenced by the places people in this diverse country have come from, and I really don't mind people who have historically been ignored in this country getting on this show being all "fuck it, I am going to showcase my culture every chance I get, because who knows when it'll happen again?"

[katisha]

15 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

Also... like, what even IS Aussie cuisine? A meat pie and chips? A lamington? Chiko rolls? That's all nice but it's not really Masterchef quality. A lot of food in this country is influenced by the places people in this diverse country have come from, and I really don't mind people who have historically been ignored in this country getting on this show being all "fuck it, I am going to showcase my culture every chance I get, because who knows when it'll happen again?"

That's an excellent point.  The food scene in Australia has changed so drastically since the 1960s/1970s and it's all been for the good.  Once upon a time Chinese food was considered the ultimate in "exotic" takeaway food and according to people who know about these things, what used to pass for Chinese food in Australia bore little resemblance to actual Chinese food!  And if things are continuing to evolve, maybe Masterchef should be evolving right along with them (as it seems to be).

[displayname]

1 hour ago, SnideAsides said:

But it's odd how it's basically always the Asian and Middle Eastern contestants being expected to showcase their skills with different types of European and American food, and rarely the white contestants being asked to give the judges gulab jamun or bibimbap.

Right. But if you look at the older seasons, you do see white contestants going out of the box, and cooking Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, South East Asian, so on. Also in the older seasons, you see the non-white contestants trying to get out of their box more often.

Now, do I think some of it is producer-driven for the non-white contestants this season? Absolutely. But we've barely seen someone like Tommy succeed at things that don't fall under his specific ethnic cuisine, which isn't exactly something to be extolled. Confessing to not having a skill-set isn't something to be happy about. Eric was absolutely amateur at making Chinese, and he was still praised for it. It just feels like they're lying to us, and it's not something I want them to do.

Edited June 11, 2021 by displayname

[ChicagoMe]

2 hours ago, displayname said:

. It just feels like they're lying to us, and it's not something I want them to do.

Exactly! MC is almost a 100% scripted show.

[misgabi13]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:47 AM, displayname said:

I'd like to see Aaron, at least, leave before he does.

I totally agree.  He and Elise seem to be shown a great deal but don't seem to be very good cooks.  Both can go next!

[babs1226]

I am still wondering why Depinder, knowing that the brief was to showcase the croissant, chose to bake a cake.  How does cake showcase a croissant?  Hopefully she won't make that mistake again.   

Tommy does shine when he cooks Vietnamese food, I thought that his dish was the best of the lot, and I would love to try it.  I feel like the competitions are more challenging than they have been in the past, and I enjoy that.  Everything depends on what you cook on the day.  I remember from seasons past that the contestants are supplied with a massive number of cookbooks and all the tools to cook at home.  They have the opportunity to learn and practice, and experiment.  It feels like not a lot of the contestants this year take advantage of that.  At least not the ones who seem to be stuck in one place.  Learn a few cracker desserts if desserts are not your strength.  Nothing wrong with having something in the toolbelt should the occasion arise lol.  Jock did tell Justin to do his homework.  Justin has been invisible since pretty much, but it will be interesting to see if he took Jock's advice.  

That's all I have for now.