Masterchef (CA) - General Discussion

[Ciarrai]

21 minutes ago, Christina said:

In the US version, the production team picks out the clothes, resulting in someone last year cooking in a suit and the women cooking in heels. If that is true of the Canadian version, someone should be fired for putting Miranda in that horribly fitting shirt. It was practically see through, left nothing to the imagination, and made her look awful. Her personality is bad enough.

This episode though, she wasn't nearly as bitchy as before. Maybe it was because she had won the earlier challenge, or maybe I was just distracted by her shirt.

Production apparently does not pick out the clothes for the contestants in the Canadian show. A friend of mine works for former winner David and asked him something to that effect.

So it's Miranda's own fault that she looked that bad.

[shok]

On 3/3/2017 at 10:47 PM, shok said:

Is Thea the producer's pick this year? Her face and hair got an enormous amount of showtime. Reminded me of Mary and her flinging of her red hair being in every shot last season.

Heh. First post in the thread after the first show. The producers need some new tricks when we can figure out who the (likely) winner is without ever seeing them cook. :-D

[riffraff]

I stopped watching when Thea made it to the finals. I think there were so many stronger cooks than her. I think she has grown but I dont think she is good enough for the finals.

[buffynut]

Anyone still watching?  Only one week left ...

[SirOsisOfLiver]

It was on the TV but only as background noise. I just can't find anything positive about this show. I find the judges to be pretentious and annoying, I hate the fake drama, I don't particularly like any of the contestants and generally their talking head segments just annoy me. It's disposable, forgettable TV. I don't particularly care who wins. Yeah, overall, this show just generates a huge "meh" from me. Really disappointing.

[buffynut]

7 hours ago, SirOsisOfLiver said:

It was on the TV but only as background noise. I just can't find anything positive about this show. I find the judges to be pretentious and annoying, I hate the fake drama, I don't particularly like any of the contestants and generally their talking head segments just annoy me. It's disposable, forgettable TV. I don't particularly care who wins. Yeah, overall, this show just generates a huge "meh" from me. Really disappointing.

That's pretty much my feelings about the show, as well.  I watch, because I like cooking shows, but I don't really care who wins.  I predict Trevor, since a woman won last year.  But then they have been focusing on Thea a lot, so maybe it'll be back-to-back women winners.

[Ciarrai]

I'm hoping Trevor wins; he's been fairly consistently good in his cooking, while Thea has had a lot of ups and downs.

[buffynut]

For anyone reading and wondering, Trevor won.  

[Writing Wrongs]

Thanks. I managed to watch Episodes 1-10 on Youtube, but can't find 11 and 12.

[grinchyheart]

I only watch this as filler now, MC Australia has totally spoiled me. Especially since MC Canada had that salmon "masterclass" in 1 episode. What a joke. They plopped down 3 fully prepped salmon fillets & spent maybe a minute on each impossibly-complex Master Technique. "Here's how to steam, poach, & crust salmon" Durr, durr,durr.  

[susannot]

The Cooking Channel is running a Season 3 marathon today.  Season 4 launches on Tuesday.  That makes me happy!

Edited October 8, 2017 by susannot
misspelled "the"

[susannot]

I'm staying up way too late to watch the finale even though I know who wins.  The food is just gorgeous.

[The Crazed Spruce]

Just in time for the U.S. premiere tonight!

[susannot]

I really liked the audition format this time.  An equal playing field for each chef:  make your best rice dish.  Since they whittled down 24 chefs down to the top 12 in the first episode, I really hope we get to spend more time with each chef.  So far I like Barrie, the oldest chef in the competition, who seems to be an affluent type of guy who likes the finest in everything.  He's the one who was interrupted on the golf course by the MasterChef delivery box of rice.  He said "Old age and treachery beat youth and enthusiasm."  As an old person, I love it!

ETA:  Re-watching while waiting for new episode.  I like Barrie even more.  He has the cute little pig timer which he called his "kitchen supervisor."  Love a man with a sense of humor. Also laughed at Aaron.  "What do you do for a living, Chef?"  "I manufacture valves."

Edited October 18, 2017 by susannot

[TDT]

I couldve sworn i seen Alice in a previous Masterchef U.S season...

[Wings]

I love this show.  Too bad there aren't more watching!  I want to talk about it.   ***stomps feet***

[meowmommy]

Kind of a bad thing when you don't know what kind of chop you have, and only realize it and correct the error by flubbing in front of the judge.  At least having it pointed out didn't end up giving him an advantage.  But I don't agree with the criticism that the meat should be piled up on top of the sides so that it looks nicer.  That trend needs to go away.  What is a "Youtuber"?  Is that a profession now?

I know plating is considered important, but I've never understood MCC (have never seen the US version) making decisions solely based on how a dish looks.  I can only hope they're also taking into consideration the cooking techniques they're observing. 

I'm tired of Alvin Leung's mean-guy schtick.  And all three of them with their William Shatner style of delivery.

Oh, and why is "everything riding on my dream" for a home cook to win a cooking competition?  That's what gets them through life?

[Skyfall]

On ‎10‎/‎10‎/‎2017 at 9:14 PM, susannot said:

I really liked the audition format this time.  An equal playing field for each chef:  make your best rice dish.  Since they whittled down 24 chefs down to the top 12 in the first episode, I really hope we get to spend more time with each chef.  So far I like Barrie, the oldest chef in the competition, who seems to be an affluent type of guy who likes the finest in everything.  He's the one who was interrupted on the golf course by the MasterChef delivery box of rice.  He said "Old age and treachery beat youth and enthusiasm."  As an old person, I love it!

The US edition needs to do this cause as it stands the US edition is too bloated.

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 6:52 PM, wings707 said:

I love this show.  Too bad there aren't more watching!  I want to talk about it.   ***stomps feet***

*waves*

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 7:47 PM, meowmommy said:

Kind of a bad thing when you don't know what kind of chop you have, and only realize it and correct the error by flubbing in front of the judge.  At least having it pointed out didn't end up giving him an advantage.  But I don't agree with the criticism that the meat should be piled up on top of the sides so that it looks nicer.  That trend needs to go away.  What is a "Youtuber"?  Is that a profession now?

I know plating is considered important, but I've never understood MCC (have never seen the US version) making decisions solely based on how a dish looks.  I can only hope they're also taking into consideration the cooking techniques they're observing. 

I'm tired of Alvin Leung's mean-guy schtick.  And all three of them with their William Shatner style of delivery.

Oh, and why is "everything riding on my dream" for a home cook to win a cooking competition?  That's what gets them through life?

Think of YouTuber as a Streamer and/or Online Personality and yes its a profession and if done well it's very lucrative.

Edited October 13, 2017 by Skyfall

[Wings]

Oh goody!  Hi @Skyfall.  

I caught a little tension on the last show.  Claudio said someone (forget name) isn't going to make it (on time).  Alvin said so and so is not going to make it.  Claudio said, didn't I just say that?  LOL  

I enjoy watching Alvin chew because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what is wrong with his mouth to create that very odd chewing motion.  I usually hate to watch someone eat on TV if they are not chewing as beautifully as Padma but he is an exception.  Very odd guy, in general. 

[backgroundnoise]

MasterChef CA:  You are better than American shows.  You don't need to trot out dead relatives or cancer.  Stop that.

[Skyfall]

2 hours ago, wings707 said:

Oh goody!  Hi @Skyfall.  

I caught a little tension on the last show.  Claudio said someone (forget name) isn't going to make it (on time).  Alvin said so and so is not going to make it.  Claudio said, didn't I just say that?  LOL  

I enjoy watching Alvin chew because I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what is wrong with his mouth to create that very odd chewing motion.  I usually hate to watch someone eat on TV if they are not chewing as beautifully as Padma but he is an exception.  Very odd guy, in general. 

First time watching it but it seems much better streamlined than the US version. Except I know none of the chefs ?

[Wings]

16 minutes ago, Skyfall said:

First time watching it but it seems much better streamlined than the US version. Except I know none of the chefs ?

This is much better than the US version.  Our version started out as good as this but fell by the wayside when they fired Joe and Graham.   I like all 3 judges.  

[susannot]

Re-watching while waiting for new episode.  Like Barrie even more. His little pig timer "my kitchen supervisor."

 

Somehow I don't believe in Trevor's staying power.

[spiderpig]

On 10/13/2017 at 0:59 PM, wings707 said:

This is much better than the US version.  Our version started out as good as this but fell by the wayside when they fired Joe and Graham.   I like all 3 judges.  

You have already been warned, wings.  Claudio is mine.  Hands off!

I totally love this show.  It has a definite Canadian aspect, with the contestants from all over the country, the charming accents, and the frequent focus on food from the provinces and territories.

It also seems they have a wider variety of contestants from real walks of life, like pipefitters and insurance brokers.

I don't have a favorite yet (after episode 2).  I want them all to win.

[spiderpig]

Me butting in again after Episode 3.

If I'd had to pick someone to Not Save it would have been Miranda, who chose herself.  I hope she goes home next.

I felt awful for Kimberly, who had to be sacrificed instead.

About squid ink pasta - has anybody here worked with it?  We have a wide range of "fresh pasta" in our area, and I've never seen squid in pasta options.  Do you have to spring for a jar of squid ink and make it yourself?

Also, I'm pretty good with eggs, but soft-boiled are damned difficult.  I rely on my Braun egg cooker for dependable results.

[Wings]

Soft boiled eggs vary every damn time I make them so I stopped  years ago. I dont get it.  I will get an egg cooker.  I wonder why I have never thought of it.  Lol. I hard boil eggs often.  I love egg salad and deviled eggs.  

I noticed Matt this time and he could become a favorite of mine.  

I know i don't like Miranda. 

I felt badly for Kimberly, too. 

[Skyfall]

Miranda just made a ton of enemies.

[Rammchick]

One thing I prefer over the US version (weeell, actually there are many), is that the show started with fewer contestants to start with and we're already at top 10.  The American show drags and feels like it's on for months, which it is.

That being said, Miranda was in a no-win situation.  I think I'd probably go down with the ship but I don't fault her for choosing to save herself.

Edited October 21, 2017 by Rammchick

[susannot]

Aaron is looking like a serious contender.  Loved the deconstructed tuna casserole challenge.

[Joe Blow]

The cake challenge was silly -- if you're blindfolded and digging your hand through a four layer cake, how do you know exactly where the maple and bacon you're tasting is supposed to go?  Don't use another mild nut instead of pistachio!  Did *any* team use blueberries?  It seems like whoever made the original cake maybe failed if it was supposed to be obvious.  And I don't care enough to go back and watch again, but I thought when I first saw the original cake it had a pink layer, but one team got dinged for it.

That being said, anytime someone does a "deconstructed" anything, it makes me think they have no ideas and don't feel like actually having to put a dish together.  Most of those dishes barely resembled anything close to a tuna casserole, even "elevated"..

[meowmommy]

19 hours ago, Joe Blow said:

Did *any* team use blueberries?  It seems like whoever made the original cake maybe failed if it was supposed to be obvious.

I had the same thought--if 12 people couldn't taste it, the flavor wasn't there.  I wonder who actually made the original cake...doubt it was the judges.

Miranda is a twat.  And Michael, you run the gamut, not the gambit.

[Wings]

They didn't put enough blueberries in that layer so nobody hit one in the tasting because their slice may not have had any.  I backed up while watching and I didn't see any.  

[backgroundnoise]

I love yellow curry, but even I was going ew at all the stuff team Miranda put in theirs.  I wonder how it tasted because it did not look tasty. 

I can't ding Miranda for choosing herself, I just don't like those things thrown into the competition.   The Great British Baking Show, the standard bearer of all baking/cooking competitions IMO, shows you don't need stuff like that and still have drama and suspense.

A couple of those tuna dishes really did look good, especially Aaron's.  Tuna in a spicy cheese sauce, though, not so much.  That sauce sounds like it would be great on shrimp, though.

The CA version is so much better than the American.  

[Wings]

3 hours ago, backgroundnoise said:

I can't ding Miranda for choosing herself, I just don't like those things thrown into the competition.   The Great British Baking Show, the standard bearer of all baking/cooking competitions IMO, shows you don't need stuff like that and still have drama and suspense.

Always choose to save yourself.  I might announce at the beginning of the challenge that I will choose to save myself, just so you all know now.  

[Skyfall]

For real though everyone missed the blueberries.

[Lura]

I have three of these episodes saved and just got through the first one last night.  It's looking good so far.  I like everybody.  I do wish that the heavy set girl hadn't shown up in a skin tight top.  Is that meant to distract the judges, or what?  It's distracting alright, but not in a good way, IMHO.  *BOUNCE*-2-3-4,  *BOUNCE*-2-3-4.

Edited October 27, 2017 by Lura

[KLovestoShop]

Aaron really misjudged the burger competition and never should have been allowed to save himself.  You can't make a burger medium rare just because YOU like it that way.  You have to know what the public prefers.  Aaron came off as arrogant tonight.  And I thought Alisha made the mistake of putting way too much spice in their burgers. 

[Joe Blow]

My mom won't even eat a burger that's medium well and has a tiny bit of pink.  A medium rare burger would definitely be an acquired taste.

That being said, I hate the challenges where home cooks -- not professionals, you know? -- have to feed hundreds of people in a short amount of time.  Yeah, part of it is menu planning, a combination of something that can be made quickly but also appeals to the most people.  Elevated, of course.  Unfortunately, none of these people have ever done that, so these challenges are just to create drama, but it's not really that fun to watch.

I also kind of hate the "save yourself, or one of your teammates" thing.  As big of a jerk as you might seem, this is an individual competition, and these people aren't really your friends.  The odds that someone you spurned in order to save yourself having the opportunity to do the same back to you are pretty low, especially since there probably aren't that many team challenges left where it would even come up.  And if it does, it does.  

That dessert seemed kind of lame to begin with.  Maybe it's better in person.

[Mabinogia]

13 hours ago, Joe Blow said:

I also kind of hate the "save yourself, or one of your teammates" thing

I hate that stupid Thea caved. I supposed she thinks it makes her a good person to want to save someone on her team, but she helped save the least worthy person on the team. have a freaking backbone woman.

[Noodle]

I'm watching Masterchef Canada reruns 2017 series, I'm not impressed with the judges comments. 

Cutting of Merianda.... The blonde left a vein in her shrimp and they didn't even taste it !  Saying paper thin roast beef was tough....OMG....  As my kids would say...yeah right !!

how can you eliminate a person and you didn't even taste completely all dishwa presented ?????

Another show saying that one dish had so seasoning and then saying one with no flavouring, barely browned filet on the outside beat it ???? A steak with no seasoning is not very good  !! 

[Snarklepuss]

On 10/11/2017 at 6:52 PM, wings707 said:

I love this show.  Too bad there aren't more watching!  I want to talk about it.   ***stomps feet***

I'm watching!  I've watched every season so far and I'm glad to see more of us on the board are catching on as I've been plugging it on the US MC board for years.  I think I neglected to put this thread in my new post feed so I'll be correcting that soon!

One thing I wanted to say about Alvin - He's softened quite a bit since Season 1.  Now Claudio seems to be the hard-ass.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Snarklepuss
typo.

[Skyfall]

That double elimination was u fair but it does hopefully open up the chance to bring back the girl that was unlucky to be sent home early

[hilaryvm]

So...Aaron messes up the challenge, says he would save himself (which I generally don't have a problem with...it's a competition after all) but then when they have to be unanimous, it appears he wasn't willing to vote for anyone but himself to be safe.  If I were Thea I would have told him to shove it and we're all cooking.  Not a good look on Aaron's part.  I also hate that Masterchef always makes team leaders make these choices.  Just have the judges do it or something.  It's basically stupid not to save yourself, but if you do save yourself, you look like a selfish person.

[susannot]

I can't believe they eliminated two people.  They seem to be rushing through this season.  Glad Barrie and Trevor are still in it.

[Snarklepuss]

11 minutes ago, susannot said:

I can't believe they eliminated two people.  They seem to be rushing through this season.  Glad Barrie and Trevor are still in it.

I think they did it because they're bringing someone back next week.  @Skyfall and I hope it's that girl that got sent home early that didn't deserve to go (whose name is escaping us at the moment!).  Although I thought the two sent home certainly weren't the worst of the pack either.

P.S.  Go Barrie!

Edited November 9, 2017 by Snarklepuss

[backgroundnoise]

For some reason, I thought that both were going to be saved, so I asked gasped out loud at the double elimination.  Shows like this don't often surprise anymore. 

I think Thea (and the other guy on the team who went along with her) is thinking a Play it Forward? Maybe good karma will come back to her?  Given that it looked like it was Aaron's decisions as team leader that caused all their problems, letting him save himself was kinda dumb. 

Thea's peach-sauced appetizer sounds like something I'd like to try.  Risky of her to first try that flavor combination in a challenge.

[spiderpig]

The bad guy edits on this show are nowhere near their US counterparts, but if I wanted anyone to go it would have been Aaron and Miranda for their general sulkiness.  I felt awful for Matt and Justine and so, apparently, did Thea and Mai.

I've been craving tempura like mad, and have mixed seafood in the fridge ready to go.  Flour. Cornstarch.  Ice-cold seltzer.  Do I add an egg or not?

[Wings]

13 hours ago, spiderpig said:

The bad guy edits on this show are nowhere near their US counterparts, but if I wanted anyone to go it would have been Aaron and Miranda for their general sulkiness.  I felt awful for Matt and Justine and so, apparently, did Thea and Mai.

I've been craving tempura like mad, and have mixed seafood in the fridge ready to go.  Flour. Cornstarch.  Ice-cold seltzer.  Do I add an egg or not?

I used to make it and did add an egg.  Now, I drive one mile down the road to the sushi place and get tempura shrimp and vegetables, no potatoes.  :>)  They over did it on those last time and I got one green bean, one slice of carrot and one onion ring.  

[spiderpig]

You are my culinary queen, @wings707.

Do you have a favorite in this game?  Thea's a little too perky for my taste.  I guess the self-admitted old guy Barrie.  The rest all mix together in a big bowl of vanilla niceness.

Edited November 12, 2017 by spiderpig
I got your username wrong - though you'll always be 007 licensed to kill in my heart!

[Wings]

17 hours ago, spiderpig said:

You are my culinary queen, @wings707.

Do you have a favorite in this game?  Thea's a little too perky for my taste.  I guess the self-admitted old guy Barrie.  The rest all mix together in a big bowl of vanilla niceness.

It was Matt.  Now I have to choose another one.  I like the pretty blonde.  What is her name?  I do like Barrie, too.  But no one is striking me like Mary Berg did.  I LOVED her.  I was happy to see her on an episode this season but it was too brief.