S16.W02 (E05-E08)

[katisha]

It's week 2 and time to start losing hamsters!  But first of all, the recaps have started up again.  Annoyingly, there seems to be a paywall involved and you might not be able to actually read the article without *gasp* paying some money to Rupert Murdoch, but just in case, here is the link.

Goodbye, James the squid guy.  We hardly knew you.  I was pretty sure Sumeet wasn't going anywhere, and the meat guy from Tassie has had slightly more airtime than poor James so I thought he also may be safe.

Randomly, when everyone walked back from the judging table, walking past someone with a blond ponytail who then gave them an extensive hug, I kept asking myself, "Who the hell IS that?"  I still don't know!

Sometimes these early episodes seem very frantic and confusingly edited and this was one of them for me.  I found it difficult to get into it and having five judges is actually making things worse.  It'll be better once Jamie goes and a few more hamsters get eliminated, I think.

[Mellowyellow]

Yaaaay for recaps! I can read the article! Awesome as ever!

 How many hamsters are they eliminating each week? I hope they don’t have 2 days worth of immunity challenges. OMG that bored me to death!

[Snazzy Daisy]

S16•E05 - Dream Dish Elimination

Personality wise, I like Juan and Harry. They’re cool, calm and collected in the kitchen. Juan is cheerful and Harry is quite a composed cook. Can’t wait to see them in a pressure test.

Juan’s empanadas fritas look yummy. I will definitely eat that. 😋

My first instinct about David is correct - he’s nerdy. But he’s also methodical and willing to push boundaries. The look on Andy and Poh’s faces when David says pumpkin soup with cocoa cream. 😂

We still haven’t heard from Gillian, Josh C and Steph. Darrsh has been edited out today, we don’t even know what his dream dish is. And Sav is surprisingly quiet on the gantry.

Josh P’s steak is still mooing. He’s overthinking everything.

Sumeet has come too close to be going home. She should listen to Jamie’s earlier concern about doing too much. Less is more.

Bye bye James! We have only known you for five minutes. 👋🏻

[Snazzy Daisy]

Poh is a petite person. MCAU stylist should’ve chosen a midi dress for her, not maxi. 😬 

[katisha]

13 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Poh is a petite person. MCAU stylist should’ve chosen a midi dress for her, not maxi. 😬 

On the plus side, though, at least Poh didn't have "the girls" on display quite as much today!  I feel like I've seen her 🍈🍈more than my own this season! 

Speaking of Poh, if she really thinks she can trademark the "Poh-sition" of crouching down and staring at an oven, she's clearly never seen a single episode of Great British Bake-Off!

I barely know Steph (although I have worked out she was the "hugger" from last night's episode) or Josh-who-isn't-a-butcher-from-Tassie so it's hard to get too upset about them possibly being eliminated.  Frankly, I'd be glad to see Lily go because she keeps whinging about not being great at desserts, but also continues making them.  And while I do like Sumeet, I have a feeling the MC AU universe in 2024 only has room for one female Indian or Sri Lankan contestant in the mix, and Sav is their chosen candidate.  They may decide to keep Darssh around for eye candy, plus he does make desserts.

Jamie's parents seem delightful.  As famous as he is, I never realised how much cooking was actually in his DNA - I thought he'd just sort of stumbled upon it and happened to get really good at it.

[Snazzy Daisy]

S16•E06 - The Oliver Family Mystery Box

The Olivers’ European mystery box has shaken the confidence of some contestants who rely heavily on their typical ingredients and usual spices.

Is Nat going to need continuous pick-me-up from the judges in every challenges? That’ll be exhausting.

Pezza (Josh P) the butcher has transformed into a baker in this challenge. That Lazy Daisy Cake looks yummy but the comment about “shining like a baby’s bum” is off putting. Dude, euwww! 😣

JC to the rescue. Steph trying to smoke the radicchio using a technique she knows nothing about. Why? Then we have to see how she butchers that trout. I have added Steph into my “most annoying” list. The talkback and her efforts to be/sound cute & funny on camera are too much too handle.

Watching Sumeet without her spices is like watching a fish out of water. She peaks too early. She still hasn’t learned from yesterday’s mistake of doing too much.

Season 16 should be renamed to MCAU: Raw Edition. We have seen raw steak, raw squid and (almost) raw cake. There’s a concerning trend here.

Stephen hasn’t participated in today’s challenge, so he’ll be in tomorrow’s elimination. I am OK with Lily or Steph being eliminated. I hope Stephen, Sumeet and Josh C will be able to keep up with Jamie tomorrow. 🤞🏻

On a fun note, it would be cool if Jamie’s parents could dramatically come out of the mystery box ala Samara from The Ring. 🤣

 

Edited April 29, 2024 by Snazzy Daisy

[katisha]

Having a bottom two of Steph and Lily ended up being a dream come true after a nightmarish episode in which Steve seemed to be melting down so badly that I thought at one stage he was guaranteed to get booted.  To have come back from the many mistakes he made shows that he does know his stuff and has a lot of common sense as a cook.  Unlike Steph, who really should have listened when her mum told her that she never listens.  She was bugging me so I'm not sorry to see her go.  

It was also good to get to know "the other Josh" better and I like him.  He did a really good job and Sumeet coped better than I thought she might have with the challenge.

Some like the team challenges and some don't.  I quite enjoy them and tomorrow's looks to be suitably hectic!

 

[Snazzy Daisy]

S16•E07 - Keeping Up With Jamie Elimination

If the contestants think keeping up with Jamie Oliver is hard enough, they’d be struggling to keep up with Curtis Stone or Gordon Ramsay for sure.

Jamie says “pan” then proceed to put the potatoes into the pot/saucepan. Who can blame Stephen for putting his potatoes in the pan. His struggles to keep up with Jamie are overly dramatized to disguise the actual result.

FIVE judges tasting and commenting on the same dishes - it’s a boring sequence of events. There’s nothing exciting about the dish either. Sorry Uncle Trevor.

My wish comes true. Bye Steph! You will not be missed.

Looking forward to a chaotic team challenge tomorrow! 😆

[katisha]

18 hours ago, Snazzy Daisy said:

Looking forward to a chaotic team challenge tomorrow!

The Yellow Team must have heard you ask this, @Snazzy Daisy, because that was a trainwreck to watch.  Jonathan was a terrible leader and Sav looked like she didn't agree with a thing he was doing or saying, but was trying really hard to bite her tongue and just get on with things.  Also, I wish I could understand why they went with a menu featuring a flavour in which not one of them could be called an expert.

What was the go with poor Juan and those skewers?  At one stage he appeared to have bloodstains on his face and I was wondering if he'd accidentally somehow been poking himself with them!

I'm glad the team of mostly oldies won tonight.  It was good to see Sue especially get some screen time for a change and it looked to me like she's far from hopeless.  The idea she suggested in the first place, which none of the others wanted to go along with initially, ended up producing the best vegetarian dish and the one I really wanted to try.  And it looked to me like she pretty much did it all herself, too.  (Also, because I find Nat a bit precious and annoying, I was pleased her eggplant dish didn't taste as good as Sue's!) Steve is a good cook but quick, he is not!  I think Pezza was being generous about Steve doing one skewer to his three.  

I am liking Harry more and more.  He has the most amazing calming presence that means I'd want to have him around in any team challenge to counteract the many "headless chook" style contestants.

[Snazzy Daisy]

2 hours ago, katisha said:

The Yellow Team must have heard you ask this, @Snazzy Daisy, because that was a trainwreck to watch. 

Really??? Cannot wait to watch it later. 😆😆😆

Based on the menus posted on X, I'd choose the Red Team's. Am guessing Sumeet is in this team.

 

2 hours ago, katisha said:

What was the go with poor Juan and those skewers?  At one stage he appeared to have bloodstains on his face and I was wondering if he'd accidentally somehow been poking himself with them!

Juan had an accident in MC practice kitchen. Poor fellow! 😥

Source - IG

 

Edited May 1, 2024 by Snazzy Daisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

S16•E08 - Street Food Service Immunity

They are at the farmers market where they have access to farm to table fresh produce. They don’t need delivery from COLES.

I don’t understand why Andy has to speak not so positively about a seafood dish before tasting it. That’s a bit rude and discouraging.

Harry, Angola is not North Africa. The “ish” added to their seafood menu sounds pretentious. 🙄

Jono, calm your tits! You’re supposed to provide clarity to your teammates, not give them anxiety.

Why is Sue bashing the eggplants? 😳

Congratulations Red Team for winning immunity from Sunday’s elimination. Sumeet can finally rest, she’s been cooking nonstop.

Jamie: “I’m gonna miss you guys. I’m leaving with tears in my eyes.”

The reality is… 😆

Edited May 2, 2024 by Snazzy Daisy

[Snazzy Daisy]

♦️SPOILER ALERT!♦️

Spoiler

Did the preview just spoiled the Top 10 and Top 6 for us?

Dammit. 😣

 

Edited May 2, 2024 by Snazzy Daisy