Past Seasons Discussion

[TVbitch]

What a boring way to do the "guess the ingredients" competition. Watching chefs write a list. Exciting!!! 

I'm feeling grouchy, but the show is kind of dragging for me. The whole thing where you have to win a team challenge, then another challenge, then a third challenge just for one person to win immunity that week is a lot for not much stakes. 

And the new judges are ruining the tastings for me. They remain a huge disappointment. "It makes you want to go back in for more!" How nice for you.

Okay guys, next time I swear I will find something positive to say. : D

Edited April 24, 2020 by TVbitch

[retrograde]

I don't usually enjoy (or even watch) the how-to cook sections, but I like that they had the cheftestants do their own segments. I also laughed that Ben U's special skill was scooping ice cream. 

[katisha]

7 hours ago, retrograde said:

I also laughed that Ben U's special skill was scooping ice cream. 

But of course it is! It certainly isn't identifying ingredients i.e. having a good palate like chefs are supposed to!

[ReallyRealReality]

To be fair, I wouldn't have been able to name off any of the ingredients in that curry.  I've never had one and probably never will...  I can't eat peppers of any kind, so that leaves me out on a lot of dishes.

I know most of you are happy that Sarah won immunity, but to be honest and fair, I'm not so sure I am.  Sure, she's a great gal and chef... but did you LOOK at her dish!?!?   A dog turd sitting between a puddle of yellow mustard and some chopped up fresh tomatoes.   Come on!!!  Khahn had the same ingredients and he was able to grill up the spring onions and make up some kind of mousse, besides having the meat and a sauce.

With the judge's poor descriptions, all we are left to judge the dishes by is how they look... and her's look like s**t, literally!  Sorry.... lol

[katisha]

Well, at least with Ben Milbourne eliminated from the competition tonight, we don't have to worry anymore about Andy favouring him because they're mates.   Having said that, though, is it just me or is anyone getting the feeling that these eliminations are a bit like the ones on The Masked Singer (US version) where complete legends who actually can sing are sent home after two weeks because that's all the star would agree to and not because the votes didn't go their way?  It's not like Ben M really needed this show because if his goal was to have a restaurant after Masterchef, he already does.

Other random thoughts:

• I did love how Ice-Cream Ben's phallic dessert made everybody crack up laughing.  By the way, I think it's been said before but ICB has looked quite bad this season - I mean, he's still buff, obviously, but he looks tired and kind of strung out.  I don't think his forced elimination is too far off now.
• When it comes to plating, most of these contestants aren't even in the same country as Reynold, let alone the same street. 
• I'm starting to wonder how on earth Dani won that immunity pin because her two cooks in the elimination round since she did have been subpar.
• Again Poh served up an extremely average-looking dessert and again the judges fawned all over it and her.  I guess it must have tasted really good, otherwise I might start to suspect agendas!

On 4/25/2020 at 3:53 AM, TVbitch said:

I'm feeling grouchy, but the show is kind of dragging for me. The whole thing where you have to win a team challenge, then another challenge, then a third challenge just for one person to win immunity that week is a lot for not much stakes. 

I actually agree with this.  I'm enjoying the show but with this same reservation.  Maybe later they up the ante with what the contestants might win or lose because right now there isn't much drama being built.

 

[misgabi13]

1 hour ago, katisha said:

Well, at least with Ben Milbourne eliminated from the competition tonight, we don't have to worry anymore about Andy favouring him because they're mates. 

I totally agree but the other Ben can go home as well.

More bloody icecream!  So over it!

Also Rose can get off my TV.

I was originally excited to see past contestants back but don't agree at all with some of them (some came 10th in their season!!!  Looking at you Rose!!!)

For the amount of time this episode took it was actually really boring!  I was hoping for another two rounder!

[limecoke]

Quote

Well, at least with Ben Milbourne eliminated from the competition tonight, we don't have to worry anymore about Andy favouring him because they're mates. 

Yes, but there's still the whole issue of Laura/Jock and Poh having been a guest mentor on previous seasons.  Not a good look for MCAU.

The plate Sarah served up for immunity must have tasted completely fantastic because it looked like something my neighbor's dog leaves along the sidewalk.  They say you eat with your eyes, right?

I was delighted to see Tessa and Brendon get some love for their dishes in the elimination challenge.  Still, I found myself a little bored during the episode so sort of fixated on the wild differences between cooks who serve up tiny, fiddly dishes and the ones who plate up enough to feed a hungry family.  Some cooks get criticized for too much on the plate and others don't.  No one gets dinged for the weensie servings.  Interesting.

I was excited to see a season with returning contestants but find I'm not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The people that annoyed me in their original seasons still annoy and the ones I like are dropping like flies.  Besides, I want more Callum, please. Too much Poh and her last minute rescues that are praised to the skies.  Then there's Reynold who seems to be in a class by himself, which makes me think he's a slam dunk winner.  I think I prefer all new cooks but maybe this will get better as the ranks thin out.

Lastly, my personal pet peeve of most of these delightful Australian and British cooking shows.  Folks please, for the love, it's not "Hala-pee-no,"  it's "Hala-pain-yo."  

[dnagirl]

I want those noodles Brendan made.  Right now.  In my pie hole.

[SnideAsides]

I don't think I'd mind the potential favouritism so much if they weren't trying to introduce the new judges to us by using their food in the challenges. Like, Masterchef has a certain "type" of restaurant it likes to feature, and that part of the industry is so small and incestuous that you really can't grab a judge from it without there being links to contestants. But knowing that you've got links like that, don't give us two "how well do you know Jock's food" challenges in the first two weeks, you know?

The jury's still out on the judges here. I can see that they've basically got the same archetypes as the previous judges (your mileage may vary about Andy being the new George, but Melissa is absolutely supposed to be "female Matt" and Jock the new Gary), but they're also all doing the season-two versions of the old judges, where they knew how big the show was and the fame was going to their heads so they were being self-consciously wacky because they thought that's what viewers want. And it's nice that they're not quite as repetitive as the old judges got towards the end (I definitely don't like the new structure to the week, but it's hard to deny it's helping the show feel like it's not just the same shit with new faces) but also it's... a bit annoying.

Not gonna lie though, the "Andy and Ben are secretly gay" jokes from a few years ago are kind of ironic after having seen that, unless the whole thing was a set up, Andy apparently lives in the heart of Melbourne's gay neighborhood.

Edited April 27, 2020 by SnideAsides

[retrograde]

I hate the sound of chewing, so the judges' food diaries were torture. 

I think I'm rescinding Poh from my predicted winner list. I still like her a lot, but as one of the non-restaurant contestants, she appears to lack time management skills and only seems to be recreating dishes she already knows without the willingness (or maybe ability?) to adjust on the fly. That's eventually going to bite her badly, I think. 

I too am glad Ben Milbourne is gone because it's ridiculous that his best friend is a judge. He was kidding himself that using a different part of salmon would've saved him, though. He was all over the shop.

I like Brendon, but jesus does he have weepy emotional childhood connection to every dish?

I actually feel bad for Jess and, on this occasion, Rose, with Reynold there. Give up, guys. Only Poh can compete on desserts, because she bakes and he does not. 

Hayden's dish was a joke. 

Sarah was a better commentator and critque-r than the new judges. The judges did do much better at criticising dishes than complimenting them though. 

I continue to think Dani fluked her first win. She declared "Mexican food's like my jam" (and also, and this is dictated verbatim, "I'm gonna make like a sick marinated beef tacos, a few sick salsas to go with some grilled corn. It's gonna be sick!") but also doesn't know how to say pico de gallo? 

7 hours ago, limecoke said:

Lastly, my personal pet peeve of most of these delightful Australian and British cooking shows.  Folks please, for the love, it's not "Hala-pee-no,"  it's "Hala-pain-yo."  

Believe it or not, Australians have generally gotten much less awful about mangling Spanish words. When I was a kid, people said "tack-o" and "tor-till-a." (and by "people" I am specifically thinking of "my parents," who stuffed out our Old El Paso hard-shell tack-os with something they called "chili con cahhhhhn" but was in fact bolognese and beans because Mexican seasonings were non-existent, iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, vintage cheddar and greek yogurt). But yes, it's still pretty bad. 

Apologies also to the French speakers for this episode's pronunciation of "mille feuille." I can't pronounce it either, but I don't think Poh was in the ballpark. Just say "snot block" and be done with it. 

[katisha]

10 minutes ago, retrograde said:

Apologies also to the French speakers for this episode's pronunciation of "mille feuille." I can't pronounce it either, but I don't think Poh was in the ballpark. Just say "snot block" and be done with it. 

Heheh! Gotta love the snot block! Although Poh's was lacking in that slab of white icing you usually see on top of the average bakery snot block!

 

[katisha]

This was a more enjoyable episode overall for me tonight but the judges and the crowd's yelling wore very thin, very quickly.  As an introvert I would totally go to pieces cooking in front of a bunch of people in all that noise but you could tell the ones that thrived on it were the real extroverts like Khanh and people like Tessa who can just zone stuff out. 

There are no words for how pissed off I would have been if Poh's dish had beaten Simon's in the second round because two tiny dumplings with a bit of butter and cheese in no way compared to Simon's vegetarian dish, which looked amazingly delicious.  But I was gritting my teeth in anticipation for her to win.  I don't know why the team picked her for that challenge.  I don't doubt she's a good cook but she's not a smart cook a lot of the time.  A 30-minute challenge and you pick something with boiled potatoes as an ingredient?  I know it's easy in theory but with different potatoes on different stoves with different heat settings, I can see how it wouldn't be hard to stuff it up.

I remember finding Amina pretty annoying in her season but I'm liking her this time around.  As for Harry, he came across as quite a different bloke in his initial season with a happier personality.  He seems a bit...I don't know, sullen this time around?  I can't put my finger on it.

So who do we think the favourite is who'll go home tomorrow?  My bet is that it won't be any of those featured on the Facebook Masterchef banner, so not Poh (obvs), Hayden or Laura.  Any of the others could be booted without surprising me.

[zibnchy]

Masterchef Judges thru the years: We Love Big Bold Flavors! More Big Bold Flavors!

Andy to Reynold: I'm concerned that your flavors might be too Big and too Bold.

Shut Up Andy!

Oh good, more Poh drama. I wonder if she'll finish on time?! If she had won with her two dumplings we'd know the fix is in.

I like Melissa more and more as the season goes on. Wish I could say the same about Andy.

My new favorites are Sarah T and Amina along with Tessa. Laura has fallen out of favor.

I wonder what simple thing Poh will dramatically cook tomorrow.

[Rosenrot]

Wrong Ben went home. 😐

12 hours ago, retrograde said:

I too am glad Ben Milbourne is gone because it's ridiculous that his best friend is a judge

I feel like it's equally ridiculous that Laura's mentor/ex-boss is a judge. Although, with that said, I don't think there's been any blatant favoring as of yet. And like SnideAsides pointed out, those kind of connections are almost inevitable. 

20 hours ago, limecoke said:

Then there's Reynold who seems to be in a class by himself, which makes me think he's a slam dunk winner.

But he can hardly skate through the whole competition making nothing but fancy, teeny-weeny desserts. (Can he??) 

And speaking of that, I wish they'd challenge the competitors a bit more. Thus far they've had very free hands as to what they're cooking, and many, of course, want to cook what they're familiar with. Make them cook something unfamiliar! Pick a cuisine nobody knows anything about! I don't know, something! Of course most of them are awesome cooks when they cook what they're normally cooking every day. To me, the best ones can cook an incredible dish with ingredients that are unfamiliar to them. 

Now off to watch Monday's episode!

E: Forgot to say that I could've made what Hayden made. And believe me, that's saying a lot, because I am a horrendous cook. I love Hayden, but... boy. The chips were from a packet, for the love of god! What did he do for 75 minutes??

Edited April 27, 2020 by Rosenrot

[dnagirl]

7 hours ago, Rosenrot said:

But he can hardly skate through the whole competition making nothing but fancy, teeny-weeny desserts. (Can he??) 

Fancy, teeny-weeny desserts isn't all Reynold does. He makes fancy teeny-weeny fish dishes and teeny-weeny quail too!

[ppl]

I'm glad they're finally giving Tessa and Sarah T more air time. It's nice to see amidst the Reynold/Poh show.

Season 12 should be renamed The Mother of all Hibachi's.

My top 10 list (should/will)

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

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

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

[ReallyRealReality]

The editors of MC must have agreed with me on Sarah T's dish, that it looked like a dog turd, because the next day's episode had only the chopped fresh tomatoes shown next to a sliver of brown as the winning immunity dish during the 'previously on' segment.  Seriously, that was all they decided to show!!!  *facepalm*  I did laugh at Ben's dish, along with everyone else... that was funny, and I don't usually laugh out loud.

During the triple challenge, it was really nice to get to see Tessa cook for a change.  She was my favorite last year and I'm really hoping she goes far, or even wins it this year.  I'm also hoping that those contestants who haven't had much airtime will be the ones going farther, and those with the drama are only being featured now because they leave sooner.  Ten episodes of Poh's near catastrophes is more than enough airtime, in my opinion.   I know there are a lot of contestants, but some have been invisible.  I watch the opening credits and think... have they been eliminated, where are they?

Was I the only one who said out loud, "keep it up, Jock" when he described Tessa's dish to the audience?  Doesn't he realize the whole point of them being judges on a TV show is that there is a home audience that wants to know, too?????  I think they all need to sit down and watch a few episodes... or even a season... of MasterChef UK to see how a judge describes a dish properly.

 

[katisha]

2 hours ago, dnagirl said:

Fancy, teeny-weeny desserts isn't all Reynold does. He makes fancy teeny-weeny fish dishes and teeny-weeny quail too!

Yes, Reynold is very big on teeny-weeny! Heheh!

Out of interest to overseas viewers, during the show last night they were advertising for contestants for a new edition of Junior Masterchef.  Obviously since the show has become very popular all over again, they're going to ride this wave while they can.

[ReallyRealReality]

3 hours ago, katisha said:

Yes, Reynold is very big on teeny-weeny! Heheh!

Out of interest to overseas viewers, during the show last night they were advertising for contestants for a new edition of Junior Masterchef.  Obviously since the show has become very popular all over again, they're going to ride this wave while they can.

Have you seen the US version of MasterChef Junior?  I'm just wondering how much different it is.  Here, they have team relays that result in the winning team getting to dump stuff on the judges.  It's very kid forward and friendly, even with Gordon as one of the judges... he only yells (no swearing) during their service challenges.  😄

[SnideAsides]

We had two seasons of Junior Masterchef in the early years. Tasks were probably about equal with the adult version of US Masterchef (as opposed to the insane challenges this version foists upon its adults sometimes); the only real difference was they changed the elimination format so that challenges were worth points and there were group eliminations. Like you'd spend two episodes earning points (something like 6 for winning a team challenge and 6-5-4-3-2 for coming top five in an individual challenge), then the top few would be safe and the rest competed in a challenge where the bottom four were all eliminated. It'd probably be similar if it gets brought back, they definitely won't dumb this show down to the level of Junior Masterchef US.

[katisha]

5 hours ago, ReallyRealReality said:

Here, they have team relays that result in the winning team getting to dump stuff on the judges. 

Well, that is a bit dumbed down but I can't say I'd be entirely opposed to the idea with these new judges from time to time!

No surprise whatsoever to see Harry go tonight.  If ever there was a losing edit, it's been his ever since this reboot started. 

I'm now wondering just how many more times we have to sit through the Poh melodrama of "will she cook her dish on time" because no doubting she'll be there right down to the wire and it appears the editors think she's a ratings drawcard because this is their "story" every second episode, it seems.  To be fair, though, that pie did look delicious. 

Sarah T copped an incredible amount of Facebook abuse in her season (mainly due to the flopping messy hair but there were so many other things) but I still really like her because she is articulate, an excellent narrator and so very passionate about food and cooking so I hope she goes far.  She just needs to pick up some plating skills stat!

[xchouchoutex]

I just finished watching yesterday’s episode it was a good challenge and i had to notice my comments because i forget as soon as the episode is finished 🤦🏻‍♀️

- Rose was saying about fish : no not my strength like she does have one, even her desserts are not wowing

-Reece is getting on my nerve and i don’t know why i just want him to stop talking and he can take Tessa for an example she’s a hard worker with less talking

-i can’t understand why they chose Poh as a quick cooker, wasn’t obviously enough that she’s struggling with time in every challenge ? She has an issue with time for sure

- Amina’s dish looked DELICIOUS ! 
 

I find Masterchef junior of Morocco is much better than the senior one , last season there was a kid who was maybe 9 he succeeded to name almost 20 fish species in french and arabic 

 

 

[xchouchoutex]

36 minutes ago, katisha said:

Sarah T copped an incredible amount of Facebook abuse in her season (mainly due to the flopping messy hair but there were so many other things) but I still really like her because she is articulate, an excellent narrator and so very passionate about food and cooking so I hope she goes far.  She just needs to pick up some plating skills stat!

I remember that that wasn’t the only reason , she was great with flavors but she kept cooking pork belly most of the time

[Rosenrot]

2 hours ago, xchouchoutex said:

I find Masterchef junior of Morocco is much better than the senior one

Same here with Masterchef Finland. And IMO the Masterchef Junior US is way better than their regular version. Reruns of S7 are on here at the moment and I tried to watch an episode once, but I immediately hated everyone there and just couldn't go on. I've seen two seasons in full, I don't remember the numbers but the one that the stripper won and the one after that, but that was before I was aware of this thing called MCAU. 

14 hours ago, dnagirl said:

Fancy, teeny-weeny desserts isn't all Reynold does. He makes fancy teeny-weeny fish dishes and teeny-weeny quail too!

You're not wrong. 😄 

Initially I liked the idea of a live cook, but the constant yelling and screaming really got to my nerves at some point.   

I like Jock more and more as the season progresses. Love the accent. ❤️

Edited April 28, 2020 by Rosenrot

[zibnchy]

I'm calling bullshit on that pie of Poh's. I simply don't believe she was able to cook that pie thru in what? <35 minutes? That pie was giant. Did she blind bake her crust? We didn't see that I don't think. If not, I do not believe her pastry was baked thru in 35 minutes or less. I don't pretend to know what shenanigans were pulled off but I believe there were shenanigans. Also what about that pie was wow? It looked yummy but in the end it was just a meat pie. (Also her crazy anxiety laugh is  kinda scary actually.)

I'm over Laura and her pasta. That dish was not wow.

OK actually most of the dishes were not really wow but I love Amina and Sarah T so WOW!

[limecoke]

Good grief, I'm getting weary of the Poh Show of Woe.  Every stinking time she plans big, whines that she's never going to get it done, whips it out at the last minute and is praised to the skies in the end.  It's getting old, show.  Looked like more than a 35 minute pie but...

I'm sorry to see Harry leave but was hoping Hayden hadn't completely blown it with his dish.  Beats me why he'd decide to try that in a pressure test. Do what you do best, Hayden.  It's certainly working for Laura who seems to make variations on the same dish every single time.  But that's what Jock likes so why not, right?

[ReallyRealReality]

9 hours ago, katisha said:

Sarah T copped an incredible amount of Facebook abuse in her season (mainly due to the flopping messy hair but there were so many other things) but I still really like her because she is articulate, an excellent narrator and so very passionate about food and cooking so I hope she goes far.  She just needs to pick up some plating skills stat!

I agree about her being articulate.  However, I'm not a fan of how she comes across in her private interviews, it's a very 'forced' excitement.  We see her speak outside of there and she's nowhere near the same.  I just wish she'd talk to 'us' like she does the judges.

I haven't watched the episode yet, only saw the Twitter pics, WHY do they have to tweet so many of Poh?  Where was the 'wow' in any of those dishes?  Harry was the only one who looked like they tried to take it over the top, the rest were just cooked food.  Oh, and the picture they posted of Poh's pie looked dry, I wouldn't want to touch it.

[dnagirl]

Oh the drama. Will she finish in time yet again?  Of course she will.  Sick of this schtick.  I always have liked Laura but if I'm going to be annoyed by Ben and his ice cream every cook, then I'm going to be annoyed with Laura and her cheesy pasta every cook.

What did I like this episode?  Amina. And Melissa's outfit.

 

Edited April 29, 2020 by dnagirl

[SnideAsides]

4 hours ago, ReallyRealReality said:

I haven't watched the episode yet, only saw the Twitter pics, WHY do they have to tweet so many of Poh?  Where was the 'wow' in any of those dishes?  Harry was the only one who looked like they tried to take it over the top, the rest were just cooked food.  Oh, and the picture they posted of Poh's pie looked dry, I wouldn't want to touch it.

Because they want people to watch and she's by far the biggest drawcard they have. Barely anybody's been watching the last few seasons so it makes no sense for them to build the promo around Tessa or the Sarahs if they're trying to build this as a "best of the best losers" thing. The only real alternatives they have are Callum, Hayden, and maybe Reynold, who are all generally too competent to give them much drama for the promo.

[katisha]

41 minutes ago, SnideAsides said:

Because they want people to watch and she's by far the biggest drawcard they have.

Probably in purely ratings terms, that may be true but to me, as someone who didn't watch S1, she's not a drawcard and all the attention on her is actually turning me off the show.  I don't think I'm the only one, either.

[Sarnia]

4 hours ago, katisha said:

Probably in purely ratings terms, that may be true but to me, as someone who didn't watch S1, she's not a drawcard and all the attention on her is actually turning me off the show.  I don't think I'm the only one, either.

Same. I started watching at season 2, so did not follow Poh's season, nor her subsequent career. Give me more Callum, please.

But I'm not in Australia, so maybe Australian viewers have a different take on this.

[retrograde]

While yet another down-to-the-wire bake was a little eye-roll-y, I thought Poh's pie and sides were pretty impressive for 2 hours in the end. 

Hayden's dish was a joke. I can make better honeycomb than that and it looked sloppy and amateurish. I really thought he should've gone home over Harry, who at least cooked things well and was ambitious. 

Interesting account from someone in the audience of Monday's episode.

[ppl]

11 hours ago, limecoke said:

It's certainly working for Laura who seems to make variations on the same dish every single time.  But that's what Jock likes so why not, right?

 

6 hours ago, dnagirl said:

I always have liked Laura but if I'm going to be annoyed by Ben and his ice cream every cook, then I'm going to be annoyed with Laura and her cheesy pasta every cook.

Let's get this out of way. Reynold should be banned from making cold desserts. Poh and her pastry dishes (savoury or sweet) too. Laura and her pastas. Ben with his ice creams. Amina with her Middle Eastern dishes. Simon with his vegetarian dishes. Brendan with his dumpling/noodle dishes. Chris and his meat dishes. Jess and her desserts. Reece and his desserts. Tessa and her seafood dishes. Rose and her tarts. Emelia and her desserts. Sarah T and her Southeast Asian dishes. Hayden and his protein/vegetable dishes. Khanh and his broths.

5 hours ago, SnideAsides said:

Because they want people to watch and she's by far the biggest drawcard they have. Barely anybody's been watching the last few seasons so it makes no sense for them to build the promo around Tessa or the Sarahs if they're trying to build this as a "best of the best losers" thing. The only real alternatives they have are Callum, Hayden, and maybe Reynold, who are all generally too competent to give them much drama for the promo.

Reynold and Poh are the 2 biggest draws. Then the next set is somewhere down the list that includes Callum, Laura, Hayden and Chris.

I'm glad Harry's gone. I rarely enjoyed his dishes in season 8 and his dishes this time around looked much more polished but he was trying to do too much most of the time unlike Hayden who plates a chocolate bar in 2 hours. The judges trying to squeeze praise for that was hilarious!

[katisha]

33 minutes ago, ppl said:

Let's get this out of way. Reynold should be banned from making cold desserts. Poh and her pastry dishes (savoury or sweet) too. Laura and her pastas. Ben with his ice creams. Amina with her Middle Eastern dishes. Simon with his vegetarian dishes. Brendan with his dumpling/noodle dishes. Chris and his meat dishes. Jess and her desserts. Reece and his desserts. Tessa and her seafood dishes. Rose and her tarts. Emelia and her desserts. Sarah T and her Southeast Asian dishes. Hayden and his protein/vegetable dishes. Khanh and his broths.

It looks like tonight's episode will finally push a few of these cheftesants out of their very safe little wheelhouses. I do see your point.

Edited April 29, 2020 by katisha

[katisha]

1 hour ago, retrograde said:

Interesting account from someone in the audience of Monday's episode.

Very interesting. I just read Harry's version of events and felt pretty sorry for him because I would have found it really hard too.

[misgabi13]

1 hour ago, retrograde said:

Interesting account from someone in the audience of Monday's episode.

That sounds like a really disappointing experience.  Although I laughed at Andy spilling food and needing to change his clothes several times!

Baffled by talks of 'helpers' etc - seems a bit weird!

16 hours ago, zibnchy said:

I'm calling bullshit on that pie of Poh's. I simply don't believe she was able to cook that pie thru in what? <35 minutes? That pie was giant.

The pie looked quite thin when they showed the side on shot (out of the dish, which I was surprised about - it certainly held its shape!).  She did crank the heat up and her pastry was fairly thin so it might have worked.

4 minutes ago, katisha said:

It looks like tonight's episode will finally push a few of these cheftesants out of their very safe little wheelhouses. I do see your point.

Gosh, I hope so!  Quite looking forward to that - although it looks like Jessie (????? young dessert girl) is putting everything in a sweet dish - shocker!

 

Last nights episode:

I just want Sarah's sweet and sour pork dish to appear in front of me immediately - that looks SO DELICIOUS!!!!!!

Poh's pie and sides are going to be made in my kitchen very, very soon!  Love that sort of food and as we are having a kind of cooler snap and we are all stuck at home that is what I will do!  After I cook the Osso Bucco that is currently sitting in my fridge!  Actually, I might adapt that for her pie!

Amina's dessert looked so yum!

Sick of Laura cooking pasta every time - but i wish the judges had cut one of them open so we could see what they looked like.  I also didn't really hear her description of the sauce (if she gave us one) so if the judges had said why they liked it so much it would have been a huge help!

Haydn tried - but as soon as he crushed that honeycomb I shuddered and turned away.

Poor Harry - it looked spectacular but as soon as he ran around at the end and grabbed anything 'seafood or fishy' I knew he was in trouble!

Not a bad episode though - cannot wait for tonight though!

[xchouchoutex]

2 hours ago, retrograde said:

Interesting account from someone in the audience of Monday's episode.

Toooo many questions are roaming in my head , if each contestant has a helper why sometimes they forget to put spices ? And i remember in the last seasons they have been told to clean their benches Many times

I was always wondering how can they keep the dishes hot or cold while waiting for the judges to call them so it’s totally normal

 

[ReallyRealReality]

45 minutes ago, xchouchoutex said:

Toooo many questions are roaming in my head , if each contestant has a helper why sometimes they forget to put spices ? And i remember in the last seasons they have been told to clean their benches Many times

I was always wondering how can they keep the dishes hot or cold while waiting for the judges to call them so it’s totally normal

 

I figured the dishes were placed in hot or cold storage until the judges were ready.  I noticed long ago the contestants stand behind empty counters during judging... except the one who gets called up.

[SnideAsides]

I don't have any problem at all with people being off-camera cleaning up after the contestants or making sure they know how to operate the deep fryer properly. I don't think someone should be in trouble for not being familiar with a specific brand of cookware.

Telling them to add more spices to a dish is a bit iffy, but... like, the article admits the lady giving the quotes couldn't really see OR hear anyone, and it's published on Yahoo, which used to be responsible for the Channel Seven website. It mayyyy not be the most reliable source.

[Rosenrot]

Well, forget about Sarah T - the turd that Hayden made in the pressure test is in a class of its own. 

[katisha]

18 minutes ago, Rosenrot said:

Well, forget about Sarah T - the turd that Hayden made in the pressure test is in a class of its own. 

And that turd would have sent any of the lesser known returning contestants home, I'm sure of it.  The amount of effort Harry put into his dish, even if it was somewhat misdirected towards the end of the cook, deserved better IMO.

Meanwhile, of the four who made it into the immunity challenge, I'm thrilled that two of them are Callum and Sarah T.  I'm even OK with Jess being there because even though she still insisted on making a dessert, she probably deserves a medal for making anything remotely edible in a dessert sense from the ingredients she had.  Laura being there just bugs a bit because it's really hard not to see her being favoured by Jock quite a lot of the time.  That worries me more than her making Italian food and pasta every chance she gets because it makes sense she would - that's who she is and what she's best at. 

Finally, on what other show could you have a contestant saying without a trace of irony or sarcasm, "I've always wanted to work with duck oesophagus."  Hasn't everyone? 🤣

[zibnchy]

At this point I fully expect Jock and Laura to proclaim their everlasting love by the end of the season.

Laura will cook a special pasta dish to mark the special occasion.

[ppl]

11 hours ago, katisha said:

Laura being there just bugs a bit because it's really hard not to see her being favoured by Jock quite a lot of the time.  That worries me more than her making Italian food and pasta every chance she gets because it makes sense she would - that's who she is and what she's best at. 

If there's favouritism being given to Laura, I'd rather it be her than one of the many dessert cooks that do nothing but wait around for their elements to set in the blast chiller. At least, her dishes have multiple pressure points as opposed to a dessert cook chucking their parfait/ice cream/panna cotta into the blast chiller waiting for it to set. The only things that all of these people have to do are make the base flavours for their main element and set some time for it to freeze while they're busy making the condiments to their dessert.

Callum's dish looked really good. It would have been nice if the judges described his dish a bit more as I was interested in how the flavours worked together.

Jess had probably the toughest set of ingredients out of everyone and created a cohesive dish out of it. She even beat her idol Reynold!

Nice to see Emelia again.

I thought Poh should have gotten bonus points for not swapping her ingredients but I think she dressed her dish a bit too much with the cream.

I had to laugh at Sarah T's quenelle of ice cream. Reynold needs to teach her how to quenelle. It's better looking than Ben's quenelles. Her dessert seemed very standard fare. The dish's flavours are things that have been done before. Coconut/mango, burnt caramel and candied chilies. I think if she kept the blackberries, it might have been even better.

[katisha]

38 minutes ago, ppl said:

I had to laugh at Sarah T's quenelle of ice cream. Reynold needs to teach her how to quenelle. It's better looking than Ben's quenelles. Her dessert seemed very standard fare. The dish's flavours are things that have been done before. Coconut/mango, burnt caramel and candied chilies. I think if she kept the blackberries, it might have been even better.

I am probably a bit biased but even if they've been done before, it seems to me that if handled incorrectly they could be disgusting rather than good to eat, so perhaps that's why they praised her?

[seltzer3]

Its interesting, because while I know people are annoyed with Poh, I do feel like she's been one of the few contestants that have been varying her dishes.  She's done sweet and savory, and she's done a couple dishes (like this episode), where it is outside her usual ethnic cuisine.  Actually thought she should have been top 4 today.

I also respect Callum, Emelia, and Simon for doing a lot of variety type of dishes as well.

We really need to shake up the challenges, to really shake people out of their comfort zones.  Its starting to get bad, when we are only in week 3, and we are already predicting what 80% of people will cook (Laura, Jess, Ben etc.).  I think we need a situation, where we have contestants pick their ingredients, and then do a random basket swap.  

I was kind of surprised with Dani's meltdown of having a hard time figuring out what to do with pork and shrimp.  Couldn't she just make dumplings, or shumai?  I didn't think that was that hard of a combination.  

Chris' disdain for avocado was also strange well.

 

[katisha]

Well, colour me shocked that little Jess has learnt something about savoury food and is able to make a reasonable fist of cooking it!  Considering how weak she was in that area during her season (I well remember a very embarrassing effort in a team relay!), this makes me very glad she won immunity tonight.  But I would actually have been OK with Laura getting immunity too because this was the furthest she's ventured outside her comfort zone this time around.  Jess may have needed Callum and Sarah to both not perform at their best to end up in that position but I'm still happy for her.

Edited April 30, 2020 by katisha

[Rosenrot]

Jess is clearly living in the Upside Down Land - she makes a dessert using parsnip and parsley and a savory dish using eggs and fruit. But it seems to work, so good for her! 😊

[TVbitch]

Team challenge - O.M.G. Couldn't really enjoy any of it cuz of the SCREAMING and SHOUTING. God help me, I hope they are not starting to go down the MC US path that louder is better.

If Poh's two sad dumplings with undercooked potato had beat Simon's amazing looking dish, I would have cut a bitch. Then the judges have to go on for five freaking minutes about how close it is and even have a special meeting and indivdually vote on it, cuz it is JUST THAT CLOSE, people.  

First immunity cook off - Jess' dessert with her savory ingredients was odd and unique, and I was looking forward to hearing how it tasted. Thanks to our amazing judges for letting me know that is was "banging" and "so, so, so, so, so good." 

More Faux Poh Woe. I think either from being on the show before (and seeing how boring she came off) or from getting tips from the producers, she is amping up her eternal state of crisis for the cameras. Her Faux Poh laughter scares me too, it's like:  

Jess deserved immunity, two great immunity cooks. 

[retrograde]

There were complaints on Twitter etc that Laura using the tofu plain was the equivalent of Hayden using packet tortilla chips, but I don't agree. I think it's more like making a tartare or a ceviche. Silken tofu is also tough to do much with if you want to keep it solid. I imagine it was included with the expectation someone would make it into a dessert, really. I thought her dish was fine, if not crazily inventive. At least not pasta. 

But I was happily surprised by Jess' dish, which is 100% something I'd eat.

Eff all the judges insisting Sarah T must use the roots of her vegetables, then saying the carrots were an afterthought. Ya think?

[limecoke]

I tend to agree with the Tweeters.  Hayden opened a bag of chips and dumped it, Laura opened a package of tofu and sliced it.  SarahT was dinged for wanting to use the greens instead of the root veggie itself but Laura was given a complete pass on doing nothing to transform the tofu.  I like Laura but she’s getting a lot of passes.  Makes one wonder.

It’s funny, Jess annoyed me a bit during her season but It was fun to see her take obvious dessert ingredients and do the unexpected.  Good for her.