Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[theatremouse]

On 7/21/2021 at 8:06 PM, mertensia said:

Why do they keep making people with seafood allergies make seafood?

I'm pretty sure it's less so that they're making them do it, as it is the application specifically asks if you have food allergies (and to what) and warns you that you may be asked to cook with those items nonetheless, and by agreeing to appear on the show you're agreeing to do that. In other words, they're warned up front "we cannot make the set an allergen-free zone for you" and choose to participate anyway.

[leighdear]

Joe may be critical and salty to the adults. but he was judge for 4 Masterchef Junior seasons and was extremely kind and supportive to the young folks.  No asshatishness. 

He was honest, but his critiques were always accompanied by encouragement and he was a great sport with the craziness and kid-focused shenanigans.  

If you haven't seen any of those seasons, you haven't seen the complete Joe.  He's got 3 kids himself.  

[Colorado David]

That's why I was thinking it's played up for tv, like GR. So over the top on Hell's Kitchen, but calm and nice on Masterchef. (btw watching early seasons of HK on Tubi, and they don't filter the swearing. I didn't realize how many F bombs get dropped each episode, and the last one I watched dropped the C bomb. Wowzer.)

[Mrs. Hanson]

I am sure it has been mentioned but I am tired of the constant shouting about how much time is left.  The pastry chef Master Chef was all;  "THREE MINUTES HAVE PASSED!" when they were in the pantry.  Good Lord, how about saying there are three minutes left?

13 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

watching early seasons of HK on Tubi

And down the rabbit hole I go!

[Grrarrggh]

I find it a bit funny that after one of the hosts shouts how much time is left you see nearly every competitor looking at the clock, as if the host has lied to them. 

[leighdear]

17 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

That's why I was thinking it's played up for tv, like GR. So over the top on Hell's Kitchen, but calm and nice on Masterchef. (btw watching early seasons of HK on Tubi, and they don't filter the swearing. I didn't realize how many F bombs get dropped each episode, and the last one I watched dropped the C bomb. Wowzer.)

If you can find it, watch GR on his Brit show "The F Word". (F is for food!)  He does a bunch of food-related stories, travel bits, projects with his kids, etc.  You would never recognize him as the same guy from Hell's Kitchen.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_F_Word_(British_TV_series)

 

[iwantcookies]

Joe’s mom Lydia isn’t nice either. His kids are nice and polite.

People acting nice does not make good tv apparently.

[Colorado David]

1 minute ago, iwantcookies said:

Joe’s mom Lydia isn’t nice either. His kids are nice and polite.

People acting nice does not make good tv apparently.

rutrow, what's the dirt on her??? seems nice enuff on the tv show.

[iwantcookies]

I was told that she is rude and mean to people who work for her just like her son

this person quit because Joe wouldn’t pay decent wages. Minimum wage is it. Not worth the hassle working for him. 

[Colorado David]

Ah. I could see him being a ball breaker as a boss. I wonder if most chefs aren't temperamental as bosses? I never worked in that world so I don't know. 

[iwantcookies]

I was waiting for a subway years ago and 2 guys who worked for Gordon were talking. They said that Gordon is exactly like he is on TV. People were fired/quit quickly. No one lasted more than 6 months. I was sad to hear that Gordon is mean to his staff. 

[buttersister]

I've got 600,000 reasons to believe it would be hellacious working for Joe. Perhaps some things have improved since Batalli bit it, but I'd keep an ear open if I were the New York State AG.

[mertensia]

9 hours ago, theatremouse said:

I'm pretty sure it's less so that they're making them do it, as it is the application specifically asks if you have food allergies (and to what) and warns you that you may be asked to cook with those items nonetheless, and by agreeing to appear on the show you're agreeing to do that. In other words, they're warned up front "we cannot make the set an allergen-free zone for you" and choose to participate anyway.

Yeah, you know, I see "anaphylactic shock" on an application I'm either not picking them or not using the item they're allergic to until (if) they're booted.

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Colorado David said:

Ah. I could see him being a ball breaker as a boss. I wonder if most chefs aren't temperamental as bosses? I never worked in that world so I don't know. 

Actually, and this is based on decades of anecdotal evidence, I'd say the answer to that question is "yes".  But that's not the entire answer.  Owning and running a restaurant is a high-stress, high-stakes business where the employees have to function as a team and the weakest link can really screw everything up, so owners and chefs tend to become impatient and critical with subordinates.  You can't be thin skinned and work in that business in any capacity.  Actually, this used to be accepted as par for the course by workers in the business, but I think today employees expect to be treated in a nicer fashion.  However, a lot of those people need to look in the mirror too.  Some people in that kind of environment seem to need constant supervision or they just don't put much into their work.  They don't get paid a lot so maybe that's one reason.  But if they can't stand the heat, then maybe working in such a perfectionistic, rigid and high stress environment is not for them and they should "get out of the kitchen" as the saying goes.  Not everybody is cut out for the military either, and there are some parallels, IMO.

[bluepiano]

On 7/23/2021 at 6:33 PM, leighdear said:

Did Lexy actually say nobody taught her to cook?  The article linked on the previous page about her talked about her learning from her mom & from her aunt, who went to culinary school & had a catering company.  LIAR!  OMG, SO.MUCH.LYING!  What is WRONG with her?  She's almost pathological! 

More likely, as someone else posted, she's playing a character that was created for her by the producers. Also, I know active military people with families, and while they don't live in luxury, they are far from having to live on a subsistence level with a $40 weekly food budget. Not only is that a lie, but it's also kind of insulting to the military. 

On 7/25/2021 at 6:43 AM, DougJones said:

and LOL @ waxman saying his restaurant has 2000 people on his wait list. Ooooooooo.  As someone close to NY, I’ll just stick to the local nice restaurants that are still expensive, but not stupidly expensive for what is MAYBE a marginally better meal 

Some people seem to have a need to feel that they belong to the "in group." A few years ago the New York Times did a story saying that a cup cake shop on the lower East Side had the best cupcakes in the city. Shortly after I happened to walk past the shop and there was a line all the way down the block. It was summer and probably about 90 degrees that day. And I thought, no way are their cupcakes that much better than any other bakery that it's worth standing out in the heat. (With wait lists at least you're not literally standing on line).

[Grrarrggh]

1 hour ago, bluepiano said:

More likely, as someone else posted, she's playing a character that was created for her by the producers. Also, I know active military people with families, and while they don't live in luxury, they are far from having to live on a subsistence level with a $40 weekly food budget. Not only is that a lie, but it's also kind of insulting to the military. 

It's not a lie in the United States of America, richest country in the world www.uso.org/stories/2776-u-s-military-family-food-insecurity-how-the-uso-is-trying-to-help#:~:text=A%202019%20Military%20Family%20Advisory%20study%20found%20that,enough%20food%20to%20live%20an%20active%2C%20healthy%20life www.cbsnews.com/news/military-families-food-banks-support/ www.nbcnews.com/news/military/why-are-many-america-s-military-families-going-hungry-n1028886 www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/hungry-heroes-25-percent-military-families-seek-food-aid-n180236 

Need I go on?

[bluepiano]

1 hour ago, Grrarrggh said:

Need I go on?

No, because what I said is based on personal experience, not reading news articles, having been to the home of a friend who is an Air Force sergeant (not a general), living with his family of four in base housing.

[Grrarrggh]

21 minutes ago, bluepiano said:

No, because what I said is based on personal experience, not reading news articles, having been to the home of a friend who is an Air Force sergeant (not a general), living with his family of four in base housing.

I've personally never been homeless or gone into outer space, or been in a home that has identical triplets but it doesn't mean these things don't exist or aren't prevalent. Neither of us (I'm guessing) have been on Masterchef or known someone on it and yet...... 

[dby57]

Why do the chefs use the word Macaroon when they mean Macaron? A Macaron is a light and airy biscuit made with almond flour and egg whites and a Macaroon is made with condensed milk and coconut. The two things couldn't be any different. That is probably why the two different desserts have different names.

[johnmiller]

"This isn't the last you'll see of me" = This IS the last we will see of you. :-) It's like in a horror movie, where you never say "I'll be right back," because you WON'T be right back! When these contestants say that we will be seeing them again, they are pretty much guaranteeing that we won't be seeing them again. I am guessing it is a default exit line when a contestant can't come up with anything else to say on the way out.

[johnmiller]

On 7/25/2021 at 6:31 PM, Colorado David said:

That's why I was thinking it's played up for tv, like GR. So over the top on Hell's Kitchen, but calm and nice on Masterchef. (btw watching early seasons of HK on Tubi, and they don't filter the swearing. I didn't realize how many F bombs get dropped each episode, and the last one I watched dropped the C bomb. Wowzer.)

Okay, NOW I have to watch it! :-)

On 7/25/2021 at 6:31 PM, Colorado David said:

That's why I was thinking it's played up for tv, like GR. So over the top on Hell's Kitchen, but calm and nice on Masterchef. (btw watching early seasons of HK on Tubi, and they don't filter the swearing. I didn't realize how many F bombs get dropped each episode, and the last one I watched dropped the C bomb. Wowzer.)

It's hard to believe a majority of what goes on with "Reality" Television. So, with Joe, who knows? But, he has a choice of what to do on TV, and he's chosen, or has agreed to, being an asshole on Master Chef.

[johnmiller]

On 7/25/2021 at 8:43 AM, DougJones said:

and LOL @ waxman saying his restaurant has 2000 people on his wait list. Ooooooooo.  As someone close to NY, I’ll just stick to the local nice restaurants that are still expensive, but not stupidly expensive for what is MAYBE a marginally better meal 

That was hilarious! And, the fact that they had to keep bringing it up made it even funnier. The whole point of these hyper-expensive, "hip" restaurants is to separate the rich from their money. My gosh! It's just food. I can go into a Sam's Club and get essentially the same Prime Meat that these restaurants get, and create a good dish for a tiny fraction of the price.

[MBJ]

On 7/25/2021 at 7:52 PM, Grrarrggh said:

I find it a bit funny that after one of the hosts shouts how much time is left you see nearly every competitor looking at the clock, as if the host has lied to them. 

It's a weird human reaction isn't it?  I'm sure I would do the same.  I think the visual confirmation helps people. 

[illdoc]

12 hours ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

I think the visual confirmation helps people. 

Have ever been in a store or on the street and some stranger says to someone else "It's 12:15" (or whatever)? Don't you immediately look at your watch to check?

[MBJ]

Yeah?  That's exactly what I said...

Edited July 27, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Colorado David]

I think we all assume people are lying :) 

[MBJ]

1 hour ago, Colorado David said:

I think we all assume people are lying :) 

I think it's an immediate knee-jerk reaction of disbelief.  Somebody says "It's Tuesday" and your brain that might not be on top of things thinks, IT IS??? and glances at the calendar to make sure.

[leighdear]

Visual confirmation of things like the time on a clock register more firmly on the brain than the auditory cues do.   

It's like the phenomena of putting on your glasses when you hear something, so you can visually confirm it. 

It's not so much a trust thing as a visual processing thing.  In those high-stress situations, what you see has more lasting impact than what you hear.   

Edited July 28, 2021 by leighdear

[connieinnc]

On 7/26/2021 at 3:28 PM, bluepiano said:

No, because what I said is based on personal experience, not reading news articles, having been to the home of a friend who is an Air Force sergeant (not a general), living with his family of four in base housing.

MY experience was different. Base housing was not available because higher ranked persons had preference. It was VERY hard to make ends meet, even purchasing 99% of our food on base (and I was nursing the children, so their food cost was low). It depends on the rank, the location, and the availability of base housing.  A sergeant with a spouse but no children would get housing before an airman with a spouse and 3 children.

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by connieinnc

[Colorado David]

If YOU were to go on Masterchef, what dish would you prepare? I don't have a signature dish, I guess that would be step one. I can't make pasta (correction, just never have, guess I could learn); I can make an ok chili; I do an ok steak on the grill; fish not a good choice for me; never made a sausage; soups I've not made from scratch; I guess I'd be elim'd quickly.

[leighdear]

6 hours ago, connieinnc said:

 A sergeant with a spouse but no children would get housing before an airman with a spouse and 3 children.

Definitely an example of the phrase "Rank has it's privileges'".  And also that, if the US Military wanted it's personnel to have a spouse & children, they would have been issued to them.  

The military is really just like any other job.  You're required to go where you're assigned, do the tasks you're trained to do and sometimes put your life at risk.  Like cops & firefighters.  But unlike private sector jobs, you and your family DO automatically get healthcare, guaranteed cost-of-living raises and if not actual housing, then a housing allowance.  Of course, you can't just clean out your desk and quit. 

And like other jobs, when somebody decides to marry & have children, their personal decision to do so doesn't mean they automatically get more money to subsidize that personal choice.  Their peers that choose to remain single and child-free get the same pay and benefits. 

Many private companies recognize domestic partners as benefit recipients, where the Military only recognizes for benefit purposes, a legal spouse.  There are plusses and minuses for every job, and it's a fact that most military members are underpaid from a straight salary perspective, but they also have a level of security that comes from signing that contract with the US Government.  None of the Military was cleared out when COVID came around.  We certainly can't say that about the private sector. 

And on topic, my signature dish may sound strange, but it is sublime: Cream of Squash and Crab soup.  Amazeballs, without question!  Took me years to perfect, but I'd put it up against any pro offering.  

Edited July 29, 2021 by leighdear

[Colorado David]

14 hours ago, leighdear said:

And on topic, my signature dish may sound strange, but it is sublime: Cream of Squash and Crab soup.  Amazeballs, without question!  Took me years to perfect, but I'd put it up against any pro offering.  

Yum, I'd try that. I would never have thought of combining those two.

[fishcakes]

16 hours ago, Colorado David said:

If YOU were to go on Masterchef, what dish would you prepare?

Back when Masterchef was new, I had a regular dish in the rotation that I said I would use: a miso-glazed cod and cold soba salad. Then my mom and I would imitate Gordon tasting it. "You've overcooked the cod. And why is there so much ginger? My god! The whole thing is ginger. And there's more ginger in the salad. Why?"

[Colorado David]

20 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Back when Masterchef was new, I had a regular dish in the rotation that I said I would use: a miso-glazed cod and cold soba salad. Then my mom and I would imitate Gordon tasting it. "You've overcooked the cod. And why is there so much ginger? My god! The whole thing is ginger. And there's more ginger in the salad. Why?"

I have never tried soba that I'm aware of (ditto miso). That sounds lovely tho. I need to eat out more 😋

 

i can't hear GR without hearing 'donkey!!!!!'

Edited July 29, 2021 by Colorado David

[eel21788]

21 hours ago, Colorado David said:

If YOU were to go on Masterchef, what dish would you prepare? 

I'd start with either lavender tea bread or scallion pancakes. I'll have to get back to you as to what I'd make to go along with them.

[Colorado David]

26 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

I'd start with either lavender tea bread or scallion pancakes. I'll have to get back to you as to what I'd make to go along with them.

Not tried either, but both sound interesting. Is tea bread special compared to regular bread?

[eel21788]

1 minute ago, Colorado David said:

Not tried either, but both sound interesting. Is tea bread special compared to regular bread?

It's more along the lines of zucchini bread, banana bread or even coffee cake, not a yeast bread.

[leighdear]

On 7/29/2021 at 12:05 PM, Colorado David said:

i can't hear GR without hearing 'donkey!!!!!'

Or calling every guy "Big Boy".  I don't think we ever hear that on MC.  

[iwantcookies]

When is a new episode airing?

[jewel21]

August 11, 2021

[Leeds]

I'm as shocked as Morimoto that someone (Autumn?) who claims to love Japanese flavours and has travelled to Japan many times has never eaten fish.  I want someone competing on a show such as Masterchef to want to explore new flavours if they are available to them.

Hey, Aaron, monkfish does not have a "big strong flavor" - it's a mild, almost sweet, "unfishy" tasting fish.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Leeds

[AZChristian]

9 hours ago, Leeds said:

Hey, Aaron, monkfish does not have a "big strong flavor" - it's a mild, almost sweet, "unfishy" tasting fish.

Having never (to my knowledge) eaten it, I looked it up.  According the the Food Network website, "Monkfish is known for its tight, meaty white flesh that is often compared to lobster meat. It's not only similar to lobster in texture, but also in flavor. It has a mild, sweet flavor without a trace of fishiness."

Kind of makes me doubt Aaron's palate.

[Leeds]

17 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Having never (to my knowledge) eaten it, I looked it up.  According the the Food Network website, "Monkfish is known for its tight, meaty white flesh that is often compared to lobster meat. It's not only similar to lobster in texture, but also in flavor. It has a mild, sweet flavor without a trace of fishiness."

Kind of makes me doubt Aaron's palate.

That, and, as often happens, it makes me question his knowledge of any cuisine outside Mexican.  For example, in the episode with Sherry Yard, Sherry was worried that one cake might be too dense (it wasn't).  For another bake almost immediately afterwards, Aaron looked at another similar cake and said, "Looks great, nice and dense."  (Or words to that effect.)

[mlp]

11 hours ago, Leeds said:

That, and, as often happens, it makes me question his knowledge of any cuisine outside Mexican.

I've been saying that since his days on Chopped.  He often made comments that even I knew were way off.  Some things never change.

[WescottF1]

Monkfish might have a funky odor.  I remember an episode of Hell's Kitchen where a cheftestant threw a bunch of it in the trash thinking it was bad,  Sous Chef Scott pulled it out and said, "It smells like monkfish..."

[MBJ]

This was a really fun episode, I really enjoyed it.  It was nice to see how inspired the chefs were by the Roy Choi Street Food challenge.

It's also nice to see how insanely supportive the chefs are with each other -- well mostly that woman with the long, curly/wavy brown hair (Anna?). She screams for all the other chefs.

How odd that the editors spliced in Autumn awkwardly saying "Okay...." both in the recap for last week's episode, and also towards the end of this episode.  (Unless I'm wrong?)

Spoiler

No elimination?  What the fuck?

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[Grrarrggh]

44 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

 

  Hide contents

No elimination?  What the fuck?

 

They have to get in a certain amount of episodes. 

[preeya]

Off for two weeks and they return with a non-elim. WTF

What's up with JoeB, he seemed kind of mellow when he wasn't eating a brillo pad?

[mertensia]

32 minutes ago, preeya said:

Off for two weeks and they return with a non-elim. WTF

What's up with JoeB, he seemed kind of mellow when he wasn't eating a brillo pad?

He has his favorites. He was always defending Subha, for example though he always gave the impression that he couldn't explain why, precisely.

Okay, has anyone heard of Roy Choi?  

I have never heard of strawberry shortcake pops. Or whatever they were.

Edited August 12, 2021 by mertensia

[preeya]

26 minutes ago, mertensia said:

I have never heard of strawberry shortcake pops. Or whatever they were.

I may be wrong, but perhaps the strawberry shortcake ice cream pops were a Good Humor product.

2 minutes ago, preeya said:

I may be wrong, but perhaps the strawberry shortcake ice cream pops were a Good Humor product.