Masterchef (US) - General Discussion

[susannot]

Ethiopian food is not too complicated:  injera accompanied by a spicy stew.  But of course young Shane would not have known that.

Edited July 21, 2022 by susannot

[Leeds]

4 hours ago, susannot said:

Ethiopian food is not too complicated:  injera accompanied by a spicy stew.  But of course young Shane would not have known that.

I agree, but at the same time I don't believe they weren't all given pointers/classes in advance about their food/regions.  I think Shane's lack of cooking experience was as much of a factor in his loss as his lack of knowledge of a specific cuisine.  One of the other countries was Morocco - if more than a couple of the contestants could point out anywhere close to Morocco on a map or identify the type of cuisine it represents I'd be surprised.

If Bri keeps going with the lip filler the way she is, they'll be exploding some time soon.

I'm really looking forward to the day that one of Shanika's eyelashes falls into her food while she's looking down her supercilious nose.

Can't wait for next week to hear how often mille feuille is mispronounced.

Edited July 21, 2022 by Leeds
Changed can't to don't.

[Chicago Redshirt]

I wish the chefs realized there was more to Southern food than fried chicken/catfish.

It also is fundamentally unfair that there was such a range of cuisines, such that some would lend themselves to a fusion and some would be way harder/complex. 

I almost never cook beyond microwaving things, but I could easily come up with a concept behind Southern/Jamaican, Southern/Mexican and some of these others. Southern/Israeli and Southern/Ethiopian would be pretty difficult.

It seemed weird that Derek was having such unabashed stankface at Christian doing well. I get that they had friction during that team challenge a while back, but it doesn't seem a good look for Derek.

[AZChristian]

I thought it was very rude that when they announced Emily as one of the top three, the camera went to Shanika before it went to Emily.

Production needs to stop perpetuating this "feud."  Let each woman be awarded - or not - according to her own merits.

[rhofmovalley]

58 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

I thought it was very rude that when they announced Emily as one of the top three, the camera went to Shanika before it went to Emily.

Production needs to stop perpetuating this "feud."  Let each woman be awarded - or not - according to her own merits.

But the producers know we all watch because we want to see train wreck DRAMA with contestants having to be pulled off one another. 

🙄

[AZChristian]

50 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

But the producers know THINK we all watch because we want to see train wreck DRAMA with contestants having to be pulled off one another. 

🙄

Fixed it for ya.

[rhofmovalley]

1 minute ago, AZChristian said:

Fixed it for ya.

I didn't really believe that, which is why I included the eye roll emoji.

I call it the "Real Housewives Syndrome". The popularity of that crap show leads producers to believe everyone wants that for every "reality" show.

[AZChristian]

13 minutes ago, rhofmovalley said:

I didn't really believe that, which is why I included the eye roll emoji.

I call it the "Real Housewives Syndrome". The popularity of that crap show leads producers to believe everyone wants that for every "reality" show.

I figured you were kidding.  

I've never watched one episode of any "Real Housewives" show.  I've seen enough just in commercials.

"Real" housewives are more likely to be dressed in jeans and t-shirts and actually DO housework.  These women have to spend so much time and money on their appearances that they don't have time to do anything else.

[Leeds]

2 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It seemed weird that Derek was having such unabashed stankface at Christian doing well. I get that they had friction during that team challenge a while back, but it doesn't seem a good look for Derek.

Probably the producers/editors, as usual, linking shots from completely unrelated parts of the show.

[xcrayon2215x]

6 hours ago, AZChristian said:

I thought it was very rude that when they announced Emily as one of the top three, the camera went to Shanika before it went to Emily.

Production needs to stop perpetuating this "feud."  Let each woman be awarded - or not - according to her own merits.

The producers are trying to make this feud a thing, whether Shanika or Emily want it be one or not.

Edited July 21, 2022 by xcrayon2215x

[Andyourlittledog2]

I could have died when Ramsey said Bri's dish was too phallic to eat.  I didn't see it at first but then I realized that the judges were looking at it from the opposite side and there it was!  lol  Too phallic indeed.  Poor Bri. That should follow her around for awhile.

Shayne being given such a difficult combo was unfortunate. I agree that they should all get easy combos or difficult ones. One person getting something pretty easy like Jamaican or Mexican and others getting Ethiopian or Israeli was unfair. It's great if you just happen to know that difficult cuisine but how many contestants is that going to be?

[mlp]

10 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

It seemed weird that Derek was having such unabashed stankface at Christian doing well. I get that they had friction during that team challenge a while back, but it doesn't seem a good look for Derek.

Derek clearly thought his dish would make top 3.  I interpreted his look as frustration and maybe disgust with the judging.  I didn't see it as directed personally at Christian.  

I thought from the judges' conversation about the elimination round dishes that Bri was surely going so I was quite surprised when they sent Shayne home.  I must say that Bri is much cuter as a human than she was as a live Barbie doll last time around.

I imagine they all were briefed about their countries before cooking started but I still think asking them to cook cuisines completely out of their wheelhouses was unfair.  Fusing two tastes you're already familiar with has to be easier than working with flavors you haven't been used to at all.

Edited July 22, 2022 by mlp
correct something

[PhoneCop]

I can't believe Chinese, Mexican, and Italian were even options. Obviously there are people who skirt those cuisines their entire lives, but they're probably not the same people vying to be on a competitive cooking show where you're expected to have a larger-than-average repertoire.

Did anyone get Hungary? Because now I want a Southern goulash.

[seacliffsal]

On 7/20/2022 at 11:00 PM, mertensia said:

They need to stop with the uneven range. Either everyone gets tough countries like Ethiopia or no one does. I would be okay if this was a professional chef competition.

Poor Shayne. He got screwed.

I'm tired of Bowen. This means he'll be here til the end.

I really want to second this.  In no way were the assignments even close to being fair.  I know that the argument would be that the countries were randomly chosen, but I would counter that it was still not an equitable distribution of challenge.  How would Christian have fared had he chosen Ethiopia?  And, it seemed like for the second week in a row the winner was one who did not have to stray out of their comfort level to produce the winning dish.  IMO Shayne was not long for the competition but I hate the way he went out.  All of the random choices should have been from lesser known/familiar cuisines IMO.

[joanne3482]

They had 16 people, they could have divided the chefs and had 4 chefs cook the same southern/country combination so 4 with southern/Mexico, 4 with southern/Italian, 4 with southern/Chinese and 4 with southern/ whatever else. It was completely inequitable and I didn't like that. (Plus of the three in the bottom I liked Shayne the best and he was the one I didn't want to go home)

[cameron]

I actually thought that Shane with his CIA training might have gone a lot further.  And I give him high marks for his professionalism in how he addressed Gordon.  It was always Chef, not ever Gordon. 

[mertensia]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:51 AM, rhofmovalley said:

I didn't really believe that, which is why I included the eye roll emoji.

I call it the "Real Housewives Syndrome". The popularity of that crap show leads producers to believe everyone wants that for every "reality" show.

What bewildered me is they must see that competitive shows like Making It are copying GBBO. No one is copying Masterchef. Do they not realize that a good competition show doesn't need to manufacture drama? 

[Chyromaniac]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:34 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

It also is fundamentally unfair that there was such a range of cuisines, such that some would lend themselves to a fusion and some would be way harder/complex.

Maybe- but honestly, IMO Ethiopian should be on the easy* list.  I mean, look at the photo @susannot posted- one of the signature dishes is basically a meat stew.  Once you know the flavor profile of your country- which I agree with other posters that they all must have been coached on, presumably that’s how he settled on coffee- it should be fairly easy to come up with a “southern” fusion (berbere spiced chili, chicken or beef and dumplings, etc).

Beyond that,  I am kind of disappointed to see Ethiopian being treated as an inherently “worse” draw than the other cuisines represented.  I feel like that’s the kind of thinking that continues to paint cultures outside of the mainstream as “strange” at best, or “bad” at worst.  Like, when Shane dismissively said he was feeling, “as good as you can cooking Ethiopian food” - hope he never has a job interview with Samuelsson… And overall Masterchef should be looking for ways to elevate unfamiliar cuisines, not treat them like the short end of the stick.

In any case, I don’t think Shane got screwed just by getting Ethiopia.  He got sent home because he made some big mistakes, both in the conception and execution of his dish.  But, that happened to Bowen and Bri too- his flaws were just worse.  Arguably Shane let the cuisine get into his head- but again that’s not Ethiopia’s fault.  Other people (notably Brandi and Willie) got countries they were unfamiliar with, and at least made passable efforts.  Ultimately, Shane can be successful cooking whatever he wants once he graduates and becomes a professional cook.  I just wish he- and especially the show- had been more open-minded in this moment.

*Otherwise, this is how I’d rate the fusion options, based on their compatibility with southern cuisine (of course, ymmv):

Easy:

Jamaica, Morocco, India, Ethiopia, France

Medium:

Mexico, Spain, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand 

Hard:

Italy, Israel, Greece, Japan, China

Edited July 23, 2022 by Chyromaniac

[mertensia]

On 7/21/2022 at 11:51 AM, rhofmovalley said:

I don't consider Ethiopian worse; I consider it harder. That's a big difference. And being lectured for maybe an hour on the cuisine doesn't mean you'll do well making it. Look at the technicals from GBBO; sure they've eaten (for example) Jaffa cakes. Even with a partial recipe people still muffed it. blockquote widget

Edited July 23, 2022 by mertensia

[Chicago Redshirt]

1 hour ago, Chyromaniac said:

Maybe- but honestly, IMO Ethiopian should be on the easy* list.  I mean, look at the photo @susannot posted- one of the signature dishes is basically a meat stew.  Once you know the flavor profile of your country- which I agree with other posters that they all must have been coached on, presumably that’s how he settled on coffee- it should be fairly easy to come up with a “southern” fusion (berbere spiced chili, chicken or beef and dumplings, etc).

Beyond that,  I am kind of disappointed to see Ethiopian being treated as an inherently “worse” draw than the other cuisines represented.  I feel like that’s the kind of thinking that continues to paint cultures outside of the mainstream as “strange” at best, or “bad” at worst.  Like, when Shane dismissively said he was feeling, “as good as you can cooking Ethiopian food” - hope he never has a job interview with Samuelsson… And overall Masterchef should be looking for ways to elevate unfamiliar cuisines, not treat them like the short end of the stick.

In any case, I don’t think Shane got screwed just by getting Ethiopia.  He got sent home because he made some big mistakes, both in the conception and execution of his dish.  But, that happened to Bowen and Bri too- his flaws were just worse.  Arguably Shane let the cuisine get into his head- but again that’s not Ethiopia’s fault.  Other people (notably Brandi and Willie) got countries they were unfamiliar with, and at least made passable efforts.  Ultimately, Shane can be successful cooking whatever he wants once he graduates and becomes a professional cook.  I just wish he- and especially the show- had been more open-minded in this moment.

*Otherwise, this is how I’d rate the fusion options, based on their compatibility with southern cuisine (of course, ymmv):

Easy:

Jamaica, Morocco, India, Ethiopia, France

Medium:

Mexico, Spain, Peru, Vietnam, Thailand 

Hard:

Italy, Israel, Greece, Japan, China

I dunno...again as a non-cook, I don't know much about Moroccan cuisines, and Peruvian food. And I think I could come up with at least a concept for Italian, Japan, Chinese.

I  have no idea how to execute them and the actual version might not work out in terms of flavor profile, but here goes for some of the options:

Italian:

Pizza/pasta with various southern influences (i.e. fried chicken, blackened shrimp, smoked/fried oysters, collard greens instead of spinach, smothered pork chops)

Polenta/grits fusion

Jambalaya/risotto type deal

Italian wedding soup w/ gumbo ingredients or spicing 

Chinese

Southern egg rolls or bao

Chicken-fried steak fried rice/Jambalaya fried rice

Sweet and sour chicken and waffles

Japanese

The Japanese have a fried chicken, so there could be a play on that.

Similarly, Japanese rice dishes could work

I'm not a fan so much of sushi but maybe a version of it using either cooked or raw catfish or oysters could work?

18 hours ago, cameron said:

I actually thought that Shane with his CIA training might have gone a lot further.  And I give him high marks for his professionalism in how he addressed Gordon.  It was always Chef, not ever Gordon. 

Heh. The first thing to come to mind when I see "CIA" is not Culinary Institute of America. I was trying to imagine Shayne as a spy. "My name is Train. Shayne the Train."

[potatoradio]

I would definitely have preferred an equal playing field and everyone try to work with the same two cuisines. It would have been really interesting to see what everyone came up with. I was annoyed that I didn't see everyone's fusion dish - Greece/Southern had me really curious. That would have stumped me more than Ethiopia in terms of "what the eff do I even put together?"

And the countries that really would have been difficult (IMHO), such as Finland or Russia (northern countries with completely different flavor profiles), weren't even choices, so, no, I didn't feel terrible for anyone. I mean...lingonberry bbq? Catfish borscht? Yikes. *

I think the hardest aspect of blending two cuisines with a pseudo-similar spice profile would be not creating something that just tastes murky and like you dumped an entire spice drawer into the dish. India and Ethiopia, I think, would have been really tough fusions for which to create a spice blend that maintained clean flavors. 

I also just started watching MasterChef Canada so when I got back to American style, I'm always put off all over again by how much I detest watching "characters" mugging for the camera versus actual home cooks. And I haven't gotten to the Australia version yet, which I hear is even better. 

*unless, of course, you've studied Marcus Samuelsson, who figured out Scandanavian/Ethiopian  fusion just  leeeetle bit....

Edited July 24, 2022 by potatoradio
Because after I posted how hard Finish and southern would be, I thought, Der? Marcus Samuelsson? And OCD tendencies to correct the record.

[MartyQui]

I would have had more trouble with the “Southern” part of the fusion than pretty much any of the cuisines.  It’s just not a thing I grew up with.  I guess my touch points would be fried chicken and sweet potato pie?

[bluepiano]

Even being lobbed a softball with Jamaican, I thought that Chrisitan showed a lack of creativity. Adding jerk spices to fried chicken? I could've done that! Yet he won the challenge. This is the second week in a row where someone won immunity with a very simple, straightforward dish, over other chefs who embraced the challenge and did something that showed a lot more creativity and ambition. (Amanda won the week before just by making falafel.)

The inconsistency of the judging on this show makes me crazy. We are always hearing "is that really master chef?" when someone makes a straightforward dish, but now 2 weeks in a row someone has won for doing just that. It's a reminder that, like all reality shows, there is a script that's followed. They decide in advance who they want to be Top 10 or Top 5, and there's almost nothing those chefs can do that will get them eliminated. You'll notice that if one of the Chosen Ones makes a dish that looks like an absolute disaster, the judges can always say "the dish is a mess, but your flavors are good." And since we don't taste the dish, how can we argue?

Edited July 25, 2022 by bluepiano

[rhofmovalley]

Also, if a "chosen one" made a dish that wasn't particularly successful one day, the judges can just choose not to taste their dish up in front. That way none of us will know how good or bad it really was.

[Chicago Redshirt]

So who would you say are the Chosen Ones of this season? 

If I were to pick right now, it would be something like Derrick, Christian, Brandi, Emily and Amanda. 

Edited July 26, 2022 by Chicago Redshirt

[susannot]

On 7/23/2022 at 2:16 AM, mertensia said:

I don't consider Ethiopian worse; I consider it harder. That's a big difference. And being lectured for maybe an hour on the cuisine doesn't mean you'll do well making it. Look at the technicals from GBBO; sure they've eaten (for example) Jaffa cakes. Even with a partial recipe people still muffed it. blockquote widget

I don't consider it hard; I just considered it unfamiliar for young Shane.  Someone said he went to the CIA, really?  In that case he should have known about many cuisines but not necessarily Ethiopian, I think.

[xcrayon2215x]

The Derrick/Christian rivalry is turning into quite the rivalry. At least it doesn't seem faked like the Emily/Shanika one. Dara's cake looked quite nice, I was surprised that Derrick was not in the Top 3 over Amanda. It was Tommy's time to go.

[vibeology]

It is basically impossible to make a Napoleon in 90 minutes if you have to make your puff from scratch. I don't make my own puff because it's time consuming but I do know that it should rest in the fridge for an hour or two before it gets rolled out and baked. The fact that she had anything to show was pretty amazing even if it looked awful.

When Joe had to go and translate Mille Feuille into Italian for no reason I rolled my eyes so hard I might have hurt myself. It's a FRENCH dessert! 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I am waiting for the day that one of the top 3 looks good on the surface but actually sucks. That's got to happen at some point, right? To justify all the dramatic pauses before commercial breaks? To have the judges be like, "Well, actually we're now going to put you in the bottom three because this tastes foul/is raw." 

Google tells me that there is an actual Italian dish millefoglie, which seems similar enough to mille feuille that Italy could have stolen the idea from France or vice-versa. So it may not be Joe completely talking out of his ass or being like how Star Trek's running joke where Chekov insists that things were invented in Russia.

[AZChristian]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

So it may not be Joe completely talking out of his ass or being like how Star Trek's running joke where Chekov insists that things were invented in Russia.

I don't often laugh until after a full cup of coffee, but this tickled my funny bone.  Thanks!

Live long and prosper, but don't beam down to any planets with Kirk, "redshirt."  LOL.

[jackjill89]

Thank goodness Tommy is gone. He was a walking ball of anxiety. Made me tense just watching him.

Christian and Derrick can both go any time. I don't care for either one of them, especially Christian. 

[rhofmovalley]

Tommy was not going to win this thing. And yeah, he made ME nervous just watching him!

Seems nice enough though.

[mlp]

4 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Tommy was not going to win this thing. And yeah, he made ME nervous just watching him!

Seems nice enough though.

I was rather fond of Tommy during his season but I knew he wouldn't go far this time, partly because he gets so nervous when stressed and partly because it seemed obvious to me that Gordon doesn't like him.  I wondered why he was invited back and why he agreed.  

[DoctorK]

5 hours ago, rhofmovalley said:

Tommy was not going to win this thing.

I agree. I know that a lot of people liked him (because he was so cute?) but he grated on my nerves. His over the top posturing, grossly exaggerated facial expressions, over enunciation and gestures just seemed too much of a forced effort to create a winning TV persona. His scifi spaceship silver suit tonight just added to my annoyance, just too too much. More a showman than a chef. As always, YMMV.

[mertensia]

Dara's cake looked good. I actually liked Joe's laugh and amused "of course she did" when Aaron mentioned it looked like she'd counted the blueberries.

Yeah, the mille feuille was not fair. It would be like expecting a classic Charlotte Russe.

[oliviabenson]

Well Tommy is gone… Bri or Shelly are next.

[GaT]

Was Tommy's really worse than Shelly's? Her dessert wasn't even identifiable as a Mille Feuille.

[Chicago Redshirt]

10 hours ago, GaT said:

Was Tommy's really worse than Shelly's? Her dessert wasn't even identifiable as a Mille Feuille.

As ugly as Shelly's attempt was, it has a few things going over Tommy's.

1. Tommy's sins included not paying attention to the advice the chefs were giving him. Repeatedly. Honestly, I think a chef who blows off advice from Gordon and co. is likely to be kicked off, or at least, to be threatened with a boot, no matter how STUNNING their dish might be. The chefs don't want to feel disrespected or to keep someone around who won't listen to them.

2. I think the chefs grade on a curve, or if they don't, they should. Shelly had one of the hardest deserts available, and she took it voluntarily. Tommy had what had to be one of the easiest deserts available and he still f---ed up. At least, I feel like I could make that tart with the benefit of a recipe. I could almost never make mille feuille because that takes plating expertise and other technique that I just don't have. Even if they were equivalently bad, Shelly deserves an edge for having the gonads to try something difficult.

3. But the dishes weren't equivalently bad.  As ugly as Shelley's was, at least some of it tasted OK according to the judges. Tommy's desert was RAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWRRR. There is IMO no way to justify keeping a cook who serves raw food over one who serves food that has problems but at least is fundamentally edible and unlikely to make you sick. The only question was whether the other cook's raw dish might save him. 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Chicago Redshirt

[snarts]

So incredibly glad to see Tommy go. That was long overdue.

Obvious that Joe so wants to bang Brie "it actually tastes better than it looks...it's creamy good"  Uh huh.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, snarts said:

So incredibly glad to see Tommy go. That was long overdue.

Obvious that Joe so wants to bang Brie "it actually tastes better than it looks...it's creamy good"  Uh huh.

Just like Bri! Hey-o!

Edited July 29, 2022 by Chicago Redshirt

[bluepiano]

20 hours ago, jackjill89 said:

Christian and Derrick can both go any time. I don't care for either one of them, especially Christian. 

Yeah, his "there can only be one alpha dog" comment was asinine and borderline offensive towards the other contestants. So it's not about cooking, it's about who's the most macho? Where does that leave the women?

This show loves a rivalry, real or contrived. My theory is that in the previous week Christian won immunity because they knew the winner was going to pick the order chefs chose their deserts, and it was an opportunity for Christian to stick it to Derrick and add more fuel to the fire.

10 hours ago, GaT said:

Was Tommy's really worse than Shelly's? Her dessert wasn't even identifiable as a Mille Feuille.

But Shelly is one of the chosen ones and clearly a personal favorite of Gordon's. Different contestants are always judged by different standards, depending on whether the show wants to keep them around because it's thought they make good TV. I think that Dara is also in for a long run because of the "former Master Chef Junior contestant makes good" storyline. 

A few weeks back there was a young woman from New York who was eliminated. As soon as I saw the bottom three, I knew she was toast, because the other two were show favorites and she didn't have much personality. As evidenced by the fact that I can't even remember her name. 

[seacliffsal]

Instead of giving Amanda so many talking heads, I wish they had shown everyone's desserts.  I really wanted to see what they all looked like.

I agree with others that Shelley is a "chosen one" along with Dara and Amanda.  I think the producers were surprised that the rivalry between Emily and Shanika never appeared so are building up Derek and Christian into a rivalry.  But, excuse me, how can ANYONE utter the sentence that there is only room for one alpha when Gordon is standing right there?  I know Christian meant as competitors, but, come on, Gordon was in the room.  I'm actually surprised that nobody told Christian to stop it because, you know, Gordon...

[Totale]

My wife pointed out that while Gabriel did well enough in his prior season that Gordon actually paid for him to go to culinary school, this season he's been the Invisible Man.  He was onscreen (in the background) last night for about 15 seconds - he may have been in the bottom once but otherwise he's not there.  We're wondering what he did to piss TPTB off.

[Colorado David]

I didn't even realize he was still on there. 

[DEL901]

Maybe it was mentioned before, but it was news to me…Fred is studying with Tosi.   That was nice to hear.  

[Leeds]

On 7/29/2022 at 10:20 AM, bluepiano said:

Yeah, his "there can only be one alpha dog" comment was asinine and borderline offensive towards the other contestants. So it's not about cooking, it's about who's the most macho? Where does that leave the women?

There was nothing "borderline" about it.

[mertensia]

I'm really surprised they got rid of Shelly.

Joe looked decent in his gamblers outfit.

[Leeds]

52 minutes ago, mertensia said:

I'm really surprised they got rid of Shelly.

I'm not surprised - being team captain is the kiss of death.

[Chicago Redshirt]

In addition to Shelley being team captain, it's not clear that there was a single person on the Blue Team who screwed up the most. Christian had an underdone steak (although I wouldn't classify it as rawwwwwwwrr....I'd eat that in a heartbeat), but overall seemed to do OK. I'm not sure what Shanika's contribution was other than to make the mediocre compound butter and to side-eye stuff. Emily was just kind of there. Brandi cut vegetables poorly but is that a bootable offense?

Shelly is also just kind of forgettable. Like most of the other remaining contestants have some sort of hook. 

They didn't give the final tally but it seemed like the Red Team won in a walk.

Weren't the teams supposed to both have a starch and the blue team didn't bother with one?

I hate that Derrick gets to voice the "I'm so awesome and you should have picked me first so you will pay for disrespecting me" line. That said, I wish I had more insight into why neither Shelly nor Bri apparently wanted him on their team. Like I could see the notion of trying to have him and Christian on the same team might be a bad idea. 

[mertensia]

The blue team had yams, didn't they? I think that counts as a starch?