Election-Free Zone: Is Masterchef too hard?

melon says:

01:51pm | 20/07/10

LMAO beagle!

DougB says:

12:35pm | 20/07/10

Um Daisyduke, Two and a Half Men is back, and always has been.  It screens on Channel 9 whereas MC is on 10.  Maybe you could have solved your sickness with the remote!

Tim says:

01:10pm | 20/07/10

Yes,
but its also not Master Asian Chef or Master Spice Chef or Master Sushi Chef all of which have been featured heavily.
Cooking a cake allows them to weed out some of the competitors who have been surviving simply because the show has allowed them to cook their favourite foods every episode.
They had four hours when they probably should have given them five, but hey its meant to be tough.

ToWhit says:

03:21pm | 20/07/10

These Masterchef people cannot even cook anything as basic as scones.  If you cannot cook something as simple as that, then in no way are you are chef.  One of the true tests of a good chef, is their capacity to cook the simple things properly.  Say, steak and chips - but done properly, a roast - but done properly, and omlette but done properly.  None of these halfwits seem to have any idea about cooking the basics without either a recipe or overwhelming direction and advice.  If you cannot walk into a kitchen, any kitchen and cook scones or chips you should not even aspire to be called a “chef” let alone cook like one.

Age says:

05:05pm | 20/07/10

@Tim,  I think regardless of the food/cooking styles used, whether its Asian, Japanese, Italian, Greek etc, 
The key point here is that there is an entire industry (patisserie) dedicated to baking cakes .
For a Masterchef, you reasonably expect them to be competent in different styles, however not different forms of cooking.
In my opinion, Baking is a world of difference to Cooking…and producing a good pastry/baked item is almost a science in itself.

@ToWhit ,
I completely agree with you…the basics need to be hammered home.
I think the problem is that ‘modern cooking’ is much too easy compared to the ‘simple’ things.  I’d much rather an ugly simple dish that tastes great compared to some fancily presented dish that is inconvenient to eat and tastes terrible.

MGeorge says:

05:27pm | 20/07/10

Adam
Do you usually slag off everyone you see as different to yourself e g obese housewives are NOT the only people who like to see a dessert done well.
It was sad that Alvin, clearly the diametric opposite to an o.h., got his marching orders, but others without pastry training did much better.It does look like MC want a guy to win this year - someone who will get the pink collar market in - so the money has to be on Adam. Does that make you happy?

MGeorge says:

05:28pm | 20/07/10

Adam
Do you usually slag off everyone you see as different to yourself e g obese housewives are NOT the only people who like to see a dessert done well.
It was sad that Alvin, clearly the diametric opposite to an o.h., got his marching orders, but others without pastry training did much better.It does look like MC want a guy to win this year - someone who will get the pink collar market in - so the money has to be on Adam. Does that make you happy?

Lorraine says:

05:28pm | 21/07/10

Oh Adam!
“obese housewife audience” this sounds a tad sexist…... it is not usually the housewife who is stretched out on the sofa manipulatinbg the remote control now is it?

O says:

02:15pm | 20/07/10

you left out where when they ask should he be in the competition, he has a little cry and says that cooking is his life.

they may be the best ametaur chefs in the county, but I have never served up raw food to anyone.

Timmo says:

05:49am | 21/07/10

Dancan, Yes it is very very boring I agree. Almost all the meals are totally impractical for the average family budget. Restaurant food all the time yuk. And they still dip their fingers in and have a lick and then,wait, they pop them in again. The blokes who run the show seem quite decent blokes tho and the contestants also.

One and a half hours to cook something that the average quality family cooks could knock up in quite easily in one third of the time and then there’s the tears. And I wish that little bald headed italian bloke would have learned to eat with a knife and fork correctly. Got the wings out there flapping everywhere.

These shows like Mastershef and Dancing with the stars get the ratings tho. It sometimes seems to me that the more problems with the world falling apart everywhere then the more of these cooking and dancing shows we get on TV just to make us all happy and divert our attentions away from the real issues that are facing us all. But viewers like it and that’s what sells advertising, which is the only reason for the commercial stations existing anyway.

They must be making a squillion out of it so I don’t think it’s going to go away soon. But that’s what it really is about, it’s a television business, and is very successful so good luck to them all. But more practical meals would be better I think.

total cynic says:

08:51pm | 20/07/10

Elton’s writing on the reality tv phenomenom is awesome - Chart Throb is the book you’re thinking of, but he also did one about Big Brother too.

I’m an English teacher, so we did a unit about reality tv one year (pop culture and media analysis) and for that I went to a filming of Australian Idol. It was the year that Lee Harding was in it (he had that really crap song “Wasabi”, he was the guy who wished he was in Good Charlotte). Before his performance, during the ad break, the stage manager got up on the microphone and said that there was a comp when Lee was singing - whoever was the best at screaming and dancing along would win a prize. When it came to the judge’s comments after his performance, they all focused on the fact that the crowd “obviously loved him because look at how excited they got”. Yes, a simple example, but once again pointing out the manipulation that happens behind the scenes. The week before, he had been up for elimination. At the same time though, he was really popular and made good tv because he was very different to the rest of the contestants. So bribe the audience to react so that the people at home (who may not have technical knowledge of music) will think he’s great and vote.

6c legs says:

03:06pm | 21/07/10

plus one.

the wonton waste of wonderful food ingredients on MC is, IMO, just a huge finger to anybody struggling on their income. (not to mention the third world)!
One thing the show is good for is this; showing largish people why wearing white, and or, ill fitting clothes for photographic images of any kind will haunt you forever!

am convinced that Mr Preston (am sure he IS a decent bloke) has *never* watched a single episode back… coz if he had, he would know just how *un-appealing* his choices of colour in clothes make him look.  if someone *presented him* with a plate of food that looked like that they wouldn’t have even made it through the first week.

meanwhile, thanks to the ‘hours-of-ads’ i continue to be able to see enough of the show to be able to follow internet threads, & conversations about it while watching the ABC/SBS programs i really wanna watch!

JK says:

10:10am | 21/07/10

I actually thought I they are Coles ads.  How can you possibly wanna watch grass grow over MC.  I says get over yourself.