Mastechef!

Master chef goes large has been back for a few weeks and it is good fun,. It whips along and particularly early in the week provides enough cringe making disasters to keep you involved. The mix of challenges is also interesting although they all seem to involve shouting “yes chef” all the time. The two judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace are suitably nasty in their marking. I do wonder whether some times the production company favour some contestants for “colour” or balance and this effects the votes. Also wouldn’t 3 judges make decisions easier.
My only gripe about the show is a bit self defeating in that it is called masterchef and I think it’s too cheffy. There’s lots of talk of “plates of food” (not meals) of “clean favours” and the “wow factor“! We all are expected to belief that everyone on the show wants to be a top chef which always begs the question why they just don’t got to catering college (or daren’t they give up their jobs as “top city analyst“). Also have you noticed that the one who says “I’m a really adventurous cook who likes to experiment “usually makes something horrid with mango in it.

The programme is also skewed to high French cooking. In the last series an Indian cook was encouraged to broaden her skills to French and Italian . Which generally is a good thing but the guy who started cooking French food ended cooking French food and won the show. The narrow time format also discriminates against some of the worlds great dishes. It’s hard to cook oxtail in an hour and a half, or soften a chick pea, steam puddings take several hours and most classic stews are better the next day. So we get those tiny sprigs of lamb, shallow fried chicken breasts etc.

I think there needs to be a Mastercook show ( or to be more to true to life Mistresscook) designed for the champion home cook, not like old mastechef, a celebration of middle class foodie dinner party nonsense but good day to day food. There could the “beat the moped “ where you have to cook a meal in the time it takes the take way delivery boy to arrive. The “3 starving kids better than MacDonald’s challenge“, the sexy packed lunch . Of course dinner party food can come into it but the winner would be the cook who spent longest at the table chatting to their friends not crying in the kitchen because they can’t make sugar bowls like the James Martin. Oh and contestant would loose points for putting “off” after every cooking verb!