la latte continue: Summer of Rage?

la latte continue
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Frothy Politics are over?

I was joking recently about the lack of protest about the messed up state of things and some of my friends rightly said this wasn't necessary a good thing.

I think the problem is we've yet to work out what world we want .

Why support the property market when it was bizarre unaffordable joke?

Why help support making cars when we are not sure we want to buy loads of stuff on credit? and as for pensions for bankers well.

The problems seems to be summed up in the slogans our jokey email exchange produced. Oh and the wonderful graphic our S knocked up he's a clever beggar, the sort we need more of to work out what to?

‘PROFITEROLE NOT DOLE!’

"what do we want, we want to go back to loads of cheap credit so we can get even further up to our eyes in debt buying big tellies, cheap bags from matalan and ready meals, when do we want it now"

"no taxation without relocation, relocation"

"give me freeview or give me Davina"

So what's the best way forward?

The final countdown: The MasterChef Final
Flavour, flavour, flavour....

Blimey that was tense, and frankly speaking a quite brilliant programme.It would have been an excellent food programme even if it wasn’t the final.

Seeing inside the top restaurants was fascinating, I’m amazed at how open these chefs are. They don’t need the publicity the hassle of filming entails (as they booked up months in advance), there can be only a couple reasons they agree to it. The power of the those 3 magic letters B.B.C or just maybe even Michelin starred chefs are obsessed to see if Sports Pr from Swindon can sear tuna properly!

By the end the final had come down really to Mat or Andy. I think sadly Chris was just too inexperienced. There are only so many meals you can eat in 25 years of life and every year the others had over him gave them 600 plus more chances of gaining that extra bit edge on him. Chris should pack his rucksack and travel the world as commis chef; he’ll be fine I’m sure.

Next up came Andy the producers really wanted me to hate him adding one last titbit to put me off he’s a North Londoner! But cooking the tuna dish in Spain with an entire 3 star restaurant literally watching him (did you see that even the waiters where leaning in to check him out!) took some courage and even though Andy used the term “I’m completely bouffed” by the end I had finally warmed to him, he was is a very skilful cook.

Lastly Mat who almost lost my support with the producers insist on telling us again his “journey” but the cooking he did in Copenhagen looked amazing. I don’t normally fancy these hyper stylised dishes but the skate and the steak tartare he cooked looked delicious.

I sort of knew he was ahead when they played one favourite tunes by Moby “god moving of the face of the waters" over shots of him on the dock in Copenhagen. I’m sure doing your tax returns would look heroic and inspiring with that sort backing.

So it was down to final 3 courses and it was genuinely tense, Chris’ dishes just weren’t sharp enough and poor old Andy stumbled (forlorn like Steve Ovett being passed by Seb Coe on the last corner) destined for another silver medal.

So Mat just won through with some incredible food, the only bum note to my mind was the chips with the spider crab chowder but the whole thing looked fantastic; he’s a deserved winner.

Post Prandial thoughts

Obviously weekday evening at 8 are going to be a bit empty for while now. I think this was best series of MasterChef I’ve seen. This brings me to a few last points. I think by the final the contestants had almost outclassed their judge’s knowledge. I think that the cooking was almost beyond the experience of Gregg and possibly even John (and this may heresy) they may need to get some guest judges in to help decide. Gregg was wonderful almost lost for words by the end and you could tell John was moved by how far the 3 lads had come.

Which leads me to my final point: reality TV gets slagged off a lot (and I’ve done my share of carping) but I think the difference with programmes like Masterchef and perhaps Celebrity come dancing is that unlike X factor or “come dime with me” you get to see people excel to do something you can’t do and do it beautifully. X factor and its ilk are about chav baiting, watching people mess up, belittle themselves (there is a hint of this in the early rounds of MC) and the winners normal aren’t sublimely skilled. But on Masterchef and the odd other shows like the young musicians show on BBC2 you see people get improve and achieve amazing things. And everyday people achieving excellence must something worth celebrating.

TV doesn’t get better than this.

Normal service will be resumed shortly.

There was these two Irishmen a Frenchman & Englishman in a trench in Ypres......

D, B&S It was pleasure as ever.

The 16 Million pound question

The great carrot & stick, arse & elbow ID problem.

Scene: The Interior of a large Tudorbethan home in St George’s Hill Surrey
Man with weird eyebrows is nervously talking to a very rich man who’s not very good at his job.
“I say old chap would you mind awfully giving back the 16,000,000 quid we gave you?”

Very rich man who’s not very good at his job.
“No”

Man with weird eyebrows
“Ok, that fine, just thought I’d ask. Shan’t bother you again, I’m just off to send a summons to someone who’s 80 quid in arrears with their council tax, I’ll leave you to that lovely big cream bun your eating oh and is that my wife....”

Burleigh believable:

Penultimate MC Update: Almost at the final fence with Masterchef and it's a stampede of poshness as Matt, Andy and Chris have to cook for show jumping fans at 3 day event. They even have to cook for Zara Philips to mind the Chav Princess with her so posh she can barely talk accent and bad bleached hair she never comes over well. I know she's a world champion sportswoman oddly though in a sport that after the grand prix, the Americans cup and diamond throwing requires shed loads of cash (can't think where she gets here talents from)

Anyway cooking 200 hundred perfectly fancy "boudaful plates of food" is impressive and it almost went pear shaped for all of them. In the end even Zara P seemed impressed. Wouldn't you be tempted to serve the royals layers of gossamer pasta with tiny pea puree hidden at the bottom!

MC question of the day: Is anyone else getting slightly creeped out by Chris' neck beard? It looks kind of itchy and wrong!

The teardrop explodes?: next up the really hardcore test, cooking for 8 16 starred Michelin chefs; this round is always astonishing with the contestants virtually going from zero skills to full on head chef in a day. Matt made these sort of Heston style chocolate tear drops encased in glucose that seemed to defy the laws of physics. I felt a bit sorry for Chris as his dish seemed over complicated and I'm never sure of savoury dishes with liquorice in them.

The scenes at the end after where contestants were filmed seemingly in shock were actually very moving the camera lingering almost too long on even posh Andy who looked totally spent.

So the final is almost here! All sensible people want Matt to win but even beardy Chris is finishing strongly!

One Last thing:
So what sort of fancy Masterchef tea are you going to have tonight? You should have something at bit special to celebrate don't you think? I may go for some good chicken with some fancy greens of some kind or maybe something with saffron in it.

Which side are you on?

The Genius of Don Mcphee:

After seeing this masterful shot again, I wrote a long post about my whole experience of the miner’s strike and how it affected community and people I grew up in and with but then I realised what I’d written was half formed bile at best ! Particularly when Don Mcphee picture tells the story much better than me. Go here and read the story of the two main characters and if it doesn’t move you well you are David Cameron and we’ll know which side you are on the..... wrong one.

Common as MC.

Of Cabbages and Kings* : Master Chef Update

It’s been said that I’ve become obsessed with the class undertones of this year’s Masterchef well that may be the case but then they go and film at Buckingham bleeding Palace home of Britain's least favourite family what’s a dirty trot like me to do.

The lickspittles and forelock tuggers who work for Lizzy and her brood eat fairly well it seems, even if they do it in contravention of the labour laws! We know this as one of the liveried 3rd Toadies of the back stairs claimed only to be allowed 15 mins for lunch so Matt and the MCboys had better pull their fingers out. Of course the Queen is exempt from most laws as well as being tight so adequate breaks for middle age men who are still called a Page is not surprising (obviously Charlie boys toothpaste won’t squeeze it’s self).

The food the MC crew knocked up looked like not too bad high end canteen fare, less apes, peacocks and ivory more grilled fish, ratatouille and sweet corn!!!

Good news on the Chris front as he did well and posh boy Andy who obviously would much prefer to be up stairs with his snooty mates than spud bashing in kitchen with the 4th under-postillion of the Corgi Kennel floundered somewhat.

More posh people to cook for tomorrow hurrah!

Couple more things tonight I know reality shows aren’t real but you really don’t need to cross the river twice to get from MC HQ to the palace!

Oh and Gregg Wallace is a Millwall fan.

Flippin' excellent: The chez BLTP Pancake Day menu in the end was spinach, bacon, mushrooms and cheese filling and to follow some of excellent Xmas marmalade! And the secret: Nigella’s recipe (with an extra egg added) and a nice brand-new pan!

* Queen surely? Ed.