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Masterchef Finale

Posted on | September 20, 2008 | 2 Comments

This is the Masterchef I want to see. Forget the amateurs and the celebrities, I don’t want to see mediocre cheffing, I want to see professionals who have passion for food, talent for cooking and can inspire me.

This short series came to a close last night with Derek from Scotland the deserved winner. From his initial appearance it was obvious that he had real talent. Though as the series continued and the contestants were whittled down to the final three, there was a brief moment where I thought that Murray was going to steal the title from him. There was obviously no love lost between them and Murray’s insistance to go solo and not ask for help when the 3 finalists were preparing food for 30 Michelin starred chefs probably was a factor in his downfall – teamwork,  I would think is a major requirement in a professional kitchen.

Overall the series was very enjoyable. The standard of cooking was excellent. In particular the work that went into the meal for the Michelin chefs stood out. It was immense, intricate and a credit to the contestants that they survived! Though I would have preferred more food challenges where the chefs are given a set number of ingredients and have to create a dish.

The replacement of John Torrode by Michel Roux Jr. was definitely a good idea. Though Gregg Wallace seemed to flounder beside Michel. His opinion of any of the food he tasted after Michel tended just to be “what he said”. Michel’s critique tended never to be all negative, he could find something in most dishes to praise and encourage the chefs.

Fingers crossed the BBC will drop the celebrity and amateur masterchefs and continue this series.

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Comments

2 Responses to “Masterchef Finale”

  1. Steve Rawson
    September 28th, 2008 @ 12:51 pm

    Agree entirely. Great to see the competitiveness, energy and passion of these committed young chefs. Greg Wallace, while always entertaining, reminds me of the Irish restaurant critics on the Restaurant who tend to repeat or linger on every word whenever found in the company of ze visiting ‘Great White Celebrity’ Chef .

    But Michel Roux more than makes up for Greg with his tough, exacting but compassionate demeanour.

    Recorded every show and now find a gap in my foodie viewing schedule. Would love to know who vetted the standards of some of those ‘celebrity’ contestants. Many were downright appallingly.

  2. Manic Mammy
    September 28th, 2008 @ 2:21 pm

    Hey Steve,
    Yep, I really didn’t like the celebrity version of Masterchef. Most of the contestants I thought were on it purely for publicity and had little or no flare or interest in cooking.

    Am currently filling the gap in the foodie schedule with “The Restaurant” with Raymond Blanc on BBC2. Entertaining and interesting to date, though less focus on food and more on the business of running a restaurant.

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