Masterchef

Minder

The Masterchef final is currently on our screens on Beeb2. The producers are really squeezing every last drop of value from the format - with the finalists having to jump through hoops for four days before a winner is revealed.

What is the reward? Is cooking for Ingredients Expert Gregg Wallace and restauranteur John Torode for so many days worth the result - Anyone any ideas as to what the winner will get?

Mr Magnolia

Don't know what they win. I am enjoying it though.

Pigletlover

Good question! I watch this all the time on UKTV Food and I've never heard any mention of a prize. Maybe the winner gets snapped up by a top restaurant? I'd like to more know about the actual rules of the show instead of hearing the same introduction for every show, like are the contestants allowed to follow recipes or if they have budgets when they go shopping for their ingredients.

Off topic I know but I can't watch John Torode taste the food, I hate the way he bites the fork or spoon and it always looks like the food is going to fall out of his mouth.

Mr E

I think its just a trophy, and the virtual promotion from amateur to professional. Winning masterchef would get you a job in any kitchen in the country.

Love the series though... pity its finishing up on Thursday.

Mr E

I had a look at the masterchef site on BBC's website, and found out what the winners and finalists from the last 3 years have been up to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/masterchef/masterchefalumni_index.shtml

Minder

Good link Mr E, I watched Tomie Miers on the Wild Gourmets - great programme. Steven Wallis looks very like one of the contestants on the Raymond Blanc win a restaurant series, same fella?

dudara

I've loved watching this show in previous years - pity I don't have BBC any more.

The link provided was very interesting - all seem to be doing very well out of their appearances on masterchef

Mr Magnolia

Pigletlover wrote: »

Off topic I know but I can't watch John Torode taste the food, I hate the way he bites the fork or spoon and it always looks like the food is going to fall out of his mouth.

I think it's something to do with the way he never moves his top lip.

BurnsCarpenter

I really enjoy the show but the constantly repeated voiceovers do my head in.

Mr E

Ah the commentary isn't too bad, at least it serves a purpose ... I've heard worse from the BBC..

Have you see The Dragons Den? So much airtime is taken up with redundant commentary, e.g.

Peter Jones: "I'm not investing. I'm out"
Commentator: "Peter Jones is not investing". (Really, you think?)

noby

The voiceovers are ok, but the two presenters constantly shouting at eachother gets a bit tedious at times. As experts they have their own preferences and merits, but as presenters they are a bit too similar. It would be nice to have a contrasting presenter with just one of them.

ClassicDisaster

I love it:D inspired me to go and get work experience in a resteraunt! been working part time now for 1year!:D love it, its an amazing buzz! im going to do culinary arts in DIT next year!

Mr Magnolia

Well last night was good too.

My money is on James (the long haired dude). He has been far and away the best cook since the off. Jonny is certainly the most improved over the course of the series while Sheridan has constantly fell apart when under pressure to turn out food for the masses in the last few episodes.

To expect 3 chefs to prep food for a wedding party of 120 in 4/5hrs was crazy disregarding the fact that they're amateurs. I also thought that the melody of fois gras dishes that Johnny put together for the Michelin Chefs in the second part of the show was too fussy. They would have been better sticking to one of the fois gras dishes and doing it well. I was really delighted with the praise the the Michelin Chefs heaped onto James in regard to the main course of Turbot & Truffles.

Final episode tonight and I'm looking forward to it. Use spoiler tags if your posting anything that may give the results away please.

Mr E

Not to be nitpicky, but its Emily (Sheridan left last week)
I think James will do it too.... looking forward to finale....

noby

Those dishes lastnight would normally have been dismissed as being too fussy, but I guess a Michelin star gives you licence to be fussy.

James looks to be the favourite, but I wonder will Johnny sneak it.

Mr Magnolia

Mr E wrote: »

Not to be nitpicky, but its Emily (Sheridan left last week)

Not at all. You're absolutely right

macbarbie

I deffo think james will win.... he even looks like a chef haha:p

but yeah last night was mad..... i couldn believe they had to make all them dishes for the wedding by theirselves!! madness... wat a place to have a wedding though!!

i thought the food they made for the other chefs sounded horrible... wat was that thing for starter..fargraw(dont know how to spell it haha)

frugru..ha watever..anyways i had that b4... yucky tastes like crap!!

noby

Foie gras. It's basically the liver of a duck that has been force fed.

macbarbie

noby wrote: »

Foie gras. It's basically the liver of a duck that has been force fed.

i can see you won your school spelling b!! ha

yeah i heard that alright... its horrible though i thought...very mushy and strange tasted.. they served it with like a toast and sause!!

Did ya check out that fish for the main dish... 120 jus for one! its scaled must be made of white gold or somethin!

Mr Magnolia

The fish was Turbot iirc, the truffles would have been the expensive element not the fish.

I love fois gras.

macbarbie

oh yeah he gave out when he messed them up because of the prise!

Mr Magnolia

Yes, he made a mess of filleting the Scallops.

noby

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

The fish was Turbot iirc, the truffles would have been the expensive element not the fish.

The turbot was £120, according to the chef. They can be pricey, depending on the market. It seems, though that all the main elements of that dish were expensive.

macbarbie

is it not wrong to force feed an animal... it doesnt sound right to me... just for food like, the poor thing!

noby

There is a lot of heated debate over it alright. The flip side is: it tastes gooood!

macbarbie

id say yeah.....

well i didnt like it all, then again i had Foie gras pate with toast so maybe it was jus the way it was served.

Minder

Fois Gras can be made without force feeding - the birds will naturally put on weight in preparation for migration. But the French gavage results in a greatly distended liver, this in turn reflects in the fineness of the liver to the extent where it is like butter in consistency. The jarred pate is made from the lowest quality of Fois Gras.

As for the Masterchef contestants - while I have no particular bias, Emily is probably best placed to continue with a food career if she doesn't win. Both the guys are over thirty, with families - making it in the food industry will mean starting low and working up - even for a Masterchef finalist. I'd say James is the bookies favourite, Emily will succeed with or without the Masterchef title. So I'll go for the outsider - Johnny will win!!!

Mr E

Enjoyed the finale. I thought the french chefs were a bit unfair saying that each of them would be a good cook one day... pretty arrogant.

I'm sorry Emily didn't win..... I think she shot herself in the foot with that rabbit dish. Her dessert was almost too nice looking to eat!

Congrats to James....

rockbeer

macbarbie wrote: »

well i didnt like it all, then again i had Foie gras pate with toast so maybe it was jus the way it was served.

Fois Gras is paté and like all paté it's usually served with toast. No, you had the real thing alright. I'd say you're just a food philistine - it's a classic French dish, a long way from bacon and cabbage.

Talliesin

Minder wrote: »

Fois Gras can be made without force feeding

Depends on how you define the term. If you sold "fois gras" not made with gavage in France you'd be prosecuted under the Rural Code. In some other countries you'd be liable under various laws, though I have no idea what our trade description law says.

rockbeer wrote: »

Fois Gras is paté

That's pâté de fois gras. It's the generally considered the lowest quality method of preparing fois gras for consumption and normally you wouldn't waste the best fois gras making it when you could sell it as fois gras entier (for the best stuff) or parfait de fois gras or mousse de fois gras (in between).