Celebrity Masterchef

[Clingy]

Why do I love this programme? And so good to see Liz win. Am I a sentimental old fool or was there something about her story that anyone else admired?

[TiG]

I thought it was a fab thing to see her win too, looks like its going to be far reaching in its effect too.

TiG

[Mithrandir]

Those dishes they cooked were awesome throughout the show.

[Stu_M]

I only saw up to the end of the semis, but from that I definitely wouldn't have said she would win...consider me surprised!

[hippoman]

Liz was supposed to have virtually no cooking experience but was then able to cook fantastic food. Is it just me or does this not ring true.

It takes years of practice and experimentation to perfect dishes and along the way there will be many disasters. Flavour combinations are not always intuitive and balancing the seasoning and flavouring in a complex dish is not something you will get right every time.

I'm not denying she may have a natural competence in the kitchen (a lot of the time, bad cooks either lack concentration or do not start with a firm idea of their final objective). In my opinion she must have been using other peoples recipies and/or being given a lot of coaching.

Even if this is the case I still take my hat off to her as her execution did seem very good.

Maybe I should stop being such miserable cynic.

[bigblue]

Nah, I don't think you're being cynical, I presumed that she had some help. I kinda presumed they all did! Even with a fair bit of cooking experience, some of those dishes were a little advanced, so I thought that they must have had an adviser and some practice.

That said, I was glad Liz won, as she seemed to need it! Really seemed short on confidence, hope that this gives her a boost

I was surprised that Mark stormed out of the kitchen at Petrus, was quite interesting to hear that it was a 'below-the-belt' comment from Marcus that prompted it. I'd love to know what was said!

[hippoman]

yeah, mark doing a runner really annoyed me. When you are under that sort of pressure every fibre of your being can be crying out for you to run away but you have to take it. try and fail but don't just give up.
Mark had done so well in the previous challenge and I think he was back in with a shout but if you walk into a kitchen as an amateur and are being trained by a multi michelin wining chef you have to be willing to take a fairly subservient position. A kitchen is based around a hierachy and you can expect to be bullied a bit (but I doubt there was anything really out of order intended). They are making a huge exception to allow you to be there in the first place.

I still enjoy this program (although the first 5-10 mins of repeated soundbyes at the start gets more than a bit annoying). It's amazing how much it means to each of the competitors and they always manage to build a lot of tension.

bring on next series

[bigblue]

yeah, mark doing a runner really annoyed me. When you are under that sort of pressure every fibre of your being can be crying out for you to run away but you have to take it. try and fail but don't just give up.
Mark had done so well in the previous challenge and I think he was back in with a shout but if you walk into a kitchen as an amateur and are being trained by a multi michelin wining chef you have to be willing to take a fairly subservient position. A kitchen is based around a hierachy and you can expect to be bullied a bit (but I doubt there was anything really out of order intended). They are making a huge exception to allow you to be there in the first place.

Well, I'd have to disagree with you a little there. From what's been reported, although not specific, it seems like it was a pretty unnecessary comment. Seemingly it was a case of Mark walking out or smacking Marcus.

Whilst I agree that bullying goes on in kitchens, it doesn't make it right in my eyes. Especially when you're making a tv show and only in that kitchen for one day. If the chef didn't want to be on tv, it wouldn't have been filmed, so to me, it smacks of a bit of an ego clash. Pity Wareing doesn't seem to update his blog any more

[hippoman]

I don't know what was said so I can't judge whether he was right to walk or not.

I agree there is no place for bulling in any workplace. When I watched the episode I didn't feel there seemed much reason for mark taking offence but the entirety of this show is edited to control the viewers opinions. There may have been many more off-camera moments.

Maybe I'm being harsh but I my first impression was that he chickened out.

[Clingy]

We all have our breaking point and if you have never reached that kind of pressure consider yourself lucky

In my experience those that exude a "hard" and tough exterior tend to be the ones that crack first and those you think are fragile surprise you at what they can take.

It's all a question of how you manage those pressures. Clearly Mark's way was to walk out.

And as to the programme being edited to control viewers opinions....that's the case for all fly on the wall stuff....it's entertainment after all. I constantly feel I am being manipulated, but try and not let it spoil my enjoyment. The worst one for this is Top Gear.

[bigblue]

Yeah, don't even start me on Top Gear. It amazes me how many people take it as being 100% genuine. Still funny though... sometimes

As for what happened with the walk out, Mark's story is seemingly that Marcus said he would show him how to prepare his dish, but he then went and did something else. So Mark waited. When Marcus came back he expected the finished dish, despite not having demonstrated how to prepare it, and he gave Mark a bit of a bollocking. Then supposedly something was said to Mark that was 'out of order' so Mark said it was either walk or smack him! When he came back they had another stand-up row, and then after that they went back to cooking.

I have no doubt Wareing would have a different story though!

I guess the producers would have to bow to the restaurants/chefs wishes to even get to film there, so I suppose it wasn't likely we'd see anything that gave a negative image of 'pro' cooking. Would have made great TV though

[chrisq99]

LOL great