We are on the 44th episode of Masterchef Australia Season 16 and the top five have been identified. … two of the contestants are people I expected to see in the top 5 – Savindri and Nat. If you remember I started out with a flourish to write every week on Season 16 but all that enthusiasm just fizzled out quicker than a flat soda :(. Masterchef Australia Season 16 – Week #1
Am not sure if the format of Season 16 is not gripping enough or whether it’s the judges or maybe the participants, something is off and I am not able to point it out. Krishnan and I would eagerly await every episode and I would write quite a few posts on the dishes and some of the participants, but haven’t felt that this year. We watch a bunch of episodes and keep fast forwarding most of the time.
One change in the format that I am not too happy about is – nearly all the cooking is inside the Masterchef Kitchen. Just a couple of outdoor events and just one overseas cooking opportunity at Hong Kong.
No masterclasses, no bad boy Gordon Ramsay, no Reynolds and most importantly not seeing Shannon Bennett somehow makes this a very different show. Shannon Bennett is like the under bench staples – would like to see him come in every other week if not every week.
The Judges
The judges panel is one of the issues that I see with this season of Masterchef Australia. Hey don’t get me wrong, I like all of them. They are all lovely people and the struggles that Poh has been through makes me cry many times. Sarah is totally enthusiastic and a whole of fun – there is nothing hidden, what you see is what you get. She eats well, doesn’t pick at the food and I just love that about her. Andy is nice as well.. from an electrician to being a Masterchef is a journey that can inspire anyone.
BUT…. except for Jean Christophe none of them are real Chefs ! There are exceptions to every rule and you do have people like Reynolds who can blow a sugar bubble better than the best pastry chef in the world, but that is an exception.
The Masterchef format is bringing out the hidden chef in home cooks. A food critic can’t do that… that was my problem with Melissa too. If I am stuck on some part of the recipe, I will call out to the Chef for help, not a food critic. And all due respect to Poh and Andy, but we need Chefs to be judges. Am ok with Andy, he has become a Chef, but Poh specialises in dessert. By all means bring her in to judge dessert week.
In my opinion, the reason Masterchef Australia was the best amongst all the editions of Masterchef was due to George Calombaris, Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan. They brought expertise and encouragement, knowledge and shortcuts, plus you could learn so much from their vast experience ! Jock was great for the same reason. Am not saying we need George, Matt and Gary to come back, but we need top class Chefs judging the contestants, not food critics and speciality cooks. I wait to see how Chef Jean Christophe reacts to the food in every episode, because he truly is the expert.
There is a reason why someone is a film critic and someone else is an actor – you can’t replace one with the other. In the same way, we can’t have a food critic standing in for a Chef. As an additional judge? Ofcourse, it would be a great addition to the team – Chefs as judges plus a food critic so that the contestants understand the business of food as well, not just the prep.
Australian Outdoors
Australia is such a beautiful country with the great outdoors ! With Jock, Andy and Melissa, the contestants went out to so many parts of Australia and as viewers we got a visual treat. Actually during Covid, this was such a great way to travel :). I loved the cooking done with indigenous herbs and spices and actually going to the places where the indigenous people live.
In this edition, we haven’t seen much of Australia and I hope that can be rectified going forward.
Contestants
I was reading the comments on the Masterchef Australia FB page and someone said we should call this South Asian Masterchef since majority of the contestants are of South Asian descent. No point in taking offence to that comment – he/she is spot on. Every time Savindri cooks, she leans into her Sri Lankan background, as does Darsh. Nat leans into her Thai background. Earlier we had several contestants who had Chinese ancestry and would only make Chinese food.
Happy to see India represented by Sumeet this time. She is a fantastic cook but a Chef needs to know more than just one cuisine. To give it to her, this is the first time I have seen an Indian origin contestant feeling super proud of Indian food and trying to make so many different items in every episode. Generally, we only hear about Indian curries and Butter Chicken 🙄.
The fixation with protein continues … but that’s for another blog.
Congratulations to the top five – Nat, Sav, Harry, Pezza and Mimi. Three South Asians and two Australians with some Italian ancestry. Ofcourse you are never going to see an “original” Australian or an “original” American. These two countries can only have long staying immigrants who have become the new natives.
Looking forward to the finals week. Will hazard a guess on who could be the winner – my money is on Nat, because she knows instinctively how to make any dish.
More to follow …..
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