They changed the rules MasterChef (BBC One), which is back for what looks like its 3,000. Series felt. John Torode and Gregg Wallace no longer hang around candidates’ workstations in the opening round, drawing faces or shouting, “You have three minutes!” No doubt this is good for the stress level of the participants, but makes for boring television. Torode and Wallace are reduced to reviewing menus and commenting from afar, while we watch amateur chefs cook their signature dishes without interruption.
The producers clearly feel that the show is getting tired, but they have made it even more boring. There have been several small attempts to refresh it over the years, including a slide into the X Factor Territory. So in this episode, we had participants dedicating their Grandma (RIP) plates to us, saying they wanted to make their kids proud, or declaring that “it’s now or never – I have to give it 100 percent”. “I’m very competitive. Win or lose? No, it’s a win every time,” said one woman who watched too many episodes of The Apprentice.
A montage of highlights-to-come promised Gordon Ramsay later in the series, the only time I have ever looked forward to his appearance in anything. There was no danger – even the worst chefs were reasonably competent, including the man who had never spun sugar in his life but decided to test it on his MasterChef debut after watching an online tutorial the night before. There were no disasters either, unless you count a brandy-snap basket that is a bit soggy under the weight of a fruit salad.
Torode has a dozen variations on his “Will it work? It could. It could not. We have to wait and see,” say, while Gregg Wallace adjective generator uses the “smoky pepper” and “sweet, comforting cream” of dishes. praised. Thank heavens, then, for Pookie, a candidate who delivered more personality than the rest of the show put together.
Pookie once spent 70 hours preparing a nine-course Valentine’s Day menu for her husband. Her sweet MasterChef offer was titled “Shallow Sea-Bed Life” and looked like a picture. Her dessert was a Pina Cotta Lada – look what she did there? – and was equally impressive. She tried not to cry at the end because she feared her false eyelashes would fall off and “I’ll look like a muffled bun”. “Pookie landed in the MasterChef kitchen. Cocktail time!” she beamed. Cocktail Time with Pookie is a show I love to watch.
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