hello and welcome to the thread hope you will join us tomorrow night!!
Thanks. The Mrs and I watch all the master chef programmes. Usually via sky plus record or iPlayer, so usually delayed. Just finished a recording of tonights episode and like others felt Adam showed honesty and real skill again. Only a real cock up denies him the title. Mind you Tim the American could outdo these lads imo
I don't know how you can say only a mess-up can prevent Adam winning. Adam was the best in the early rounds but only tied with Steven in the semi and so far this week the other two chefs have been marginally better. The final is unusually close this year and any one of the three could win.
I don't know how you can say only a mess-up can prevent Adam winning. Adam was the best in the early rounds but only tied with Steven in the semi and so far this week the other two chefs have been marginally better. The final is unusually close this year and any one of the three could win.
Just an opinion and we shall see. I just feel the comments from the judges and how the show has been edited looks like Adam will be the winner. Still peckish by the way
Last time there were joint winners (or so I understand), maybe this time the judges could go for triple winners - always provided no-one makes a right cock-up tomorrow and Thursday.
Adam and Scott are still my favourites, and I don't want to see either one go. For some reason I just cannot warm to Stephen.
And for once Gregg didn't attack his food, and ate it in a "gentlemanly" way.
I think Steven & Adam have just pulled ahead of Scott. I'll add my thoughts later. Someone mentioned on this thread maybe a day or two ago that they wanted to see some inspired vegetarian dishes - well step forward Steven.
I've only just watched this evening programme ....
My name is missmaisie and I am a lurker
I have really enjoyed this series and thought this evening was mad but refreshing.The trailer gave the impression that you could just splot (is that a word??) food on a plate, but, wow, what precision and attention to the taste sensation - I would LOVE to taste even one dish served ... it ain't gonna happen but never mind as I can dream.
All of the chefs were out of their comfort zone but no one produced a bad dish, which shows total skill and dedication.
I take my (chef) hat off to each and every one of them ... err, even though I'm not a chef so I don't actually have the hat!
I always thought that Scott (a good solid chef) was in with the best chance but, jeepers, I really think it's an open competition judging by this evening!
For a 3-star restaurant it has very poor reviews, quite mixed. So I am not sure what to make of it.
I pulled the same face Adam pulled when the show of the ´ops I dropped the lemon tart´ was displayed, and I would have to agree with him. Different is not necessarily better. Give me a constructed lemon tart any day over that intentional mess. The piano dish was very unappealing, although I can not taste it.
I agree, you don't get three Michelin stars by being shoddy and imprecise. The only thing seemingly crazy with Massimo Bottura's food is the initial conception. Beyond that you have an extremely fussy, controlling and precise chef. The conception is the food is inspired by emotion, but the cooking, technique, flavouring, proportioning is extremely precise.
I think the person that gained most from this experience was Adam. I liked Adams honesty and blunt talking. It tells me that he already knows already who he is as a chef, he has an identity - a stickler for tradition, technique and control - and that has shown in his food that he has produced so far. My concern for Adam was that he hasn't developed by much during the show, whereas the other two have. It seemed that he had rather stagnated - where else was there for him to go having already produced "pitch perfect" food.
But I liked the way he was taken out of his comfort zone and given a thorough shake up of mind. I liked the way he analysed the situation, recognising exactly what made him uncomfortable, also recognising he didn't really understand the conception. But eventually he got it - he got the point of Massimo's food. And in his final "Fight & Love of a Terracotta Warrior" he put it all together. Basically he kept to his traditional cooking, his core identity - it looked like a "traditional" plate of food - but he added the emotion - which was in the combination of the foods and the flavouring --> and judging from the response of Monica & Michel Roux he has got his earlier round pizzazz back.
With Scott & Steven I felt they were a little awestruck by Massimo - which completely overwhelmed their own identities as chefs. I feel both Scott & Steven don't know their own identities as well as Adam does. They seem less "anchored" and knowledgeable of themselves. I think Steven had the most challenging dishes of the three to prepare & he carried it out to aplomb. I think Steven is beginning to find his own identity as a chef during this show - and he seems to excel in giving flavour and design to vegetable dishes. However it seems to me that Steven could potentially slip up as he doesn't have the same mastery of basic technique as Adam has.
Scott also is an amazing chef but I think he slightly lacks the pizzazz to be found in both Stevens and Adams best dishes, while his basic technique seems to be stronger than Steven's but not as good as Adams.
Finally with regard to Massimo Bottura's menu etc and the feedback - well the critics are looking for something different and inspiring from the menu & more or less independent of costs whereas the "lay-person" normal restaurant-goer is more interested in quality of food, a filled stomach, and value for money.
I agree, you don't get three Michelin stars by being shoddy and imprecise. The only thing seemingly crazy with Massimo Bottura's food is the initial conception. Beyond that you have an extremely fussy, controlling and precise chef. The conception is the food is inspired by emotion, but the cooking, technique, flavouring, proportioning is extremely precise.
I think the person that gained most from this experience was Adam. I liked Adams honesty and blunt talking. It tells me that he already knows already who he is as a chef, he has an identity - a stickler for tradition, technique and control - and that has shown in his food that he has produced so far. My concern for Adam was that he hasn't developed by much during the show, whereas the other two have. It seemed that he had rather stagnated - where else was there for him to go having already produced "pitch perfect" food.
But I liked the way he was taken out of his comfort zone and given a thorough shake up of mind. I liked the way he analysed the situation, recognising exactly what made him uncomfortable, also recognising he didn't really understand the conception. But eventually he got it - he got the point of Massimo's food. And in his final "Fight & Love of a Terracotta Warrior" he put it all together. Basically he kept to his traditional cooking, his core identity - it looked like a "traditional" plate of food - but he added the emotion - which was in the combination of the foods and the flavouring --> and judging from the response of Monica & Michel Roux he has got his earlier round pizzazz back.
With Scott & Steven I felt they were a little awestruck by Massimo - which completely overwhelmed their own identities as chefs. I feel both Scott & Steven don't know their own identities as well as Adam does. They seem less "anchored" and knowledgeable of themselves. I think Steven had the most challenging dishes of the three to prepare & he carried it out to aplomb. I think Steven is beginning to find his own identity as a chef during this show - and he seems to excel in giving flavour and design to vegetable dishes. However it seems to me that Steven could potentially slip up as he doesn't have the same mastery of basic technique as Adam has.
Scott also is an amazing chef but I think he slightly lacks the pizzazz to be found in both Stevens and Adams best dishes, while his basic technique seems to be stronger than Steven's but not as good as Adams.
Finally with regard to Massimo Bottura's menu etc and the feedback - well the critics are looking for something different and inspiring from the menu & more or less independent of costs whereas the "lay-person" normal restaurant-goer is more interested in quality of food, a filled stomach, and value for money.
Anyway this is just my "lay persons" opinion.
Brilliant post, I agree with just a lot of what you say although I'm still undecided as to whether Adam truly embraced the benefit of "emotion" cooking or was just delivering a carefully honed helping of bull.
Brilliant post, I agree with just a lot of what you say although I'm still undecided as to whether Adam truly embraced the benefit of "emotion" cooking or was just delivering a carefully honed helping of bull.
That's a fair point. At the end of the day a good plate of food depends on the combination of flavours and textures. You can present it like a Jackson Pollock explosion (like Massimo) or present it in a more traditional form. Whether it is inspired by "emotion" or just plain "invention" and "culinary intuition" I couldn't say. All I can say is that Adam seemed to produce a good plate of food at the end of the day. I was also impressed with Steven's vegetarian meal - at least Monica & Michel Roux seemed to like it.
Yes Massimo might be talking bull himself, presenting the food as modern art & deconstruction - to please the critics. In some ways I guess it is like a kiddies presentation of food that is acceptable to the "food snobs". But ultimately the food either tastes good or it doesn't. I'm not sure we will ever know the truth. For Adam at least he is sticking to the more traditional presentation.
My own view is that the Massimo viewpoint (so-called food inspired by emotion) probably can be helpful in producing more interesting tasting food - but you can still present it in a traditional form.
I don't know how you can say only a mess-up can prevent Adam winning. Adam was the best in the early rounds but only tied with Steven in the semi and so far this week the other two chefs have been marginally better. The final is unusually close this year and any one of the three could win.
Yes, absolutely. They often showcase a chef in the earlier rounds and that chef doesn't necessarily win. Perhaps it is a case of what that particular chef is doing earlier just makes for more interesting TV viewing: after all who wants to keep seeing failure after failure? That said Adam is probably the favourite but I would not bet the ranch on in.
I find myself wondering what the chef who, when presented with sausages and potatoes in the invention test made fried sausage and mash, would have made of the Italian restaurant style?
Having been a MC fan since I was a little girl and used to watch it with my dad, last night finally put the last nail in the programme's coffin for me.
I'm no philistine when it comes to food, but that was the most horrendously pretentious chef/restaurant/food I've ever seen. Is that really what we want our young British chefs to aspire to? Really? How terribly depressing.
If I want contemporary art - I'll go to an Art Gallery.
When I go to a restaurant.............I want food!!!
He is everything that (to me) is wrong with the dining world.
It just pretentious twaddle and the fact that he has 3 stars says everything about the stupidity of the fools at Michelin.
The entire concept of Masterchef (amateur, professional and celebrity) is built on pretentious twaddle. All of it.
Those dishes they serve up probably take 2 or 3 bites to eat. I'd be hungry 30 minutes later.
Has anyone diner in those restaurants ever sent a dish back if they feel the 'presentation' is not up to scratch? ("waiter, this celeriac puree hasn't been scraped across the plate at the required angle, a broad bean hasn't been peeled and this carrot baton is 1mm longer than the other two".)
Surely those morsels of food are cold by the time the diner gets them (especially those purees scraped across the plate).
We really enjoy watching Masterchef, but we're perpetually screaming at the screen "FFS IT'S JUST FOOD!".
Shrek / The Diner's reaction to the Piano Fish 'Waaaaayyyyy - Get amongst it!' Thanks for that Gregg.
I've slept on it and still not sure what to make of Osteria Francescana.
Beyond the wacky presentation - 'look at the way I throw sauce onto a plate - its my crazy Italian personality, Mama Mia!' - it was was difficult to see where the 3 stars have come from without invoking the time-honoured DS caveat of not being able to taste the food. The presentation to me looked sloppy - for me, great ingredient should be handled with care from start to finish.
I would have loved Adam to have asked Massimo: 'Does slapping those sauces on the plate do anything to enhance their flavour or composition - and if so how?' :-)
Comments
Thanks. The Mrs and I watch all the master chef programmes. Usually via sky plus record or iPlayer, so usually delayed. Just finished a recording of tonights episode and like others felt Adam showed honesty and real skill again. Only a real cock up denies him the title. Mind you Tim the American could outdo these lads imo
Adam and Scott are still my favourites, and I don't want to see either one go. For some reason I just cannot warm to Stephen.
And for once Gregg didn't attack his food, and ate it in a "gentlemanly" way.
Monica refused to let him eat from her plate, so he must have felt a bit crestfallen.
Nice Italian fella.............but
If I want a story - I'll go to a Library.
If I want contemporary art - I'll go to an Art Gallery.
When I go to a restaurant.............I want food!!!
He is everything that (to me) is wrong with the dining world.
It just pretentious twaddle and the fact that he has 3 stars says everything about the stupidity of the fools at Michelin.
I've only just watched this evening programme ....
My name is missmaisie and I am a lurker
I have really enjoyed this series and thought this evening was mad but refreshing.The trailer gave the impression that you could just splot (is that a word??) food on a plate, but, wow, what precision and attention to the taste sensation - I would LOVE to taste even one dish served ... it ain't gonna happen but never mind as I can dream.
All of the chefs were out of their comfort zone but no one produced a bad dish, which shows total skill and dedication.
I take my (chef) hat off to each and every one of them ... err, even though I'm not a chef so I don't actually have the hat!
I always thought that Scott (a good solid chef) was in with the best chance but, jeepers, I really think it's an open competition judging by this evening!
For a 3-star restaurant it has very poor reviews, quite mixed. So I am not sure what to make of it.
I pulled the same face Adam pulled when the show of the ´ops I dropped the lemon tart´ was displayed, and I would have to agree with him. Different is not necessarily better. Give me a constructed lemon tart any day over that intentional mess. The piano dish was very unappealing, although I can not taste it.
She gets mentioned in a tripadvisor review here
I agree, you don't get three Michelin stars by being shoddy and imprecise. The only thing seemingly crazy with Massimo Bottura's food is the initial conception. Beyond that you have an extremely fussy, controlling and precise chef. The conception is the food is inspired by emotion, but the cooking, technique, flavouring, proportioning is extremely precise.
I think the person that gained most from this experience was Adam. I liked Adams honesty and blunt talking. It tells me that he already knows already who he is as a chef, he has an identity - a stickler for tradition, technique and control - and that has shown in his food that he has produced so far. My concern for Adam was that he hasn't developed by much during the show, whereas the other two have. It seemed that he had rather stagnated - where else was there for him to go having already produced "pitch perfect" food.
But I liked the way he was taken out of his comfort zone and given a thorough shake up of mind. I liked the way he analysed the situation, recognising exactly what made him uncomfortable, also recognising he didn't really understand the conception. But eventually he got it - he got the point of Massimo's food. And in his final "Fight & Love of a Terracotta Warrior" he put it all together. Basically he kept to his traditional cooking, his core identity - it looked like a "traditional" plate of food - but he added the emotion - which was in the combination of the foods and the flavouring --> and judging from the response of Monica & Michel Roux he has got his earlier round pizzazz back.
With Scott & Steven I felt they were a little awestruck by Massimo - which completely overwhelmed their own identities as chefs. I feel both Scott & Steven don't know their own identities as well as Adam does. They seem less "anchored" and knowledgeable of themselves. I think Steven had the most challenging dishes of the three to prepare & he carried it out to aplomb. I think Steven is beginning to find his own identity as a chef during this show - and he seems to excel in giving flavour and design to vegetable dishes. However it seems to me that Steven could potentially slip up as he doesn't have the same mastery of basic technique as Adam has.
Scott also is an amazing chef but I think he slightly lacks the pizzazz to be found in both Stevens and Adams best dishes, while his basic technique seems to be stronger than Steven's but not as good as Adams.
Finally with regard to Massimo Bottura's menu etc and the feedback - well the critics are looking for something different and inspiring from the menu & more or less independent of costs whereas the "lay-person" normal restaurant-goer is more interested in quality of food, a filled stomach, and value for money.
Anyway this is just my "lay persons" opinion.
Brilliant post, I agree with just a lot of what you say although I'm still undecided as to whether Adam truly embraced the benefit of "emotion" cooking or was just delivering a carefully honed helping of bull.
Yes Massimo might be talking bull himself, presenting the food as modern art & deconstruction - to please the critics. In some ways I guess it is like a kiddies presentation of food that is acceptable to the "food snobs". But ultimately the food either tastes good or it doesn't. I'm not sure we will ever know the truth. For Adam at least he is sticking to the more traditional presentation.
My own view is that the Massimo viewpoint (so-called food inspired by emotion) probably can be helpful in producing more interesting tasting food - but you can still present it in a traditional form.
Excuse me, Greg(g), you have a little sea urchin foam on the end of your nose. Oh ...
Yes, absolutely. They often showcase a chef in the earlier rounds and that chef doesn't necessarily win. Perhaps it is a case of what that particular chef is doing earlier just makes for more interesting TV viewing: after all who wants to keep seeing failure after failure? That said Adam is probably the favourite but I would not bet the ranch on in.
= cheesy farts
I'm no philistine when it comes to food, but that was the most horrendously pretentious chef/restaurant/food I've ever seen. Is that really what we want our young British chefs to aspire to? Really? How terribly depressing.
The entire concept of Masterchef (amateur, professional and celebrity) is built on pretentious twaddle. All of it.
Those dishes they serve up probably take 2 or 3 bites to eat. I'd be hungry 30 minutes later.
Has anyone diner in those restaurants ever sent a dish back if they feel the 'presentation' is not up to scratch? ("waiter, this celeriac puree hasn't been scraped across the plate at the required angle, a broad bean hasn't been peeled and this carrot baton is 1mm longer than the other two".)
Surely those morsels of food are cold by the time the diner gets them (especially those purees scraped across the plate).
We really enjoy watching Masterchef, but we're perpetually screaming at the screen "FFS IT'S JUST FOOD!".
Shrek / The Diner's reaction to the Piano Fish 'Waaaaayyyyy - Get amongst it!' Thanks for that Gregg.
I've slept on it and still not sure what to make of Osteria Francescana.
Beyond the wacky presentation - 'look at the way I throw sauce onto a plate - its my crazy Italian personality, Mama Mia!' - it was was difficult to see where the 3 stars have come from without invoking the time-honoured DS caveat of not being able to taste the food. The presentation to me looked sloppy - for me, great ingredient should be handled with care from start to finish.
I would have loved Adam to have asked Massimo: 'Does slapping those sauces on the plate do anything to enhance their flavour or composition - and if so how?' :-)