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Masterchef Australia Season 8 (UK Pace - Please No Spoilers)


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Old 30-09-2016, 22:51
cika
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Another episode that felt absolutely butchered in the editing to fit the slot, or was it just me? Also, the once inch cube round, what the heck?

Heather was funny - so much lemon she might as well have just crumbed a lemon and served that. But at least most of what she plated looked and tasted good. Think it was right that Cecilia went on the basis of not actually putting much ham in her ham dish (and when did they "lose her the first time"? Was that in an early episode I missed?). Though it is always a bit of an unlevel playing field when everyone gets given a different ingredient, especially if the time is tight.

Had a thought -are Gary, George and Matt contractually obliged to always sit in the same order? Do they ever mix it up? Is there any reason why they always have to have the same position?
Cecilia passed the audition for an earlier series - I think it was a couple of years ago - but it was decided she wasn't fit to take part because she was still recovering from a brain injury after an accident. They thought the pressure and stress would be too much for her. So they promised her a place as soon as she was declared fit.

I think you're right about the order the judges stand in, I don't remember ever seeing it change. No idea why!
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Old 01-10-2016, 10:26
mimik1uk
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i was quite shocked at a couple of mistakes that were made in that blindfolded taste test

how could someone not get mango right, or think that a cube of ham was chicken
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Old 01-10-2016, 13:29
Blokee
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Another episode that felt absolutely butchered in the editing to fit the slot, or was it just me? Also, the once inch cube round, what the heck?

Heather was funny - so much lemon she might as well have just crumbed a lemon and served that. But at least most of what she plated looked and tasted good. Think it was right that Cecilia went on the basis of not actually putting much ham in her ham dish (and when did they "lose her the first time"? Was that in an early episode I missed?). Though it is always a bit of an unlevel playing field when everyone gets given a different ingredient, especially if the time is tight.

Had a thought -are Gary, George and Matt contractually obliged to always sit in the same order? Do they ever mix it up? Is there any reason why they always have to have the same position?
On bold bit a - it certainly wasn't you at all. I have a feeling that either Watch or the MCA international version is chopped up every episode by at least a few minutes to fit in with different advertising laws.

On bold bit b - Agree to a point but I know they test these things very extensively with local home cooks. So for example for this one they would have got a number of local home cook (for arguments sake say 50) and they would have all done it. Then every first cube a contestant had would have been something say 48 home cooks got right, then the next round say 41 etc. so whilst it isn't exactly fair it is as fair as that round could be.
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Old 01-10-2016, 14:09
cika
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On bold bit a - it certainly wasn't you at all. I have a feeling that either Watch or the MCA international version is chopped up every episode by at least a few minutes to fit in with different advertising laws.

On bold bit b - Agree to a point but I know they test these things very extensively with local home cooks. So for example for this one they would have got a number of local home cook (for arguments sake say 50) and they would have all done it. Then every first cube a contestant had would have been something say 48 home cooks got right, then the next round say 41 etc. so whilst it isn't exactly fair it is as fair as that round could be.
That's interesting, I didn't know that. I think any of the elimination first rounds at this stage can seem unfair because of the numbers involved - they've got to come up with something that's going to thin the field fairly rapidly. Actually I think sending the whole team to elimination is pretty unfair, especially at the early stage when they're mob handed, when it's usually only one or two who are responsible for a team's failure. But it adds the required jeopardy to the whole team challenge, I suppose.
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Old 01-10-2016, 15:09
Bunions
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Another episode that felt absolutely butchered in the editing to fit the slot, or was it just me? Also, the once inch cube round, what the heck?

Heather was funny - so much lemon she might as well have just crumbed a lemon and served that. But at least most of what she plated looked and tasted good. Think it was right that Cecilia went on the basis of not actually putting much ham in her ham dish (and when did they "lose her the first time"? Was that in an early episode I missed?). Though it is always a bit of an unlevel playing field when everyone gets given a different ingredient, especially if the time is tight.

Had a thought -are Gary, George and Matt contractually obliged to always sit in the same order? Do they ever mix it up? Is there any reason why they always have to have the same position?
Agree re Cecilia going - in Matt's piece to camera, even he mentioned that the dish was cheese heavy and didn't 'hero' the ham.

Why didn't he shout that out to her from the balcony I wonder?

I feel that the last round was fair because how they got to cook with the ingredient was pretty random - they weren't allocated an ingredient (which would have been unfair) and there was no way of knowing in advance who'd get which item.

i was quite shocked at a couple of mistakes that were made in that blindfolded taste test

how could someone not get mango right, or think that a cube of ham was chicken
I think you're underestimating how much information you take in about food with your eyes, and the fact that everything was cut in a 1 inch cube made working out what they were even more difficult.

I thought Cecilia getting ham wrong was more odd, given that a. someone else had already picked chicken and b. she said herself it was really salty - surely, in terms of meaty foods, that limited the field somewhat? Had to be either ham or bacon.

I liked Cecilia but she has been in a fair few eliminations now and she didn't really seem to be growing as a cook as the weeks have gone on.

I'm loving Matt (great all-rounder and his food looks tastetastic) and Anastasia (I love how her mind looks and her food knowledge is incredible) - hope one of them wins
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Old 01-10-2016, 15:13
mimik1uk
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I think you're underestimating how much information you take in about food with your eyes, and the fact that everything was cut in a 1 inch cube made working out what they were even more difficult.

I thought Cecilia getting ham wrong was more odd, given that a. someone else had already picked chicken and b. she said herself it was really salty - surely, in terms of meaty foods, that limited the field somewhat?
not sure , mango has a very distinctive taste and texture imo and the contestant said it was something she cooked with alot

as you say with the other one she had already indentified it as being salty so that must have made you think about ham and definitely not chicken
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Old 01-10-2016, 15:26
cika
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not sure , mango has a very distinctive taste and texture imo and the contestant said it was something she cooked with alot

as you say with the other one she had already indentified it as being salty so that must have made you think about ham and definitely not chicken
I agree that the mango/grapefruit confusion seems a particularly odd one - even if you confuse the taste, which might be understandable under pressure when you've tasted other things before - the texture is completely different and even with just a cube i would have thought it feels different. On the other hand, it's a very alien situation to be in, afraid of getting it wrong, with Gary badgering you to say something and worried you're not going to be able to get a word out, I can imagine the red mist coming down and just blurting something out.
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Old 01-10-2016, 15:27
mimik1uk
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I agree that the mango/grapefruit confusion seems a particularly odd one - even if you confuse the taste, which might be understandable under pressure when you've tasted other things before - the texture is completely different and even with just a cube i would have thought it feels different. On the other hand, it's a very alien situation to be in, afraid of getting it wrong, with Gary badgering you to say something and worried you're not going to be able to get a word out, I can imagine the red mist coming down and just blurting something out.
i agree , i think the pressure got to them, just found it strange that they got ones i thought were fairly obvious wrong
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Old 01-10-2016, 15:30
Bunions
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I agree that the mango/grapefruit confusion seems a particularly odd one - even if you confuse the taste, which might be understandable under pressure when you've tasted other things before - the texture is completely different and even with just a cube i would have thought it feels different. On the other hand, it's a very alien situation to be in, afraid of getting it wrong, with Gary badgering you to say something and worried you're not going to be able to get a word out, I can imagine the red mist coming down and just blurting something out.
No cika, the confusion is yours

Mango was confused with nectarine and grapefruit with lemon.

Both pretty understandable IMO, given the constraints and some might have confused them even if they could see them - if they were cut into inch square cubes.

Mango and nectarine both have that stringy quality to them and the similarities between the citrus fruits is obvious.
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Old 01-10-2016, 16:51
cika
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No cika, the confusion is yours

Mango was confused with nectarine and grapefruit with lemon.


Both pretty understandable IMO, given the constraints and some might have confused them even if they could see them - if they were cut into inch square cubes.

Mango and nectarine both have that stringy quality to them and the similarities between the citrus fruits is obvious.
Oh yes, so it was. I must either pay attention or get a memory. I still think the rest, though, I wouldn't want to try and identify anything blindfold with Gary barking at me and lights and cameras and desperation to stay and win loads of money!
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Old 01-10-2016, 16:57
DiamondDoll
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No cika, the confusion is yours

Mango was confused with nectarine and grapefruit with lemon.

Both pretty understandable IMO, given the constraints and some might have confused them even if they could see them - if they were cut into inch square cubes.

Mango and nectarine both have that stringy quality to them and the similarities between the citrus fruits is obvious.
Wow!!
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Old 01-10-2016, 17:37
Bunions
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Oh yes, so it was. I must either pay attention or get a memory. I still think the rest, though, I wouldn't want to try and identify anything blindfold with Gary barking at me and lights and cameras and desperation to stay and win loads of money!
I don't think I'm particularly observant but I did have the benefit of only watching the show an hour or so before posting

I agree, it wasn't nearly as easy as it looked and as I said, we recognise food visually before we experience it in any other manner, including taste and smell.

Being blindfolded is a massive disadvantage but at least they were allowed to have a sniff.............look how impaired your taste becomes when you eg have a cold?

I thought that was their toughest test yet and the one inch cubes thing was an evil stroke of genius
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Old 01-10-2016, 19:40
tvaddict_eyes
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I really want Charlie out not a fan. He is consistently bad.

I think a few others are like trent are cruising through.
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Old 01-10-2016, 19:55
cika
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I think blindfold taste tests are really difficult because there's no evidence that they've got anything to cleanse the palate between each tasting and stress affects your ability to taste anyway, so by the time you're tasting the second or third item your palate's got to be getting confused.

They make a nice change from cooking something in 10 minutes or identifing fish to watch though!
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Old 01-10-2016, 19:55
Bunions
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I really want Charlie out not a fan. He is consistently bad.
Agree, apart from the odd good pud, he's really not done much and I fear I've seen him don the black apron a bit too often.

I think a few others are like trent are cruising through.
On one episode recently, I saw him on the credits and thought 'who is he?'

The team challenges aid the radar dodgers enormously. They can cruise through by dint of being on a winning side and not necessarily performing on a personal level.

I don't think it's fair that the entire team go into elimination either because it's often the case that some on the losing side cooked really good dishes.

I think the team captain should have the responsibility of sticking the worst 2 into the elimination round to battle it out for survival
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Old 01-10-2016, 20:01
cika
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Agree, apart from the odd good pud, he's really not done much and I fear I've seen him don the black apron a bit too often.

On one episode recently, I saw him on the credits and thought 'who is he?'

The team challenges aid the radar dodgers enormously. They can cruise through by dint of being on a winning side and not performing on a personal level.

I don't think it's fair that the entire team go into elimination either because it's often the case that some on the losing side cooked really good dishes.

I think the team captain should have the responsibility of sticking the worst 2 into the elimination round
They do that in MC USA a lot. It makes for really bad feeling, as if they needed any more, it's such a bad tempered show. In the first series of MCA they had to nominate who they wanted to go home face to face for some eliminations, iirc, and the one with most votes went home. Awkward! And open to abuse, I think, if there were grudges or oersonality clashes. They dropped it in the second and I don't think they've ever done it again.
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Old 01-10-2016, 20:01
Raye1774
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Cecilia passed the audition for an earlier series - I think it was a couple of years ago - but it was decided she wasn't fit to take part because she was still recovering from a brain injury after an accident. They thought the pressure and stress would be too much for her. So they promised her a place as soon as she was declared fit.

I think you're right about the order the judges stand in, I don't remember ever seeing it change. No idea why!
I think that it was her doctors who decided she wasn't fit/shouldn't do something so stressful as she'd only just entered the final stage of recovery or something (and I think it was 2 years ago)...she was very good and made what looked like amazing macarons, but I don't think that even now she was mentally ready, far too focused on how much she was missing her kids. And seriously, chicken? For me that was more of an error than the nectarine when she should have said mango.
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Old 01-10-2016, 20:04
cika
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I think that it was her doctors who decided she wasn't fit/shouldn't do something so stressful as she'd only just entered the final stage of recovery or something (and I think it was 2 years ago)...she was very good and made what looked like amazing macarons, but I don't think that even now she was mentally ready, far too focused on how much she was missing her kids. And seriously, chicken? For me that was more of an error than the nectarine when she should have said mango.
Oh, I had the idea it was the show's medical team who decided, but you know me - memory like an elephant with amnesia.
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Old 01-10-2016, 20:09
Bunions
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They do that in MC USA a lot. It makes for really bad feeling, as if they needed any more, it's such a bad tempered show. In the first series of MCA they had to nominate who they wanted to go home face to face for some eliminations, iirc, and the one with most votes went home. Awkward! And open to abuse, I think, if there were grudges or oersonality clashes. They dropped it in the second and I don't think they've ever done it again.
I hear you - in that case and for the avoidance of shenanigans, the judges should nominate the two poorest performers, that should keep things fair.

It would put a stop to the radar dodgers being carried each week whilst we watch stronger cooks leave the competition.

Oh, I had the idea it was the show's medical team who decided, but you know me - memory like an elephant with amnesia.
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Old 01-10-2016, 20:20
tvaddict_eyes
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At least with MC USA we see the weakest of the bunch leave. I do love MC Aus but sometimes it feels like a friendship group more than a competition. I dont want it to go all hunger games but I feel like there are at least 5 people who we never see cook at all.
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Old 03-10-2016, 18:45
BBAnne
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Cecilia had ham though - ham! When Gary asked George what he would cook, he talked about boiling up bones or something similar which was unreasonable in the time given. That said, she was probably the right one to go on the night

Charlie is turning into Jonathan - The Eliminator *sigh*
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Old 03-10-2016, 19:40
BBAnne
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Love Maggie Beer, she's so smiley
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Old 03-10-2016, 19:43
Raye1774
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Love Maggie Beer, she's so smiley
But I doubt she will be around the whole week...she's normally only on for a ay or two - just as Nigella should've been.
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Old 03-10-2016, 19:45
BBAnne
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But I doubt she will be around the whole week...she's normally only on for a ay or two - just as Nigella should've been.
A shame isn't it? I reckon we would have all preferred a Maggie week
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Old 03-10-2016, 19:47
Raye1774
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A shame isn't it? I reckon we would have all preferred a Maggie week
Definitely, she's so happy and she really knows her stuff - but perhaps she knows her limits?

And I have never understood how anyone could call something made with tofu a cheesecake since it is not cheese?
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