It would have been much too hard to make all those different dishes, the good thing about curry is you can make a lot of it in one pan, quite easily, and then serve it up. It would have cost them too much, as well as requiring too much effort to make so many different types of food, using loads of different ingredients.

The key was too keep it simple.

I know we can only go on an hugely edited version, but they can't make people say things they didn't say. One of the things that makes the contestants seem so nasty, imo, is that the format encourages them to get their defence ready in case they are in the boardroom all through the task. Watching the people who are not PM hurry to tell the camera how rubbish the PM is so they can say they were against whatever plan it is later is very unattractive - and Claire really fell into this trap. I don't think that's editing, I think almost all of them are falling over themselves to criticise the others, because they think that's the way to win. And maybe it is, but it's not very likable. I haven't taken to Claire, but at least she seems not as stupid as a lot of them.

On the task, the girls messed up by not being able to cook as well as they thought, which I don't blame them for because it's not a cookery competition, and they got it together by the evening. The boys messed up by massively overspending on marketing and supplies, which they should have known was going to be vital if they've ever watched the programme. Completely different level of mistake.

The problem being....and even the shock, was that not one of them had a clue how to make a simple curry


I completely agree with you.

My guess is that all of them have been pretty ruthless and self-oriented when it comes to laying out their thoughts on any of the contestants.

But again, all we are ever going to get is what effect the producers want.

I would even like to bet that a few nastier characters are being well hidden from us in favour of turning up the heat in the later editions

The thing is, in just about every clip of Claire she was moaning about the project leader. That gives a strong impression of her as a moaner. It's true she said those things, but if you spread them out over the whole two-day task the impression you get is very different. Just a two or three moans when things went really wrong, and the rest of the time she got stuck in helping to put them right. (Maybe. Obviously we don't know because of the edit.)

In addition I suspect it's not so much "hurrying to camera" as the camera crew pulling her aside and asking her what just happened. So she told them. If she hadn't, she'd still look bad but for a different reason.

Also, if you look at her moan as they cancelled lunch, she said she'd highlighted several specific problems, one of them being that they didn't know how to cook curry. But her originally saying that didn't make the edit. I suspect if we'd actually heard her counter arguments at the time, she'd have come across as sensible and wise rather than a moaner. You can edit the same footage to give opposite impressions.

It seemed to me as though Sara did know how to make curry, but only for four or five people, not the 50 or 100 that they needed. She was caught out by the problems of scale. She got it right eventually, but it needed a bit of trial and error for which the artificial constraints of the programme did not allow time.

Yes, you're right, 'hurrying to camera' was probably unfair, and they are being asked the questions, but I do think it's a key reason why I feel with so many of them 'God, I'm glad I don't have to work with him/her.'

Your kidding, you never heard of a cash and carry. Unless you eat at a 5 star restaurant 90% of the food out of a pub kitchen is pre packet stuff. Even the likes of Wetherspoons and Chicago Rock use pre-packet stuff.

So given my menu we have one pot for the rice (for both curry/chilli), one for the curry/chilli and one for the steak pie and one pot of the soup. Bulk order on beef for both the steak pie and the curry, half that order of mince. Veg (onions, carrots, peppers, etc) for all three and bobs your uncle; three dishes on one menu. What's so difficult about that?

Even taking the basic ingredients there is nothing to say you could not have that kind of menu in the space of 2 hours at the minimum. That is prepped, cooked and ready to serve to the public. Having trained and worked in kitchens much like that, I know for a fact that it is possible; even with limited facilities and staff. The key to it is having people working to an organised system, remember food will cook by itself; it doesn't need someone watching over it constantly.