(Spoilers)
So the new series of Masterchef UK is back on and we're five episodes in. It's much better than the last series, thank god, because that one was awful (1). Silly format, not nearly enough cooking and an unpalatable (2) slant towards drama that made most of the contestants seem vaguely unlikeable, annoying and/or incompetent even if they were actually lovely people who could make omelette. I stopped watching after a few of episodes.
This series is very good, though. It hasn't wasted any time waffling (3) about. We met eight contestants, then six, then four, everyday for three days, and now we have ten contestants, no wait-nine (one quit)- and, yeah, five episodes in. Okay so far? I wish I could have worked 'two' and 'seven' in somewhere but as they say, two many cooks... (4)
They just had their Jane Austen catering challenge. Eamonn definitely wanted to be team leader but Andrew got the job. Poor Eamonn. Never mind- he wasted no time in dishing (5) out orders anyway. Then they went and lost and he didn't get to meet Jason Atherton, who I keep calling Mike Atherton because at least he's interesting. Poor Eamonn. That will be my new catchphrase. His voice, by the way, is almost exactly like Bill Bailey's when he's announcing the food to the Austen Friars (6) between about 21.23 and 21.26- check out the inflection at the end of the sentence ('Best food you will taste in Bath!', says Eamonn. Poor Eamonn.)
No I don't dislike him. Okay, maybe a little bit but only in this episode and that too because he was being bossy and a bit ungracious about the loss. But I'm sure he makes a super omelette.
Where were we, anyway? Oh, yes, okay. So Ashvi's recipe involved putting some vegetables into some other vegetables. I think she was secretly listening in on the other team and picked up this gem from Aki: 'My idea...stuff whatever we can with whatever we have, and make it taste good, and look really good'. Extraordinary stuff. To which we might hear the superhero version of Ashvi saying 'Yeah, I'll stuff those cabbages alright! And the tomatoes- I'll stuff those too! In fact, damn it all, I'll stuff the whole thing up!' And she did. Poor Eamonn.
And while we're on the subject of quantum physics, I don't know how to feel about Aki. The part of me that's been a serial student all her life is screaming madly for her because she's a doctoral student doing something other than footnoting; the other part wants to tell her to simmer down (7) a bit. But she seemed really efficient in this challenge so good for her.
I like Emma's teeth.
I hope you didn't miss the brief sparks (8) between Shelina and Tom when they were cooking in Mike Atherton's kitchen between 42.11 and 42. 22 ('Back!' 'Back!'). How lovely. Tom's great, by the way, have I mentioned this? Yeah, he's smart and seems to be able to keep it together. I have a feeling he won't win because the people I root for never do- they often come in second, though so at least that's something. Shelina seems good too. She certainly did a good job as team leader and wasn't flopping about like a boneless chicken.
Who else is left? Andrew I really like. Greg said of him that he's part-'food library'. I think the other part may be some kind of pixie. Yeah, I like him very much. Jay's great too. I generally like the kind of people who keep their heads down and do their work well. Jonathan was really growing on me and he did so well in the challenge. Wonder why he quit. I'm sure it's not because of the pail of snail he had to serve- that may have been a big deal for Mike A. but it shouldn't have made much of a difference to the competition. I have a feeling that Afsaneh is off her rocker. Her crazed smile when Greg was telling her that she couldn't possibly remake the custard or whatever at 28.01 was positively frightening.
Moving on from the contestants, I laughed quite a bit at the crowd at the Austen festival. I'm quite cynical and some of them invited comment: strange woman giggling at women not being allowed to serve themselves, I'm looking at you. But most of them were just nice, trussed up (9) people in bonnets so hooray for their commitment. I did want to throw some paper at the mayor/sheriff person who felt compelled to make his cultural mark by likening a crab dish to a Damien Hirst, and the woman who had an epiphany along with her side order of Ox cheek. And did the mayor/sheriff look alarmingly like David Bamber's Mr Collins from the BBC's 1995 series or was it just the side-effect (10) of him standing next to Adrian Lukis (who played Wickham)?
But the show's been great so far and the contestants seem a good lot (what do I know? I can't even braise an egg) so I'm in and I'm hungry.
P.S. (1) is offal, in case that's the one you couldn't process (11).
So the new series of Masterchef UK is back on and we're five episodes in. It's much better than the last series, thank god, because that one was awful (1). Silly format, not nearly enough cooking and an unpalatable (2) slant towards drama that made most of the contestants seem vaguely unlikeable, annoying and/or incompetent even if they were actually lovely people who could make omelette. I stopped watching after a few of episodes.
This series is very good, though. It hasn't wasted any time waffling (3) about. We met eight contestants, then six, then four, everyday for three days, and now we have ten contestants, no wait-nine (one quit)- and, yeah, five episodes in. Okay so far? I wish I could have worked 'two' and 'seven' in somewhere but as they say, two many cooks... (4)
They just had their Jane Austen catering challenge. Eamonn definitely wanted to be team leader but Andrew got the job. Poor Eamonn. Never mind- he wasted no time in dishing (5) out orders anyway. Then they went and lost and he didn't get to meet Jason Atherton, who I keep calling Mike Atherton because at least he's interesting. Poor Eamonn. That will be my new catchphrase. His voice, by the way, is almost exactly like Bill Bailey's when he's announcing the food to the Austen Friars (6) between about 21.23 and 21.26- check out the inflection at the end of the sentence ('Best food you will taste in Bath!', says Eamonn. Poor Eamonn.)
No I don't dislike him. Okay, maybe a little bit but only in this episode and that too because he was being bossy and a bit ungracious about the loss. But I'm sure he makes a super omelette.
Where were we, anyway? Oh, yes, okay. So Ashvi's recipe involved putting some vegetables into some other vegetables. I think she was secretly listening in on the other team and picked up this gem from Aki: 'My idea...stuff whatever we can with whatever we have, and make it taste good, and look really good'. Extraordinary stuff. To which we might hear the superhero version of Ashvi saying 'Yeah, I'll stuff those cabbages alright! And the tomatoes- I'll stuff those too! In fact, damn it all, I'll stuff the whole thing up!' And she did. Poor Eamonn.
And while we're on the subject of quantum physics, I don't know how to feel about Aki. The part of me that's been a serial student all her life is screaming madly for her because she's a doctoral student doing something other than footnoting; the other part wants to tell her to simmer down (7) a bit. But she seemed really efficient in this challenge so good for her.
I like Emma's teeth.
I hope you didn't miss the brief sparks (8) between Shelina and Tom when they were cooking in Mike Atherton's kitchen between 42.11 and 42. 22 ('Back!' 'Back!'). How lovely. Tom's great, by the way, have I mentioned this? Yeah, he's smart and seems to be able to keep it together. I have a feeling he won't win because the people I root for never do- they often come in second, though so at least that's something. Shelina seems good too. She certainly did a good job as team leader and wasn't flopping about like a boneless chicken.
Who else is left? Andrew I really like. Greg said of him that he's part-'food library'. I think the other part may be some kind of pixie. Yeah, I like him very much. Jay's great too. I generally like the kind of people who keep their heads down and do their work well. Jonathan was really growing on me and he did so well in the challenge. Wonder why he quit. I'm sure it's not because of the pail of snail he had to serve- that may have been a big deal for Mike A. but it shouldn't have made much of a difference to the competition. I have a feeling that Afsaneh is off her rocker. Her crazed smile when Greg was telling her that she couldn't possibly remake the custard or whatever at 28.01 was positively frightening.
Moving on from the contestants, I laughed quite a bit at the crowd at the Austen festival. I'm quite cynical and some of them invited comment: strange woman giggling at women not being allowed to serve themselves, I'm looking at you. But most of them were just nice, trussed up (9) people in bonnets so hooray for their commitment. I did want to throw some paper at the mayor/sheriff person who felt compelled to make his cultural mark by likening a crab dish to a Damien Hirst, and the woman who had an epiphany along with her side order of Ox cheek. And did the mayor/sheriff look alarmingly like David Bamber's Mr Collins from the BBC's 1995 series or was it just the side-effect (10) of him standing next to Adrian Lukis (who played Wickham)?
But the show's been great so far and the contestants seem a good lot (what do I know? I can't even braise an egg) so I'm in and I'm hungry.
P.S. (1) is offal, in case that's the one you couldn't process (11).
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