I was having a bit of a
hard time coming up with a topic for today's blog. Today's Friday,
and I really wanted to do a topic that featured some aspect of
teaching. As we're in the month of September and schools are now
back in session, I struggled to come up with a suitable topic.
That, plus the fact that
I'm on a bit of a time crunch today and only have a total of three
and a half hours to type out this entire entry. So, I suppose in a
way, I'm challenging myself and teaching myself to become a better
writer by working under pressure.
Hmmm...working under
pressure. That sounds like an interesting idea to go on.
But which show features
everyday, ordinary people working under pressure to create
extraordinary things?
Oh, wait. I know of just
a show. In fact, the season finale of the fourth season of this
program aired just a couple of days ago on September 11, 2013.
Come to think of it, this
past season of MasterChef was quite entertaining to watch, and very
unpredictable. Well, at least it was to me anyway. You know how
some people believe that reality television is scripted.
But for some reason, I've
always loved watching MasterChef. The concept of the show is
absolute genius. The end goal of each season of the series is the
same. You have hundreds of amateur chefs coming on the show to
compete for a spot on the show by cooking a signature dish for three
judges in the food industry in hopes of impressing them.
You wouldn't think that a
cooking competition would get people watching, but from the very
first season of the American series (the show originated in the
United Kingdom as far back as 1990), I was hooked. As someone who
appreciates good food (but admittedly have zero skills in the
kitchen), I have to say that anybody who even makes it onto the show
at all has my absolute respect.
The three judges who taste
every single dish are also highly respected people in the culinary
world. I would say that Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, and Joe
Bastianich have decades of experience between the three of them.
Heck, Joe Bastianich is the son of Lidia Bastianich, a real master
chef herself! If anyone knows good food, it's the BRE-Team
(Bastianich/Ramsay/Elliot).
So, anyway, the finale of
the show pitted Natasha Crnjac against Luca Manfe in an epic battle
to see who would become the true MasterChef. The competition was
fierce with Luca and Natasha having to battle against seventeen other
people for the title. They cooked a variety of dishes using
langoustine, king crab, pork, turkey, beef, pigeon (yes, pigeon), and
a plethora of vegetarian dishes and desserts in hopes of impressing
the judges. They made some mistakes along the way, and at some point
in the competition, both faced the chopping block at least twice.
But in the end, the victor
reigned supreme.
Congratulations, Luca! A
well earned victory indeed.
So, to celebrate Luca's
win, I thought that I would do a feature on MasterChef. (Well, the
American version at least. I have heard from many fans of the show
that the British version is much better than the American one, but
I've never seen the British version.)
Now, as mentioned before,
MasterChef originated in the United Kingdom in 1990, but over the
last twenty-three years, it has exploded in popularity and is now
broadcast in several different countries including Australia, China,
Croatia, Greece, India, Italy, Spain, and Vietnam. And beginning in
2014, Canada will join the list of countries that will have their
very own MasterChef competition. Very excited to hear of that news!
Now, most people know of
the version of the show that has aired on FOX since July 2010. Many
don't realize that MasterChef first aired in the United States on PBS
between 2000 and 2001! I know I certainly didn't!
Anyway, with the FOX
version of the show, we have now had four people that have been
granted the title of MasterChef. They are...
2010 – Whitney Miller
2011 – Jennifer Behm
2012 – Christine Ha
2013 – Luka Manfe
And what do the winners of
the competition win? Plenty. They win the title of MasterChef for
the year, which comes with a beautiful trophy. They get the
opportunity to publish their own cookbook, which for most amateur
chefs is a dream come true! Just have a look at last year's winner's
book below.
Nice, huh?
Oh, yeah. There's also a
quarter of a million dollar cash prize at the end of the journey.
Why, that's enough to keep your pantry, fridge and freezers stocked
up for several years!
Now, one thing that I find
interesting about MasterChef is that the show really puts contestants
through every possible challenge in order for the judges to determine
who has what it takes to become the next MasterChef. And the way
they do this is through team challenges, mystery box challenges, and
pressure tests.
Team challenges are always
fun to watch. They take the contestants and divide them up into
teams where they will be put into some rather unusual situations.
Sometimes they will have to be placed in a kitchen of a high-end
restaurant in an exercise in quality control. Sometimes they'll have
to plan a lunch menu for junior high school students. Sometimes,
they'll even have to open up a food truck in the middle of the beach
and cook fish tacos and hamburgers for a large group of people. The
teams that end up doing the best will win and be safe for the
pressure test.
Similarly, the show
features mystery box challenges, in which contestants won't know what
ingredients they have to work with until they remove the lid of the
box. Usually, each of the boxes will have some sort of theme to it.
Some boxes will have ingredients that seemingly don't blend well
together but they will have to find a way to make it work. Some
mystery box challenges will have ingredients that are a delicacy in
foreign countries, but are virtually unheard of in America. And, in
one memorable mystery box challenge, the children of the judges
actually chose the mystery box ingredients! And to add to the
pressure, the chefs would only have between 45 and 90 minutes to make
their dish stand out. On mystery box challenges, the judges will
choose their favourite three dishes, and the winner of the challenge
will have a hand in planning the pressure test, which if the player
is smart will use the opportunity to take out their biggest
competition.
Now, what is this pressure
test that I keep talking about?
Well, the pressure test
really puts contestants under pressure. If they fail the test, they
get eliminated from the competition! And believe me when I say that
the pressure tests are nowhere near easy. It's bad enough that the
chefs have to prepare such complicated dishes such as souffle,
meringue pie, and lobster bisque, but to do it in what seems like an
impossible time limit on top of that? No wonder they call it a
pressure test!
Some handle the pressure
really well. Others buckle under pressure. But the pressure tests
definitely do what they were meant to do. They weed out the
competition and they leave the strongest chefs standing.
So, now that you know how
the game is played, let's take a look at some of the more memorable
moments of the whole series, shall we?
On Season 2, there were
lots of people on the show who shall we say...had some rather
boastful attitudes. Suzy and Max in particular knew that both of
them were the best in the competition and they were not afraid to let
anyone know it either.
(Too bad neither one won
the competition to back up their claims.)
But then there was
Christian, a stay-at-home dad. And his ego was something special.
So special that he didn't hesitate to go head to head with the very
judges who had the power to keep him in the competition! Not the
smartest move. Have a look at some of Christian's “greatest hits”.
For what it's worth, I
thought that Christian was going to go far in the competition, and
for what it's worth, I initially went into MasterChef season two
rooting for Christian to win. Unfortunately, his attitude kind of
turned me off to him, and when he was eliminated, I was kind of
relieved. That said, I do hope Christian is doing well.
If anything, after seeing
the way that Krissi acted on the last season of MasterChef with her
bullying tactics and immaturity, next to her Christian was quite
tame!
On the flipside, on the
same season Christian was on, you had Ben Starr, who didn't quite
make it to the finals, but who had the depth, the passion, and most
of all the humility to become a true MasterChef. Just have a look at
the pumpkin carrot cake he prepared for a pressure test challenge.
Okay, I don't even like
pumpkin and I want to try that cake! It just looked phenomenal!
Another success story is
that of Season 3 winner Christine Ha. She dominated the competition
throughout her whole season, very rarely making it in the bottom two.
She lead her team to victory on a couple of occasions, and she
prepared some of the most brilliant dishes in the history of the
competition.
And she did it all with
very little sight.
Yes, Christine is legally
blind, which at the beginning of the competition had her other
competitors believing that because of this she was not a major
threat. But boy did Christine prove them wrong. But one of the most
beautiful things about Christine's story was the self-growth she did
herself. She entered the competition doubting her abilities and
thinking that she couldn't compete with the others.
That is, until she made
the apple pie that changed her entire outlook. Have a look.
I STILL get goosebumps
watching that moment. In that moment, I believe that a true
MasterChef was born, and it was in the moment that Christine really
began to show everyone that she did have what it took to become a
MasterChef. Good show, Christine!
One of my favourite parts
of the show is the audition process. The auditions are some of the
most entertaining parts of the whole show. Just have a look at this
montage of contestants who didn't quite make it onto the show.
But just because a person
doesn't make it onto the show the first time around, it doesn't mean
that they are out of the running down the road. After all, Luca was
turned down for season three, and he won season four! And, to conclude this entry off, let's watch some of the more successful auditions!
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