Masterchef Australia – Now If Wade Had Been Debra…
What prep did Wade actually do in his two hours for the Pizza and Pasta lunch challenge aka the Barilla challenge? He was making Pasta Cabonara and Pizza Napoletana, not Neopolitana as he had written on the menu board. Neither not exactly labor intensive.
For Cabonara he had to chop up the cured pork, and break a few eggs. For his pizza he had to make the dough, sauce and chop up some basil and cheese. Alice should have turned around and bitch slapped him about having a crack at her for taking so long on the Squid Ink pasta on the previously episode.
But the person who had every right to go ballistic at him was Julia, because as he had not prepped a pizza sauce he used hers. She was quite magnanimous about it saying that she did not mind him doing it as he had had such a hard time in prep making his pizza dough.
Half way through prep her sauce ran out and she was told to make some more. Wade said I realise I can’t keep on using Julia’s pizza sauce” maybe because there was none left.
He then told George Calombaris to take his pizza off the menu and that he was going to make Julia some more sauce. It would have been hilarious if Wade had actually won.
Now if it had been Debra in the same situation there would have been fear and loathing throughout the kitchen, and talk about how disorganised she was and how she had sabotaged Julia’s chances of winning.
In judging George praised Wade for being such a team player. Why?
It was a tough day in the kitchen with Wade, Alice, Julia and Mindy having to cook a pizza and pasta dish for 120 covers. Also none of their dishes could use the same ingredients. Though there was a lot of pork derivatives dished up.
Alice made Orecchiette with bacon, peas and mint and Quattro Formmagi Pizza, Julia made Pizza Braesola and Rigatoni with Eggplant, Mindy made Casarecce with Tomato and Basil and Pizza Bianco, and Wade did the Spaghetti Cabonara and Pizza Napoletana.
The kitchen was tiny not helped by the huge number of packets of Barilla merchandise positioned everywhere. The Masterchef rule was in place – if it is sponsored product the judges won’t harass you about not making it from scratch.
Julia also had some bad luck with her pasta as she was waiting on the pasta cooker as Mindy had it and by the time she got to it the temperature had dropped and her pasta cooked too slowly.
Audra and Beau because they had the worst dish from the previous episode had to do the washing up. In fact they dodged a bullet as it was also chaos in the front of house staffed by the rest of the Masterchef contestants. Debra said they had not had time to work out how it was going to operate. What were they doing all morning drinking espresso?
George was saying this was the worst service he had ever done. Maybe he was just in a bad mood because he cut his finger whilst grating cheese.
One of the problems with these restaurant services is that is unlike most restaurants as it is full right from the start of service and with amateurs in the kitchen it is not long before it turns into chaos.
Alice was being swamped with orders and forgot a pizza, and Julia was helping her out at times. I am still not sure Mindy is the team player she pretends to be.
Also there was Gino who was introduced as one of the best pizza makers in Rome, but he did not appear to do anything.
The judges liked Mindy’s pasta however they thought Wade’s cabonara was far too stodgy. They also criticised Julia’s rigatoni which was broken up. They thought Mindy’s Pizza Bianco was too salty, but thought Julia’s pizza topping was great, but the dough was not right.
Alice got criticised for her orecchiette that the ingredients did not go together but the judges loved her pizza.
The top two were Mindy and Alice and they will be fighting it out for an immunity pin. It looks like either Mindy will have two immunity pins which will see her sail into the top three, or Alice will have one which will mean in the final weeks there will be three immunity pins in play, which could make it very interesting indeed.
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130 comments
Did George think he was cool saying ‘yeah’ at the end of everything he said when he was in the kitchen? It drove me nuts. Even scared the cat when I screamed at him to shut up at some stage.
Wade, snipping the little basil leaves off the plant ONE BY ONE. Just grab all the leaves and cut them off with one snip; no-one is going to care about a few little baby basil stalks. (Unless Gino or someone told him not to. Yeah, that’s probably what Gino was doing.)
Maybe Wade and Dr Evil should swap notes on the one at a time technique for cutting and chopping
Julia was robbed. Calm, organised, helpful and just nice, even when Wade pinched her sauce and Mindy hogged the pasta cooker. Wade drove me to distraction picking off those basil leaves one by one. It reminded me of Dr. Evil on MKR cutting up the green beans.
I was agog at the way Matt ate that large slice of pizza!
Yeah…I don’t like Wade. Maybe if they had shown more of him from the start, I would have realised this earlier. But I don’t like him.
Someone should have done lasagne for the pasta dish. They could have had everything cooked ahead of time and just served it as the orders came à la Andy’s beef cheeks in Tasmania.
The promos for the immunity cook-off seem to hint that Alice will lose. Therefore, Alice will win.
The Italy trip seems to be shaping up to be a dull, dull week.
Lassecooktv you’re right that must have been what Gino was doing
dr T – lol spot on
Calliegirl – in one seen you could hear George screaming in the background
Dunbi – agree julia was robbed
Jess – not a bad idea it is a bit labour intensive but possibly doable
how ridiculous was that challenge tonight, how crap were the dishes they turned out as a consequence? I really hope that George and Gary got stuck into the producers for having such a dumb-ass idea.
How on earth do they convince restaurant owners to let them cook in their kitchens and mess with their reputation? What you want me to let a bunch of amateurs in the kitchen, while they stuff up every dish and you want to film it too, but don’t worry you’ll be on TV in some piss-ant little country … oh yeah … where do I sign up!!!
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT ………do not look if you want to see who gets the immunity pin tonight ………………… alice! the old immunity pin hole mistake from $hine again always between the 2 top buttons where gorge likes to leave his fingerprints on women . just like kylie’s immunity pin mark which also was a stand out , just check the highlight grab for tonight ,there’s alice doing one of her cooky dorky interviews look for the black dot . i wish to apologize for standing up for alice this week regarding her backlash towards her , i was wrong you were all right she does drive you nuts !!!!!! with all that puppet body language and bowing .i tried to last the distance fellow bloggers but i could not see out the week ,please except me back . kind regards kingfisher
Damn it Kingfisher… you have spoilt RR’s blog entry for tomorrow!!!
The best pizza chef in Italy looked like a plastic, botoxed store mannequin – I didn’t see him move, but then again the kitchen was too small for one more!
FFS, why was Wade praised for being such a team player! He and Dr Evil would work well together – not! Snip, snip at the bloody basil leaves – no wonder George was having the worst day of his life – ha!
Don’t start me on the judges greediness – they will probably get so fat in Italy they will need two seats each on the flight back. El Gordo just shoves it in ……
All that challenge did was highlight what a great girl Julia is and how much the other three sucked.
bbd named Alice ‘Louis the Fly’ – and a fly darting around the kitchen is what she reminded me of last night. Wade was plain useless and Mindy just does whatever it takes to finish in front.
lassestvcook – the laborious cutting of the basil leaves drove us crazy too-
how time consuming! I realised Wade was in trouble when right at the start he said he was putting cream in his carbonara. I’ve been making Antonio Carluccio’s recipe at home for years – dead easy and no cream.
http://www.antonio-carluccio.com/Spaghetti_alla_Carbonara
Ugh, they’re taking up two whole episodes just to see who wins an immunity pin? Alice is obviously winning tonight, seeing as she is shown to be in peril in the promo. Typical MC editing.
Italy has been a real disappointment so far. As horrible as S3 was, at least New York week was fun to watch.
The Italian episodes have been a bit disappointing so far, maybe the contestants aren’t showing all they’ve got because perhaps they are jealous that the biggest loser went to Switzerland? I would be jealous too.
I was suprised they weren’t making their own pasta but with sponsors like barilla pasta plastered everywhere, pfft, who cares right?
JKo – not only Barilla dried pasta but they had Perfecto Italiano (or whatever brand it is) on the sleeves of their tunics – what, no fresh pasta or cheese in Italy!!
Totally agree with most comments especially the use of barilla pasta. But in a restaurant which can sit 120 and has such a small kitchen one normally would not be making the pasta apart from perhaps gnocchi.
There is a place for making your own pasta and using ready made pasta.
This episode was all over place. No comments from the customers which is unusual. Perhaps the customers were not happy???
It would not have cost much to get an interpreter to ask them and record their comments. Something iffy there.
At the rate the dishes were going out I think Audra and Beau would have had the easiest job, washing up the dishes. I certainly would prefer that than being front of house. No customer interaction = no problems. ;p
RR is right, what the heck were the front of house 4 doing in the 2 hours of prep? They should have at least worked out table numbers.
Also I agree, Julia totally shined there and even though she didn’t win I am glad George went out of his way to tell her so at the end.
@Calliegirl – re: George saying “yeah” at the end of everything: He really does this and for most of season 1 he kept doing it too. Apparently he has been repressing it ever since but since he was totally stressed there his old habits came back again.
Ridiculous challenge other than it was good to see George out of his comfort zone and showed what a trouper Julia is. Mindy is getting to me – her voice, her attitude, her manky mouth and fingers, her guffawing, back slapping footy club mannerisms, her trained for TV hand movements a la Hayden S3. And if she is 33, I’ll start pretending I’m 5 years younger too.
Time to go home Wado. Useless as bulls t*ts.
So the sound bites were complaining about doing 120 covers, but they weren’t doing 120 each, were they? They would have done about thirty or so each surely. Otherwise that would have meant they put out almost five hundred covers in total and I can’t see that as being logistically possible.
Maybe Julia’s dishes would have been better if she’d been less well prepared and less accommodating for those who couldn’t get their own mise en place sorted (Wade…fancy nicking all that tomato sauce, that’s unthinkable).
I think normally that restaurant would for sure have been making their own pasta from scratch – it’s Italy, it’s a restaurant, I just can’t see Italian chefs using packet pasta. It should have been judged on a combination of kitchen performance and cooking as Julia would have gotten a chance at the hallowed pin. She should have.
Cream in carbonara sauce? Wade, bet you are using Donna Hay’s recipe :p I am not sure if he used eggs for his carbonara sauce.
Wasn’t it George’s idea to tell Wade to use Julia’s sauce & worked as a team to get the food out? When Julia’s sauce ran out, Wade told George to take his pizza of the menu he needed to make new sauce for Julia. Hence, the team player remarks.
Agree with Dunbi, Julia was shafted! I really like her after this episode. Cool and collected. Even George said he wouldn’t mind her working in his kitchen after the challenge. That’s a big call! I would like to see Julia & Mindy go head to head in an elimination challenge & bump her out!!
Is Mindy a team player? She hogged all the pasta cookers & got her prep ready ahead of everyone. She said she helped Wade but he didn’t even get his pizza sauce done, so what did Mindy help him? Snipping basil leaves?
They should have a 3-way cook off. Wade snipping basil leaves, Dr Evil cutting green beans & Debra making meatballs. May the slowest win.
Yeah Julia was dudded. What gets me in this game is that bad behaviour gets rewarded. It was clear to me that Mindy hogged the pasta cooker to Julia’s disadvantage. Did she do it deliberately – well of course because she is a game player. Not an authentic bone in her body – kissy kissy to everyone but so false. So who get rewarded – Mindy of course. Not sure how parents explain the outcome of this stuff to their kids who are watching. “Now kids, yeah I know Julia was the team player, but suck it up kids – this is how real life works – you have to be a bad arse to win”.
They were serving 120 people but I suppose they had to be prepared if more people wanted one dish over the other. I think Alice got the most orders.
I think the restaurant would have been happy for them to take it over for one service they would have been paid for it and probably more than they normally make in a lunch sitting. One restaurant in Italy let Jersey Shore take it over for a number of weeks while filming.
Restaurants in Italy would use pre-made pasta depending on who they were catering for.
Going to be controversial here, but I think Alice is my favourite at the moment. She can cook, and she has some personality. The boys even spunkilicious Andy are all pretty ordinary with their cooking skills. Audra is good as is Mindy but both are slightly annoying me at the moment. Interestingly enough Julia went up in my estimation last night. Though would have loved her more if she had punched both Wade and Mindy out. Mindy is there to win and I don’t have a problem with that but her team player bollocks is starting to irritate me.
BTW EH love the photos you found of Alice yesterday indeed she is a hot tamale.
Agree with the comments, Julia has gone up now in my estimation and Mindy has gone way down! Alice and Wade were just faffing around not very organized. Where was Gino hiding ( the best pizza maker in Italy ), surely he could have helped organize everyone and helped them manage their time better, maybe help Wade make his sauce? I wonder if the Italian customers were getting a free meal so thats why it was so popular, and did they even know what was going on behind the scenes? Wish they would have spoken to some of them!Audra and beau were lucky to be in the background, no pressure there. Julia should have won, I really hope Mindy doesn’t win this thing, she doesn’t deserve it.
RR, I hope you didn’t waste too much time looking for Alice in ‘bondage’ dress. >_<
@RR, I agree that Andy is spunkilicious especially in his waiter uniform.
Is Italy’s best pizza chef the 5th member of Kraftwerk?
Good recap Raver. Julia was triple boned – by Wado, George and Mingy – just so that Bert’s caterpillar brows could survive to amaze my kids – “do they move, dad?”
Bert was damned lucky this wasn’t on Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen as he would have told in no uncertain terms to “fuck off out of the kitchen” for not having prepared any sauce.
In fact, as spotted by lassecooktv, had Ramsay noticed him performing ritual bonsai on that potted basil, he’d've been hauled into the pantry for a furious dressing down.
At least I am enjoying the glimpses of Italy we are being shown.
I’m not surprised about the prevalence of Barilla pasta. Restaurants around market squares are generally tourist traps geared to volume and relatively quick service, no matter where you are in the world. I can’t see why they’d make pasta fresh when you can get a more consistent and reliable result with the Barilla.
As also pointed out by a previous commenter here, authentic carbonara has egg not cream.
Do the visitors to the restaurant actually pay for their meal or it is free? The restaurant owner would take a big chance if they had to pay for rubbish food like the judges implied i.e. too salty whatever such a negative show and Julia should be in the challenge tonight but then a platform has to be provided for the judges favourite i.e. team player Mindy – What.
This was the first episode I have seen any of the contestants wearing plastic gloves. They have generally do not present the greatest examples of food handling technique.
Was Beau sighted this entire episode?
Or had he paid some passing Albanian immigrant to wash the dishes for him?
I’ve always liked Alice and have never gotten all the hate. I’m still a Mindy fan despite all her “strategies” and I hope she wins now that Amina is gone.
@CB – Beau and Audra were only there at the start before vanishing to do the dishes. You could hear Beau at one point asking Audra something in the background though while Alice was freaking out.
Anyone else find the restaurant structure itself wierd? The kitchen was upstairs and the tables downstairs. Ofcourse George would need to yell for service especially if the four in front were floating around outside. It was almost like Kylie, Deb and Andy were outside and Ben was relegated to the indoor tables as he only showed up to give food to Gary and Matt.
Now if Wade had been Debra… exactly.
Similarly, when George gave Alice her feedback from the challenge he said she was all over the place and needed to be focussed on the job at hand. He used the same gesture to express this positive ability as a cook that Ben had used to describe Deb’s ‘tunnel vision’ in the previous challenge.
I’m bored with the fact that the immunity challenge is being dragged out over three nights. First, Sunday night where they all compete to be the top two teams of two in order to get the chance to compete for the chance to try for immunity. Then, Monday night, those four contestants battle it out to find the top two who then get the chance to try for immunity. Then tonight, we’ll watch the actual immunity contest. yawn….
Why only one elimination this week when there were three contestants eliminated last week? Yes, I’m sure that the flying kangaroo sponsor said they’d only fly 10 contestants over to Italy at vast expense, and we did skip an elimination in Tassie where Sam (remember him?) and Andy were both safe. This week in Italy, which should have been so wonderful, is just dragging. Sigh…
By the way, I’m assuming that the local Italians were NOT at all impressed by the dishes. Language barriers aside, we would all have understood comments like “buonissimo” “delizioso” and “motto bene” accompanied by smiling Italian faces eating pizza and pasta (if there had been any). The fact we didn’t weren’t shown ANY comments from the customers should speak volumes!
If 4 of them are preparing to serve 12o diners and as Simone said each will only need to prepare 30 dishes. OK, if some diners order 2 dishes and the total dishes served were 200, each on them will only need to do 50 dishes. 25 pasta and 25 pizza. Of course the more popular will have to do more. I could see lots of order for Alice and Julia pasta. But Wade can’t even serve up a few pizza or pasta dishes.
Yes, I would have liked some feedback from the customers.
I would very much like to have heard the discussion between the judges as to which two should win. I wonder who went for who?
EH – I think you should add to your list ‘I’ve never boiled water before’ not by anybody in particular, but have seen it a couple of times this season. Why don’t they know to put the lid on? Also happened on MKR with Dr. Evil bemoaning the fact that his huge pot of potatoes wouldn’t boil.
Librarygirl – thanks for recipe, have bookmarked it to give it a try.
Only reason for last night’s appallingly unfair outcome is that the stooges woke up with horse heads in their beds and some scrawled Calabrese about what would happen if Mindy wasn’t favoured. Jowl$y just ate his horse head and went back to sleep.
Poor Julie. $hine~ Dirty deeds,done dirt cheap. A guy with eyebrows like that cannot be Au$tralia’s next Ma$terchef. If you can trim Basil so delicately, move on to those brows because you’re a real liability in a kitchen.
Alice~is it in the rules that insects can win? Like Deb’s meltdown last week, I think the sucker punch in the promos is crap and that Alice will be fitted up with an ammunity pin tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing the look on Mindy’s faces when it happens.
Keep going Deb and Julia, you’re doing me proud.
Hardly any footage of Beige Ben. You got that right, at least,$hine.
I’m keeping an eye out for the start of the gastro challenge and what unhygenic food handling practices might have caused it.
I’ve noticed no-one on MC, judges and guest chefs included, are into washing fruit and vegetable before preparing them. This and the need to wash hands regularly with soap was drilled into me while growing up (Mum was a RN). I’ve seen contestants wipe their hands on their aprons after cutting up raw meat, instead of washing them properly.
What an annoying episode that was. How stupid putting amatta chefs into a situation like that. I’m astounded anyone got fed. However it was worth it for the George freak out. Agree that Julia was very badly robbed. Hope she has her revenge. If anyone else saw Friday’s Masterclass they would know where Mindy is aiming – as she was prattling on while helping out with the prep she sounded like she’s swallowed a whole series of Poh’s Kitchen.
Well I had the captions on and no sound for Ma$terchef and it looked like(according to the captions I saw )George let some bad language go in the general direction of Alice at one stage. I can’t be sure though and I’m assuming nothing like that went to air.
I agree with Chunks’ assessment of Mindy on Friday’s Ma$terclass. Already thinks she’s a TV chef. Nauseating. A Ma$terchef should have humility , Gary says. She crapped out ~ big time.
New judge for MCA 2013 announced!
The new judge at a ‘tasting’ –
http://video.news.com.au/2254611069/Clam-eats-salt
Lol CB – una lingua gigante bavoso.
It’s probably related to the guanciale
MIndy’s the fakest fake among them – I really felt that after the Heston challenge when her first reaction to the bacon and chocolate combo was how excited she was and how she was really hoping for something like that. She is all about helping herself but looking like a team player. But Wade’s an idiot too and his strategy is to cook as little as possible, as slowly as possible. Artichokes in 90 min the previous night, then the basil last night. What were his dramas with the dough anyway?
George was looking/acting a bit strange when he talked about Julia’s performance at the end – I thought he was going to cry, or at least he was quite emotional. Perhaps he understood that she should have won and had been dudded by Mindy the snake.
The producers really can’t get these immunity pin numbers right. I think it worked best in S2, when only Marion had a pin for a while, then no one, then Adam. Not like last season when there was always a pin in play right from Week 1 (and remember the how Dani got her pin vs Eamon Sullivan, or Ellie in NY giggling her way to a pin- that still annoys me!). But this year, having 3 pins floating around when there are only 10 contestants left is ridiculous.
Totally agree with you, Fides. Why do they want to give out another pin when there are only 10 contestants left and 2 with pins. I also have a feeling that Audra is the one being eliminated in Italy. I hope I am wrong. She deserves to be in the Top 5 but Channel 10 just want to create some controversy so we will continue to talk about the show.
Jruth -
I certainly remember Sam. I remember, too, how the leadup to the immunity challenge in Tasmania was also dragged out over two nights. I also remember how Sam was robbed of his immunity chance in the process. Nobody gives a fig, but this has always bothered me.
Sunday night invention test – ‘ no consequences’ and therefore no bottom three going into a Monday night pressure test.
Sam’s dish wins the invention test. He arrives in Tasmania to learn that he is getting to pick his entire team for the Salamanca Markets challenge. Woo-hoo!
The next night, the winning team – Sam’s, as it turns out – gets to compete in a salmon-catching and cooking challenge. The winner gets to go for the immunity pin. Amina wins this opportunity!
It is hard to imagine Sam would have bodged up the dessert as badly as Amina did in that immunity challenge.
He was robbed! But all we hear is how poor Amina had to go up against a chef one-on-one, etc. It should have been Sam’s chance.
Friday’s class was a Mindyfest.
Agree planb – Sam was dudded for the immunity in Tassie after winning the seduction challenge.
If Audra and Beau had been sent into lockdown, I feel sorry for Beau. Audra’s just too loud – even her “we’re doing the DIIIIIIIISHEEEEES” was more than I needed to hear last night. And I prefer Alice when she’s doing her face of genuine surprise, when the news takes several seconds to reach her, and she has to look to someone else for confirmation that she can believe her ears. I guess those are the bits where they don’t do multiple takes to get the best surprised expression. (I know it was a year ago, but I remember seeing the behind the scenes for the NY Times square challenge. The big screen with the judges’ faces, with no sound and the director asking for “more surprise” for the next take.)
Dignified – is how you’d describe Julia in the kitchen, I think. Also Exasperated, come to think of it. I enjoyed her small laugh of utter disbelief when George blithely suggested she just whip up another whole batch of her pasta sauce, in the middle of service, after Wade had used it all. Why of course, George! Just let me temporarily STOP TIME and get that right up.
I don’t blame Mindy for building a ladder out of the bodies of her fallen comrades. It’s a competition and all. I might behave like a total ass too for a hundred thousand dollars, I’ve never had the opportunity to find out. Any offers?
Flicked to TAR so thanks for the summary RR – seems like I didn’t miss much….. although disappointed for Julia as it sounds she was robbed…..
Didn’t Julia make the four cheese pizza for the judges, as Alice was too busy doing her pasta? In that case Julia should be up for amunity …… Julia was robbed …
Producers Meeting prior to leaving for Rome. We’ll hire out a restaurant, stack it with 120 Italians looking to score extra cash as they need the money due to the whole Eurozone crisis. Remember, pay them in Euros only (as it is isn’t worth so much nowadays) AND only after they finish everything on their plates.
We’ll cram four people into a kitchen closet. We’ll get the four to make their own pizza and pasta…..oh wait…the sponsor has come through? Okay, make pizza and boil water in a kitchen with limited equipment and resources. What was that? Would the cramp quarters make it difficult for the dough to rest or the yeast to work in its optimal temperature? Wouldn’t that affect service? People, it’s all about manufactured drama yeah? Not cooking, yeah? Front of house we’ll make sure they look sexy in their uniforms. We got tailors on standby to take measurements and to cut the cloth. Will take two hours though so hopefully they can wing the service.
What can go wrong? Nothing! Editors, don’t forget to splice as many footage of satisfied customers’ comments and reactions into the show as well. We want the locals to marvel at how well Strayans can cook pre-made pasta well.
Julia will never get a fair deal from the judges because Julia refuses to be the giggling, jumping, squealing, idol worshipping, name dropping, bowing, scraping, boot licking, deferring air-head the stooges prefer.
I might watch a pro wrestling DVD instead of MC tonight: the acting will prpbably be better and the pre-determined match ending slightly less obvious than Alice winning. It’s clear from the comments here that no one really believes that MC outcomes are based on cooking ability (unless someone falls apart or makes a gigantic stuff-up that editing can’t hide).
Chris W, the wrestling will have better music
As soon as I started to read about the two judges being hungover and the horses head etc – I just knew it was you BDD.. Ta for another laugh…
Actually, it might be more informative to watch the movie “Quiz Show”, the story of the 1950s US quiz shows rigged for drama and suspense.
Couldn’t agree more Plan B!!
I reckon the EPG has given out another spoiler of which team will lose next week. A little more subtle this time. I won’t say which team but here are some clues.
There will be one elimination on Thursday, 9 will return to MC house. According to the EPG, The contestants will face triple eliminations & no immunity pin challenge next week. 2 contestants will be eliminated on Monday & Tuesday. Entering Wednesday team challenge. It will be 7 contestants left. One team will have 3 & one team will have 4. The EPG has stated the ‘number’ of contestants that will cook for elimination challenge on Thursday.
Masterchef cheese and ham -
http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/07/09/1226421/334650-greek-v-roman.jpg
Or Testiclos meets Nero, if you is a history buff.
Reminds me of Asterix and Obelix undercover in Rome. The Twelve Tasks of Asterix, was it?
EH – So we’ll be down to 6 contestants after next week? And I’m guessing the Final 6 will be Finals Week?
Morgan – I read that the final will be on Wednesday 25/7. It will be 2 hours with final 3 down to 2 and then 1.
jess, I used to love Asterix when I was a kid.
I didn’t want to ruin the memory by associating this pair with it.
However, if the family ever get to Paris the kids can go to Disney with Mrs Boner while I go to Asterix World – http://www.parcasterix.fr/en/roman-empire
CB #28 – “Yes, those caterpillar brows do move.”
Exhibit A:
http://itlacksacidity.tumblr.com/post/26604925974/the-saddest-episode-of-masterchef-in-the-whole
‘ritual bonsai’ … hehe
Yes RR, if Debra had done a Wade, imagine the venomous outpourings of bile all over the net. There would’ve been contracts out on her….mostly from those who can’t seem to leave Amina’s wake.
The minute George gave Julia the ‘high-praise’ at the end, I knew she was getting the kissoff. ie. Thx, but we’re going to roll you over for the bug-eyed, excitable philosophahh … ’cause we enjoyed the pizza that you made for her.
Have to grudgingly admire the manicure-challenged Mindy – she’s a Mossad trained killer, a smiling assassin. Nothing will stop her in her quest to grace our airwaves in the future. Not to mention a product line; just as Marion’s face beams from food packets, look for Mindy’s sweet face in the pest eradication aisle of your local Coles.
The best part about last night’s farce was the lack of Ben and the Offal Queen.
Even George is catered for at Asterix World. Woo hoo.
http://www.parcasterix.fr/en/ancient-greece
Which character would George play?: Saintpancras; Onthepremises; Diabetes.
I reckon Onthepremises.
lol, thanks EH. I reckon they may want to permanently migrate.
EH (59) – if someone in the team of four uses an immunity pin so as to avoid elimination, that could leave three to cook – so the EPG give away about the team numbers might not be such a spoiler after all. Just a thought?
With all the immunity pins that it seems are likely to flashing around after tonight if Alice gets one too, we can almost pick the final three!
Poor Mindy,
Girl has done nothing wrong since the start of the competition except cook well and be nice to everyone yet still she attracts the haters.
What a sad state of affairs.
When’s the facebook hate page coming along?
I’m sure someone is working on it.
Jruth – ** SPOILER WARNING ** From the ‘number’ given on EPG, I can assume no one is using the immunity pin.
There are no haters, just Paul and his inability to cope with Ma$terchef being criticised in any way.
Some people have formed the opinion that Mindy is a fraud. How awful.
There’s no Facebook page, just a coffin chaser of $hine bleating the usual.
Dismount your high horse, Pauly. Is Mindy your new Dani?
Did I not say that I, in effect, admire her? She can cook, and she’s ambitious, so what?
Didn’t like that she monopolised the cookers (team player?) at the expense of my favourite fem-bot, Julia, who did everything with efficiency and consideration, uncomplainingly … yet reaped no reward.
I don’t think anyone is taking it as seriously as you Paul. Hate is a pretty strong word and I haven’t seen it used in any of the posts.
Feelings change toward most contestants from one episode to the next and that’s usually down to scripting and what the editors are dishing up. Most people understand that and just need to express their frustration at what ‘appears’ on their TV screens.
After 25 July no-one will care less about MCA for another year. That’s RTV for you and this is blogging for you.
Just submitted this then saw a couple of other responses that I haven’t read yet. Just saying, in case I’ve repeated their thoughts.
Note to self – Do not react to Paul. Repeat it x 1000 while staring at this image:
http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs35/f/2008/299/2/5/Leopard_nails_by_Ira_she.jpg
I dont find any comments here cruel in any way either against any contestant or the program itself- rather all that’s being shown in the posts here is a healthy cynicism for the machinations of the production team/judges AND the contestants.
If they want us to believe that this is really a show about people joining the “hospitality industry” and are willing to say that with a straight face (a la judge George two or three episodes ago. Yeah? Yeah. ) and the contestants are willing to fake emotions/perform to a script but still claim authenticity at the behest of the producers then we have a right to call BULLSHIT/E on that.
And have a good time doing it too.
Mindy will go up in my estimation when she ditches the skanky ho nail polish and opts instead for clean, professional, unadorned chef hands. Otherwise she’ll remain forever the Rose Hancock-Porteous of the kitchen.
To be honest I haven’t really seen Mindy do anything to attract some of the criticism (then again I do like her and it’s probably just my personal bias), apart from the tacky nail polish. And I thought it was a bit fishy how she seemed to be BFFs with Audra and Amina then all of a sudden she’s backing up Andrew in Pressure Tests and crying over his elimination. But other than that, nothing really.
Loving the excuses – ‘its not my fault that I don’t like someone for no reason at all, its the nasty production company’s fault.’
For people who pretend to be amazingly sophisticated about the goings on of reality TV, some of you sure seem to be easily manipulated.
Why don’t you start up a Facebook hate page for Reality Raving’s bloggers Paul?
Thanks for the extra tip EH – will have to try to avoid looking at the EPG details between now and then…
Of course , Paul ,when people write things you don’t agree with it’s because they’re somehow lesser than you. You really need to get some better schtick than that, ’cause it got tiring a couple of years ago.
I don’t see anyone here pretending to be amazingly sophisticated~except you.
It’s best to work on your own problem, that you’ve been manipulated to believe that Ma$terchef is a real ,fair dinkum competition. It wouldn’t surprise me that you still believe in Father Christmas and the tooth fairy.
Does anyone think that the finale will be split before and after another program on the same night like they did last year?
[I've decided to adopt the philosophy "Ignore It and It will go away." Because I am a sophisticate.]
Hear, hear …. Paul is just an attention-seeker and, by now, is revelling in all the responses he’s getting.
One way to solve that …
@EH – Haven’t read the spoilers for Thursday week in the EPG but I did notice next Tuesday’s. Since immunity pins are valid up till just before Finals Week, possible the three could have used the pins by Tuesday. Given Kylie Kwong is going to dish up yet another one of her “authentic” Asian themes, I can see Kylie and (presumably) Alice using the pin.
By the way, I don’t think the finale being mid-week has been confirmed. Sounds like speculation still. If Finals Week does include six people (ala Seasons 1 and 2), then it would make more sense to have the Grand Finale on a Sunday to take some heat out of the start of the ratings for the Olympics. Although the ratings aren’t as good as the first two seasons, the rapid fire eliminations during Finals Week does build momentum for Channel Ten in terms of ratings and it does dominate conversations.
With Paul, I think a quick flush before he starts to stink too much doesn’t hurt sometimes..
It would have been a difficult challenge for anyone though if they had to run around in an unfamiliar place, do all the shopping as well as all the prep and cooking involved. Even George would have been flustered. I don’t really have a favourite contestant now, it changes all the time, would have been interesting to see how Deb would have coped with that challenge last night. JSTAR, hows your Survivor recap going?
Maybe its just a bit of homophobia with the Mindy criticism – disguised as finger nail hate of course.
JStar – Yup, July 25 finale is not confirmed by Ten but from what I read after triple elimination next week, 6 contestants left and 1 contestants will go each day on Sunday (22/7), Monday (23/7) & Tuessday (24/7). This leaves final 3 on Wednesday (25/7) with a 2 hours finale seeing 3 down to 2 and then to 1. I guess the details will be revealed & confirmed next week.
#88 ~Fingernail is one word, stupid. Pardon my sophistication.
Thanks for the Finale details,EH.
Paul – what most people dislike is not the particular contestants but certain behaviours of contestants that are rewarded over and above a fair outcome. The MC producers have a lot to answer for setting MC up as a competition where the goalposts keep changing for dramatic effect or to please sponsors, and as a result fairness is sacrificed and people like Julia have a lesser outcome than is their due. This stuff hurts people and offends what Australians see as a “fair go”.
They are going to wedge the start of MC Allstars between the first and second hours of the final. I read it in my TV guide
@Dr T – wasnt there a huge backlash when they did that last year?
hmmm.
I appreciate the problems of trying to wedge Julie Goodwin between something. That looks like a long night.
I don’t see the point of Ma$terchef All Stars when the contestants aren’t Masters , Chefs or Stars.
Hi Suzie,
Look most people are fair to the contestants but unfortunately some people just can’t help themselves and have to step over the line.
Dr T, please tell me you are joking!! Didn’t TEN learn a lesson from last year???
On reflection, I think the biggest problem with this challenge was the fact that it wasn’t really clear (to me anyway) how the contestants were going to be judged at the end of it. Was it a contest about how good the actual meal tasted? Or was it a contest about how well they performed in the kitchen? At the end of the show it seemed that it was all about which meal the judges thought tasted the best, but was that really clear at the beginning of the show? Because if that is the case – why would they help each other out in the kitchen? And why was Wade-o allowed to use sauce made by Julia? In previous seasons contestants have been put up for elimination for using parts of a dish made by others (eg Chelsea and Alex last year). The more I think about this challenge, the more it annoys me.
“It all comes down to the sauce you stole tonight .Wade ~ you’re safe.”
“You really dug deep into the protein with those toxic fingernails. The judges loved the way you hogged the cooker. You’re safe”
And clearly, all the diners knew they were part of a tv show and were getting free meals – since when would Italians queue for food? So who cares about their opinion.
The restaurant donated its premises for free publicity (maybe a small stipend) – its name was plastered over the screen a gazillion times … um, what was it called again?
Not only did Wade misspell the name of his pizza, but also called his pasta “carbonna.” Is that an Italian car part?
Carbonna: what you get when you cross a Carbonara with Bona Fide Half Assed Attempt.
Wearing nailpolish to an interview for a food preparation job, let alone for a chef’s position, will see you either warned or out the door – unless the establishment has zero hygiene standards.
Don’t see what this has to do with ‘homophobia’ Paul. Some people on this site don’t like Alice – because she’s a bit of a pretentious try-hard, while I don’t mind her. Likewise myself and some others don’t much like Mindy, because she acts like everyone’s friend in an obviously fake manner and she now appears to be the contender pre-anointed by production for a leg-up to possible victory.
Likes and dislikes are the very currency of reality TV viewing and when the show involves as much pantomime and faux competition as MCA does many of us can’t but help just take this piss out of the whole thing, including the amata chefs.
FFS, if I want good cooking (and eye candy of the quality of Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons) I watch Top Chef. MCA is still watchable, provided you don’t take it seriously.
There’s no stepping over the line in calling a cheap( atmosphere wise) , contrived game show a farce or calling out the fake contestants for being fake. These aren’t necessarily high calibre human beings ~ they are merely reality tv fodder . They are disposable heroes with a very brief shelf life. There’s a million more desperate, deluded amatas ready to step up out there.
It is what it is, unless one has an an chronic obsession with and blind infatuation for Ma$terchef and is oblivious to reality. I don’t see homophobia much on this blog at all, and it’s the refuge of a very ordinary ,sour,beaten unit to suggest otherwise.
Sorry ,Boner ,you stole some of my chunder re homophobia cheap shots.
No problem bdd… comments here can be in the ether at the same time…
While no doubt some reality TV wannabees would be unhappy with the descriptions they’d find of themselves here, most comments are backed up by either evidence or examples (or often successful attempts at humour), which is more than can be said for the trash comments on some of the official sites with their illiterate teeny-bopper fan base.
“Nobody cares what you did in the kitchen” … okay then in that case I spit in your food and stick a knife through your heart … in the kitchen … and then I walk out of your dumb-ass ‘challenge’ …
“What are you talking about I signed a contract…oh crap”
Exactly bdd – I don’t know why this has to be explained every year.
It’s all just a bit of cathartic sport. Meaningless and soon to be forgotten. These people knew what they were in for – thousands are willing to take their place – and they are just as commercially expendable as we bloggers are, generally.
All in all, except to the sponsors, it means nothing, nil, niente … Nietzsche.
Homophobia? I had no idea Mindy was a lesbian.
Poor Morgan. It’s on the MC official website and Mindy herself mentioned it.
Noticed no nail polish tonight
Littlepetal – Just checked her profile, and yep, it mentions her talking about when she came out to her family. So much for my shipping of her and Ben to be a couple! I think this also makes her the first gay female to be on the show? Unless there was someone before her.
Courtney from season 2 was gay, iirc. Julia is my favourite now, what absolute robbery last night!
Kingfisher – You are spot on with the black dot!!!
Another big day for Barilla challenge tomorrow. Suddenly no one is cooking fresh pasta & packet dry pasta is acceptable for MC standard. So far there is not a single fresh pasta dish is cooked/served in the ‘beautiful’ Italy. It screams $$$$$ponsorship.
EH, and KINGFISHER, I was looking for the black dot but couldn’t see it! Does it mean that the pin has already been put on the jacket or is it a marker for George so that he knows where to put it? ( so to speak. ) I just googled up the word HIPSTER to see if there was such a word and apparently there is and Alice fits the profile as they like to wear big glasses even if they don’t need them!
Didn’t see Andy. I guess he rode out his culinary dream on a Tuscan toilet seat tonight.
You’re right, Chris W. Store bought tomato sauce. Beautiful.
Just when I think things couldn’t get worse, Shine proves me wrong. That has got be one of the most boring episode’s ever- knowing the result didn’t help. Still, team challenges are usually fun, so may be tomorrow will have some interest.
By the way, was I imagining things, or did I see tinned tomato sauce added to one of the dishes?
After Kingfisher mentioned about the black dot on Alice white top, I spotted the black dot and is not dirt on my TV screen.
I think there will be no more immunity challenge from now on.
Maybe if Alice get to the Final 2, she will dump her glasses and turn into a beautiful swan. Channel Ten will doll her up and everyone will be talking about the beautiful Alice in her ‘bondage’ chef white. Sorry EH, can’t resist that !!!!!
Chris W- you are not seeing things. Using tin tomatoes while cooking in Italy???? What a joke. What happen to those snobbish remarks from Gary about using tin/can/packet stock etc etc? Money talks. Masterchef has loss it credibility. (Give myself a slap) MC have no credibility in the first place.
LOL when Matt P said the sauce is not bright and vibrant.
@JStar
Kylie Kwong isn’t really going to be making an appearance, is she? [sigh]
What’s the next challenge? Reheating a Papa Giuseppe’s Pizza?
“If you cook like a Gorilla, there’s always Barilla”
Kylie Kwong and Alice can both bow to each other
http://previews.agefotostock.com/previewimage/bajaage/644e3ff8cf40f3ab55edf1ae2069d07d/S4F-x4ga2-818.jpg
BDD, that could be an insurmountable challenge if they use Alice’s oven.
Oh, the irony. Amina was eliminated of a bottle of store bought passata/tomato sauce.
Kingfisher you spot on about the hole left by the pin. It was dead giveaway that Alice won.
And tomorrow night Alice is not in the same team as mindy and Kylie. So one of the pins may be handed back on Thursday.. I wonder if the producers will make the team with mindy and Kylie lse to see if one of them will use it? Or will Alice have to give it back almost immediately??
I also have a feeling the red team will lose and Audra is going home. Just gut feeling
I wish the red team lose just so Kylie & Mindy can use their immunity pins & everyone is back on equal playing field. Too many unused immunity pins out there.
Littlepetal – My gut feel is Beau will go. He is in red team, right?
Yes, Beau is in the red team. By right it should be either Beau or Wade.
We’ve never seen two contestants use their pins at the same time have we? I don’t think Beau is going to last much longer. He’s definitely the weakest cook of the Top 10 and he really lacks alot of skills and knowlege compared to the rest.
Andy Pandy #111, to continue your ‘hipster’ education:-
the Bondi Hipsters talk about the London Olympics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKu6Vyy1MRk
Thanks CB, you learn something new every day, very interesting!
EH … I totally agree with you. We have just finished screening the Italian week in New Zealand.
I was so disappointed for Julia. I endorse all the same comments you made too. As for Mindy I always felt she was ALL out for herself and only looked after no. 1. She should never have been in the cook off with Alice. It should have been Julia. Sometimes I wonder if those judges stacked up against Julia because Mindy did not deserve to be in the immunity pin cook off.
However, I was so pleased Alice won – that seem to wipe the smug intimidating look off Mindy’s face. She was so sure she was going to get that pin.
I watched Mindy doing her pasta and your right hogged all the deep water cookers for the pasta. I think Julia has grace and integrity and I’m sure not put off by how they portray her, I believe she is a lovely young woman and hope she knocks some of them off their perch.
Oh yes! one more thing, I was sooooo pleased to see Debra eliminated she should have gone before Amina.
Can’t wait to see the arrogant Wade push off his perch and elminated. He is totally useless. Get rid of him I say. He deserves to go before Beau.
EH … I totally agree with you. We have just finished screening the Italian week in New Zealand.
I was so disappointed for Julia. I endorse all the same comments you made too. As for Mindy I always felt she was ALL out for herself and only looked after no. 1. She should never have been in the cook off with Alice. It should have been Julia. Sometimes I wonder if those judges stacked up against Julia because Mindy did not deserve to be in the immunity pin cook off.
However, I was so pleased Alice won – that seem to wipe the smug intimidating look off Mindy’s face. She was so sure she was going to get that pin.
I think Julia has grace and integrity and I’m sure not put off by how they portray her, I believe she is a lovely young woman and hope she knocks some of them off their perch.
EH … I totally agree with you. We have just finished screening the Italian week in New Zealand.
Obviously everyone can see through Mindy. Smug, want a be, immunity pin. She didn’t even deserve that her fellow colleagues won that pin for her. Whatever. Get her off.
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