Master Chef

[Jester]

Quoth fireheart

From the sounds of it, it sounds like the best cheftestant won. I have a feeling that she'll be an inspiration to people.

It could be argued that she was merely one of the best cheftestants, and that is an argument I would entertain. There were several excellent and worthy cheftestants, and to be honest, I thought that Becky would win....and she was the front runner for most of the season, finally being eliminated when it got down to the final three.

As for the whole inspiration thing, no doubt about that....but interestingly, while Christine doesn't seem to mind being an inspiration, at several times during the season, I remember her saying she didn't JUST want to be an inspiration. I.e., she didn't want to just be someone to look up for for being a blind person who could be a good chef, she wanted to fucking WIN and prove that just because she was blind, she could be both an inspiration AND the best chef in the mix.

[Jetfire]

The edit monkeys had a lot of fun on Masterchef; since apparently from Twitter feeds and other interviews with the Masterchef cooks, Christine has a mouth that would make a sailor blush. The editing rarely let that show through to keep her image 'pure'. That all said, with a few minorish exceptions, there was relatively little drama on or off camera this season; despite what the editors may have tried to project, everyone did seem to get along really well.

And I am happy she won in the end, though it did feel contrived at times.

You just know the producer probably had a fit when he realized the final 2 were Josh and Christine.

Director: "We need both in the shot. Camera 1 pull back... back more... back more... back more... OK there we go. Have the judges move to the left so they don't block the shot."

[Jester]

Whether Christine has a foul mouth or not, how do you not love her? Hell, that makes me like her even more.

But I don't believe that it was purely the editors create tension, as there was clearly animosity between some contestants, such as Monti and Ryan, to name the most obvious example. And yes, I still have a thing for Monti. And holy crap, I was just looking at some info on the season, and realized that Monti's last name is Carlo. That's right....either her parents named her Monti Carlo or she married into the name. Either way, how hilarious is that? And for those people that think this is made up, I have met plenty of people with weird names like that, including a former coworker named Crystal Ball. (She married into the last name.)

[MamaMootz]

Monti was actually my favorite contestant on the show - and I also cracked up when I found out her last name was Carlo. I was really hoping she would win, because some of the other contestants (ahem.... Becky!) kept talking smack about how Monti was "so good at memorizing recipes, but not cooking" because she was a stay at home mom.

As an on and off SAHM who adores cooking, that just pissed me off. So I was hoping Monti would wipe the floor with Becky.

But as it turned out, I'm happy Christine won - I thought she was amazingly talented and had a lot of odds against her with her disability.

I tried out for this show when they had auditions in the L.A. area last year, and I actually passed the first test (they tasted our signature dish). I crapped out when it got to the face to face interviews with the producers, because they asked me what my favorite thing to do in the kitchen was and I answered "baking". Derp.

DD thinks I should try again. I'm not so sure because after watching this season I was horrified at the uni challenge. I don't think I could cut up a sea urchin.

[Jester]

Mama, I think you should absolutely try out again. As for "scary" things in the kitchen, well, attack them. Make sea urchin for your family and/or friends, and do it by getting the stuff fresh. Think of anything you've ever seen on this or any other show that you think you couldn't do, and try to do it in your own kitchen. You might surprise yourself. If all I had to worry about was whether or not I could attack a sea urchin or a live crab, I'd be all over the tryouts.


Several of my friends think I should try out for such shows, but I know that, while I am talented in the kitchen, I wouldn't survive any of these shows, for several reasons.

1. I don't bake. I have no background in baking, and I have made many two desserts in my life. Both from recipes, and in each I made only one deviation.

2. Prep time. I am atrocious in this. Literally it takes me forever to cut shit up, even at my fastest. I would get creamed on this alone.

3. Creativity. Don't get me wrong, I am creative, but to actually create a recipe on the fly and make it all in the time given? I couldn't do it. Even if I was faster at prep. Which I'm not.

4. Knife skills. Not exactly the best at this. And they judge on everything, and this is always one of those things that judges on all these shows nitpick about.

5. Worldliness. I know my dishes, and I can improvise a lot of things. But there are tons of things I don't know how to do, have never made, am not familiar with, etc. Forget baking for a moment...there are a lot of cooking techniques I wouldn't have the first idea about.

Can I do a lot of things better than some of the cheftestants on some of these shows? Yes. Yes I can. Could I actually win any challenges against them? I doubt it. I am sure I could beat one or two of them in one or two challenges, based upon the fact that I know flavors and I know how to make certain things brilliantly. But of course this assertion is based on me having faster prep skills. Which....I don't.


P.S. Monti, you're an absolute hottie. Call me.

[MamaMootz]

It's funny, because at the point where the elimination challenge was baking an apple pie, I nearly had apoplexy.

I SO could have nailed that challenge without thinking twice. Apple pie is one of the easiest things in the world to make.

Jester, I think I could probably get on to the show but I'd really have to practice odd things at home - and I'm with you on the knife skills - I don't have a lot of finesse with plating, either. But the stuff I make is really good... not gourmet, which also worries me a bit, but good food.