Masterchef 2014

Tonight's heat was far stronger than the opening night. Even the former champions back for the judging were better. I think I want to marry Natalie and honeymoon in Tim's macaron shop. Star anise flavoured beetroot puree does not go well with chocolate fondants. Kate's nose ring makes it look like her nose is running.

It is noticeable that the BBC has gone to great lengths to cover up brand names on ingredients.

Greg and Holly out. Holly arguably hard-done by but JT makes the final call and it was obvious it was mainly Gregg championing her.

all seems a bit low key this year...think i'll leave it until the semis.

Far stronger this week. Once more, you have to wonder how well maintained is the equipment in the Masterchef kitchen with more than one contestant having undercooked meat and under-chilled desserts.

I think they all need to calm down a bit, it's just a bit of dinner.

Michael was perhaps an eccentric choice for the third place, and both Sofia and Oliver can count themselves unlucky as they'd probably have qualified last week.

Jess was hit by the curse of the Masterchef oven when she served raw lamb.

21-year-old Jack is already looking like the series winner. Loved the chuckle in his voice when he said "buttery biscuit base".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfeyUGZt8nk

Rani looks like the traditional Masterchef Indian home cook: lots of flavour but technical errors and presentation that can only be politely described as rustic.

Dawn, the witch merchant (?) who cooks for bikers was "interesting". Interesting comment from one of the ex-winner judges that "you don't learn about timing in your own kitchen".

Rani going to get away with doing curries all the way to the final.

Same a couple of years ago - Italian woman did (go on, have a guess) Italian dishes and blagged her way to the final too.

It's supposed to be about cooking, not re-enforcing national stereotypes (the contestants and the politically correct BBC)

Comedy gold from Carl in the final round. I was wondering if this was a set-up by another programme or a Comic Relief sketch.

Main course: sausage, beans and fried onion rings -- "smell of a burger van"
Dessert:  plum dumpling made of potato -- "don't put it in your mouth"

Ping's Malaysian food was great, and her British food even better.

Ping and Jack through. Rani did yet another curry and although this time her presentation had improved, it was not enough to disguise her lack of versatility or even ability to properly cook each component of her dish.

Luke was head and shoulders above the rest but can't win if he continues to give the impression it is all a big game to him.

Interesting to see that judge Daksha's presentation has improved vastly since she was a finalist all those years ago.

I thought exactly the same with Carl's cooking. I was sure it was a wind up.

I haven't laughed as much in a long time.

The cat in the hat. What word rhymes with hat and best describes Dave, the primary school teacher who wears a cloth cap to cook, but won't get asterisked out by the forum software? ****? Prat? Not chef anyway; probably not hygienic either.

Theo is hardworking and versatile, not just Greek (or just Indian like Rani or just Thai like Deirdre the vet). No fireworks yet though.

couldn't believe they put through that prat last night....thought either of the two kicked out would have been better choice. Greek fellow stonking good cook;expect him to be a finalist

Third (?) quarter-final: ravioli 2, pork nil. Theo the fast worker and Luke the mad robotics engineer go through.

The way they edit the programme you can usually spot the winner the first time they appear, their  bigging up Luke no end so my monies on his at the mo.

Luke for me can't win until he stops telling the judges he is doing it for a laugh. The winner will be someone who wants to open a restaurant.

A poor week, and it is apparent that episodes have been shown out of order. Three through last night, and only one tonight, and we can see from the panna cotta remarks that tonight's really came first.

Sophie was OK. Yesterday, Megan was OK -- strong palate but her last dish was more about presentation than cooking. The other two can count themselves lucky they were needed to make the numbers up.

Only one through from the last quarter-final: Sophie.

Megan's fish and apple curry unsurprisingly did not tickle the judges' taste buds and maybe Masterchef came a year or two early for her. She has a great palate but needs to eat out more, which is perhaps not easy on a student's budget. Maybe that should be the consolation prize: a week in London eating lunch and dinner at different Michelin-starred restaurants each day.

Tim's deconstructed duck a l'orange was pretty but raw. Edd's nightmare continued which is odd since in the first round he was the best of the lot: his nerves destroyed him, unless he only knows two recipes.

Sophie is through to the next round but she has not shown she is any more than a good home cook and does not seem to be improving.

Next week should be more interesting with the start of the competition proper.

I don't watch Masterchef but I like to give my missus the Masterchef experience by giving her an hour to cook my dinner and then telling her why I don't like it

Restaurant kitchen time at the Caxton Grill ( http://www.caxtongrill.co.uk/ ) with head chef Adam who was recently in Masterchef: the Professionals.

Ping on lobster was the star of the show, followed by Jack (panna cotta) and Theo (chocolate orange) in that order. Michael and David both had nightmares with beef and halibut.

Marcus Waring (two Michelin stars) is guest judge back at the Masterchef kitchen for an invention test with a free choice of ingredients.

Michael and David cooked grouse; Michael's was better. Theo's fish soup was shoddy. Jack's pigeon (first time cooked) was OK. Ping left Asia for French fish and again did best.

The cook leaving us today is ... Theo. It's a shame in a way as he had a pleasant, self-effacing sense of humour and a good work ethic.

I think the standard is much lower this year than in previous years.  Adam has obviously modelled himself on Tom Kitchin / Marcus Waring in how he treats the contestants.  I did think the chaos which ensued was in part down to his comparative inexperience in running a kitchen although the cynic in me assumed that there was an element of stage management from the production team - that they felt the need to up the ante on the "will they/won't they get it out on time?" 'cliffhanger'.

And on Clare Smith (of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay) in giving each contestant a sous chef minder (though on CS's case, she had about 50 on standby, and that was on the Professionals series!).

Oh, come to think of it, Chef Adam Handling @ the Caxton Grill was himself a finalist on Masterchef: the Professionals, so maybe that explains it.

I'd not be too surprised if he picks up a Michelin Star next year, based on what we saw.

I thought Adam was remarkably patient with David who demolished the £250 fish and then overcooked the fillets and repeatedly failed to carry them six feet to the pass while still warm. Theo (chocolate) and Michael (beef) both started badly but recovered for a strong finish. Michael made the same mistakes over and over again.

Anyway, I want first dibs on marrying Ping.

Ironically, Marcus Waring himself seemed warm and cuddly last night.

A shocking round tonight. They were bad at the restaurant and worse in the invention test, aside from Robert's treacle tart.

What a turnaround! The final knock-out round had eight great plates of food.

But on a day (the first day!) of high standards, the two who'd made even small mistakes paid the price. David the sauce-meister went because for the second time running, he'd made a mess of the sauce. Dani again had thrown too much at the plate, despite previous warnings. (He might have helped himself slightly by using a larger plate!) In addition, his focaccia (pizza-like bread) was undercooked.

Beginning to think either the older guy or asian bit will win

Semi-final week.

Wednesday: feeding the Eastenders cast -- Ping wrote prep sheets (sort of timetables/recipes) for her team. In the other team, captain Luke faffed around, and Robert and Angela excluded him from their pow-wow over the gravy. Robert nominated Luke as team leader, and it is possible he was setting him up for a fall, but Robert was sent home.

Thursday: cooking at Hever Castle under chef John Campbell. Followed by the leftovers invention test: cooking from scraps. All stayed in the contest.

Ping still looks better than the rest. Michael and Luke partly redeemed themselves. Angela's presentation gives rustic a bad name.

Missed Wednesday...however Ping firm favourite...as well as good cook got a nice personality

Ping will win ....they just want to get her into bed

Ping has been head and shoulders above the rest throughout the series. It doesn't matter what she looks like.

Luke's grub is good on a going day, as is Jack although he can't go on messing up the seasoning.

Angela was a revelation tonight, and clearly learned most from John Campbell at Hever Castle. Let's hope she does not revert to her previous rustic presentation.

Michael deserved to go. It was a sludgy brown mess on a plate.

Eek. Finals week. 9 o'clock this week.

One to go home tonight. Cooking for Michelin-starred chefs, then an invention test, then the weakest two have a cook-off to decide who stays.

Just give it Ping already FFS!

:)

please post who gets kicked off as no tv tonight or tomorrow

Chefs' table -- Tom Kitchin (1 Michelin Star), Simon Rogan (2), Michael Caines (2), Nathan Outlaw (2) and Ashley Palmer-Watts (2). Went well, though Jack and Angela were slightly late. There was a scare when Ping left out the baking powder but she realised and whisked it into the cake mix at the last minute (makes it sound like something out of a packet).

A shock in the invention test, which was just a chicken: boys won, cook-off between the girls who'd played it too safe. Ping won the cook-off so Angela left the contest.

many thanks for posting result....thought Angela was the weakest when it came to presentation of dishes.

Watch episode 23 on iplayer. The final three spend two days in Spain and go from cooking tapas in the middle of a crowded Barcelona market, right through to molecular gastronomy in the spirit of El Bulli and cook for Ferran Adria himself: "the greatest chef of the last hundred years" who invented foams, deconstruction, and cooking with liquid nitrogen. And if you've ever wondered what sugar models of Masterchef finalists would look like, wonder no more.

"What kind of fish is it?" "I've no idea; she recommended it." -- Ping (whose later expression on meeting Adria epitomised gobsmacked).

Jack's final dish was judged worthy of two Michelin stars.

One day left: on Friday, the Masterchef champion will be crowned.

From the people who upload stuff to Youtube, here is comedy contestant Carl, who must have been the only one to turn up to his audition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WExjFEMHLkA

First came the obligatory life stories of contestants growing up. Jack's girlfriend will have broken the hearts of a few female viewers. Luke's sister looks a bit like someone famous, but who? Mind you, Luke is the same. Ping got married in a red dress, to Eye of the Tiger.

Second, what was the over-literal commentary about? An audition for the next series of W1A if David Tennant is unavailable? "The three contestants head out. Ping holds open the door for Luke and Jack." "Jack adds sugar to water, then peels a carrot."

Jack was Jack, aiming at high end restaurant food; Ping was Ping, applying French and modern techniques to Malaysian street food; and Luke was Luke, winging it with dishes he'd not rehearsed and running out of time.

Ping can down a glass of champagne in one, and she did.