Masterchef the Professionals 2019

twill

Starts Tuesday 5 November at 8 p.m. on BBC2.

Degag

Always signifies to me that Christmas is near when this is back on!

tinpib

Good stuff, I googled this to see if there was a start date as I saw and ad for Ant and Decs DNA sumfink or other just there during the rugby semi final.

Masterchef Professionals and Im a Celeb(hence Ant and Dec) always lead into Christmas as Degag said, it's one of my favourite times of the year, certainly best time of year for telly.

HeidiHeidi

Dang, missed this post, and missed the start of the series!

Just happened to notice it on tonight, I'm watching it back now..... and from the very start the look of sheer grit and determination on their faces compared to the civvie version is slightly scary!

twill

They were racing around like possessed people for the last challenge tonight!

I'll spoiler this for anyone who hasn't seen tonight's episode yet.

It's early to say, but Olivia could well be a contender. She's a perfectionist and she looks like she has everything mapped out. Yann was pretty impressive too, and Freddie might come into his own. It was a good bunch this week. Pity about Christian, I thought he could go far.

stargazer 68

Thought exactly the same thing myself Twill.

HeidiHeidi

Dovies wrote: »

Thought exactly the same thing myself Twill.

As did I - she was extremely professional, organised and had a steely-eyed determination about her.

HeidiHeidi

Oh my lord, the chefs are making an absolute bollix of the skills tests :eek:

(Only catching up on the first episode of the week)

HeidiHeidi

And the second lot aren't much better so far on tonight's round :rolleyes:


I can't help wondering are these skills tests made to make absolute monkeys of the chefs? They're fairly obscure things to spring on them, with 15 mins to do it, and the three pairs of eyes boring into you, and making small talk at the same time.



I also wonder (and I don't think it's just because I'm getting older!) if the contestants getting younger and younger means they just don't have the experience or maturity for a competition like this? The first two on tonight's show are 20 ffs - I'd hardly boiled an egg by then!



I know they're working as chefs, but entering MC with two years' experience??? Talk about setting yourself up for a fall......

4Ad

The standard on the last 2 nights has being poor, odd exception. I do find some of the skills tests very difficult though, especially with the added pressure of the face pulling. I say that every year..

twill

I think all skills tests so far have been 15 minutes, whereas previously they had 20 minutes for the more involved tasks and 15 minutes for the more straightforward ones. It's ridiculous pressure.

Degag

twill wrote: »

They were racing around like possessed people for the last challenge tonight!

I'll spoiler this for anyone who hasn't seen tonight's episode yet.

It's early to say, but Olivia could well be a contender. She's a perfectionist and she looks like she has everything mapped out. Yann was pretty impressive too, and Freddie might come into his own. It was a good bunch this week. Pity about Christian, I thought he could go far.

Christian had an air of cockiness about him that i didn't like IMO

Degag

Am a bit behind, just watching episode 5 at the moment but kind of amazed with Marcus.

He refused to eat some guy's razor clams because of cross-contamination. As he should have of course. However he let Greg and Monica taste them before hand:eek:

HeidiHeidi

OMG, I think I'm going to have to start fast forwarding through the skills tests, can't deal with the stress of them making such a complete shambles of it.


Even I know (vaguely) what a Croque Monsieur should be like.....



However, Marcus and Monika applying their own particular standards to the challenge always seems a bit unfair, there's always more than one way to skin a cat!

youcancallmeal

Croque Monsieur and especially the risotto are things I reckon I could of done a better job than most of them. They were 2 refreshingly simple tasks, I guess most of the contestants are incredibly nervous which is understandable

HeidiHeidi

Can't say I'd have done a better job at either, in fairness! But I'm not a pro chef either (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)


Did Monica seriously slice all those peas in half that she used as a garnish on her risotto??? Above and beyond!

twill

twill wrote: »

I think all skills tests so far have been 15 minutes, whereas previously they had 20 minutes for the more involved tasks and 15 minutes for the more straightforward ones. It's ridiculous pressure.

Of course now they've had a couple of 20 minutes tests, just to prove me wrong.


I don't know what Jorge was doing with that fish. I have to agree with 4Ad after all, the basic skills this series have been seriously lacking.



I love Lorena's Belfast accent.

HeidiHeidi

Mother of god, I never cease to be amazed (aka appalled) at the amount of butter they use in these dishes :eek:


No wonder eating out is so tasty!!


(I've just started watching tonight's episode, so a tad behind)

HeidiHeidi

Ah, that was rough on Miranda and Lorena, any other week so far and they'd have sailed through probably.



That patisserie fella fairly smashed it given it's not his comfort zone!

Dave_The_Sheep

twill wrote: »

I have to agree with 4Ad after all, the basic skills this series have been seriously lacking.

I'm only on Ep6, but so far it's been very weak compared to previous years. I don't see a winner from the half I've seen so far.

HeidiHeidi

Feeling slightly queasy at Marcus's skills test dish - there must be about half a pound of butter gone into it :eek: (and I'm a total butter fiend!)


I find myself wondering more and more this season what on earth the waste levels from this must be - between all the practicing at home, and then the masses of food prepared in each round, about 1/10th of which seems to be actually plated up for judging.

ETA - also, runny fried egg and chicken - eeuuwwwwwww!

HeidiHeidi

OK, I just realised I've been banging on about butter maybe a leeeeetle bit too much! I promise never to mention it again!!


There were a few likely-looking contestants last night - a very strong round overall. I was sorry to see that South African lady go out, I suspect she'd have been a very strong, steady cook but she just seemed to lose the head on the signature dish, having absolutely smashed the skills test. A pity.


I wonder what tonight's bunch will throw up?

twill

I'm cringing at this skills test so far! How can a cooking teacher forget how to poach an egg?

HeidiHeidi

twill wrote: »

I'm cringing at this skills test so far! How can a cooking teacher forget how to poach an egg?

Oh gawd!!!


I'm only starting to watch now, so a bit behind. I'm starting to absolutely dread these skills tests!!

HeidiHeidi

I'm calling shenanigans - when would there EVER be leftover sauce from a beef bourgignon??? What I hadn't mopped up with the mash or rice, I'd be scooping up with a big spoon!!!!


Leftover bourgignon sauce, seriously???

stargazer 68

twill wrote: »

I'm cringing at this skills test so far! How can a cooking teacher forget how to poach an egg?

I think half of these are builders pretending to be chefs! Even I can poach an egg and I know what a drop scone is! I cant segment an orange but I'm not a chef

HeidiHeidi

Cheryl setting herself up for a BIG fall here......

twill

I'm sorry to report that it gets worse in Marcus's test!

HeidiHeidi

twill wrote: »

I'm sorry to report that it gets worse in Marcus's test!

Jesus, it can't :eek:

HeidiHeidi

I've another bone to pick......


In the car crash that was Cheryl's dish, they said her bread wasn't toasted.....


I'd beg to differ. She was the only one who DID toast the bread, the rest (including Marcus) all fried it.



Have I been using the incorrect terminology all my life???

twill

I missed this last night, but it's amusing.

Masterchef UK on Instagram.

The Master

Exose joins the competition not knowing what an artichoke is and now sails through to the semi finals?

Every round so far he's cooking his own food and never challenged to leave his comfort zone.

Joke tbh

twill

I want to eat Malin's dish. That looked delicious.

A lot of people have mixed feelings about Exose, The Master.

4Ad

The Master wrote: »

Exose joins the competition not knowing what an artichoke is and now sails through to the semi finals?

Every round so far he's cooking his own food and never challenged to leave his comfort zone.

Joke tbh

I find as the competion goes on I like the person more than the food, Exose is a good example.such a nice lad..
Shallow I know...

twill

I do think Exose has proven himself, but I am suspicious of the fact that he's previously been in a reality show.

4Ad

twill wrote: »

I do think Exose has proven himself, but I am suspicious of the fact that he's previously been in a reality show.

Never knew that..still seems compident, and likeably..

Sharp MZ700

4Ad wrote: »

Never knew that..still seems compident, and likeably..

He does come across really well, but how many sweets has he made at this stage? Not that I wouldn't mind eating of them though...
Disappointed Malin is gone, would love to have tasted his Columbo street food, but a dish nigh on impossible to refine.

Stevieluvsye

twill wrote: »

I want to eat Malin's dish. That looked delicious.

A lot of people have mixed feelings about Exose, The Master.

Where are these "lots of people"? all i can find in that article is this. One negative comment

While another said: “Disappointed with Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing. Since when does an Average Skills test and a Tarted up Choux bun class as enough to get you to the next round Exose shouldn’t have been selected.”

twill

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

Where are these "lots of people"? all i can find in that article is this. One negative comment

While another said: “Disappointed with Monica Galetti and Marcus Wareing. Since when does an Average Skills test and a Tarted up Choux bun class as enough to get you to the next round Exose shouldn’t have been selected.”

Not the best article to illustrate my point, I suppose, in spite of its title. There have been many complaints about his reality show past, which is really my only issue.



Glad to see Stu's improvement.

HeidiHeidi

Finally caught up on a serious backlog of episodes!

Delighted to see that my two favourites by far got straight through - Olivia and Stu. No idea how I'm going to separate them for favoritism in the final - I've loved Olivia's steely-eyed determination from the very start, and Stu just has that slightly wide- boy look about him, like he's liable to go rogue any minute, he's a most unlikely ****- hot chef!!

Very disappointed to see Andrew knocked out in favour of Exose - I thought Exose made far more mistakes in that final round, and I was sure Andrew was through.

I think this will be a very interesting final week!!

HeidiHeidi

Anyone watching tonight?



I'm playing catch-up - was laughing to myself when I saw the multiple bottles of wine lined up on Exose's table, until I realised they're cooking for 25 :eek:


I'm not sure I believe they don't have any help at all for that..... or maybe that's why they're in the final of MC, and I had an M&S beef'n'ale stew for dinner tonight! (It was lovely!)

twill

Aww, Stu. He's just going from strength to strength.

They all did well, but I think Olivia and Stu were of a higher standard.

HeidiHeidi

So do they all have their own ovens/freezers/whatever for this round? Like their own whole kitchen?


I can only imagine the havoc being caused by others opening oven or freezer doors willy nilly.....


(I'm still only halfway though, but saw the last post - delighted to see Stu seems to have done well, I just love him!)

HeidiHeidi

I just love that smiley Scottish fella who turns up in full kilt regalia for all of these shindigs!

twill

Oops, sorry, thought you were just a short way behind.

Not sure how they manage with the ovens but since there's only one person on desserts the freezer probably isn't much of an issue, or it's easily negotiated.

I think the thing that could scupper Exose's chances is his inexperience (getting flustered, etc., though he's getting a bit better at that), but he'll probably be one to watch in the future whichever way it goes.

HeidiHeidi

So.... Yann seemed to prepare his own dish all by himself.


Exose, I got a bit distracted, but I think I saw Yann weighing in?


Stu (much and all as I love him) seemed to have all four chefs cooking/plating for him (including barking orders at Olivia, who still has to produce her own dish :eek:)


Hmmmmmmm.......

twill

Yann had help from the others to plate his dish, Exose had help too (and he got snippy with Yann because he forgot to get something out of the oven). Think they all pitched in to help each other.

HeidiHeidi

twill wrote: »

Yann had help from the others to plate his dish, Exose had help too (and he got snippy with Yann because he forgot to get something out of the oven). Think they all pitched in to help each other.

OK fair enough - I'm texting and posting and not paying full proper attention tonight, so missed that.


Reasonable to think they'd all help each other, but hard on the ones on later courses you'd think!

twill

I think it probably evens out because the others have time once they're done and can give plenty of attention to helping them out.

Was just thinking, there'd be some pretty annoyed viewers if they had let Exose do the dessert! It just shows he's very capable of cooking a non-dessert, but it definitely outs him out of his comfort zone.

HeidiHeidi

twill wrote: »

I think it probably evens out because the others have time once they're done and can give plenty of attention to helping them out.

Sorry, that's what I meant - the starter guy usually gets to do it all on his/her own, because everyone is up to their eyeballs with their own prep - then by the time the dessert person is up, there's three chefs with nothing else to be doing but to help out!


If the later course guys were helping out the earlier ones, then fair dues!

HeidiHeidi

Finally got to the end.


Definitely, Stu and Olivia came out tops from that round I thought. Amazing feedback for both of them.



HOW am I going to decide who I want to win????