No kidding. The team he captains loses by what looks to be the largest margin in MC history (75-25) and he goes on a cry/rant about not being granted the one "save" for the team. Came off as an entitled bitch.


Also looks like Aaron Sanchez has replaced Graham Elliot as the 3rd person on the show. I like his breakdowns of the dishes so far.

I miss Joe Bastianich. Overall this season has been very meh. There arent that many charactes compared to the old ones.

Yeah joe was good. I'm not a big fan of the current woman.


Btw I think the Cuban chick Andrea must make a deep run. Getting great edits and air time

Really tried to keep this week's episode summary short, but David got a lot of airtime this week ...

Episode Summary

• Part 1 – DW steps into the spotlight
• the guests love the food, but his team still loses
• Part 2 – DW is steamed, gets into an argument with his team, then keeps ranting
• Gordon Ramsay actually gives DW anger management tips (!)

This week's task was one of those high-drama team competitions, where they're given too much to do in too little time – usually don't even watch those episodes, and just watch Big Brother instead (but watched because David's on this season). The drama this week was actually kind of interesting to see, because a lot of it involved David – and there was that discussion at the beginning of this thread, about how people who've met him have been left with quite a wide range of impressions of him?


Part 1 – Group Competition: Hanger Steak

David Becomes Team Captain

First an update from last week – read on DW's blog that he actually wasn't trying to stay under the radar with the lobster challenge last week, he was trying to win it - but the win went to Alejandro ...



Not sure if wanting a win, and then seeing it go to Alejandro last week, might have factored into David's decision this week to volunteer to be Team Captain for the red team, after it was announced that Alejandro would be the Team Captain for the opposing blue team? It seems like maybe it might have, since he's been so careful about avoiding the possibility of losing – and with 15 people still in the competition, the odds of losing go from 7% (for individual competitions) all the way up to 50% (with only two teams) for a group competition. Guess the odds of a win go up too though, although on these stressful group tasks, even the team captain of the winning team usually winds up getting screamed at by Gordon Ramsay somewhere along the way – so it's almost a can't win situation ...


Deciding on a Menu

The task this week was to make hanger steaks, with a sauce and two sides. One thing that must be tough about being on MasterChef, is that sometimes they're given stuff that has very particular ways of being prepared - and they aren't given the chance to look up instructions on www.seriouseats.com the way one would at home According to J. Kenji, hanger steaks need to be served medium, and they need to be cut on the diagonal to go against the grain. And athough they do well with marinades, they're not essential. So while the blue team decided to do a light marinade, and the red team just did a simple salt/pepper, guess the big thing affecting the quality of the dish might have been the preparation of the steak?




Preparing and Serving the Food

With so much to do in so little time, Gordon Ramsay had a lot of chances to do a lot of yelling this episode - the other team got yelled at for not salting their potatoes, and for burning their steak ... while David's team got chewed out for forgetting to sauce one of the steaks, and for serving raw steaks to three others. So both teams had doneness issues with the steak – and some of the slicing might have been a bit off as well?

Ultimately the guests, who would be voting on which of the two they liked best, all seemed to be loving the fact that they were each getting served two steaks a piece – the members of the military had the nicest things to say about their meals








Results

The editing was a bit funny this episode though, because they showed 6 people complimenting the red team's dish, and only 3 compliments for the blue team – and then the votes wound up going 77 for the blue team and only 24 for the red (wait, wha??) ... so David's team lost. Guess if preparation of the steak is the most important part of a steak dish (rather than the sauces, or the sides), maybe the blue team was lucky to get their feedback about the doneness of their meat early enough to make improvements, while the red team didn't get their feedback until it was almost too late? And if so, guess the lack of timely feedback for David's team was a bit of a bad beat?

Part 2 – Elimination Round: Fried Chicken Competition

As the winners of the steak challenge, the members of the blue team all won safety from elimination for the week - while david and his team would have to participate in a second cookoff to secure their safety. This second half of the show is where David's tilt really started to kick in ...

DW: when I lose, it kills me
DW: now I'm pissed
DW: I don't like losing, I don't deal with losing very well

Disagreement Over Who to Reward

A twist is then introduced – the judges suddenly announce that one member of David's team would also be given safety, and it was up to them to decide who would receive the reward.

After some back and forth, everybody ultimately decided that they should all vote on someone other than themselves – except David. Then things got really awkward and tense, because everybody was okay with safety going to Eric, while David kept pushing for it to go to himself ...



Result – Eric gets safety ... and then David *really* started to get tilted ...


David Makes 'Angry Chicken'

DW: It blows my mind, that everybody's jumping on Eric. I was the one that put my ass on the line to lead this team – so if there's a benefit, it better damn well come to me
DW: I'm a little angry right now
DW (lots of deleted swearing): *bleep* ... *bleep, bleep*

Gordon Ramsay: That is one angry cook
One of the other contestants: he's frazzled, he needs to calm down
Gordon Ramsay: David, how angry are you right now, on a scale of 1 to 10?

DW: About a 10

GR: You've got to get your head back in the game, let's go

Results

David ultimately wound up earning safety, thanks to his cooking ... and also maybe thanks to the connections he forged with Gordon Ramsay earlier on? GR seems to be rooting for him to do well, and added an extra bit of advice (not related to his fried chicken) ...

GR: You started this challenge earlier pissed off. You need to learn to let go, and move on. And you need to learn to bring every ounce of what you've got, into what you're going to do.

While his teammates instead got this kind of reception from the judges:



More punk editing: Diana is safe, and person eliminated was Manny (firefighter #2, who was also on an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen on the Food Network last year)



Guess it might have been a bit of this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperSwag

To survive on this show you either need to be really good at cooking or awful. If you're awful the producers keep you around so Gordon will comment on the food.

Next Week: chicken feet

Me neither. She is so average. Doesn't bring anything to the show and when she was all angry and pissed bringing the plates back it was quite lol actually.

Besides the episode where David was the self appointed team leader, it's interesting how he gets virtually zero camera time. In this most recent episode they literally showed a segment on every contestant except David. He didn't even get a 10 second interview during the mystery box challenge. Did he piss off a producer? Or is he just that boring? I don't get it..

He looked really bad imo during the last team challenge when he got really mad because his team didn't save him.He needs to realize that when you captain your team, and you lose, your the one on the hook and the last person that should be saved. His hard headedness did not look good on t.v.

No doubt in my mind that he will be kicked off soon with how **** his edits have been this season.

For the rest of the contestants, a win is life changing money. For him, not so much. Makes him much less interesting.

Another possibility is that the producers weren't aware of his previous starring role and once they found out they decided to give David minimal coverage.

he seemed like it didn't matter if someone deserved it more than him or if he messed up somewhere a long the line, he was like "screw you all, make me safe, you nobody's, i'm gonna win". maybe that's the attitude that makes someone great at poker I guess. kinda sad really.

There is really like zero interesting competitor atm. No bullying no bad mouthing or anything. Just all so bland. Don't know if Williams is taking that flying under the radar little bit too serious and doesn't talk at all because they don't show him even in the beginning of group challenges where everybody else is jumping around.

Only noticed MasterChef a couple of years ago, since it's always been on the same time as Big Brother - and then after finding it, have only mostly been watching during commercials ...

Was noticing on Wikipedia though that it says the ratings have been going down, especially after Lidia Bastianich's son left the show - wonder if they may change judges if the show gets renewed for another season? Guess Christina knows a lot about desserts, but maybe doesn't feel so confident about main dishes, which is most of what they cook?

But yeah, so hard to get to know contestants when they start off with 20 - thought Alejandro was doing really well, and ...



Is the editing maybe sometimes a bit patchy? And yeah not sure what to make of the fact that they show Eric every week, but a couple of people like David and Nathan haven't had much air time at all, and what gets shown is all the drama stuff

Still enjoy it every time there's a high profile poker player on a reality show - even when they get involved in some strange drama, like Annie Duke on Celebrity Apprentice Guess they all bring some interesting strategy stuff to the shows, which isn't always there - but yeah, sometimes there seems to be quite a bit drama too, that isn't always there (also Vanessa Rousso on Big Brother) ...

This is a pretty nice reality show to be on, as far as reality shows go - guess there's the prize money ... and also there's the chance to get all that cooking experience from some of the country's top chefs. On Wikipedia, it sounds like a lot of former contestants have gone on to find new careers in the cooking industry after being on the show?

Already down to 11 contestants, hopefully that'll mean there's more time to show a bit more of everybody's who's left?

You can only hide so long, He will never make it.

Im not surprised that Alejandro was kicked off. Masterchef is absolutely ridiculous sometimes with their eliminations and the best chef NEVER wins in the end.


IF you like contrived characters and pandering to imbeciles, Masterchef is the show for you.

IF you like a realistic competition that actually sees the best chef win in the end (regardless of their personality traits), watch Top Chef.

Well in both competitions you make one mistake and you are out. Doesn't matter how good you are. But tc is waaaaaaay better anyways. And this season is by far the worst I've seen.

No disagreements there.

I think the show found out about his porn history. HE HARDLY

Yes, usually watch Top Chef a lot more often as well


Halfway Point of the Show - Top 10

Guess one thing am enjoying about MasterChef is how they seem to choose a lot of contestants for their interesting backgrounds, more than possibly even their cooking? Like this season there's someone whose parents moved him to Zambia during high school to do missionary work. And there's someone else grew up having to make breakfast for his brothers every morning, because their mom was the local morning news anchor.

So there were a bunch of contestants without a ton of experience at the start of the show, including David who said on his blog that he's only been cooking for two years. Guess am more at this level myself, so it's kind of nice to see people who are at that same level, having to try to do stuff that might be outside their comfort zone.


Show Up to This Point

Guess David may have been able to make it this far in large part because of his strategy savvy, which has maybe allowed him to avoid some of the pitfalls that have befallen some of the others? For example, this week one of the front-runners got eliminated after failing to have their dish on the counter in a timely fashion. While another front-runner who was facing elimination started talking smack about David - and David was able to put him on tilt so badly, his sausages caught fire and started bursting through the casings:




Show in the Coming Weeks?

But yeah, now that they're down to 10, guess ParisRon's right - guess from here on out it'll be much more about cooking? So David, as one of the people with less experience, might be in for a rough ride from here on out?

The stuff they seem to be judging contestants on seems to be stuff like:

• technique/taste
• speed/efficiency
• creativity

Although most of the people on the show seem to be amateurs, it seems like the show did include a couple of people who seem like they've maybe been preparing for this show for years - who seem to be able to cook at the level of people who have graduated from culinary school, who know how to cook all sorts of things, and who know how to put their own spin on things.

Trying to come up with my own recipes isn't something have ever tried to do - so it's sort of interesting to look at the tasks that contestants here are being asked to do, as kind of an exercise in trying to think more outside the box?


This Week

1. Mystery Box Challenge for an Advantage - Make Breakfast using Nutella (60 minutes)

The winner of the challenge has a crazy amount of experience - so far he's been able to do everything they've asked, from making homemade sausage, to donuts and more in under and hour He's one of the favorites to win ...

2. Elimination Competition for Safety - Put your Personal Spin on Bibimbap (45 min)

David said he was going to try to go more outside the box now that there's only 10 contestants left, and that he was hoping big risks would lead to big rewards. Unfortunately, the judge *really* did not seem to like the tomato sauce he put on his rice bowl - even Gordon Ramsay was wincing at the guest judge's criticisms ...



They were supposed to put a 'personal spin' on the rice bowl - was trying to think of what would make a rice bowl 'personal' for me ... guess is a rice bowl with some like BC salmon and a maple teriyaki what we're supposed to doing, stuff like that? Although my first thought was to try and make a rice bowl like the kind they serve at Chipotle, because those are the kind am usually eating

Guess Miss San Diego was thinking along the same lines Because she did a rice bowl that looked like it came from the fast-food court (with popcorn chicken nuggets), and got eliminated ...

Still a couple of contestants on the show who don't have a ton of experience, but they pick a bottom 3 each week, so even if a dish isn't *the* worst, several people will be pulled aside for having dishes that aren't great. The preview made it seem like David might not be having a great week next week either - he still hasn't had his blow-up yet that they showed at the beginning of the year, so he must have a ways to go ...

damn its crazy seeing the different type of meals output by Masterchef USA vs Masterchef Australia.

I think the dishes on Masterchef Australia leans more towards art than actual food you'd actually eat. These USA dishes look like some hearty home dinners.

No hate. Just interesting seeing the two differences between the shows.

I hope it's the editing but Dave comes off as petty and a cry baby and mean. I watched bc he was on and now, I semi watch to see his drama. Weird show.

The Olympics start tonight!!

Just googled Masterchef Australia - wow!! The dishes are pretty out there

Some desserts

And some beef dishes

The judges in the US version are just starting to ask contestants to worry about presentation, now that they're in the top 10 - but not sure it ever gets super artistic, like in Australia?


That's interesting that things are so different - wonder why that is? Did MC Australia just decide to ask for a higher standard from the home chefs? Or is there a cultural difference in food?

Have seen pics from some high end restaurants in the US that serve food that looks art on a plate too, like here's a pic of the food at Disney World's top restaurant, Victoria & Albert:

But then yeah, when you go into the park, the snacks they're serving by the rides are more like this - deep fried carbs, covered in a whipped cream Mickey, lol:

Is there maybe more fast-food in N. America? So when the show aims for a middle-high level of food quality, it's more like comfort food compared to other countries?

Guess Canada's about the same as the US - there's a couple of restaurants that serve art on a plate ... but there's way more McD's That's neat to see what the home cooks are doing in Australia - so different!!

Wasn't quite sure what to say about some of the drama, so left it out of the updates

Guess America's sweethearts are generally pretty mild-mannered - probably someone like Eric might be the fan favourite?

Those australian challenges where the competitors need to replicate pros courses are pretty sick especially later in the competition. Talentwise beats us version 100-0.

Haven't seen the Australia version, but the pics of the food was looking at sure are on a whole different level - they look just like the kind of food they serve at top restaurants! Ya, some serious talent for sure ...


Didn't realize MasterChef was such a global phenomenon - looks like there's been editions in 52 different countries, everywhere from Albania to Vietnam?

Was trying to see if the MasterChef food in other countries was more like the US version, or more like the Australian version. Guess each country's unique - here's some dishes from MasterChef Morocco

You didn't mention Miss San Diego served Gordon a raw sausage? Or the other elimination?

That was a 2 hour episode.

Sam is lazy

Also, a bit distracted by the Olympics - wow, are those US gymnasts ever good!



Looking forward to track and field starting next week too


Am enjoying watching MasterChef this season, but am only so-so into the competition aspect ... it seems like maybe people came onto the show with different levels of experience? And then, some of these challenges don't seem very 'home cook'-ish - like cooking for hundreds of people, de-scaling and de-boning a whole salmon, making homemade sausage, etc. Also, quite a few things they cook on the show aren't that easy to find in my city, like all those organ meats and stuff, like the bull testicles and chicken feet. Even Hanger steak's not even that common. And next week it looks like they make squash blossoms.

Kind of liked that $20 challenge though, where they had to try to feed a family of 4 on a budget. Fresh fish is a lot more than $3 a serving in my neighborhood, but frozen is super cheap - have never really given fish too much of a try, but maybe it'd be worth checking out some recipes? Seafood's always seemed kind of intimidating - am always a bit afraid of food poisoning, and wind up overcooking it ... then it gets chewy like a tire lol Should maybe get a meat thermometer, and look for some tips online and stuff - that could be fun ... blackened catfish, yum ....



Probably they should have kept Andrea for making the best sausage even though it was 3 seconds late, and eliminated Diamond for serving the raw sausage - maybe they wanted to have a 'shocker' or something?