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MasterChef (US) - Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot, Lex Luthor, and lots of crying.

Gaborn

Member
It's too early for her to lose yet though. So there's obviously something we're missing, unless she's going to play for 2/3
 

mj1108

Member
benjipwns said:
I guess I'll go with Whitney. She seems to have the right assets to win a show like this.

I'm more than positive Whitney will win this because she has the most marketable look out of the rest of them. When she's peddling the cookbook from talk show to talk show, she's got a look that they would want to sell it with (and yes, I'd smash it).
 

Tamanon

Banned
mj1108 said:
I'm more than positive Whitney will win this because she has the most marketable look out of the rest of them. When she's peddling the cookbook from talk show to talk show, she's got a look that they would want to sell it with (and yes, I'd smash it).

Plus, the concept of doing most of her cooking with the cheaper ingredients would really appeal, IMO.
 

benjipwns

Banned
Gaborn said:
It's too early for her to lose yet though. So there's obviously something we're missing, unless she's going to play for 2/3
There was plenty of time to recook one as she plated the rest, as she just showed, she only had to realize it and do it quick. She had like 15 minutes to go when the first one fell on the floor.
 

Gaborn

Member
benjipwns said:
There was plenty of time to recook one as she plated the rest, as she just showed, she only had to realize it and do it quick. She had like 15 minutes to go when the first one fell on the floor.

Yup, I realized that too after I said that. Still cut it close though!

Also, lolll at the David drama
 

Narag

Member
David poisoned the judges. He'll consume their corpses to gain their cooking power.

Ramsay making him cry again. :lol


God, I wish Joe had said "David, I can see the regret wellington in your eyes."
 

Jafku

Member
Narag said:
David poisoned the judges. He'll consume their corpses to gain their cooking power.

Ramsay making him cry again. :lol


God, I wish Joe had said "David, I can see the regret wellington in your eyes."
:lol :lol
 

Gaborn

Member
Whitney was probably the better choice but I think I would have loved to see the reaction if David had won more.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Tamanon said:
Plus, the concept of doing most of her cooking with the cheaper ingredients would really appeal, IMO.

I guarantee this is one of the reasons she won. Think of the dishes David made this year--he always seemed to use incredibly expensive ingredients. Very few can afford $300/oz saffron.
 

xbhaskarx

Member
Narag said:
God, I wish Joe had said "David, I can see the regret wellington in your eyes."
:lol

I think they were way too hard on David's wellington, just because they wanted her to beat him and all she had was a 7 minute chicken slapped on top of some collared greens.
That wellington looked pretty damn good, and Ramsey's criticism was basically that it "wasn't perfect"...
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
xbhaskarx said:
:lol

I think they were way too hard on David's wellington, just because they wanted her to beat him and all she had was a 7 minute chicken slapped on top of some collared greens.
That wellington looked pretty damn good, and Ramsey's criticism was basically that it "wasn't perfect"...

I'm sorry, but it was idiotic of David to cook Ramsay's signature dish. There was almost no way he could make it up to Ramsay's standards. As Ramsay said, it took him years to perfect it and you have to make it thousands of times. There's no way David has done that.
 

spookyfish

Member
"I'm going to cook beef Wellington."

"Um, that's my signature dish."

*surprise* "REALLY? I had NO idea AT ALL!! And for dessert, I'm going to make nectarine crepes."

*eyes narrow* "That's my favorite dessert."

"NO! Get OUT! Really? It's like we're TWINS!!"


David tried the suck-up route and it didn't work. Which I was glad to see.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Appetizer: David by a little.
Entree: Nearly perfect beef wellington > perfectly cooked chicken. Sorry. It is.
Dessert: Whitney by a little.

So, basically, the determining factor was the entree.

That was bullshit. Sorry. Some chicken on some greens beats a "nearly perfect" beef wellington? No. That doesn't fly. Yeah, Whitney's cute, she has a marketable personality, but seriously that was a load. David tried to suck up, but that shouldn't matter. His food was better*.

*obviously I wasn't there, but from the looks and judges reactions I can say this.
 

Gaborn

Member
Einbroch said:
Appetizer: David by a little.
Entree: Nearly perfect beef wellington > perfectly cooked chicken. Sorry. It is.
Dessert: Whitney by a little.

So, basically, the determining factor was the entree.

That was bullshit. Sorry. Some chicken on some greens beats a "nearly perfect" beef wellington? No. That doesn't fly. Yeah, Whitney's cute, she has a marketable personality, but seriously that was a load. David tried to suck up, but that shouldn't matter. His food was better*.

*obviously I wasn't there, but from the looks and judges reactions I can say this.

I think it was, to some extent, a reflection of David's judgment in CHOOSING to make a Beef Wellington knowing FULL WELL that was Ramsay's signature dish. He could have made anything, but he chose a dish, yes, knowing it would be difficult, and getting it ALMOST right, but knowing it's Ramsay's specialty. That shows an arrogance that his cooking didn't quite meet. If it WAS perfect he would have won. It was a little bit off, so he lost. That was the risk he took.
 
It was pretty obvious Whitney was going to win.

Marketable, good face, someone the public can relate to.
David was a dbag.

Sheetal was too niche, other dude was too generic, seeing as how I can even remember his name.
 

Einbroch

Banned
Gaborn said:
I think it was, to some extent, a reflection of David's judgment in CHOOSING to make a Beef Wellington knowing FULL WELL that was Ramsay's signature dish. He could have made anything, but he chose a dish, yes, knowing it would be difficult, and getting it ALMOST right, but knowing it's Ramsay's specialty. That shows an arrogance that his cooking didn't quite meet. If it WAS perfect he would have won. It was a little bit off, so he lost. That was the risk he took.
That's stupid. Not your explanation, but that thought process for the judges. Judge them for what they are and who they are going against, not any pre-conceived notions about how a dish should be. Judges are supposed to be objective and not let their personal feelings on a dish effect the outcome.
 
Einbroch said:
That's stupid. Not your explanation, but that thought process for the judges. Judge them for what they are and who they are going against, not any pre-conceived notions about how a dish should be. Judges are supposed to be objective and not let their personal feelings on a dish effect the outcome.

Exactly.

I just finished watching the Finale on Hulu and I just don't share the same high enthusiasm for the show as a lot of you even though it was fairly entertaining.

Pros
- No backstabbing. It was nice to see for once contestants not have total contempt for each other and not plotting schemes.
- Much more focus on the food compared to Hell's Kitchen. They give more airtime to the cooking process.

Cons
- Conflicting standards. One minute their touting how they're only amateur chiefs with no formal training or experience, the next minute they're demanding absolute perfection worthy of a 3 star Michelin restaurant. The criticism of the beef wellington just exemplified this in the finale. It made no sense whatsoever. Were they looking for the best home cooking or the cook with the best skill? Which leads to...
- It seems like they already had the winner picked once it was down to 10-12 contestants. This would explain why they kept changing the standards depending on who was standing in front of them. Whitney was clearly outclassed in certain challenges and could have even been sent home. But they kept giving her "byes" until toward the end when the challenges began to favor her skill-set. I really don't think Whitney was the best cook, but she was the most "marketable" one.

So since Whitney wasn't the best cook, the whole thing just felt fake especially the last couple of episodes. There's a reason the Italian judge offered Sharrone a job, he knew he was the best cook out of the bunch even if he was a cocky asshole. Also Whitney struck me as someone who cooks strictly by the recipe. She uses exact measurements and is very precise, but whenever she tried doing a unique dish it was almost always mediocre. You could even see her starring at her recipes during the cook-offs. The other cooks looked a lot more natural and less reliant on the given recipes.

Bah....

I'm just tired of these reality shows always choosing the "marketable" person instead of the most talented. It makes the competition almost pointless. It's been happening a lot in HK lately and it's continuing in Master Chef. Judges come up with a stupid reason to minimize the talented person's efforts, so they can justify picking the marketable person. I guess it works because many of you fell for Ramsay's lame "not perfect" Wellington excuse hook line and sinker. Yes, the diner chicken made in < 15 minutes is so much better.... :rolleyes:
 

Fatalah

Member
Lidia_Joseph.jpg


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Wow, these two went in opposite directions weight-wise.

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Gaborn

Member
Einbroch said:
That's stupid. Not your explanation, but that thought process for the judges. Judge them for what they are and who they are going against, not any pre-conceived notions about how a dish should be. Judges are supposed to be objective and not let their personal feelings on a dish effect the outcome.

I think you missed my point a bit. A chef, particularly at the higher end DOES have to make some judgments. Look for example at the reaction to those critics evaluating the chefs dishes. Remember their reaction when Whitney not only USED canned tomatoes but told them in advance she did? That was poor judgment on her part because it wasn't a good impression to make on the judges. Yes you have to judge a dish on it's own merits, but nothing is made in a vacuum. David served BEEF WELLINGTON to GORDON RAMSAY. When you cook for someone, and you're given carte blanche you have to know your audience and plan yes, to appeal to them, to surprise them, to please them... but also know them well enough to know NOT to serve them something.
 
Master Chef lost all credibility for me as soon as I realized that the producers were trying to shoehorn Whitney into the winner's podium. What a waste of a potentially great show.
 

Ashhong

Member
I <3 Whitney so much. Seems a bit unfair though since she has a cafe that she owns back home. Anybody else have that kind of background?

OH and somebody needs to make a GIF of Whitneys face after Ramsey told them to make cheesecake. She had the greatest cheese face, smile EVER. So cute
 
Did anyone notice this during the elimination trial against Sharone, when they were baking and making their souffle, Whitney kept looking down at something. Its almost as if she is reading a recipe for the souffle. Am I just imagining things?
 

Gaborn

Member
MisterNugNug said:
Did anyone notice this during the elimination trial against Sharone, when they were baking and making their souffle, Whitney kept looking down at something. Its almost as if she is reading a recipe for the souffle. Am I just imagining things?

I noticed that too. I kinda assumed that, given she had an hour to work with, and given how meticulous you have to be with a souffle to make SURE it doesn't fall she probably took 5 minutes to write out the steps real quick and be sure she checked them off, sort of a reminder for her to make sure she did it right. That's just a guess though.
 
MisterNugNug said:
Did anyone notice this during the elimination trial against Sharone, when they were baking and making their souffle, Whitney kept looking down at something. Its almost as if she is reading a recipe for the souffle. Am I just imagining things?

That was one of the instances I was referring to in my post where she kept looking at the recipe. The camera and the editing kept trying to hide exactly what she was looking at but you could tell.

There's nothing wrong with using recipes, but she was rather mechanical with it. She lacked the innovation and creativity that the judges were supposedly looking for. Almost all her creative dishes fell flat.
 
bean breath said:
Was this episode scored by Hans Zimmer? Really enjoyed this show a lot.

Just finished the final episode tonight, and I really noticed the music more than ever, so it's funny that you mentioned that. Really, it was grand, and whoever did the music did a bang-up job. This show has great production value and I will be very excited for its return.
 

S1lent

Member
The over the top happy way in which David reacted to getting paired up with Sheetal really turned me off of him, so I was happy to see him lose (though I was hoping to see Sheetal beat him).

Also, I can't say I agree with people saying that the judges tried to shoe horn Whitney in. From the very beginning her dishes were top notch and she won a number of challenges, whereas David was pretty mediocre until near the end with the food critics challenge. Sharone is probably the only person that I'd put above Whitney from what I saw.
 

Fusebox

Banned
Yeah I'm happy with Whitney winning, she had some great skills for someone so young and didn't seem to have any one single critical flaw like all the other contestants.
 

Jafku

Member
S1lent said:
The over the top happy way in which David reacted to getting paired up with Sheetal really turned me off of him, so I was happy to see him lose (though I was hoping to see Sheetal beat him).

Also, I can't say I agree with people saying that the judges tried to shoe horn Whitney in. From the very beginning her dishes were top notch and she won a number of challenges, whereas David was pretty mediocre until near the end with the food critics challenge. Sharone is probably the only person that I'd put above Whitney from what I saw.

True Sharone got screwed. I mean pitting him against baking queen Whitney?

EDIT: v Yeah I guess you are right.
 

Fusebox

Banned
Sharone was his own worst enemy - how many different ways can the judges suggest that he stop turning every dish into a unique piece of art?
 

mj1108

Member
Ashhong said:
I <3 Whitney so much. Seems a bit unfair though since she has a cafe that she owns back home. Anybody else have that kind of background?

OH and somebody needs to make a GIF of Whitneys face after Ramsey told them to make cheesecake. She had the greatest cheese face, smile EVER. So cute
Wait, what? She owns a cafe?
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
MisterNugNug said:
Did anyone notice this during the elimination trial against Sharone, when they were baking and making their souffle, Whitney kept looking down at something. Its almost as if she is reading a recipe for the souffle. Am I just imagining things?

No you are right she was reading a recipe. In these kind of shows they will edit out many of the written aspects in order to maintain a certain "advantage" shown.

There is no way anyone can make a perfect souffle from memory unless they had done it professionally a hundred times or so.

Also the competition was so rigged at the end. While I do think the final four were pretty good I was disappointed with the winner, although she is cute with her southern accent I find it unfair that her shitty looking, country fried, fried chicken won over an acceptable beef wellington.

First of all, pan fried chicken breast sucks. Chicken breast in general sucks. It's all about that mother freaking dark meat. Why pan fry it too? We aren't looking for Healthy Master Chef.

I love me fried chicken and that was not a good looking fried chicken. The amount of oil she used was laughable and it caused the crust to burn if you take a look closely. I will take a mediocre beef wellington to her horrible looking chicken breast anyday.
 

Ashhong

Member
mj1108 said:
Wait, what? She owns a cafe?

Oh, I thought it had already been brought up before in here. Seems kinda unfair since they were going for amateur chefs, but whatever, I still love her. SO DAMN CUTE! :lol
 

Zoe

Member
I don't think they cared about small scale chefs. Sheetal had some kind of catering business too.
 

adelante

Member
Narag said:
God, I wish Joe had said "David, I can see the regret wellington in your eyes."
Just caught up with the finale and this comment :lol :lol


So glad Whitney "cute-as-a-button" Miller won
 

Bit-Bit

Member
I just marathon the show yesterday on Hulu. Such a great show. I was rooting for Whitney the whole time and when it came down to the final four, shit got so intense. I'm glad she won. Southern food kicks ass. Also, I was so happy when Joe threw Slim's dish in the trash and she was eliminated. It seem like she kept talking trash about Whitney even though Whitney wasn't doing anything to her.

Now I just need that cookbook to make that seven minute chicken.
 
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