Losing my MasterChef virginity

I confess. Until just a few days ago I was a MasterChef virgin. Then came the sixth series of MasterChef: The Professionals. It was a painful experience but I had waited long enough. I am not quite sure why I used to be so opposed to the programme. I have a vague memory of channel hopping on the sofa after school and cringing at the self-conscious and embarrassingly forced expressions on Gregg Wallace’s face as he judged various lackluster dishes placed in front of him. Then my MasterChef inexperience became a cause of embarrassment in social situations as my foodie friends would crack jokes about quenelles and I would pretend to laugh along (quenelles are a fancy restaurant way of shaping ice-cream and other creamy delights, although I don’t see what the fuss is about).

The reason I decided to bite the bullet and watch episode one, series six was because an St Andrean who has cooked for me is on the show! For those of you who are unaware, as I was until recently, there is normal MasterChef and there is MasterChef: The Professionals. Scott, the talented head chef at The Adamson is one of the contestants and has impressed not only The Pudding Man himself but also my idol Michel Roux Jr.

I have to admit that there were many cringe worthy moments in episode one because of overtly staged facial expression synchronisation between Gregg and Monica Galetti, Michel’s head sous-chef at Le Gavroche. At points it was like watching Chuckelvision rather than a competition between highly skilled chefs. Nonetheless, I stuck with it and thankfully the self-proclaimed “fat, bald bloke on MasterChef who likes pudding” gradually faded out of this week’s judging.

For me, the highlight has to be the critics and their outlandish descriptions of the panna cotta that represents freedom or the duck and squid dish that apparently resembled “three in the morning drunk student fare”.

Can you tell I don’t get out much?

Image courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk