14 February 2007
"CHICKEN, NOODLES AND ... LEMON CURD?"
The 21st century Masterchef is the first cookery programme on television I've ever liked. It's informal, competitive and doesn't have Loyd Grossman sniffing near the saucepans.
However, I'm still not convinced by judge Gregg Wallace. Even though his narrative tag in each episode has been changed to "food writer and ingredients expert", the man is still essentially a greengrocer. He supplies fruit and vegetables to the catering industry, as was pointed out by the narrator throughout the last series. He is, at face value at least, only different to my local fruiterer in terms of the scale at which he flogs his wares.
How does this make him qualified as to whether a chicken breast cooked in mustard and peppercorns is any good or not? I genuinely don't get it.
However, I'm still not convinced by judge Gregg Wallace. Even though his narrative tag in each episode has been changed to "food writer and ingredients expert", the man is still essentially a greengrocer. He supplies fruit and vegetables to the catering industry, as was pointed out by the narrator throughout the last series. He is, at face value at least, only different to my local fruiterer in terms of the scale at which he flogs his wares.
How does this make him qualified as to whether a chicken breast cooked in mustard and peppercorns is any good or not? I genuinely don't get it.
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What qualifications should one have to be able to tell whether something tastes nice or not? GNVQ 'Ooh, that'd be lovely with a bit more parmesan'?
I imagine the guy's spent a lot more time dining in expensive restaurants than most of us, and, unlike the rest of us, has some expertise on some of the ingredients involved.
I imagine the guy's spent a lot more time dining in expensive restaurants than most of us, and, unlike the rest of us, has some expertise on some of the ingredients involved.
It's a great show about the only decent thing that has lightened up the January's of 2005,6 and 7. But lay off our Gregg, there can't be too many Fruit and Veg gurus kicking about the place. It seems that these days he's so dedicated to his fresh produce that he's taken to storing an outsized marrow down his jumper though.
To answer Mark and clarify my own point, if Gregg Wallace is not a trained chef, then surely he has only his own palate to use as a guide.
Now, for example, if that were me, then every dish which contained lamb I would hate. It might have been cooked magnificently to the point of gourmet perfection, but I don't like lamb, therefore I have no knowledge of how it should be when done impeccably. A chef, like Jon Torode, would know. A greengrocer - even a damned good greengrocer - wouldn't.
I don't dislike Gregg Wallace at all, far from it. He's polite, engaging and forthright. I just wonder where his qualifications begin and end.
Now, for example, if that were me, then every dish which contained lamb I would hate. It might have been cooked magnificently to the point of gourmet perfection, but I don't like lamb, therefore I have no knowledge of how it should be when done impeccably. A chef, like Jon Torode, would know. A greengrocer - even a damned good greengrocer - wouldn't.
I don't dislike Gregg Wallace at all, far from it. He's polite, engaging and forthright. I just wonder where his qualifications begin and end.
The thing is, different people consider things to be "cooked to perfection" in different ways. I hate rare (i.e. semi-raw) bleeding steak, but chefs may consider this to be cooked to perfection. Cooked to perfection for me is well done. Is a professional chef's opinion on how other people like their food more valid?
By your argument no-one should ever review restaurants unless they've actually been a chef. Or write about TV programmes unless they're a TV producer.
What annoys me so much about MGL is the continual voiceovering of everything. The combination of constant repetition of stuff we saw 30 seconds ago, overuse of rhetorical questions, and Dan Brown-esque insistence on anarthrous noun-phrases grates like fingernails on a blackboard the tenth time you hear it.
"Cautious cook Sarah had a disaster in the professional kitchen. Can she now wow the judges with her goat's cheese and pistachio roulade?"
What annoys me so much about MGL is the continual voiceovering of everything. The combination of constant repetition of stuff we saw 30 seconds ago, overuse of rhetorical questions, and Dan Brown-esque insistence on anarthrous noun-phrases grates like fingernails on a blackboard the tenth time you hear it.
"Cautious cook Sarah had a disaster in the professional kitchen. Can she now wow the judges with her goat's cheese and pistachio roulade?"
# posted by 
: 7:43 PM
: 7:43 PM
Yes that is annoying. Still, it's keeping India Fisher in work until Big Finish decide to give Charley Pollard a new adventure on the Eighth Doctor audios.
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