MasterChef

[spockwhat]

I respect that Sharone always pushes his limits in the food challenges, but was completely turned off when he wouldn't taste Lee's winning dish. That kind of pride and lack of respect for his competitors will inhibit the learning process.

Wasn't it nice to find out there is a guy named Lee and he cooks well?

It was too bad to see Jake go... he had been such a strong competitor to that point... with such a surprising amount of finesse to his cooking. I'm sure he is going to do well.

Mike is kind of a dark horse, and I'm backing him. He seems to fall apart a little in pressure situations, but his passion for cooking is just so real, and he seems to accept criticism and praise with humility. (Unlike some of the other contestants... Sharone, Lee, etc.)

[swissmiss150]

I've seen this several times - such a NICE change from Hell's Kitchen with its non-stop cussing. They emphasize that these contestants are HOME cooks. How can the winner be expected to adapt quickly to a professional job?

[Madison_2008]

I too was liking Sharone a lot until he wouldn't taste the dish, I lost a lot of respect for him on that - come on, he hasn't been a master chef at all yet

[causingchaos]

I too was liking Sharone a lot until he wouldn't taste the dish, I lost a lot of respect for him on that - come on, he hasn't been a master chef at all yet

I love how he and some of the others are growing these massive egos like they've been chefs for years. He apparently forgot or didn't know that in real world chefs often taste each other's dishes, even competing chefs.

[Shoepie]

I like this show but it could be so much better.

I agree the Chinese food challenge was not interesting at all. It is not considered a sophistocated or desireable cuisine to cook at all! It is just what it is; I know no one who cooks it at home and I know a lot of very good cooks, myself included. It is just one of those things you take out and eat over the coffee table as you watch the Oscars. And then swear off it because you awake with a puffy face and slightly nauseous.

Gordon is the only judge I like; the other two are difficult to watch for different reasons.

Having them cater a wedding is not a great challenge to show off their skills and it was boring to watch. Has anyone ever been to a wedding with a sit down dinner that had fabulous or even good? You have better luck with a buffet but it is just not a venue to expect delicious food. Cooking for large numbers of people is just not the best case senario to shine.

I would love to see them given varied ingredients each time and allow them to show off their speciality in every challenge. And why not taste them all? There were so many contestants in the begining that it flew by with barely knowing what had happened.

I would not be surprised to see some format changes next season if they do one. This show has potential.

[Rattus]

I agree the Chinese food challenge was not interesting at all. It is not considered a sophistocated or desireable cuisine to cook at all! It is just what it is; I know no one who cooks it at home and I know a lot of very good cooks, myself included. It is just one of those things you take out and eat over the coffee table as you watch the Oscars. And then swear off it because you awake with a puffy face and slightly nauseous.

Genuine Chinese cuisine is not the crap you get as takeout - that's the stuff they make to appeal to a Western palate (though you couldn't pay me to eat it). Chinese cuisine can be as sophisticated or desirable as any other nation's. I know quite a number of people who make it at home, there are a number of shops stocking the required ingredients close to my home, and I've seen any number of cookbooks devoted to it in my local bookstore.

Anyway, glad to see the back of Sharone, arrogant ass. And particularly glad he both received the lowest score from the critics and lost to Whitney.

[Cornholio]

I was so surprised Sharone was cut tonight! Really thought it would come down to Sharone and Whitney as F2. The others really disliked Sharone, but I didn't see anything that horrible about his personality. (Not like Benjamin on HK or anything.)

Could you believe Baldy made Sharone a job offer? That was pretty nice of him!

Question: at one point it appeared Whitney was looking intently down at something like a recipe. They've never shown anyone being able to look up a recipe, but it doesn't make sense that someone who has never made something before can just whip it out of thin air. Do you think they can get recipes?

[Kip]

I was so surprised Sharone was cut tonight! Really thought it would come down to Sharone and Whitney as F2. The others really disliked Sharone, but I didn't see anything that horrible about his personality. (Not like Benjamin on HK or anything.)

Could you believe Baldy made Sharone a job offer? That was pretty nice of him!

Question: at one point it appeared Whitney was looking intently down at something like a recipe. They've never shown anyone being able to look up a recipe, but it doesn't make sense that someone who has never made something before can just whip it out of thin air. Do you think they can get recipes?

I too figured it would be Whitney and Sharone as F2. And, dang, I must have flipped the channel before Sharone got the job offer.

I wondered about recipes too. When they said Whitney was being super careful about measuring each ingredient, I thought that was strange - I mean, how can you carefully measure something you're making without a recipe unless you've got a recipe memorized? Maybe they gave them a recipe for a basic souffle that they could then put their own touch on - Whitney added orange zest; Sharone added salt.

[Maybaybie]

I wondered too about the recipes. I think they had to have given them one. During the cupcake challenge several contestants said they had never in their life made a cupcake and you just don't throw some ingredients into a bowl and magically make cake, so I'm certain they had a basic recipe to follow. I think I remember actually seeing one of them looking down at a piece of paper during that challenge. Even with a recipe you can certainly screw it up beyond repair, so I think it was the creativity and technique the judges were looking for in that challenge. I have been cooking for years and also went to culinary school and have made quite a few cupcakes in my lifetime and I couldn't turn one out without a recipe.

[swissmiss150]

I'm so glad that an experienced cook still looks at recipes. I have often wondered about that in these contests.

I like Whitney but after reading these recent comments, I'm starting to wonder if the contestants are given help we don't know about. I've been cooking decades longer than she has, but I couldn't begin to turn out accomplished recipes like she has produced on this show.