The last series of the UK version, where Dhruv Baker won the title, was the first time that I saw our UK competitors being put through more rigorous tests of their overall cooking knowledge and ability. Prior to this it mainly boiled down to being able to cook a well rehearsed 2 or 3 course meal, often being able to bring in up to 5 ingredients pre-prepared at home. Not that I am belittling this in any way - I wouldn't want to compete for this! But, I do feel that it is a world of difference being able to replicate a meal that one has had the time to prepare and practice time and again, even with the added pressure of studio environment, camera, lights, action and all that, as well as the unfamiliar kitchen, equipment and so forth, to arriving at the studio having not the slightest idea what you are going to be asked to do that day!
The new tests that our UK have to do include a stint in a professional commercial kitchen, a cooking test to devise one course from ingredients supplied on the day and an ingredient recognition test in the early rounds. It has been interesting to see that these tests do highlight the difference from being a keen and competent cook to being someone who has real potential in the professional cooking world. Often the cook who has produced a very accomplished dish of their own falls apart when asked to devise something on the spot from a pantry full of ingredients. Likewise the lack of knowledge about ingredients is often highlighted with what you would have imagined easily recognisable ingredients (either from sight or taste) being mistaken for something completely different. The test that I personally have an empathy with the contestants is the commercial kitchen exercise where the competitors are thrown into a professional kitchen during a busy service and it's sink or swim time. Having been a keen cook for years and all our friends had been dinner partied to death (well not quite death ;-) ) I went into private catering on a very small scale when my children were very little as it fitted in well with my family commitments and brought in a little money out of what was essentially just a hobby. I was reasonably successful in this and was only held back by the family commitments and the money to go about things on any larger, more professional scale which would have involved an extension to the kitchen and an entire kitchen makeover to comply with environmental health standards for a commercial kitchen etc.
However when some years later I did go down the commercial food root by buying the pub I speak of briefly on my "About" page. This was a major shock to my system and made me re-evaluate completely what it was about cooking that I enjoyed doing and what I didn't! Nothing had prepared me for the complete craziness that ensues during that manic 3 or so hours of lunch or dinner service, even in a very modest and little country pub that I had. That whole scenario I could talk about for ages so maybe will do more blogs about that in due course. Back to those poor unsuspecting Masterchef contestants standing in their pristine chef's whites awaiting their first orders in the pro kitchen - I am surprised that they are surprised however, just how crazy that whole environment can be, even if on reflection they found it fun and exhilarating ultimately. I would have thought that potential Masterchef contestants must watch the show avidly and see other contestants before them go through this same professional kitchen ordeal, yet so many of them seem completely unprepared for what they will encounter! I feel their pain! Still, it is a good test, not only for them personally to highlight whether a pro kitchen environment is really what they want or do they want to channel their foodie skills into another related area such as food writing, private catering etc, but also to the Masterchef judges to see how much the contestants really want the opportunity to make a career int he food world and their aptitude for it.
I am looking forward to having some time to start watching the recordings I have of the new Masterchef Australia series and see what horrendously scary tasks the evil judges have for the next batch of hopefuls :-D
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