MasterChef Australia: MasterClass
Master Chef was a TV phenomenon in Australia.
Contestants gathered in a large building, converted to a cooking stadium (to coin a phrase from The Iron Chef). Cooking benches were arranged in rows, in front of which surly but soon-to-be sexy food critic Matt Preston, and chefs George Colombaris and Gary Mehigan held court and passed judgement over the results.
Each week, whoever impressed the trio least, was eliminated. The series culminated in an ordinary housewife by the name of Julie taking out the top prize.
The interesting thing, is that the competitive aspect of the show turned out not to be half as compelling as the interest the series created in cooking.
Specialist stores reported a surge in the demand for their products, including, after one particular espsode, croquembouche cones. How adventurous we became in the kitchen!
There was clearly a lot to learn from this series, particularly in the Master Classes: a weekly episode during which the chefs would prepare a dish in front of the contestants, teaching them important facts along the way.
Snippets from these Master Classes have been assembled in a DVD collection (3 discs in all), so that we can take our time learning all those handy titbits.
Channelling Matt Preston, perhaps, a minor criticism would be in the presentation: a little tighter editing would have been great. We don't' really need to see the reaction of the contestants, for instance. Nevertheless, the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and this DVD collection is satisfying fare.