Master Chef Australia

                   One of the most frequently watched programs, master chef Australia has captured the hearts of millions of people around the world. From small kids to adults, every single person is seen enjoying this program to a great extent. The innovative approach towards cooking is awe inspiring. This program looks at cooking with an eye none has ever viewed. In the beginning of the week there is a mystery box challenge where all the contestants are asked to cook a dish with the ingredients hidden inside the mystery box. The contestant with the best dish is pronounced the winner. This constant is asked to choose the core ingredient of the next challenge. After the selection of the core ingredient, the winner takes it outside to reveal it to the other contestants. The challenge that they then face is the invention test where the contestants have to cook their hearts out to present a dish which is both innovative and delicious (thus the name- invention test). The judges, Gary, George and Matthew then taste the dish and proclaim their views. The bottom three contestants from this challenge will have to face off in an elimination round where they will be either asked to set right a badly prepared dish or will have to face a taste test where they will be asked to taste a dish or an herb of some kind and name it. The contestant with the worst dish or wrong answer will be eliminated thus. The remaining contestants continue their journey on master chef Australia with hope and the experience of facing another tough task in the previous round. Then they will face a team challenge where the group will be divided into two, blue and red. There is always a conception that the red team has the higher chance of emerging out as winners. The two teams will have to cook off in a high profile challenge and the team with the least performance in terms of the dishes will go into an elimination round where one of their dreams of becoming the next master chef will come to an end. So in this competition there will be two eliminations in a week there by ending up with two contestants in the grand finale where one will be affirmed the winner.
                        There goes the explanation about the rules and regulations of the competition. Now let’s get to the most interesting part- naming our most favorite contestants and shedding some light on the pros and cons of the show. I personally watched only the second season of master chef Australia and I repent not watching the first season. The second season was amazingly planned and perfectly executed. The sets and the entire aura of the competition had a sophistication which is very hard to describe. The poise and the finesse with which the event was discharged were exemplary. The contestants proved too good to compare as each one was unique in their own style of cooking. Though I am not happy with the judges’ decision to name Adam Liaw the winner of the championship, I am very happy that Callum Hann, Jimmy Seervai and Claire Winton Burn made it to the top four. My most favorite contestant is Callum whose dessert making ability is staggering. I still remember his sweat filled face as he gets ready to serve his dish. Who knows how many drops of his perspiration have found their way into his dishes! Maybe those few drops of his sweat have strengthened the taste of his dishes! (Amusingly disgusting!) Next on my favorites list is Jimmy. He is known for his Asiatic style of cooking. He was born and bought up in India and this is evident in his cooking. He is known as the "raja of spices". He surprised all of us by preparing the best V8 cake (I wish I could lay my hands n that eight layered vanilla cake of Adriano zumbo!) in the finals week. And Claire is a very intelligent cook. She has a very elegant way of presenting her dishes. She was a very consistent performer and her growth as a cook was stunning.

                  One of the gravest mistake made by the judges is eliminating Marion Grasby. She was one of the most deserving contestant to win this competition. She was the best cook in master chef 2. Her capacity to impress the judges at every stage of the competition was remarkable. But a serious error landed her in an elimination challenge and yet another blunder in the elimination round sent her right out of the competition. It was a very hard decision for the judges to make but then they decided on showing her to the door. There are many other passionate contestants in the competition whose names are worth mentioning. There is Jonathan Dadia, famously known as "the eliminator". He is called so because of his talent to dodge eliminations. He had approximately eluded 9 eliminations before being ousted in the 10th ^{. The one other contestant who will always be etched in my memory is Matthew Caldecott. He, like Matthew is a dessert specialist, who unfortunately had to go in a taste test where he named apricot jam as dried apricot. Alvin is another interesting contestant. He is known for his humor both on and off the kitchen. His love for his mother is divine. He brings his mother’s ideas and presence into his cooking. The last contestant whose description, I think is necessary in this write up is Courtney. She was initially eliminated in the early stages of the competition for identifying spear mint as mint. But she came back strongly in the competition in the wild card round and stayed on for the finals week.}

                    Thus the competition came to an end with Adam Liaw winning the title.

This program kept all of us rooted to our spot through the many months of its cherished existence. Hope the next season is as dazzling as this one.

Cheers,

Aishwarya Kumar