Australia Outshines the US

Image Credit: healthmankirkland

Last year while scouring the internet for television programs to watch, after a dismal lineup by US networks, I happened upon a show, Masterchef Australia.

They took amateur cooks from everywhere in the country and had a competition to see who would emerge as the best cook. Competitions like the mystery box where all the ingredients to be used are in a box, immunity pin challenge where the amateur cook would compete with a professional cook for the chance to have immunity or even the pressure tests that would end someone's dreams of becoming the next masterchef.

The focus was entirely on the food, the skill of the cooks, creativity and accepting cooking as an art form. The Master classes held by top chefs Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris were interesting and allowed those of us sitting at home to delve into the kitchen, research farmer's markets and early morning markets where all the top restaurants go to shop, purchase some very exotic spices for dishes we wanted to try out and the best part of all, all the winning recipes along with the recipes from Master class were posted on their website for everyone to use.

Enter Masterchef US. Sigh. From the start of the first season, there was an obvious decision to favor Whitney. The dishes were often bland looking with creativity and honest cooking often taking the back seat to the over dramatization of the characters they chose - something that is obviously lacking in the Australian version of the show - which may be a function of the producers who imagine an audience that is like the Survivor or Jersey Shore audience.

Pish tosh with all this drama nonsense. If there are no good innovative cooks, then there needs to be a wider search. I want to be able to attend a Masterclass conducted by Gordon Ramsey, with all the tips and tricks and shortcuts he would be able to offer. I want to be able to see famous food bloggers/writers come up with crazy challenges, to see that the people who left the show are pursuing their dreams working in kitchens and honing their skills. I want to see members of the Daring Kitchen on the show!!! I am going to try to give season two a go, but if it turns out to be the same igg that infected last season, sorry! I'm going to stick with the very interesting Masterchef Australia that hinges on fresh locally grown produce and making it into delicious food art on my plate!!

Please Masterchef US, we know there is more out there than trumped up and edited drama. We just want food art.

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