MASTAAAHH CHEF!

photo courtesy of ruesdeparis.blogspot.com

Is anyone loving FOX's show Masterchef?  Sure, its definitely overly dramatic and the judges can be pretty ruthless, but I think the concept is really exciting and engaging. The producers really know how to tug at their viewers' emotions!

The show is a competitive cooking reality show where amateur and home chefs compete in various challenges to win the title MASTERCHEF and receive $250,000.  For example, in most episodes during the first half hour they have these mystery box challenges where the contestants must use ingredients from the mystery box they are given to create a dish of their choice. The winner gets a significant advantage over the others. Its kind of like the show Chopped except these contestants are allowed to omit/add ingredients. In addition, they have off-site team challenges where they work in two opposing teams to win a given cooking task.

I could go on and on about the pressure tests and challenge nights but I don't want to make this show anymore confusing. I guess the biggest thing to mention is the fabulously frightening trio of judges:  Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen, notorious for swearing and screaming (although he is surprisingly sweet at times on this show), Joe Bastianish (who reminds me of a bald scavenger bird eeek), and Graham Elliot (the nicest of the three). They are really great at coming up with culinary insults. They've definitely made me wanna cry.

I think I'm pretty competent in the kitchen, but i'll admit that I am definitely no Masterchef. C'mon, they had to make six different types of eggs, cooked to perfection in 20 minutes? That's crazy!!! I applaud any home cook one this show. This is one reason why I so admire Christine Ha, a really sweet and amazingly talented contestant who just happens to be blind.  Even though she didn't have to participate in the egg challenge, she has so much raw talent that it has amazed the viewers, the other contestants and especially the judges. I think three contestants that left the show said that she deserved to win.  Even with the overemotional background music, her scenes really get to the hardest of cynics.

Its Season 3 of Masterchef and there are only seven contestants left after tonight's episode.
If you haven't been watching and have a lot of time to kill like I do, you can quickly catch up on http://www.fox.com/masterchef. or http://www.hulu.com/masterchef. 

For a crazy emotional video of Christine, click here.  I'm so glad she's safe. I'm rooting for her or Frank.