The show I was addicted to, and a fun recap of season 7
Masterchef Australia Season 7 has reached its helm and the finals scheduled to wrap up over this weekend. And boy, did it keep us hooked or what!
Having watched almost every episode, here are some of the trends that I feel rocked season 7, stuff that made an impression on us 🙂
1.BEETS – From spuds being the most popular root vegetable on the show, this season saw beets totally dethrone them taters. They literally pushed them out just like the third person sitting in a Mumbai local train seat gives a nudge to the person hanging onto the fourth seat. Jessie, my favourite contestant was truly a beet queen! She knew how to play the beets to perfection. Pun intended.
2. PUREES – Whether to smear on the plate, or to serve with steak, we saw a variety of purées this season. From Sarah’s much applauded miso sweet corn purée to Billie’s silky smooth cauliflower and speck purée, never has baby food look this glamorous.
3. SOIL- I haven’t associated soil to food ever since my son turned 2. Soils ruled desserts this season. An extra component that went with chocolate desserts, adding texture to plating and tasting. The judges seemed to love this.
4. CRUMBS – This is not what’s leftover in your bread packet when you go beyond the best-by date. Crumbs were to savory dishes what soils were to desserts. A mix of bread, herbs, seasoning, blitzed and crisped up in the oven added the required crunch to soup or other savory dishes. From duck skin to potatoes, everything was made into crumbs this season.
5. PARFAIT – From macadamia to honey and curry leaves to ants, yes, ants, parfaits were in vogue this season or what! Like one of the judges pointed out, this was the season of parfaits. While I’d love to sink my teeth into a lime and curry leaf parfait, I’d draw the line at ant parfait, thank you.
6. PICKLES – Got vegetable? Shall pickle! That seemed to be the mantra this year. Cucumber, carrots, beets, cauliflower stems, you name it, they pickled it!
7. BLACKBERRIES – This berry saw itself in a savory dish on more than one occasion – Sarah’s blackberry vinaigrette over quail with miso corn purée that the judges loved; her blackberry, chocolate beef jus with lamb that tasted odd to the judges and blackberry served with marron and crispy chicken skin that almost won Georgia the immunity pin. Phew.
8. CURRY LEAVES – While we had no Rishi Desai or Kumar Pereira this season, the curry leaves kinda represented the Indian delegation and the feelings of the million foodie Indians like myself who religiously watched this show.
9. OOZING EGG – The judges’ unadulterated obsession for the soft yolk continued unbroken from the previous seasons. The look of love and longing when cutting open an egg….sigh, you have to be a Masterchef Australia fan and hear your heart thudding in your ears at this moment. The moment which decides the contestants fate.
10. BLOOMING PASSION FLOWER – Darren Purchase’s dessert that he set for an elimination challenge knocked the air out of our collective lungs. Rated 9.9/10 on a difficulty scale of 1-10, I’d say this becomes the most memorable dessert on Masterchef Australia ever, overtaking Adriano Zumbo’s croquembouche tower by a mile!
11. REYNOLD’S DESSERTS – I think for the first time ever, a contestant has been (almost) consistently plating up desserts that are totally top pastry chef level. And he’s just 21, I found that insanely inspiring!
12. I’m sure women who’ve naturally birthed four babies wouldn’t have heard this word as many times in their collective deliveries as we heard it towards the end of season 7. Also, #YESMARCO.
13. MATT PRESTON’S PANTS – All Masterchef Australia fans know of Matt’s eclectic and exuberant dressing style. Famous for his cravats, his pants made all Indians nostalgic about the 90s dancing Bollywood star Govinda (even more than the other seasons). This season, Matt’s wardrobe blew us away with the argyle pants in psychedelic colors- the pink, white and black combination, especially! More on these pants here. They fully deserve their own tumblr blog, those pants!
What did not change however was how encouraging the judges always were. Forever seeing the positives and pushing the contestants to better themselves. The camaraderie between the contestants was as endearing as the previous seasons too! We did miss the regular master classes and the excitement that a foreign trip brought to the show in the earlier seasons.
This wraps up the things that totally rocked Masterchef Australia season 7! Season 8, cannot wait!
Did I miss something? Chime in!
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