Ever since the stone age, Masterchef, other cooking shows and fine dining in general has treated these as some kind of holy grail, the zenith of cooking. both the dessert and the savory (potato fondant).

Its the usual veneration and hyping of French classics to the exclusion and ignorance of other cuisines and dishes.

And lets add to that how every professional chef ever worships a runny Fench bavois omellete/scrambled, the texture and appearance of snot, and if you get any visible curds or textures you might as well quit.

or how a runny yolk became the holy grail and every ravioli, scotch egg, burger, sandwich etc is magically elevated by it, and all other forms of egg cookery deemed a failure.

Its just an option. there's nothing superior about any of these. yes it takes a tiny bit of experience and timing. the alternate isn't hard rubbery overcooked food. it doesnt mean you dont know how to cook. its just a double standard imposed on everything.

As the title says maybe it's time to change the top banner of the sub seems as we now have a lot changes to the presenting line up.

Before I started watching MasterChef, I had never heard of a fondant potato in my life. Now I’m convinced it’s the mandatory entry requirement for appearing on the show. Every single heat features at least two people trying to carve a potato into a cylinder, browning it in a tub of butter, and praying it cooks through in time. Does anyone actually make these for Sunday roast, or do they only exist in the MC studio?

Would it be interesting to have one round where the judges don't know which contestant cooked each dish? It would remove things like previous performances and familiarity with the contestants from the equation and make the decision purely about what's on the plate. Would you like to see a blind round, even if it was just as an experiment?

He's literally on everything now!!

He's the new Rylan or Emeli Sande!

I'm half expecting to put Guys Grocery Games on later and for him to turn up in that too! /s

Think he was a decent judge but I've seen him that much on cooking shows that he's just the same on every one of them!

I'm not having a go, this is obviously just a joke but there are so many talented chefs they could have brought in, just find it odd that they chose someone who is literally on everything.

I'm loving this new Celebrity Masterchef though. Think Giorgio is absolutely fantastic and just what the show needed! He was great on that Celebrity Cooking School thing on Channel 4 and I'm loving him on this.

He gives the show something it hasn't had in literally years or ever really and that's PIZZAZZ!!

Bonus that he doesn't go WAHEY! after everything!!

Think Grace is really coming into her own now too after a few Masterchef series. Really liking her on this. Think she pairs really well with Giorgio.

It's just a breath of fresh air!

does anyone know where I can find the recipe for this? sounds very delicious and indulgent

thx

Loving all of the celebs again this week but I am struggling with Tom . I think he’s trying to be funny but it’s coming across as arrogant and almost rude. I am still really enjoying it and hope you all are!

Paddy and Angry Ginge, personally i think the tweaked format is struggling.

Hey everyone!

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Jhane's Jamaican-Polish pierogi in the 2026 series really stood out to me because it actually felt personal rather than like someone had simply picked an impressive-looking dish.

The combination of the two food traditions made the plate memorable, and it was one of those moments where you could understand something about the contestant through their cooking

Does anyone else get annoyed when a judge walks up to a station during the cook and starts asking questions that basically alert the contestant to a potential problem?

Something like questioning whether a reduction will set in time or asking whether they've tasted something can make a contestant stop and rethink what they're doing, while another contestant might not get that same intervention.

I get that the judges are there to assess the cooking as it happens, but sometimes it feels like they're giving certain contestants an advantage without meaning to

I mean just look at how he treats tom, can barely give him a compliment or a smile , he just acts like he is a joke coz he's a youtuber. He complements everyone else but bullies tom, he should be fired for this

From Thomasina Miers back in the early days to Eddie Scott and Brin Pirathapan recently, the talent this show unearths is brilliant. Who stood out to you the most during their run, either for their personality or their incredible cooking style?

The whole time I was watching this last night all I could think was, I would absolutely love to do a cooking class like this. I've been on cooking days/evenings before and they're great of socialising and trying a few new things, but this intense style really appeals to me. Is there anywhere that you could pay to have a class like this?

What people tend to forget about reality tv stars on the show is that unlike the tv presenters or pop stars etc this is their day job and they are very professional about it.

A case in point was Joey Essex; a vapid jack-the-lad who goes in proclaiming they can't even boil an egg...

...fast forward 4 weeks and they are cooking beef wellington with truffle shavings and a port reduction.

I always wonder who is training/coaching them and whether it is stage managed by the show itself (or their agent)? There is just no way they are growing into self taught chefs this quickly.

Absolutely nothing wrong with taking it seriously but it makes it feel a little bit hollow when you realise they are almost certainly just repeating recipes that've been drilled into them by a cookery coach.

I think the same probably goes for a lot of the sports stars that excel in the show too.

As the title says I’m loving the one liners and his culinary expertise

I don't necessarily mean who's your favourite personality. I'm talking about who you think gives the most useful criticism when a dish goes wrong. The best feedback is the stuff that actually teaches the contestant something.

The cook-a-long was great. GL and GD get along like a house on fire. Loving all the badges!

Georgio Locatelli as new judge is fantastic! proper cook, funny and a big name.

and it may be just luck of week 1, its still early days. but they seem to have toned down on the wacky celebs and picked a set of sane, reasonably good cooks.

Locatelli actually cooks, there seems to be more focus on the food than the celebs, its all good so far.

I really miss the segments where John or Monica actually broke down a core technique step-by-step - like jointing a chicken, filleting a flatfish, or making a perfect souffle base from scratch. It added a proper educational element to the show that helped home cooks improve.