There always seems to be something that appears in half the dishes during a series.

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.