Masterchef - Should Curry be Prohibited?

mr_goo

I do like to watch Masterchef and I do love a good curry. However, without wishing to seem un-PC or slighting any Asian originating members of the population. Does a curry warrant any merit in a culinary competition as basically its meat in a spicy stew with rice. The contestant last night Rani, lovely women though she seemed cooked up three lots of curry style dishes. If it wasn't for the lack of competition I think she would have been eliminated. I am sure her dishes were good, but this hardly shows any cooking skills. I'm pretty sure most of us could have done the same last night.
So the question is. No matter where you are from as a contestant. Should there be an embargo on cooking curry?

metronome

I think to cook curry properly requires more skill than any other cuisine. There are far more complicated ingredients and flavours.

ai_1

Poppycock!

By that logic every dish is "just X with Y and Z".
So boeuf bourguignon is just beef with wine sauce and mashed potato? Your argument makes no sense. Do you think all curries are the same? As with most foods, it's not too difficult to do an edible curry, it's difficult to do a truly spectacular one. Do you cook?

finchy

Mr Goo, something tells me you have only ever eaten second rate curry. Do yourself a favour and get down to a proper Indian restaurant or, even better, buy yourself an Indian cookbook.

nathancom

I think there is more propensity among Asian families to cook a specific cuisine and to cook regularly than is generally the case, therefore these contestants are at a higher standard for this type of food.

They often get found out later in the competition as they find it harder to adjust to the requirements to present their food in a particular way.

I think OP is entirely wrong though - South Asian cuisine is much more varied than European food and just as complex to get right.

ugo.santalucia

The majority of curry houses in the country cook terrible food (including Brick Lane ones as a whole), so I would say yes, when you find a good curry it can be a revelation and it does require skill, just like French cuisine does.

mr_goo

Well that argument went down well.

What I was trying to intimate, as someone did point out, is that there is a propensity among the Asian contestants to revert to type and just cook a curry dish. I am sure that what is cooked requires skill to get right.

And yes. I have been to a top class Indian Restaurant, so I do know the difference between a bad'un and a good'un.

Phil_D

How many Brick Lanes are there in London?

markhewitt1978

Mr Goo wrote:

I do like to watch Masterchef and I do love a good curry. However, without wishing to seem un-PC or slighting any Asian originating members of the population. Does a curry warrant any merit in a culinary competition as basically its meat in a spicy stew with rice. The contestant last night Rani, lovely women though she seemed cooked up three lots of curry style dishes. If it wasn't for the lack of competition I think she would have been eliminated. I am sure her dishes were good, but this hardly shows any cooking skills. I'm pretty sure most of us could have done the same last night.
So the question is. No matter where you are from as a contestant. Should there be an embargo on cooking curry?

The biggest load of nonsense I've ever heard.

Just like any dish there is a vast difference between a good curry and an ordinary one, which is what they are being judged on.

If they are going to ban anything it should be yet more sea bass. And there should also be more food than I could eat in a single mouthful.

PerformingMonkey

The biggest load of nonsense I've ever heard.

+1 to this

Mikey23

i would certainly want to demonstrate my skill with frozen fish fingers and oven chips...

bdu98252

The original poster does have a point in that Masterchef should not be about just cooking one genre of food. For example I doubt they would be that impressed with three different versions of pizza from one contestant. The show should feature some challenges that require dishes that are across a worlds cultures. Most michelin starred restaurants take inspiration from around the globe with their menus. I am sure that Gordon Ramsay can do a good interpretation of a curry just as Atul Kochhar could probably do a good interpretation of a classical French dish.

mr_goo

bdu98252 wrote:

The original poster does have a point in that Masterchef should not be about just cooking one genre of food. For example I doubt they would be that impressed with three different versions of pizza from one contestant. The show should feature some challenges that require dishes that are across a worlds cultures. Most michelin starred restaurants take inspiration from around the globe with their menus. I am sure that Gordon Ramsay can do a good interpretation of a curry just as Atul Kochhar could probably do a good interpretation of a classical French dish.

Thank you. I thought I was the only one on the planet with this view. Perhaps you put it more eloquently than myself.

ai_1

Mr Goo wrote:

....What I was trying to intimate, as someone did point out, is that there is a propensity among the Asian contestants to revert to type and just cook a curry dish. I am sure that what is cooked requires skill to get right.

And yes. I have been to a top class Indian Restaurant, so I do know the difference between a bad'un and a good'un.

That is still a fairly ridiculous criticism.
Why not make a similar complaint about European contestants who revert to type and just cook a french style dish?

mr_goo

Ai_1 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

....What I was trying to intimate, as someone did point out, is that there is a propensity among the Asian contestants to revert to type and just cook a curry dish. I am sure that what is cooked requires skill to get right.

And yes. I have been to a top class Indian Restaurant, so I do know the difference between a bad'un and a good'un.

That is still a fairly ridiculous criticism.
Why not make a similar complaint about European contestants who revert to type and just cook a french style dish?

There was a young lad on it last night. 21 years old. He did not cook sausage egg and chips 3 different ways. He did a lobster ravioli. An apple tart. Venison dish. Quite a variation and trying to show his skills in various styles of cuisine.

Perhaps rather than me stating it should be embargoed. Perhaps the contestants should be informed that they must vary their cuisine styles. After all the clue is in the title of the program is Masterchef.

Mccaria

Indian food is incredibly diverse and the generic use of the term "curry"" does it a real disservice. From the areas I have travelled you have Keralan food (lot of fish and coconut), Goan food (fish, chicken and the original pork vindaloo) and generally in the south a varied rice/vegetarian based cuisine. In the north you have more wheat and heavier use of meat. There is a real difference in the spices used in various regions giving very distinctive tastes. Plenty of dishes are prepared dry without the sauce that is often described as a curry. There is a tremendous amount of work and skill in the preparation in many of these dishes, certainly the type of skills that would be appropriate for Master Chef.

Also there are dosas, a Southern Indian breakfast food which is basically a fried rice pancake. No place on Master Chef but is an amazing way to start the day.

mr_goo

I shall retire from this subject.

ai_1

Mr Goo wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

....What I was trying to intimate, as someone did point out, is that there is a propensity among the Asian contestants to revert to type and just cook a curry dish. I am sure that what is cooked requires skill to get right.

And yes. I have been to a top class Indian Restaurant, so I do know the difference between a bad'un and a good'un.

That is still a fairly ridiculous criticism.
Why not make a similar complaint about European contestants who revert to type and just cook a french style dish?

There was a young lad on it last night. 21 years old. He did not cook sausage egg and chips 3 different ways. He did a lobster ravioli. An apple tart. Venison dish. Quite a variation and trying to show his skills in various styles of cuisine.

Perhaps rather than me stating it should be embargoed. Perhaps the contestants should be informed that they must vary their cuisine styles. After all the clue is in the title of the program is Masterchef.

The issue I would have with all of your posts on this subject is that you clearly think curry is in some way easier and/or less diverse than other styles.
For example in the above quote you're saying this guy didn't do sausage, egg and chips 3 different ways and therefore is more varied than someone doing curries. That's pretty darn insulting to Asian cuisine and is completely unjustified.

Let's look at your example of the guy who did lobster ravioli, apple tart and a venison dish for a second.
So Ravioli - Italian
Apple tart - probably French depending on how he did it
A venison dish - meaningless as this could be a curry, a stew, a sausage, steak and chips, you name it... I'll assume for the moment that it wasn't curried and was instead fried or roasted with wine or herbs in a French style.

So how's that any different to someone who does the following:
Thai green Curry - Thai
Lamb Resala - Indian
Red bean cake - Chinese

The differences and range of skills and flavours is as great or greater for the Asian menu. In fact the Asian dishes are certainly more complex. An Asian menu is no more limited than a European one. Plenty participants only cook European dishes but I don't hear you criticising that. Given the show is made in Europe it's understandable that you're more likely to get away with being weak on Asian cooking than European cooking however I find it rather ignorant to suggest that because title is Masterchef the food should be Euro-centric!

Mr Goo wrote:

Perhaps the contestants should be informed that they must vary their cuisine styles. After all the clue is in the title of the program is Masterchef.

See this is a complete contradiction of wour earlier position! What you're saying is that every contestant should display versatility so surely they should be compelled to cook a "curry"? :shock:

arran77

Gurkha curries, now that's something special, much better than the Indian tat peddled in your average curry house 8)

markhewitt1978

arran77 wrote:

Gurkha curries, now that's something special, much better than the Indian tat peddled in your average curry house 8)

An Indian friend told me that the majority of curry houses don't serve what he would consider to be 'Indian' food but in fact Bangladeshi.

mr_goo

Ai_1 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

Mr Goo wrote:

....What I was trying to intimate, as someone did point out, is that there is a propensity among the Asian contestants to revert to type and just cook a curry dish. I am sure that what is cooked requires skill to get right.

And yes. I have been to a top class Indian Restaurant, so I do know the difference between a bad'un and a good'un.

That is still a fairly ridiculous criticism.
Why not make a similar complaint about European contestants who revert to type and just cook a french style dish?

There was a young lad on it last night. 21 years old. He did not cook sausage egg and chips 3 different ways. He did a lobster ravioli. An apple tart. Venison dish. Quite a variation and trying to show his skills in various styles of cuisine.

Perhaps rather than me stating it should be embargoed. Perhaps the contestants should be informed that they must vary their cuisine styles. After all the clue is in the title of the program is Masterchef.

The issue I would have with all of your posts on this subject is that you clearly think curry is in some way easier and/or less diverse than other styles.
For example in the above quote you're saying this guy didn't do sausage, egg and chips 3 different ways and therefore is more varied than someone doing curries. That's pretty darn insulting to Asian cuisine and is completely unjustified.

Let's look at your example of the guy who did lobster ravioli, apple tart and a venison dish for a second.
So Ravioli - Italian
Apple tart - probably French depending on how he did it
A venison dish - meaningless as this could be a curry, a stew, a sausage, steak and chips, you name it... I'll assume for the moment that it wasn't curried and was instead fried or roasted with wine or herbs in a French style.

So how's that any different to someone who does the following:
Thai green Curry - Thai
Lamb Resala - Indian
Red bean cake - Chinese

The differences and range of skills and flavours is as great or greater for the Asian menu. In fact the Asian dishes are certainly more complex. An Asian menu is no more limited than a European one. Plenty participants only cook European dishes but I don't hear you criticising that. Given the show is made in Europe it's understandable that you're more likely to get away with being weak on Asian cooking than European cooking however I find it rather ignorant to suggest that because title is Masterchef the food should be Euro-centric!

Mr Goo wrote:

Perhaps the contestants should be informed that they must vary their cuisine styles. After all the clue is in the title of the program is Masterchef.

See this is a complete contradiction of wour earlier position! What you're saying is that every contestant should display versatility so surely they should be compelled to cook a "curry"? :shock:

Ai 1. I really take objection that you are accusing me of insulting Asian cooking. Nowhere in anything I laid out in my original post am I doing this. I was merely pointing out, perhaps not as eloquently as I could that some of the Asian contestants perhaps revert to there home cuisine and do not show as vast array of culinary skills as they probably are no doubt capable of.
Perhaps its something about the British palate and its love affair with curry. After all a good curry is to the savoury palate as good chocolate is to the sweet palate. And perhaps this is played out in Masterchef.

Anyhow below just for you.

capt_slog

I sort of agree with Mr Goo, in that i can see where he's coming from in this.

i didn't see the program, but from what he says I'm guessing that the 'curry' dishes he referred to were something in a sauce, which I know is generalisation.

Now, I realise that these have their own special skill in their making, in that you have to get the spices right, but I think what they might lack is the timing aspect that affects the marks for some of the foods on there. How many times do we see meat that is overdone or underdone? I doubt this is so critical when it comes to cooking a 'curry' in the same way it isn't for the boeuf bourguignon that was mentioned at the top of the thread.

If someone came on and cooked boeuf bourguignon, then irish stew, then Lancashire hotpot I think the judges would be questioning their versatility no matter how tasty the results were.

Paulie W

You cant characterise Indian cuisine(s) as 'curry', in the same way that you cant view Italian cuisine as just 'pasta'. There is enormous variation between currys - calling them 'stews' is flat out wrong - but also plenty of other types of dish within Indian cuisine e.g. Dosas, all manner of street foods, rice dishes, meat and fish dishes which cant be called curry, similarly vegetable dishes, soups.

BelgianBeerGeek

So we have learnt that "Indian" food is varied. As is food from most places. Well I never.

I haven't seen masterchef for a while but isn't the point that the contestants start off with demonstrating their signature dishes and then get set more exacting challenges involving the show choosing the ingedients etc?
Otherwise they would be stuck comparing curry with stew with fish and chips etc. All very nice, probably, but not really useful for judging.

jordan_217

"Masterchef threads don't get any worse than this!". I'll get my coat…...

Doctor House

I think the idea of making the contestants cook particular themes is great - anything to make it tuffa then evah is a good thing. An indian challenge, an italian challenge, a french challenge, caribbean challenge, a pudding challenge and so on. Force the contestants out of their comfort zone.

Some of the foreign Masterchef programs are good. They have some good challenges.