Opinion Lick the screen
We watch the food reality shows with love,the episodes followed religiously to see who in eliminated on the back of a bad 'plating'.
Comfortably established within the inner reaches of my beanbag,I sit waiting to be satiated with the view of a drizzle of honey sauce over a juicy lamb rack or watch macaroons,pink and purple get assembled while they are “crisp on the outside moist on the inside” in a conical heap. “The raspberry macaroons have to have the right tang. Macaroons with olive,yeah mate why not?”
These conversations — on how a silly mistake in setting oven temperature right or well,just forgetting your mitts when you pull out hot trays,or piping the wrong amount of filling for a pastry can get you into trouble — keeps us food lovers rivetted. TV cooking shows are perfect for the lazy foodie inside all of us. We watch these food reality shows with love,the episodes followed religiously to see who in eliminated on the back of a bad “plating” and even though we have never touched a snail in our life,we do know how to cook a batch of escargots (snails) thanks to the chefs whipping it up in style in our living rooms.
Masterchef Australia,is a conversation starter of a show,while other food shows have brought us with our bags of chips closer to the TV sets,watching high end gourmet dishes being dolled up,and the heat of the contest makes a pastry out of the most rational contestants. It is divine entertainment- food porn with a helping of cut-throat competition where eventually food is the big winner,in this contest of finding the best amateur chef in the land down under.
We may never cook up the snails or bake macaroons,the show,(on air in India,with its second season) does go a step further with its master class. For example,renowned (3 Michelin star and kitchen chemist) chef Heston Blumenthal’s class on molecular gastronomy where a cloche revealed a grapes,that after a bite reveal they are actually filled with meat pate,a trick for the senses. Also an emphasis on different flavour combinations (smoky-bacon ice cream anyone?) and idea of making a meal a multi-sensory experience like in the dish,”Sound of the sea” (using ear phones that play the sound of the sea as you tuck into different kinds of fish.) The idea of making a meal a multi-sensory experience,was a treat to watch. The bag of chips in my hand is empty,now if only someone could make the TV screen with a close up of the Frangipane Tart with whipped cream,edible.
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