Masterchef: The Professionals. Photo: The BBC
I’ve been watching Masterchef: The Professionals (which began its second run on BBC2 this week) with mixed emotions. Its always a pleasure to see Michel Roux Jnr on the TV screen; a genuine expert and articulate with it. But it hasn’t been much fun watching the early competitors display a shamefully low level of basic culinary knowledge and cooking technique.
In the first week of programming, spatchcocking, cooking lemon curd, prepping artichokes and even knocking up a decent tasting vinaigrette have proved to be “gruelling tests” (as these simple tasks are described by an overheated narrator) for a number of the apparently clueless chefs.
Although there has been some presentable food served up (Roux has said he’d be happy to serve some of the dishes in his own restaurant), the general standard so far has been deeply unimpressive. If plans to air the programme abroad go ahead, it can only serve to reinforce the misapprehension that the Brits can’t cook.
The good news is that, according to Craft Guild of Chefs vice president Steve Munkley the standards among young chefs coming into the industry is currently at a high point. “We’re over the bad times now. The colleges that I work with in and around London are ensuring their students are industry ready and there’s a lot of talent coming through.”
So why aren’t the best chefs in the country queueing up to take part in the show and get some potentially career-enhancing national publicity? It could have something to do with the rules of entry which state “you must inform us of any experience you have had in any capacity in a Michelin starred restaurant or any connection to a chef who holds a Michelin star. This may not exclude you from taking part in the competition but failure to disclose information could lead to disqualification.”
Bocuse d’or finalist and Michelin starred chef Simon Hulstone was keen to take part in the series but was told he was over qualified. “It seems to be a competition for mainly young chefs who aren’t fully trained. It makes a mockery of the word “professional”. I wouldn’t put any of my guys forward for the show, it wouldn’t be a good advert for us.”
A spokesperson for the programme explained that only the restaurants of the finalists will be name checked because “some chefs just have a hard time of it in the early rounds due to nerves, and the pressure of that first experience cooking under the camera.” If a competitor’s performance is so poor that it would shame the establishment they work for, it would be kinder to everyone involved to keep it off the screen entirely. But in the current X Factor-crazy climate where public humiliation is the new national pastime, that was never going to happen.
“Cooking doesn’t get better than this” claims that excitable narrator. For the sake of the industry’s reputation, lets hope she’s wrong.