Cooking Shows, It’s a Long One :P
I found myself liking to watch cooking shows since Masterchef Australia was booming. I didn’t follow it religiously at the start as the coverage in Indonesia was limited to cable tv (I think). So I saw the occasional replays then. Then there was the Indonesian version that I started watching, but I thought the judges was unnecessarily being brutal, so then I stopped watching it. Until I then moved to NZ and a few years later I watched Masterchef Australia season 9, 10 and 11 and some occasional MKR too haha.
I really enjoyed watching the competition and am often bamboozled and awed by how those contestants and the chefs came up with the dish. If you put me on the spot to think about a dish and give me a timeframe, I’ll definitely freeze and probably end up making scrambled egg! I’m not a great cook, I cook out of necessity lol.
I was sad to know that Masterchef Australia season 11 was the final season that the 3 musketeers judges (Matt, Gary and George) were judging. For the most part, I not only enjoyed watching the dishes being made, but I really liked the fun judges. They’re critical but not unnecessarily scream at the contestant as such. I just found that their comments are pretty constructive.
I then switch to Netflix (thank God for Netflix and for my bf for sharing his account haha!). I found the show Ugly Delicious by David Chang. Honestly I didn’t know who he is until I started watching that.
The thing that drew me into watching that is because I grew up Asian and most of our food look kinda ugly (well, not ugly, more messy I guess....not fine dining type of presentation), especially Nasi Campur. But man, the taste is super delicious! The food that he was tasting is pretty much our day to day food we find on the street, but I feel that many would take it for granted. You know, it’s pizza for example. But, I found that you can find beauty in those daily food you consume. It’s just amazing.
Whenever I see Dave’s reaction to the great tasting food, it was like “oh man, that’s so me!” moment. I can relate to it in so many levels. If you saw the food I eat when I’m back home in Indonesia, you’d probably think what the hell is that, but if you taste it, I think you’ll like it.
I once told my colleagues at work that I eat KFC wicked wings with rice and coleslaw. Some of them gave me such weird looks lol! Only my friend from the Phillipines understood since KFC original recipe etc is normally served with rice in our countries haha! (plus chilli sauce too in Indonesia). So, I dared one of my friends to try eating KFC with rice next time and tell me what he thinks of it.
I particularly loved his reaction eating fried chicken. I can’t help myself but salivate and wish that I was living somewhere in America with all access to any fried chicken I want. Though, living in Auckland with a big range of Korean fried chicken is a blessing too!
Cooking is just a different form of art to me. Be it the traditional one, the messy one, or the most precise, amazing fine dining ones. I don’t understand how they could come up with those ideas, but man...for those who don’t understand why you have to pay so much for such food, think of it as you’re eating a creation almost like you’re enjoying looking at Michelangelo’s painting, but this one you can see, smell, touch and taste.....utilising your senses to the max! Kudos to all these chefs working so hard in creating amazing pieces of art!
P.S. Here is my list of cooking shows, it’ll probably grow overtime so feel free to talk to me if you’re interested :) :
The Big Family Cooking Showdown
vaporwave
jacobvanloon
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
turnnoffyourmind
izzy806
areudirty
2087
pixelskylines