Grant Burge Benchmark Cabernet Shiraz 2009 - had my brother-in-law's 40th birthday last night and went to dinner at Luke Benchmark; a restaurant that I have mentioned before. This Grant Burge number was very easy to drink and had enough body and depth to go very well with the ox gow gee & scallops entree and the lamb shank main course that I had. It was also very reasonably priced for a restaurant wine. Need to find it somewhere for a few bottles for the home cellar. Grant Burge Benchmark Cabernet Shiraz
So friends, it's that time of year again. The time when the country becomes obsessed and we ensure that our set-top boxes or Foxtel iQ's are programmed correctly so we don't miss a minute of the drama and excitement that grips us day after day...and for once, I am not talking about sport.
I am of course, talking about that phenomenon that has taken grip over the country for the last three years...Masterchef.
For the last three years, names such as Julie, Poh, Adam, Callen, Marion and others have been spoken of in workplaces and homes alike as if they were our 'BFF's' as we ride with them every high and low of the three month odyssey to become "Australia's top amateur chef"!
I am going to gloat a little here and say that Trish and I were ahead of the curve on this one. Having Foxtel, we discovered Masterchef UK and we loved it. The fascination of ordinary people getting pushed to the limit in a kitchen and having adventures all over Europe as they cook for the British Army on manovures, being dropped into five star Michelin restaurants was something we couldn't take our eyes off. We loved the concept but when they announced the Australian version, we were sceptical especially when we found out that they would be all living in a house 'a la Big Brother. So much so, we didn't get on the local Masterchef bandwagon until about a month in but after that, we were hooked...and so was the rest of the country!
The show has reset the standard of not just cooking shows (Does anyone else remember 'The Magic Wok' with Philip Paxton cooking with the skyline of Hong Kong in the background???) but reality shows in general; and at it's core Gary, George and Matt who come back into our lives every year like long lost friends; along with their new crop of recruits who we start to love and loathe as the series goes on.
It has also led to the establishment of a sub-economy of it's own; full of sponsors, tv-spinoffs and cookbooks coming out of the wahzoo...and I have to admit, we have contributed to this in many ways from purchasing said cookbooks (see below exhibit A below your honour) to dining at 'The Press Club'.....twice! However, there are some limits; no one should ever feel the need to buy Matt Preston's CD 'Music to cook by'.
Now, I am not about to wax lyrical about how and why this show has become a national institution or what comment it makes on the national psyche.To me it's pretty simple. For the most part, it is entertaining and it is intriguing and somewhat comforting to see others go through hours upon hours of stress and toil to ultimately get the riches that national fame and a book deal provides. Enough at least for me to sit through the blatant plugs and product placements ("So we went shopping with our Commonwealth Bank Travelcard..."- cue full screen shot of the card).
However, credit where credit is due. The producers always seem to do a great job of bringing together a mix of contestants that you like and those that will drive me to go postal if they don't leave soon. Put it this way, I did not cry with the news that Mat and his smartphone were booted out of the house - that said, his being locked up in a Melbourne hotel until this incident hits the screen seems a trifle extreme - one hopes he is going deluxe on the room service.
As for the rest of them, I don't mind the likes of Hayden, Kate, Michael and Billy - that said, the latter has to do more than just desserts. I'm also rapt that the producers have also decided to inject a bit of Star Wars this year with Kumar adopting the role of Yoda for this year's series.
On the flip side, Dani is like that top 40 song that you begin to despise because they play it over and over and over again. There can only be so many eliminations that Ellie can escape because she is blonde and giggles and there is something about Sun that just gives me the irrits...that and thank god Rachel was eliminated because if I heard one more time that her husband worked in the mines so she knows what they like to eat, I was going to fly to WA and send her down the shaft myself...permanently!
I must say though that this year's series has already delivered two great discoveries. Firstly, the SMH/Age has started giving reviews of the elimination episodes which have been some of the funniest stuff I have read for a long time - this one by Michelle Griffin is the best so far. http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/tears-flow-like-rain-on-a-cake-in-the-macarthur-park-kitchen-20110607-1fpmd.html
Second, I was able to save myself from a serious faux pas as I learnt what an eggnet was prior to a business lunch later that week -many thanks Yoda!
As for a tip for this year's winner, I think it may come down to Kate and Michael which again destroys any chance of the cookoff degenerating into a cage fight to the death because they will be just too nice to each other and "life long friends". One day, I would love to see the finale decend into the most watched food fight in Australian television history...then again, anything is possible in the Masterchef Kitchen!
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