Master Chef

[Jester]

It's back! And I love it.

I do love the fact that, not only do they have a blind cheftestant, but they are making pretty much no significant concessions to her. They do allow her someone to be her eyes for finding ingredients, yes, but nothing that has anything to do with cooking has lost any integrity with this show....she still has to do all her cooking. After all, running and grabbing ingredients, while entertaining to watch, has no bearing on who is the better cook. It might determine who gets what first, but I agree with the producers that putting a blind woman in that melee would serve absolutely no purpose. Christine has been given just the aid that levels the playing field with the other competitors, as her aid does nothing but find her ingredients. Anyone who has a problem with this is just too competitive, and needs to pull their head out of their ass.

Bubba gets points from me for one of the most awesome exits ever. Well played, Bubba. Well played indeed.

And while I thought Rami was way too cocky, his exit was one of the most gracious, as he said something more people on such shows should know: he was judged by those far better than him in this field.

Master Chef is on, and I, for one, am stoked!

[fireheart]

That. is. awesome. I really hope that they make mention of her down here (running Aussie MasterChef at the moment) as an inspiration.

We have a contestant at the moment on MasterChef Australia who is a practicing Muslim. The first time we have had a practicing Muslim on the show. The only concession I am aware of at the moment that has been made for her has been that all the meat on the show is halal. Given my watching of MasterChef has been sporadic, I've only caught episodes here and there, but from my understanding, she still participates in challenges and masterclasses involving pork and alcohol, but does not actually taste.

Regardless, she has proven to be an absolute powerhouse in the kitchen. She was selected to be an assistant for the Immunity Challenge on more than one occasion, cooks amazing dishes with her own unique flair on them (for instance, when the chefs were asked to cook biscuits, she cooked ma'moul, which is a Middle Eastern "biscuit" of sorts IIRC) and has not hit the bottom three at all. The only time she has lost in challenges is when she's been in a team, or when she was doing 1 on 1 against a "top chef" but the finish was very close (she lost by 3 points)

We also have another blind contestant on The Voice: Rachel Leahcar. She's blind, but can SING. She's in the grand final.

[Jester]

What does it mean for meat to be "halal"? Not familiar with this term. And I am impressed that the Muslim contestant is still cooking with pork and alcohol. That is impressive.

I have no doubt that Rachel is very talented, and I don't want to sound insensitive (and hope I'm not), but I would imagine it would be harder to be a blind chef than a blind singer. Singers, for example, don't risk cutting off their own fingers when they ply their craft! Hell, I've come close to doing that myself while cooking, and my eyes work just fine!

[Treasure]

"Halal" is the Muslim equivalent to "Kosher"

(hope that helps)

[Jester]

Okay, I get that....but what makes it halal? I know it can't be the exact same as kosher, as pork and shellfish by their very existence are not kosher. So, I'm still confused. Can you elaborate?

[Treasure]

maybe this will help

[Jester]

Yes, that helped greatly. So what you are saying is that the Aussie Master Chef, for this season, is using all halal meats, EXCEPT for the pork, which by definition cannot be halal and is in fact haraam (or forbidden), as is alcohol.

Makes sense.

And while it is far beyond the scope of this thread, I would be curious to know if it is also forbidden to cook with haraam for others, as this Muslim cheftestant is doing.

[fireheart]

Yes, that helped greatly. So what you are saying is that the Aussie Master Chef, for this season, is using all halal meats, EXCEPT for the pork, which by definition cannot be halal and is in fact haraam (or forbidden), as is alcohol.

Makes sense.

And while it is far beyond the scope of this thread, I would be curious to know if it is also forbidden to cook with haraam for others, as this Muslim cheftestant is doing.

Not 100% sure on that. Basically for meat to be halal, it has to be slaughtered a certain way and a prayer is said over the meat. I am not 100% sure if she has cooked with pork for others though. The fact that it's halal doesn't affect the taste or the quality of the meat any more than if it was kosher. My university has pretty much everything halal and it doesn't taste any different.

Jester, any chance you can post a clip of your blind Cheftestant?

[fireheart]

For Jester's benefit:

Blind Contestant on The Voice

ETA: For the record, the judges weren't aware that she was blind until AFTER they spun their chairs around.

[fireheart]

Jester, is this the blind cheftestant?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCRv7B3IPR0

[Dasota]

That is her! I love her too! I'm rooting for her!

[firecat88]

She is so awesome. I hope she wins the entire thing.

[fireheart]

From what I gathered, I hope she does too.

In fact, had the judges and setup not been different, I would've almost thought that she was part of MasterChef Australia, she reminds me so much of our cheftestants in her mannerisms.

[Jester]

I am not 100% sure if she has cooked with pork for others though.

Well, if they have challenges involving pork, she may well do just that, cooking for the judges. I was just wondering if that was forbidden as well.

Jester, is this the blind cheftestant?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCRv7B3IPR0

Yep, that's Christine! Love that girl! Rooting for her, of course, and was glad to see that they gave her an aide to help her find ingredients, but nothing else. Anyone who has a problem with that very minor change is a heartless idiot. After all, even with the aide, everyone else is RUNNING to the pantry, and she is limited to the fastest she can walk with her cane or with her aide. And then she still has to explain to her aide what she wants, whereas everyone else can just spot it and go.

So far, though, all the other contestants seem to be really cool to her, helping her forward to present her dish, but otherwise not being any more helpful or obnoxious to her than any other contestant. I would call what they are doing polite. It doesn't affect the competition in any way, and yet, while it is not necessary, it is still nice.

[Jetfire]

Not to mention for mystery boxes, she doesn't know what she has until Gordon says what's in it. (Unless the Aid is allowed to identify the ingredients for her; which she probably is). Still that's extra time she needs that other contestants don't.

While I doubt she'll win it all, I am hoping she'll do well overall. She does seem to be a good cook, and you know she earned major Gordon-points in the tryouts when she said she left the rice out because it wasn't ready.

Actually, I really hope she lasts at least as long as the blind taste test challenge. I can't remember if MC does those, but they should do one this season just for her.