Posted:
Thank you so much for the warm welcome! 😳 😊
So many of the contestants seem to have these annoying quirks, which is why it was sad to see Aditi go last week because she genuinely didn't create drama like the others do and just quietly cooked and participated in the challenges (I would say Jehan was also not very dramatic). To a certain degree, they all have ego issues (either too much ego or lack of confidence in themselves). In terms of overconfidence, I always felt that Ishrat and Happy (maybe Devyani, too, to a degree) were the worst offenders in this regard (e.g. Ishrat, in the earlier days, always presented her dishes with full confidence and was always shocked by the criticism; and Happy looked like he was sure the apron was coming to him yesterday, or maybe I am misinterpreting and he was just looking Happy like his name?).
I do agree with your remarks about the judging being inconsistent. There are times that I have felt that some of the judgments were not really about the food or cooking (the dhaba episode was so flawed in this regard; it had the potential to be a great challenge so I was excited in the beginning, but it quickly became all about money and getting customers rather than food - it reminded me of The Apprentice rather than a MasterChef episode). The chaat stalls were better than the dhaba because at least there was a measure of taste involved in the results, but it seemed like personalities again were overshadowing the actual cooking and food since it became about how much Doyal could entertain or the other team could convince the customers to ring their bell right away. I wonder if they could have had people/volunteers come and taste dishes prepared by both sides (unlabeled like in the children's episode) and then voted on which they liked best. When the three judges are deciding, I wonder if they could give a criteria that they are using (taste, innovativeness, quality of preparation, appearance, etc.) and then actually give a scorecard that shows the individual points and total. Maybe that would clarify some of the mystique of their judgments?
Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad
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