I like bad television. I think I’ve said that before, sometimes I just want to zone out and watch TLC, Bravo and Lifetime movies. I’m also a fan of ridiculous competitive reality shows, this last year I watched Masterchef for the first time and I person I was rooting for, Luca, won the whole competition. Well, the geniuses at Fox have concocted what might be greatest, most surreal, competition show around– Masterchef Junior.
It’s the same basic outline as Masterchef, talented “home cooks” compete every week in varying elimination challenges that test their culinary ability and their propensity for improvisation. In regular Masterchef the home cooks are fighting for $100,000, their own cookbook, and the coveted title of America’s Masterchef. In Masterchef Junior children aged 8 to 13 also compete for $100,000 and a trophy, however most kids are more stoked on the Trophy. “I love trophies,” said one excited home cook.
If you have ever watched Masterchef you know that the best part is seeing Gordon Ramsay and Joe Bastianich verbally eviscerate contestants for minor mistakes. Joe has a propensity for spitting food out and breaking plates, Gordon Ramsay will ask “Are you fucking around?”, and the “nice” judge Graham Elliot will stroke their egos. Call it morbid curiosity but I was really looking forward to Ramsay screaming at 8-year-olds that their wellington is “fucking raw!” Unfortunately, this is nowhere to be seen in Masterchef Junior but what we are given is much, much better.
Masterchef Junior has the trio of judges acting as surrogate parents to 12 contestants, praising their every dish while giving constructive criticism. These kids are actually really fucking good at cooking, better than I am and I consider myself a pretty good “home cook”. In the third episode teams of two were tasked with making homemade Beef Wellington, which is one of the toughest dishes to make, especially in under an hour. The judges also engage in whimsical games with the kids, in one episode Gordon Ramsay is covered in whipped cream! So bonkers!
Going into this show, I really wanted to hate it,but in some ways Masterchef Junior is a better show than the actual Masterchef. While the official Masterchef focuses on petty rivalries, and Ramsay freaking out because a corner of asparagus is burnt in an otherwise perfect dish; Junior shows viewers the joy of cooking and what it’s like being a kid again. The childlike wonder of creating a dish without any pomp or pretension.
Also, every-time a kid gets eliminated they cry because their 8 years old.
Some people may criticize the show because they are letting kids who haven’t gone through puberty play with incredibly sharp knives and fire. My question is “Where are the parents and who are they?” Seriously, the parents show up in the first episode but none of them say a word, they just glare at their children from a balcony while they prepare fresh gnocchi and squash ravioli. I want to believe that these are the equivalent to “Dance moms” who scream at their kids at home to create a perfectly crisp frittata. “If your hollandaise breaks you’re never going to get into a good college!” screams the morbidly obese mom who relies on her 10-year-old to cook for the family after a long day at elementary school.
I doubt that is the situation but it’s fun to think about.
Equally as fun is friendly competition. In one episode a girl screams at her teammate to whip like a man, here’s a gif.
<>
Why should you watch Masterchef Junior? Because it’s a genuinely interesting show, it’s fun to see Ramsay in this Willy Wonka world where he is genuinely looking to help these kids. You can also tell that Ramsay is actually enjoying himself for a change, it must be hard for him to be an insufferable prick in all of his television shows. Also, Junior has rid itself of the intense “are the safe or not” game that Ramsay has made popular in Hell’s Kitchen and Masterchef.
The kids are having fun and it’s a great way to lower your self esteem when you are cooking the same spaghetti bolognese for every first date you go on.
