Masterchef 2020 has been a whole new experience – new judges, old contestants and enforced social distancing for over half of the season. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced us inside and allowed us to build our new routines from the ground-up and for a vast majority of the Australian population, that included sitting down for Masterchef at 7:30pm – bringing appointment viewing back from the brink.
In addition to our open-arms welcome of legit sitting down and watching telly (because, what else is there to do?) we’ve also had time to dabble in the kitchen ourselves. I think this might’ve been a contributing factor to the relatability of this season of Masterchef, in particular.
We saw some pretty relatable eff-ups this season, akin to our very own kitchen blunders – so seeing as Masterchef 2020 has sent their last dish off the pass and given the winner her trophy, it seemed only fitting to take a trip down memory lane at some of the most humble kitchen mistakes.
Grabbing a hot pan.
My hand is twitching as I write this, thinking about Laura grabbing a hot pan in the Masterchef Grand Finale and getting the most intense injury of the entire season. Hindsight is 20/20 but in the Masterchef kitchen (and your own) it’s an easy mistake to make when you’re thinking about a million things at once.
Poor time management.
Everyone, say it with me – 3… 2… 1… Poh. The perpetuator of my anxiety. Masterchef fans online gave Poh absolute shit for being bad at time management when in reality, we’re all as bad as each other. Yes, at least 90% of Poh’s screen time was her watching a clock, or an oven, or a freezer but I know I’ve been in her same position after putting a box of Maxibons in the freezer after they’ve gone a bit melty in the car – you just want things to hurry up and I feel that.
Forgetting the salt.
A simple mistake, made so many times in the Masterchef kitchen – but mostly by our mate Hayden. It’s super easy to over-season or under-season if you’re not tasting your food as you go, so if anything has burned itself into my brain this Masterchef season, it’s Jock Zonfrillo saying “TASTE YER FOOOD” in his gorgeous, thick, dreamy accent. (So sorry.)
Burning stuff.
Masterchef 2020 will go down in history as the season where three professional chefs burnt crumpets. I personally reckon it’s because they tried to make their own instead of just whipping out the packet ones – there’s zero chance of burning those because they always just seem a liiiittleee raw. But burning stuff? Yeah, we’re right there with ya.
Leaving the fridge open.
So sorry to Laura, I’m not picking on you babes, you just had a bit of a rough trot at the end of the Grand Finale and I just know people felt your pain on this one. Poor Laura quite literally just left the fridge open, so her gelato melted and re-froze – and unfortunately that was one of the reasons that she didn’t ultimately win Masterchef 2020.
These mistakes are so tiny to us but in the heat of the Masterchef kitchen, it can totally cost you.
I have adored this season of Masterchef so, so much – I’ve laughed, I’ve cried, I’ve fallen in love with each of the individual judges and now I have crushes on them all that I don’t know how to shake – but I reckon it was just what Australia needed in a time where we needed some real comfort.