Apples, oranges and pears, the only common denominator is Shine and Endemol with a generous nod to Lizzie and Franc. I’m not really a foodie nor a neophyte to food or travel, everyone eats though. Comparisons are irrelevant for the most part, some can be made. The goal is fabricate television for profit, motivations of the cast vary widely dependent on origin. Pretty much the only reality. Bringing up human nature? Seriously? Really? Hehe.
Part of the reality is the selection of the cast. Hey Luca, you have real talent. I want you to come back next year. To win, for reruns in Italy and help launch Joe there. Samira, can you handle the pressure? Egypt wants know. Poor Jules Allen came away with nightmares. The Oz version is six months in a mansion near a beach they can’t visit. Getting along would be a prerequisite and encouraged for image. The US version is about six weeks of being shuffled around to motels in the middle of the night. Hostility is induced and encouraged, winning is everything, this is Hollywood fancy cars, jets and helicopters, real is verboten, fame is complicated.
The UK versions are unique in their own right, mostly for the expressions of the hosts, reality of the contestants. Subsequent successes are showcased and regularly return to judge. I preferred The Professionals when it had Michel Roux Jr., educational, inspiring and elegant.
That said, love the UK, food as I remember it, not so much. One old merry rosacea faced lady and her milquetoast hubby I met, called the food brown on a plate and giggled. She turned me on to a pub where I could get a rare Gösser beer on tap from a wooden keg, not in the UK. She was abroad buying wine, became my guide for a day. Love the travelogue in any show, however a trip to Dubai is just as pretentious as Preston’s named cravats, castles and palaces get boring. Ramsay on a horse with a smog filled valley behind is silly, even for an empire builder who buys his Mish-lahn stars. Lost as many as earned, probably singlehandedly took LA and Vegas out of the running for them.
Yes the Oz version is about food and country, great place to visit, great advertising. No the producers don’t want to show negative people. I however doubt there is a near $2000 Themomix in every home, reality check please. 70% do go on in the culinary arts, it shows despite that shows contrivances. Some of the calls on contestants I questioned. By and large they were savvy enough to please to judges tastes with beets, crackling and ice cream. No lumps in the spuds and a glorified meat pie would probably win Ramsay. I was suitably impressed by seeing a large simmering pot full of black truffles in milk for a puree. I do recommend those interested in food check the site, the recipes for the tests of guest judges are worth a visit. I digress.
I couldn’t take my eyes off the winner leprechaun's breathtaking scoring on the balsamic cipollini onions. Three per plate, a dozen within the hour. I would have loved to see that happen, even a single cut. I haven’t forgotten Ramsay’s mention of slicing and dicing onions for 16 hours a day 6 days a week, no doubt a deserved punishment. HK is about punishment, like sorting trash of rotting undercooked scallops and Ramsay’s spittle from the plastic.
The US version this season, for me completely abandoned any pretense of being about the food and focused solely on recreated drama. The David parts of the show is the bright shiny object that appears to fascinate, folks want more despite stating the contrary. A quarter mil is on the line, that’s the only thing that matters, pay me to take a dive. I’ll substitute salt for sugar, throw a tantrum. Single dada story was fine for me, who won didn’t matter. I like a good Queen for Day sob story, it works on the Oz version. I'll concede the models in the Oz version are far better, maybe best, and went the distance for it.
I can spit food, wear a beret and fart in a general direction to make TV. America likes this crap, ratings don’t lie. Righteous proud even as a representation for the rest of the planet to view. We eat drama, and eat out, we can’t cook or learn to. A table cloth is fine dining, ties are for funerals and weddings.
America deserves Ramsay, he is America.
Ramsay for president. 🇺🇸 Anyone notice that sign?
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