MasterChef is undoubtedly a UK favourite; us Brits love nothing more than tuning in to drool over immaculate dishes and flawless combinations of flavour. Often, this leaves us brainstorming the many meals we’d like to recreate within our own kitchen, as we remain in awe of their exotic pallets and unquestionable flare for exciting culinary creations.
What can we learn from watching the action in the kitchen?
However, MasterChef Australia has rocketed to the UK, in turn boosting our love for this cookery phenomenon. Offering a lengthy series, incomparable team spirit and uniquely entertaining trio of judges, our hope to excel in the kitchen has only reached new heights with the help of this Ozzy hit.
Luckily, this show does teach us a series of invaluable lessons, meaning this personal success needn’t just be a dream. From ‘play to your strengths’ and ‘teamwork is key’ to ‘tidy space: tidy mind’, the show inevitably contributes to our personal and culinary growth.
George Rouse of George’s Kitchen outlines 4 lessons we can all learn from MasterChef Australia, helping you to maximise the many benefits of this smash hit show.
1. Play to your strengths
As we enter our kitchen after another enticing episode of MasterChef Australia, our imaginations are filled with the many ways by which we can challenge ourselves, creating new and refreshing dishes. This eagerness to explore unique ingredients is fantastic and needn’t be underestimated, however it’s important to remember that no matter what you’re cooking, you’ll benefit from playing to your strengths.
If you’re good with spice, use this in your cooking! A little heat can go a long way towards making tasty combinations. Similarly, if you find that you’re slightly more akin to baking, consider how you can incorporate this in your dish; for example, consider making a curry with a delicious naan bread side, broth with soft dumplings or a rich pasta dish with garlic focaccia bread as an accompaniment.
2. Teamwork is key
Cooking with someone can sometimes be a little testing, especially if you know how you like things done. However, if there’s anything we can learn from MasterChef Australia it’s that no matter how particular or talented you are, successful teamwork will elevate your cooking in ways you’d never have imagined.
When brainstorming things to cook, ask your partner what ingredients they’d love to try or work with them to create a meal perfectly blending your differing styles. Whether you collaborate on one course or to create a series of uniquely paired dishes, this will add excitement and an invaluable personal touch to your cooking.
3. Tidy space, tidy mind
If you’re a naturally tidy cook, we salute you. It’s incredibly easy to leave your kitchen in disarray after cooking, especially if you get a little carried away! Although, you will find (as annoying as it may be to hear) that we all work better if we’re in a clean, tidy environment. Organising your ingredients as you go along will prevent you forgetting essential additions, or accidentally leaving ingredients to get a little too crisp in the oven.
4. Listen to the professionals
Whether it’s the lovable trio of judges, celebrity guests or the contestants’ celebrity chef mentor, MasterChef Australia brings several professionals who show, through their extensive experience and dish-saving off-the-pan tips, that sometimes you simply do need to listen to the professionals.
When watching MasterChef, take note of their recommendations and advice. Similarly, if you feel that you’d like to try this incredibly impressive standard of cooking but it’s simply not in your repertoire, consider hiring a caterer for your next dinner party or celebration. Tasting these dishes will give you first-hand experience of fine dining, for no matter how much we wish we could, we can’t try the MasterChef delicacies through our TV screen.
If you’d like to hire a caterer, check out www.georgeskitchen.co.uk
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