With Masterchef in the news for all the wrong reasons, noodlies Sydney food blog thought it was high time we had a guest post from Emma Ashton, publisher of Reality Ravings, Australia’s leading reality TV blogs and an avid foodie. She puts the Masterchef commotion into perspective and gives a comprehensive overview of an exciting 2013 for foodies on Australian TV. Enjoy!
Guest Post: Emma Ashton.
Hold On To Your Frypans Food Show Fans As There Are Heap Coming Your Way.
Masterchef Australia is not just a successful reality TV show it has also has had a far reaching impact on the culinary landscape of Australia.
This was acknowledged when the Ex
ecutive Producer, Margie Bashfield, was named number four on the food Power List. It is well deserved as this show has reached into the majority of the households in Australia. We have cooked recipes, eaten out at the chef’s restaurants, bought the merchandise and talked about it endlessly. George, Gary and Matt are known by their first names only.
Even though this year the show did not achieve the stratospheric ratings of season two and three it still was very popular. Next year to reinvigorate itself it will be shot in Melbourne, so expect to see a plethora of Victorian chefs as guest stars. Also Matt Moran who was a special guest judge has left and there is no news on who or if they will replace him. Personally I think an Asian judge like Dan Hong or Luke Nguyen would be great as that is what the judging panel is lacking knowledge in this area.
However Luke might be otherwise engaged with his new gig as a judge on Masterchef Vietnam.
Masterchef has also spawned other cooking reality shows it’s popularity has increased the number of cooking shows made locally and also watched by the viewers. Chefs in Australia and overseas now have agents, they are the new rock stars.
My Kitchen Rules was Channel Seven’s answer to the Masterchef juggernaut and with the high ratings it received in the past two seasons it is no longer the poor cousin. They
are currently filming for 2013 and will bring in bad boy judge Colin Fassnidge. Networks are currently dotting the I’s and crossing the t’s on a crop of new shows to hit our screen in the new year.
Some will work others won’t and most are based on overseas formats. They include The Great Australian Bake Off, The Taste, Masterchef: The Professionals, Recipe To Riches and Come Dine With Me Australia is back after a year hiatus is back.
However if you are a food fan you don’t want to wait until next year to get your foodie fix. There are some good food shows currently screening. If you don’t have Foxtel and cannot get your food fix from Lifestyle Food, ABC and SBS are the channels to keep an eye on at the moment.
Currently on ABC2 is The Great Food Truck Race screens on Friday nights at 7.30pm with a repeat Wednesday’s. It is a mix of The Amazing Race and cooking challenges. The trucks stop at a different town each week, and with most American programs there are big personalities and trash talking.
The Restaurant is also wrapping up on ABC2 which is on Wednesday evenings at 6.00pm. This UK production has couples competing to see who will go into business with Raymond Blanc.
SBS always has a standout hour of food on Thursday nights, currently screening is Gourmet Farmer and Destination Flavour. The latter has Masterchef winner Adam Liaw in it and he shows he is a definite TV talent.
Jamie’s Meals in 30 Minutes on TEN is good, but is false and misleading as no one but a professional chef can make those meals in 30 minutes. Next year they will be showing Jamie’s Meals In 15 Minutes so maybe they will only take 30 minutes to make!
Christmas is coming up and every TV chef worth his salt has a TV special coming out this year we will see Maggie Beer’s Christmas Feast and Rick Steins Spanish Christmas on the ABC and Lifestyle Food will have these shows on high rotation.
Australian expat Curtis Stone is also again hosting Top Chef Masters on Arena TV on Monday night’s at 9.30pm. It has just started and it is set in Las Vegas. All good fun. The other big show on pay TV is Gordon Ramsay’s Hell Kitchen which is shown on Saturday nights on Lifestyle Channel. More pantomime than cooking but it keeps on getting renewed.
The food show scene is stronger than ever in Australia and it will be leading the charge in the reality ratings war in 2013.
What food shows are your favourites and what shows will you be watching in 2013?
Emma Ashton is Publisher Editor of Reality Ravingsg – Australia’s Leading Reality TV Blog. You can also follow her on Twitter @realityraver
