Although they had never seen television before, they were astonished to see the medium in action ten years later. They took over the restaurants they were working in and became masters of ceremonies. This was the tenth season of La 1 de TVE’s great success. The culinary talent show will also celebrate the expulsion of Patricia & Teresa. This will allow one of the expelled applicants to return to the program.
Ten episodes of MasterChef have been broadcasted. The show’s beginnings date back to 2013, when Shine Iberia and the public channel decided to air a gastronomic show’ during prime time. This was a first for our country. The media called them the “Operacion Triunfo” of the kitchen at that time. Although they had extensive experience in the kitchen, the three jury members were not very familiar with the camera. The producer called them to ask them to explain “something on TV” which they didn’t understand.
They put the original format in front a computer. They asked me if MasterChef was something I hadn’t heard of. We did a pilot from 7 AM to 10 PM. I didn’t understand the script and told my wife that I hoped they didn’t call me. It was very easy to work in my kitchen. “Until now,” says La Mancha Pepe Rod, a chef from La Mancha. He had previously tried the medium on Canal Cocina but had never attempted a format like a ‘talent show. Jordi Cruz, his partner in the evaluation, adds that they have “tried it”, they liked it and have done it with all the love possible for ten year.”
They had to sometimes leave the kitchen to prepare the communication in front a camera during MasterChef. After Eva Gonzalez’s departure to host “La Voz” on Antena, the roles of judging and presenting changed significantly. We are doing a job that is related to our professional lives but has nothing to do cooking. We present, travel, judge… We do all of it. It is important that we get along well with one another,” says Samantha Vallejo, a chef and entrepreneur.
The judges recall how they looked in the first edition. It was a different look than the one that is currently being used and had more “bad milk.” “We didn’t know what we should do. We were told that we were the judges, and that we needed to evaluate. This makes it easy to take the matter seriously. Rodriguez says that Rodriguez can let go when he isn’t being serious. We are as pleasant and as unpleasant as any neighbor’s child. He was initially more serious at first and spoke the most crude things. “Adds” the Catalan chef to our balance.
There was also some doubt about the kitchen section itself, as it wasn’t clear how the program would be created. “At the time, there were other spaces where the kitchen didn’t fit in with the entertainment. We invited friends to the first edition. Everyone understood that honesty, when done with respect, is always a good thing. Pepe Rodriguez explains that we have a large family of applicants and chefs who are coming to us.
The jury of MasterChef isn’t obsessed with criticizing. They insist that not all viewers will like you. They also insist that the format contains a certain amount of reality: “It must exist.” How many people can you see? Do you have two million followers? How many people criticize you on twitter? 10,000 tweeters? It is proportional to what is happening in my town”, says the Manchego. For whom the “magic of the program” lies in the “thin red line” that divides “the serious portion of the kitchen, entertainment and return to the part gastronomy.
It is the reality of what happens inside the kitchen. It’s entertaining. It is entertaining. It’s important to balance entertaining with making it real, and also doing gastronomy,” Jordi Cruz says. This coincides with the publication their salaries in the format. They are paid approximately 130,000 euros per year, at 10,000 each chapter. He says that transparency is a wonderful thing. I don’t think it is bad. In a public environment, the accounts should be clear. Pepe Rodriguez says that then we can discuss whether it’s a lot of money or not.”
