If you look at her menus at Myrtle they are certainly not vegan. There are vegan options but also meat and fish.
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Masterchef
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If you look at her menus at Myrtle they are certainly not vegan. There are vegan options but also meat and fish.
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
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Surprisingly it’s Grace Dent who’s “mostly vegan”.
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SandwichShortOfAPicnic
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I wanted to chuck up before the end of the first paragraph.
My mistake. I knew Anna Haugh had been on TV with some vegetarian and vegan recipes and made a false assumption.
I think Grace can handle anything dished up though. She prefers plant based as I suppose I do too. This is a somewhat old article by her but it sets out the store. She is a very witty writer. My life as an (almost) vegan restaurant critic
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
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Interesting. Looks like it’ll make quite a difference to the programme -
“When I sit on that table of gargoyles on MasterChef waiting to judge whoever comes through the door, I’m simply not that impressed by another plate of barely dead roe deer avec pommes noisettes all lying in a puddle of Bambi’s blood.”
“My very rough ethos is: if I have to taste a forkful of flesh as there’s really no option then it isn’t kryptonite. It won’t kill me. I just do my very best, in that moment. And, besides, when I’m reviewing for newspapers there’s always, always someone at my table ordering the lamb chop who will use their rudimentary critical skills to communicate “this is delicious”. Anyone can describe a lamb chop.”
Overall the article leads you to feel she will not be able to fairly critique a dish containing meat, how could you know if something works if you’re approaching from an aversion.
But it will also mean the masterchef contestants will take into consideration one of the main judges doesn’t like meat and a lot of the dishes will move to being vegan or at least vegetarian which I think would be great. Interesting to see real creativity poured in that direction.
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Oddly, you do know when something is exceptional. Going through Poland we were not able to cook for ourselves at one place. That meant a workers hotel bar. We were the only people there. The owner cooked a meal for us. No choice on what. But I can honestly say that that pork chop and extras (i can't remember the veg!) were amazing.
My husband who has eaten meat and fish, said the same. It was the best he had had and expected to ever have had.
Language barriers prevented us establishing what the owner had previously done it his training, but just from the time he spent in the kitchen, we knew from what we had seen and heard, then tasted, that he was a trained chef.
So, whilst I have nothing to compare it to, I do know it was amazing and if I eat pork chops once a week for the rest I'd my life, I know I'm unlikely to better that.
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
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Someone can become a connoisseur of anything, steak is a perfect example and a vegan food critic simply isn’t qualified to comment in that arena. It’s amazing, compared to what? The zero other steaks you’ve eaten?
It’s the same with any food. I listened to your advice about soya milk because you’ve tried a great many of them and understand the composition and know what to look for.
We’re all far more likely to rate and value the opinion of the person who is really into that thing.
Absolutely no offence to vegans or vegetarians ( I'm 90% vegetarian), but hosting a cooking competition with a vegan/vegetarian on board - I'm sorry, but that just doesn't work. What's going to happen if a contestant presents a dish like a filet mignon? A Lancashire hotpot? Spanish callos a la Madrileña? ( Tripe, spanish style). Even fish & chips? How are they going to be able to judge (objectively) if the dish, seasoning, texture, pairing, etc. is good?
When I'm cooking like I have been in the past week, I can just about manage a tiny sliver of the meat, simply to evaluate the texture. However, evaluate the entire dish (which is probably based around the protein) is not feasible.
No, no, no. The BBC has gone off the rails with these new judges.
When I'm cooking like I have been in the past week, I can just about manage a tiny sliver of the meat, simply to evaluate the texture. However, evaluate the entire dish (which is probably based around the protein) is not feasible.
No, no, no. The BBC has gone off the rails with these new judges.
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I suppose it shouldn’t be a surprise on this forum that the main controversy and conversation surrounding Masterchef for us is nothing to do with yet another scandal and far more to do with whether the judges are equipped to adequately do the job, VIVA FOODIES!Absolutely no offence to vegans or vegetarians ( I'm 90% vegetarian), but hosting a cooking competition with a vegan/vegetarian on board - I'm sorry, but that just doesn't work. What's going to happen if a contestant presents a dish like a filet mignon? A Lancashire hotpot? Spanish callos a la Madrileña? ( Tripe, spanish style). Even fish & chips? How are they going to be able to judge (objectively) if the dish, seasoning, texture, pairing, etc. is good?
When I'm cooking like I have been in the past week, I can just about manage a tiny sliver of the meat, simply to evaluate the texture. However, evaluate the entire dish (which is probably based around the protein) is not feasible.
No, no, no. The BBC has gone off the rails with these new judges.
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By that virtue, we should be banning judges who don't regularly eat plant based food from judging plant based food because they'll be comparing it to the non-plant based option. It's not as light and fluffy without the egg, the plant based cheese doesn't taste of feel right in the mouth... it doesn't taste as good as when it's made with (dairy) butter... and so on.
The same goes for gluten free. It's gritty from the rice flour... it's...
SandwichShortOfAPicnic
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That's a bit dramatic, I never mentioned banning, it's a bit of a leap!
I actually said I was looking forward to seeing the creativity going in a vegan direction.
I did say it may well affect the way they judge, what the contestants cook and for me certainly how I value their opinion on meat dishes.
No IMO a judge or critic who doesn't regularly eat plant based food isn't as qualified to judge vegan food as one that does but they are also unlikley to approach it thinking urgh another thoughtless soy based dish that's destroying the planet.
Grace Dent viewing a "barely dead roe deer avec pommes noisettes all lying in a puddle of Bambi’s blood" is doubtless going to affect her judgement on the value and quality of the dish.
Her saying a pork chop is a pork chop is ignorant (although I suspect in this case wilfully so). Any pork chop lover will tell you they are not created equal and how they are bred, slaughtered and cooked can vary wildly.
I can't eat gluten, I wouldn't judge a bake off based on the opinion of the person standing next to me who said "Mmm lovely"
Oh thanks, what about that pastry over there is that nice too?
I simply wouldn't be qualified to comment, wouldn't be asked to judge in the first place and even if I was wouldn't take the gig!
Here’s how Judge Tasty would handle that:
Judge Tasty, there has been criticism of your choice as one of the judges on the upcoming round of Masterchef - as a noted vegan, there’s a feeling you may not be able to competently or fairly judge a meat dish, as you’ll surely be called upon to do. How do you respond to that?
That’s a great question, Simon, and let me just put everyone’s fears to bed right now. Yes, I mainly follow a vegan diet, especially at home, where I’m obviously free to choose what I consume without any regard to my livelihood, but I also have to realistic, and in my chosen profession as restaurant critic, I’m required to occasionally sample meat dishes, as I’m serving as a representative of the public, and they need to be included in my reviews. Also, I’ve not always followed a vegan diet - I grew up like a lot of kids, with lovely Sunday roasts and grandmama’s legendary chicken-and-leek pie, so I want to reassure everyone that my participation in Masterchef will be as evenhanded and objective as possible with respect to meat dishes, as well as vegetarian and vegan dishes as well. Everything will be judged on its own merits, through my decades of experience in the culinary industry.
Thank you, Tasty, I think we can all breathe a little easier now and can look forward to the upcoming series of Masterchef.
Then, of course, I’d always judge in favor of any plant-based dish over a meat one, and if the round was all meat dishes, I’d just pick the one from the contestant who annoyed me the least!
Judge Tasty, there has been criticism of your choice as one of the judges on the upcoming round of Masterchef - as a noted vegan, there’s a feeling you may not be able to competently or fairly judge a meat dish, as you’ll surely be called upon to do. How do you respond to that?
That’s a great question, Simon, and let me just put everyone’s fears to bed right now. Yes, I mainly follow a vegan diet, especially at home, where I’m obviously free to choose what I consume without any regard to my livelihood, but I also have to realistic, and in my chosen profession as restaurant critic, I’m required to occasionally sample meat dishes, as I’m serving as a representative of the public, and they need to be included in my reviews. Also, I’ve not always followed a vegan diet - I grew up like a lot of kids, with lovely Sunday roasts and grandmama’s legendary chicken-and-leek pie, so I want to reassure everyone that my participation in Masterchef will be as evenhanded and objective as possible with respect to meat dishes, as well as vegetarian and vegan dishes as well. Everything will be judged on its own merits, through my decades of experience in the culinary industry.
Thank you, Tasty, I think we can all breathe a little easier now and can look forward to the upcoming series of Masterchef.
Then, of course, I’d always judge in favor of any plant-based dish over a meat one, and if the round was all meat dishes, I’d just pick the one from the contestant who annoyed me the least!