MasterChef 12: empathy (finally) sweeps away the memory of dishes in the air

There was a not too distant time when Italian television thought that the best way to get the audience to get passionate about talent shows was to treat those who participated badly. To occupy a special place in this classification steeped in sadism was above all MasterChef, whose primordial formula seemed to predict the humiliation and mortification of aspiring chefs forced to compete for the first time on a kitchen table and brigade work. Now: no matter how complicated life is inside a restaurant kitchen – just take a look at the wonderful series The Bear on Disney+ to get a taste – it is clear that, more often than not, the authors have overplayed their hand, generating a sense of unease not only in those who suffered those harassments in front of the cameras, but also in the spectators who liked the sense of rhythm dictated by the Endemol Shine Italy and Sky program but did not understand why it was necessary to get to the infamous plate toss in the air to achieve cult status. With the years, MasterChef he understood that the only thing that didn’t work in his repertoire were these excesses which, once eliminated, they managed to give back to the public a clean, compact program, perhaps the only one able to make the kitchen interesting beyond the thousand attempts tried by all the networks when it was thought that the only thing that worked on TV was the kitchen.

The result, from edition to edition, has been perfected more and more up to the twelfth, the one broadcast on Sky and streaming on NOW from 15 Decemberarrived at a balance of flavors and tastes (not just culinary) that border on a masterpiece. Watch MasterChef it’s good for the heart because it allows the viewer to peek through the peephole at the lives of many people who believed in their passion so much that they put themselves on the line to (re)find a sort of lost happiness that the judges can give or take away. The real strength of this year’s edition is precisely this: the synergy that is created between professional chefs and scared aspiring competitors who have five minutes to finish a dish before time runs out and the tastings begin. If the authors thought of leaving the role of the most intransigent and severe a Bruno Barbieri – which is a shame, since the Bruno Barbieri of 4 hotels is one of the funniest there can be -, everything seems to be in the hands of Antonino Cannavacciuolo, who is incredibly coming out of the picturesque character that they had sewn on him by playing by subtraction, ea George Locatelli, the best buy that MasterChef he could take home given his calm, his kindness and his never vulgar and over the top intransigence.

Then, of course, there are them: the contestants, who in this first phase of the show tend only to introduce themselves and illustrate the dish they hope will earn them the white apron to access the MasterClass and juggle between Invention and Pressure Test and outdoor rehearsals. The picture that emerges is varied, complex, frostedbut able to get straight to the heart because stories like that of Franceswho can’t keep her hands still despite having survived the malice of those in China who undertook to make her feel different, and like that of Huea Vietnamese girl who arrived in Italy with a love for cooking and its boundless world, they are especially good for those who arrive home after a day of oppression and rudeness that we increasingly encounter on the street and at work. Antonino’s hugs and Giorgio’s tears of emotion are real, and, far more importantly, they are not the result of a stretch and a cliché because the most beautiful thing he has managed to do MasterChef it was eliminating any form of pietism to arrive at true humanity. That’s why we have no shortage of dishes thrown in the air, and that’s why we’ll never stop watching such a compelling and well-crafted program like MasterChef.

Tracy: «MasterChefmy victory and that crazy journey»

Joe Bastianich: “Ambition keeps you young”

Bruno Barbieri: «In the future, another film»

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