Do food critics annoy you?

[HeyWayne]

Watching Kate (face like a smacked @rse) Spicer and that other fat-necked dude eating food that has been lovingly prepared for them on Masterchef, and then moaning about it. The moaning I can almost tolerate, but then they will disagree with each other, thus rendering the whole point of critique irrelevant surely? If it's just about personal taste, then what's the point of them?

I wonder how many of them can actually cook themselves?

Are critics (in general) just people who like to moan about others without being able to do any of the things themselves?

[zazen999]

Everything annoys me!

How many film critics have ever made films themselves? Until they have, I'm not interested in their 'opinion'.

[di]

Immensely!I cook for the love of it & those I cook for,make some combinations that a critic would have a field day with~& dare I admit have been known to drink white wine with a curry!!How totally uneducated I am!!
I guess for the more pretentious foodies though it's all about what's "in" now & not necessarily about the taste?I'd be mortified if friends dared to sit & analyze my creations but then I make no pretense to be a masterchef!

[Jardiniere]

i wonder how many of them can actually cook themselves?

how many of them can cook themselves??? Are you promoting cannabilism?

[Nicos]

Food critics annoying me???...only if I've done the cooking!!!

Some of you will remember my OH reaching the final of a national cooking competition last year.
The food he had to produce was certainly superb, but I have to say that they were all pushing for 'well seasoned' food- which meant loads of salt. Too much for my liking to be honest.
High /subtle flavouring doesn't always mean healthy food, which was what I thought was important these days??

[Hilary B]

I twice did the pre-TV round of Masterchef (and got no further<g>. I think they only included me in that bit because it was when I lived in Orkney and they wanted someone from as far North as poss).
The competition instructions say "a meal for yourself and friend" but it is judged as something suitable for a restaurant........

[Alison]

It annoys me that they seem to think somebody is WRONG for cooking something to their own personal taste. Whilst some seasoning is good, I hate the levels advocated by those who think they know better. Furthermore, whilst I like rare beef or lamb, my OH likes his well done, neither of us is wrong as it's personal taste. To me a chef should cook for the person they are serving and not to a rule or fashion.

[grannysmith]

I admit that I find Masterchef in particular a bit over the top, although I quite like Keith Floyd's sense of humour (some chefs are more down to earth maybe).

I think part of the problem is, the critics are so highly specialized that they are rather out of touch with what most people prefer. I've been to some posh London places to find the food disappointing (although the fame of the place or the ambiance was more likely what lots of people were really there to experience), while I've been pleasantly surprised in a few out-of-the-way places by the quality of the food or the use of spices.

Worst experience in a restaurant had to be when I was at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and the person next to whom I was sitting asked if I was intending to finish my starter (it was virtually down to just the garnish!) and when I said "No, I think I'm done", he then leaned over and ate it off my plate. Um . . . it wouldn't have been SO bad if he hadn't posed as some great food critic at the start of the meal and told me exactly what I should and shouldn't order, and how I should and shouldn't eat it, and finally I had to point out that I'd eaten there before and was ok reading the menu.

I agree . . . gastronomes can give you more indigestion than the courses themselves in some places!

The spectacle even more amusing than food critics though has to be . . . art critics!

[SueA]

I always feel sorry for the people who lose on the T.V cooking competitions because it's often just down to personal taste & all the food looks lovely to me & I don't know how they manage to cook under such pressure. The food critics who write for the magazines & newspapers however are the ones I love, I have a soft spot for Giles Coren who works for the Times or Sunday Times can't remember which one & Michael Winner's columns are hysterical!

[Stacey Steve]

I don't mind constructive critisism but when it is just for the sake of it or for the critic to show their superiority, it mkes my blood boil.

My son is going through this stage, read a book on a subject and then be so pretentious and superior Aarrgh!

Told his Mum when she was doing bulk jam making that she would never get it to set as there was over 600gm of fruit, "No you can only do a max of 600gm at a time".

Sucking eggs came to mind

[squashysu]

Some of you will remember my OH reaching the final of a national cooking competition last year.
:

i wasnt here last year, what was he on Nicos, as i love these shows??

[Rhona]

Hmmm... I'm a bit torn on this one. We trust experts in all sorts of areas, and food critics spend their lives tasting lots of food, so why can't we accept that they are expert at it? Probably because most of us enjoy good food so we all have our strong opinions on it, whereas we are less likely to critique the critics on something that we know little about.

That's one point of view. But that said, I've been on Masterchef twice and I WAS ROBBED!!! Not really. The first time definately, but I was called back to do the "best 12 contestants of the last series" thing and REALLY didn't want to do it as I'd lost interest by then and had just found out I was pregnant so had a head full of fluffy blankets and tiny clothes and things.

John was lovely and very knowledgable about loads of stuff including food. The other one...hmmm...

[di]

Wow!First we have grapes with their names in the mag & now Nicos'OH & Rhona t.v celebs!!I'm feeling all awestruck!

[squashysu]

I've been on Masterchef twice and I WAS ROBBED!!! ...

ooo loving John and Greg, so come on then, was this last year and was it when Peter was the winner?? i cant remember?? What did you cook, i love Masterchef!

[rogesse]

I live with a food critic - son is always stirring it by making comparisons between my mum, stepmum in law and me. I think I'm winning overall but am last in the roast potato stakes. This from a boy who likes Aunt Bessies - am I bothered...? Talk to the hand, whatever!