MasterChef judges reveal what food has been added to the "banned list"
MasterChef judges Gary Mehigan and Matt Preston have revealed the food creations on this year’s “banned list”.
The unwritten list is filled with the culinary fads the chefs are tired of seeing – smears, spheres, and crumbs are just a few that are on the 2018 list.
But a surprising contender this year is the parfait.
It shows an “over-reliance on the blast chiller,” Preston and Mehigan told Confidential.
“Sometimes we go back to the banned list and go ‘It’s been long enough, you can do smears again if you like,’” Mehigan said.
“It’s unwritten, but if we ask ‘So what are you making? and the answer is ‘parfait,’ it’ll be a frown”.
Another food fad that’s landed a spot on the list? Edible flowers.
“Edible flowers have become the micro herbs of five years ago,” Preston said. “Garnish for garnish sake has always been on the out for us. If you can’t eat it, what’s it doing on the plate.”
But it’s good news for contestants that want to add a bit of “dust” to their dishes – for now.
“The weird thing is that dust (powdered food) has reappeared and we’re like ‘actually that’s not that bad, it actually tastes like something’, so we’ve taken that off the banned list for a couple of weeks,” Mehigan said.