Telly dishes to make you salivate
One of reality television’s best hosting duos are back. Australian comedians Claire Hooper and Mel Buttle once again showcase their innate sense of timing, one-liners and love of food, on the latest series of The Great Australian Bake Off (Tuesdays, 7.30pm, Prime).
The format follows the usual pattern, with 12 amateur bakers battling it out over a series of signature, technical and showstopping challenges, until one is declared champion.
This latest crop includes an accountant, a Frenchman, and a dentist – handy for Buttle since she says she hasn’t ‘‘had my filling fixed, learned French or fixed my finances in the past year’’.
In this week’s first episode, the determined dozen had to craft a marble cake, recreate judge Maggie Beer’s choc-dipped hazelnut madeleines, and come up with the ultimate child’s birthday cake.
The latter led to jaw-dropping efforts such as a volcanic island complete with rice rubble, a mermaid cake that included macaron clam shells, and a Dolly Varden in which even the central figure was edible (work that, after an unceremonious decapitation, earned its creator the coveted star baker prize).
Set in a shed in a Sydney dog park, there’s an easy, effortless charm to the whole show that the recent Kiwi version lacked.
If that’s a little too saccharine for you, then check out The Great British Bake Off: Creme de la Creme (Sky TV’s Food Network). Teams of three are tasked with creating exquisite-looking miniatures and showstopping centrepieces. However, those expecting lots of gushing judging comments are in for a shock. Fussy Frenchman Benoit Blin and ruler-toting Singaporean Cherish Finden are a deadly combination with an eye for detail.
Anything less than perfection will earn the trios a tongue-lashing, a disapproving countenance and a school home economics-style telling off.
‘‘You almost killed me with the acidity!’’ wails Finden after tasting one recalcitrant petit four.
Equally creative in terms of cuisine and cutting comments is Iron Chef Gauntlet (Food Network from Waitangi Day). It sees a handful of top American food preparers battle it out for the right to face not one but three of the famous ‘‘Iron Chefs’’ for the chance to join the elite club.