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Featured, Masterchef Canada

Mystery beans on MasterChef Canada

Here we go again! New season, new shocking challenges. Last night, the Top 12 found out what secret was hidden under the box in the newest episode, “How Do You Take Your Mystery Box?” And you won’t believe what they had to cook with.

In the first episode, the 21 home cooks battled for a spot in the Top 12, by bringing one signature ingredient which helped the judges to choose the Top 12. Tonight they had to make an exceptional dish infused with coffee beans. Like, how is this even possible? The chefs were assigned to cook a sweet or savoury dish with the secret ingredient. The absolute star of this challenge was Kaegan, with his coffee-crusted steak and coffee celeriac purée. But what surprised me most was Beccy’s cool head. She didn’t use a recipe for the eclairs with coffee and dark chocolate and made it to the top three of the challenge.

The winner was chosen. Keagan received two huge advantages: he was safe from elimination and he handed out the wallets for the Elimination Challenge. There were two kinds of wallets, luxury (you need to spend at least $50 on groceries) and budget (no more than $10 dollars on groceries). It was a good way to show that you can make a dish worth $1 million when it cost only $10 and screwed up the $50 ingredients.

Jonathan’s pan-seared cod and Michael V.’s elevated version of seafood paella amused the judges the most, which gave them the right to be team captains in the next challenge. Beccy and Melissa were in the bottom. Melissa was eliminated from the show.

What is your idea for a coffee-infused dish? Let me know in the comments below!

MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.

 

 

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Featured, Ransom

Preview: Ransom returns for Season 2 with an explosive storyline

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When we last left the Ransom team, Eric Beaumont’s (Luke Roberts) life was in shambles. His arch nemesis, Damien Delaine (Carlo Rota) had taken his daughter Evie (Jenessa Grant) hostage, leaving Eric unsure of what to do next.

Season 2 of Ransom, returning Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global, picks up with 13 new episodes right after that stunning cliffhanger, with Oliver (Brandon Jay McLaren), Maxine (Sarah Greene) and Zara (Nazneen Contractor) scrambling to help Eric out. Inspired by the professional experiences of real-life crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert and his partner, Marwan Mery, Ransom‘s storylines travel the globe as the squad helps multinational corporations and governmental agencies with complex negotiations and conflict resolution.

Created by David Vainola and Frank Spotnitz, the Canadian-Hungarian co-production staffs homegrown writers in Alison Lea Bingeman, Sandra Chwialkowska, Lynne Kamm, Steve Cochrane, Kyle Hart, Avrum Jacobson, Tamara Moulin and Vince Shiao.

Here’s what we can tell you about Saturday’s return, “Three Wishes,” written by Frank Spotnitz and directed by James Genn.

Flashback
“Three Wishes” begins by going back almost two decades to show Eric’s origin story and introduce a key character in his life. It’s nice to see Eric at an earlier time and the charm that will make him so successful.

A trio of tasks
As hinted at in the episode title, Delaine forces Eric to complete three challenges in order to win Evie back. Each task forces Eric to make tough choices and make ethically questionable decisions. After seeing Eric in control of situations most of the time, it is interesting to see him in distress and, sometimes, freaking the heck out. A kidnapped daughter will do that to a man. There are a few clunky moments of dialogue to establish the parameters for the main storyline so viewers get just how dire the situation is (no cops, Delaine is dangerous, everyone is scared, keeping to protocol), and I’m not sure they’re necessary. Still, it’s a minor quibble for a genre that does over-explanation all the time.

Carlo Rota is the king
I’ve been a fan of Carlo Rota way back when he hosted The Great Canadian Food Show, through Traders, Queer as Folk and Little Mosque on the Prairie. He’s pitch perfect as Delaine, a man on a mission of revenge and swaggering around telling Eric what to do. You want to punch him in the face but you also understand why he’s going what he is. That’s the mark of great acting. Also, a nod to James Genn who does a bang-up job directing some key scenes between Eric and Delaine.

Ransom airs Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global.

Image courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

 

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Featured, Top Chef Canada

Top Chef Canada: Eden Grinshpan previews Season 6’s culinary combat

Eden Grinshpan’s secret to scoring Top Chef Canada leftovers is pretty darned simple. She writes her name on the food she wants to save for later. And, she’s had plenty of worthy dishes to set aside thanks to this year’s crop of competitors.

“Mark McEwan has been doing this for six seasons and he thinks that this is the best food he’s ever seen on the show,” Grinshpan says. “I’ll leave it at that. Mark McEwan can’t get over it!”

Returning Sunday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network, Grinshpan returns to host Top Chef Canada alongside head judge McEwan, resident judges Chris Nuttall-Smith, Mijune Pak, Janet Zuccarini and guests like Susur Lee, Rob Feenie, Lynn Crawford and Alexandra Feswick to taste plates prepared by 11 Canadian chefs all gunning for $100,000 and bragging rights.

We spoke to Grinshpan ahead of Sunday’s return to get her take on the competition this season and how she scored one of the best gigs in primetime TV.

Congratulations on your second season of hosting Top Chef Canada.
Eden Grinshpan: Thank you. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this brand. I’ve been a big fan of Top Chef Canada for many years. This year is really great because we have some fresh blood, young chefs who have a lot to prove and are trying to come into their own. It’s amazing to see where they are at and hear their strong culinary voices. This is their chance to showcase who they are as chefs and a lot of the time this can kick-start the next stage in their career. A lot of them are working under some very big names and this gives them the chance to make that big leap and have their own kitchen. I love this season for that reason.

Let’s go back in time. How did you get the hosting gig? Did you audition or did the producers have you in mind?
I was a judge for Chopped Canada and one of the producers actually suggested me because they were looking for a new host. It was kind of like a last-minute audition. I just happened to be in Toronto and they asked me to come in, read a couple of lines and talked. I went in and had a full-on audition and really got along with the executive producers. A couple of months later they sent over a contract and told me they’d love me to be the new host.

Hosting Top Chef Canada is a unique experience. You’re there to introduce guests, the challenges and keep things moving. Was that a learning curve for you?
Definitely. My experience on television has been unscripted, I’m very candid and am very casual on-camera. Top Chef Canada is the most prestigious culinary competition. This is serious. There is a huge title and huge prize. This is another level, so I had to learn some new skills and be able to move the whole competition to the end point. That’s something I had to learn as I went. This season felt more comfortable because I had been through it already and I knew what to expect. I learned a lot and I love that.

Yourself, Mark, Mijune, Janet and Chris all have great chemistry.
We all love each other. Everyone brings something so different to the judging and the show. Chris, obviously, is one of the most intimidating people in the food industry. He just last season revealed what he looks like. That was a big deal. Janet is a powerhouse restaurateur who was nominated for a James Beard Award for best new restaurant. Mark, again, another powerhouse. He is the guy. Mijune has her world experience through her travels and her knowledge of different cuisines. It’s really something all of us can respect in one another and we do. Judging food together has been interesting and amazing.

What can you say about the food you’ve tasted this season?
Mark McEwan has been doing this for six seasons and he thinks that this is the best food he’s ever seen on the show. I’ll leave it at that. Mark McEwan can’t get over it! Every season, it gets next level good. And they always, always surprise us. Not that we’re not expecting amazing, but they are bringing exceptional.

Top Chef Canada airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Food Network.

Images courtesy of Corus Entertainment.

 

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Burden of Truth, Featured

Comments and queries for the week of April 6

Glad to hear [Burden of Truth] has been renewed. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it and I just heard it would return. What about Caught??? That was excellent! Please tell me it’s coming back too. —Sara

No word on Caught yet, but we’ll let you know if it does!

Hopefully, Season 2 won’t be a rehash of Season 1. Is Joanna going to stay in this small town? Can there be another big case to work on? Will she and Billy (hate that name!) partner in more ways than just the law? I just don’t know where this show can go from here. —Matthew

I love watching Murdoch Mysteries and I love the character George Crabtree because he is the smartest and the sexiest on the show and I reckon William Murdoch is the most boring person and the dumbest character on the show. From the No. 1 Murdoch Mysteries fan in Australia. —Suzanne

Leave Julia and William alone. They challenge each other which makes their relationship interesting. But I really do hope George and Nina find a way to be together for good. —Marianne

Every time the end of the season approaches, I find myself unable to breathe when I look for the news whether this show will be renewed. I’m thrilled that Season 12 will exist. I honestly wish this show lasts for as long as I live. It fills the hole left by Agatha Christie, A.C. Doyle, Castle, Murder She Wrote … It’s my favourite show. Congratulations to all the cast, crew, and everyone else responsible for this show. I love you all! —Mili

Just saw the premiere [of Corner Gas Animated] and enjoyed it very much. I was wary when I saw the designs, thinking it would go more Family Guy but the two cutaways of Mad Max and kissing the badger worked. Particularly liked how the plots started random but overlapped fairly well into Brent/Lacey/Oscar/Emma and Karen/Davis/Wanda/Hank pods that still had some general overlap too. Was this the first time we’ve seen the owner of the market? The soundtrack and everything still fit. I can tell it’s a new Emma but it still sounds close enough to the original. How many episodes are there going to be? Are Brent and Lacey still together following the movie? Little questions. —DanAmazing

 

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Featured, The Nature of Things

Preview: The Nature of Things celebrates the fun and fearsome world of fungi

To me, there is nothing better than a nice pile of sauteed mushrooms nestled up against a grilled steak. But those buttery morsels merely scratch the surface on the beautiful, dangerous and important world of fungi.

The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World, airing as part of The Nature of Things on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC, is the result of a three-year journey by science documentary director Annamária Tálas that digs deep into fungi, those odd-shaped, sometimes colourful things that are neither plant nor animal and exist much of the time out of sight. Some facts to get you thinking … and possibly freak you out: a fungus in Oregon is 3.4 square miles large and is 2,400 years old. The mushroom you see poking out of the ground is merely the fungi’s fruiting body; the main body is a mass of filaments underground that form the mycelium, a fungal network tied to water, minerals and sugars with trees. Also? Fungi spores are everywhere. Like, on you right now. Yeah.

All of this is revealed in The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World thanks to folks like Professor Lynne Boddy, Dr. Mark Fricker, Dr. Anne A. Madden and Professor Rob Dunn, and stunning still and time-lapse photography from Steve Axford. Through their words and images, we learn how fungi have evolved to survive by consuming and recycling matter to feed itself, defending itself against harm, and that experts have only identified less than one per cent of the estimated five million fungi species.

Fungi have been on Earth for a long time. About a billion years ago, the planet began to be populated by microbes that contained bacteria and, eventually, fungi. Those first critters consumed the minerals contained in rocks and established a foothold on the planet. Later, land-bound fungi and marine algae swapped nutrients to start the process of plant-life evolution and the greening of the planet. And, on the opposite end of the life cycle, fungi consume dead plant life that in turn enriches the soil and encourages new growth.

Meanwhile, the fact we’re mammals seems to be the reason why most fungi haven’t killed us already. The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World is a truly fascinating, and admittedly creepy, peek at an alien lifeform that has been integral to all life on Earth.

The Kingdom: How Fungi Made Our World airs as part of The Nature of Things on Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC.

Image courtesy of Stephen Axford.

 

 

 

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