Masters of Cuisine

Masters of Cuisine
Title card
Genre	Cooking show Reality competition
Presented by	Amélie Bouchard
Country of origin	Novella Islands
Original language	English
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production companies	Logistics and production coordination: Novellan National Media Directorate Cinematography: Stagehand Film Produce: Novellan Fine Foods and Artisan Goods Corporation
Release
Original network	Culture One
Original release	7 May 1990 - Present

Masters of Cuisine is a Novellan cooking competition program, broadcast by the Novellan National Media Directorate on Culture One. The program has aired since 1990, and has achieved widespread popularity as one of the nation's most beloved television series. Pitting two expert chefs (routinely, executive chefs of Seollim Star-winning restaurants) against one another, the challengers compete to create dishes that best accentuate a given theme ingredient, as judged by a panel of culinary critics.

Format

Theme reveal

Each episode begins with a theme reveal, where the show's host - most recently, renowned restaurateur and gourmand Amélie Bouchard - presents the two chefs with the ingredient they must use to create their dishes. This is typically an exotic or otherwise unique food item, always sourced fresh from where it is best grown seasonally, and is meant to both challenge the chefs' creativity and encourage the serving of truly unique dishes.

Cooking

The chefs have two hours to complete a minimum of three dishes each using the theme ingredient (although more often four or five dishes are served, on average). Both are afforded the assistance of two sous-chefs, a fully equipped professional kitchen, and a pantry stocked with every pre-requested ingredient. During this time, the judging critics observe the entire process, commentating upon the chef's actions and decisions for the audience.

Tasting and judgement

Once the cooking time has elapsed and the dishes have been served, the judging panel taste each dish with the preparing chef present, providing their opinion on flavour, presentation, creativity, and the application of the theme ingredient. The chefs are aften quizzed upon their decision-making process, and may be called upon to explain why the dish was prepared as such. Having tasted the selection of dishes created by each chef, the judges allocate a score out of twenty points: five points for creativity and presentation, five points for the use of the theme ingredient, and ten points for flavour.

The chef with the most judges voting in their favour is declared the winner; in the event that there is a split decision, the chef with the highest point total is declared the winner. In the event that there is a tie on both judges and points, both chefs are invited back for the subsequent episode, to compete once again, with a different theme ingredient.

Notable episodes

Higher scores and winning chefs are shown both highlighted and in bold.

Year	Episode	Theme	Challenger A				Challenger B				Score					Notes
			Name	Restaurant	Nationality (Cuisine)	Dishes	Name	Restaurant	Nationality (Cuisine)	Dishes	Judge A	Judge B	Judge C	Judge D	Total Judges (Points)
1990	Episode 1	Murray Bay Crayfish	Ms. Margaret Oliver	The Admiralty Sydney, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	4	Mr. Thomas Hartley	Bayside Port Ternout, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	4	15	16	15	16	3 (62)
											14	14	16	15	1 (59)
1995	Episode 20	Saffron	Ms. Sunita Patel	Solara Vasantpur, Celestria	Celestria (Modern Celestrian)	4	Ms. Clara Reyes	Northlight Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	3	17	16	18	17	3 (68)
											16	17	16	16	1 (65)
1998	Episode 44	Golden Oyster	Ms. Ciara Peters	Jade Rikal, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	4	Mr. Oscar Jones	The Imperial Hotel Eddington, Opthelia	Opthelia (Northern Opthelian)	4	18	17	18	18	2 (71)
											17	19	17	19	2 (72)
2001	Episode 52	Edopru	Mr. Patrick Worwright	The Imperial Tea House Eddington, Opthelia	Opthelia (Opthelian Tea Culture)	6	Ms. Olivia Hall	Bistro;32 Rikal, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Novellan Tea Culture)	5	16	17	19	17	1 (69)
											17	19	17	18	3 (71)
2006	Episode 16	Crystal Bay Smoked Eel	Ms. Nour Khalil	Bahar Marsa, Bala Victa	Bala Victa (Modern Bala Victan)	4	Ms. Ananya Rajan	Carnelian Nilansar, Celestria	Celestria (Modern Celestrian)	4	17	18	16	17	3 (68)
											16	17	17	16	1 (66)
2011	Episode 2	Bamboo Shoots	Ms. Sophia King	Heart and Soul Pont, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	3	Mr. Noah Smith	New Opthelia Telefar, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Novellan-Opthelian Fusion)	4	17	18	18	18	3 (71)
											18	17	17	17	1 (69)
2015	Episode 38	"Traveller's Lunchbox"	Ms. Mira Soares	Mirador Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	1	Dr. Caspar Teng	National Food Corporation Test Kitchen Murray Bay, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Commercial Novellan)	1	18	16	17	17	2 (68)
											17	18	16	18	2 (69)
2018	Episode 24	Enoki Mushrooms	Mr. Lee Hyeon-su	Halmoni & Harmonie Suyang, Haesan	Haesan (Modern Haesanite)	5	Ms. Eliza Roberts	Hearth Twin Oaks, Opthelia	Opthelia (Southern Opthelian)	3	20	19	19	20	4 (78)
											16	15	17	16	0 (64)
2022	Episode 4	Kumquat	Ms. Zeynab Karami	Shekofeh Hyangsan, Haesan	Haesan (Lehvant-inspired Haesanite)	4	Mr. Michael Taylor	Wood and Stone Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	5	18	17	15	17	2 (67)
											17	18	16	16	2 (67)
2022	Episode 5	Paprika	Ms. Zeynab Karami	Shekofeh Hyangsan, Haesan	Haesan (Lehvant-inspired Haesanite)	5	Mr. Michael Taylor	Wood and Stone Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	3	18	17	17	18	3 (70)
											17	18	16	16	1 (67)
2023	Episode 45	"The Perfect Sandwich"	Mr. Fabian Nelson	Crescent Table Eddington, Opthelia	Opthelia (Modern Opthelian)	4	Ms. Eliza Partridge	Anton House Sydney, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	3	16	18	19	20	3 (73)
											17	17	17	17	1 (68)
2024	Episode 47	Curry Leaf	Mr. Arjun Mehta	Monsoon Room Vesper Bay, Celestria	Celestria (Modern Celestrian)	5	Mr. Brendan Walsh	The Copper Kettle Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Novellan-Celestrian Fusion)	4	17	18	17	18	2 (70)
											18	16	18	17	2 (69)
2025	Episode 34	White Asparagus	Ms. Astrid Lund	Vintersol Steinvik, Timur	Timur (Modern Timurian)	4	Mr. Liu Wei	Qingtan Richmond, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Modern Novellan)	4	18	19	17	18	3 (72)
											17	17	18	17	1 (69)
2026	Episode 2	Pink Yuzu	Ms. Aiko Yamamoto (山本 愛子)	Shiro Hanaoka, Hanafleura	Hanafleura (Modern Hanafleuran)	5	Ms. Yuki Nakamura (中村 幸)	Estuary Novella City, Novella Islands	Novella Islands (Novellan-Hanafleuran Fusion)	4	17	18	18	17	1 (70)
											18	19	17	18	3 (72)