Masterchef vs Food Investigators

On Channel 10, the seven contestants, with Tom Poh and Justine back in the mix to mess around with everyone's head especially Chris', were cooking for a shipful of sailors. Turn to SBS, and Dr Renee Lim was interviewing the captain of another ship about how it feeds its sailors on Food Investigators.

Both have informative websites with full episodes available online, both are hosted by people considered authoritative enough to talk about food the way they do (Masterchef by two successful chefs and a famous food critic, Food Investigators by a doctor, an Italian food science graduate cum comedian and two nutritionists), both are currently on TV at 730pm on Wednesdays, both discuss feeding the body and mind.

One is a competition to find and reward the best amateur chef in Australia, one aims to discover the facts and figures behind the diets and food of everyday life. In between, both share tips and recipes.

To me the two, equally addictive shows (thank gosh for my channel flicking skills) are like dining in a restaurant versus home cooking. Like luxurious expensive silk sheets versus comforting affordable flannel sheets. Like a discussion about how food plays with our minds versus what foods properly feed our physical beings.

I am also reminded of a chat my colleagues had about ice cream yesterday following lunch in the canteen (a dying breed that deserves better publicity if the feedback on the chicken parmagiana fried rice and coleslaw that the group had is anything to go by). One claimed that Golden Gaytime was the best ice cream ever sold in Australia, the other said you could not go pass a Magnum Ego. I reminisced over Magnum Gluttony (dark chocolate with dark chocolate ice cream) but agreed the competition applied to current ice creams.

Subsequent to that, I went and got my first ever Golden Gaytime, caramel ice cream and vanilla ice cream coated in chocolate and peanuts. Another new experience, apparently as Australian as Australian Football League and Leyton Hewitt. Very different from Magnum Ego. Like Food Investigators is very different from Masterchef.

Enjoy both while the media continues to focus on food among other things. I know I am.:)