大象传媒

Each week the home cooks have two chances to cook their hearts out and avoid the Eliminator. They must compete in two challenges: firstly, a chance to shine in Mary’s ULTIMATE round, secondly, they’ll be put to task in Chris’s tricky RUSTLE UP round, before those who failed to wow the judges are left to face Angela’s dreaded ELIMINATOR round, which decides who leaves the competition.

Best Home Cook begins on 大象传媒 One at 8pm, Thursday 2nd January, and will be available to watch shortly afterwards on 大象传媒 iPlayer.

Each episode begins with Mary’s Ultimate round. Great home cooks go the extra mile when they cook food for friends, family and special occasions. This is the round where the cooks produce their tried and tested food. This is their chance to show the judges what they are made of, and the food they really love to cook. From Italian pasta dinners, to celebration meringue deserts and vegetarian curry night feasts, the cooks have the chance to showcase their individual flair, cooking skill and inventiveness.

Each of the judges then individually chooses their personal favourites, meaning up to 3 home cooks could find themselves at the top of the group at the end of the first round. However, being picked as a judges’ favourite in the Ultimate does not give the cooks immunity from the Eliminator.

Up next, it’s Chris’s difficult Rustle Up round. Great home cooks have the knowledge, skill and palate to rustle up something delicious from just the ingredients to hand. So, in this round the cooks have no idea what they will be asked to cook. Each week Chris chooses one star ingredient and gives the cooks one hour to rustle up a mid-week masterpiece from scratch. In addition to the star ingredient, the cooks also have a limited fridge and pantry of store cupboard staples. They have no access to notes or recipe books, so they must think on their feet. As the weeks go by, the store cupboard may not always be as well stocked as the cooks would like. The dish will be judged based on whether the cooks have truly paid homage to the ingredient and shown technical ability and creativity.

The Ultimate and Rustle Up rounds are of equal importance. At the end of the Rustle Up, the judges discuss the cooks’ performance in both rounds and they must decide which cooks are safe and which they want to see cook again in Angela’s Eliminator round.

All the cooks who failed to stand out in the previous rounds must earn their right to stay in the competition by producing a perfect dish in Angela’s much feared Eliminator round. Great home cooks are not daunted by a tricky and challenging recipe and this is the cooks’ chance to prove it. Each week the number of cooks in this round will vary – it’s up to the judges whether they put in just two or the whole bunch – it’s a question of who has earned the right to avoid it.

Angela will give the home cooks a detailed recipe that the cooks must follow and execute perfectly. With the safe cooks watching on from the side lines, the cooks fighting for survival are under incredible pressure, there is no room for error. Get it 100% right, or risk leaving the competition. Easier said than done when the decision of who goes home is based on that dish alone. The Eliminator is judged blind, and the judges will not know which cook has produced which dish. They cannot take past performance into account. Once they have tasted all the dishes, the judges must immediately decide which is their least favourite. When they have made their decision, all the cooks (safe & in danger) are called back to the kitchen. The tension is palpable as Claudia asks one of the judges to point at the dish they liked the least. It is at that moment that everyone, judges & Claudia included, finds out who is leaving the competition.