Michal Ansky speaks honestly: "I can be intrigued but not fall in love with it"
When contestants for whom food is already their profession face them, Eyal Shani and Michal Ansky know that every critique on "MasterChef: Dream Team" requires a bit more thought. In an interview with +12, they talk about the responsibility of judging, explain why the viewers' trust is so important, and also admit that TikTok recipes might intrigue them, but they certainly don't make them fall in love: "It has a right to exist, but you cannot see it as an evolution."
Eyal Shani and Michal Ansky have seen a dish, two, or hundreds, as judges throughout the seasons on MasterChef. And yet, from their perspective, there is something special when they meet contestants in the competition who have already been in this position before. This is exactly what happened earlier this week when the kitchen of MasterChef: Dream Team officially opened on Keshet 12 (elimination episode on Sunday, after the news).
"They have studio and judging hours, and when I was with chef Yonatan Roshfeld in a competition with judges, I understood what judging is. It is not pleasant to stand before judges, because if they are wrong in their line, you explode and cannot do anything," explained Shani in an interview with +12 about how he approaches the season. "I think it is possible to speak to the contestants in sharper, clearer, and shorter points — and they can understand. We raised them to a level where we give blows to each other from the same height."
Ansky added and emphasized the sensitivity required in giving criticism to people who work with food in their professional lives. "When we come to judge, we can hurt their livelihood. We will not do that, it is not scary, but it is not pleasant," she said and explained: "I think that judging food is a very strange thing because it is so subjective, but there is a human mix of the judges that exist. For example, in the USA and Australia, where I happened to take part, the viewers trust the taste of the veteran judges. No one at home can feel, but people can turn off the television when one dish or another is passed. There is some kind of trust agreement between the viewers and us that was created over a very long time."
The full interview with Michal Ansky and Eyal Shani is available for viewing now on +12.
One can always rely on chef Eyal Shani to speak in the most picturesque and creative way about food, and in this interview, he did not miss the opportunity. "When food reaches a high place, it leaves the Earth and goes to the universe. You need to trust us that we have sensors to pick it up, sometimes even the contestants do not know that they have broken this barrier," he drifted into the description.
People really love the Dream Team. Ansky: "Definitely. The previous season was successful, I hope we manage to break our own record. People missed it, there is something very fun about watching 'MasterChef' and seeing people who come from a level of amateurism to a level of 'entering the kitchen and preparing tasty food'."
Shani: "It works on the principle of what happened to the contestant. And then I take what happened to her, compare what happened to me, what happened to you, and we find some location in life."
Michal, what is the magic of MasterChef? "I think the reason people wait, miss, are addicted and glued to the screen when this strudel comes up, is because of our identity as Israelis. People in Israel define themselves through the food they eat. When they come here and give a stage to dishes that sometimes have gone from the world and it is impossible to eat them in restaurants, they can only be eaten at home, it is something very specific. It can be rice kubbeh that is eaten on Passover, and we give it recognition. There is some kind of certificate of honor here, and there is an archive of taste and technique, of tradition that for Jews who prepare here with amazing agricultural produce food from the ends of the world in the kitchen at a certain moment, and give it a right to exist anew."
Ansky and Shani also addressed content creators in the food field, when alongside an understanding of their role in the reality of social networks, the two emphasized that in their opinion, it will never replace the real thing. "The network allows for summaries, capsules. They do it in thirty seconds with cuts, and it has a right to exist, but you cannot see it as an evolution. It is not deep, real, and reasoned," said Ansky.
"It is not stimulating, I am not stimulated by recipes on TikTok. I can be intrigued, get inspiration, work with it — but not fall in love with it. In food, it is impossible to separate emotions, lust, or love," she said further, and Eyal Shani added: "To understand what food is, you need to dedicate your life. You need to dedicate your entire experience to translation into food. These are trenches that you cannot get out of. There is a very big price for someone who dedicates his life to food, but on the other hand, it produces people who have something wonderful in them."
"Content creators come, take the basic works, the inventions that we invented, shorten and empty it of content. Put on a shell, spray, and serve it. The world will not be able to exist on these people for a long time. It is not because they do not do beautiful things, they do great things, but there is no depth and root. Without this, it is impossible to grow," he said further.
Interviewer: Noa Barkai
