Ohkay, so it was a pretty good episode because of Chef Saadat. I am glad he came as a guest judge & showed that successful chefs can be soft spoken too. I liked the Q&A session he had with the contestants & he actually led everyone accordingly. Where he suggested Madiha to go abroad for the initial courses, he told Gulnaz to actually stick to her roots & open up a restaurant in Chitral. He brought in some positive energy & it was great to see.

The contestants had to replicate his signature dish in 90 minutes. Even though Amna had immunity, she still attempted the dish. Maryam got an advantage of seeking Chef’s help for 20 & then 10 minutes during the challenge & the pantry was accessible throughout as well. The signature dish of Chef Saadat was ‘Chicken Roulade w/ Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Carrot & Pumpkin Purée, Blue Cheese Flan & Falsa Confit’. The dish had a lot of components & everyone did a great job in recreating the dish.

Amna got some average feedback & luckily for her she had the immunity because her dish wasn’t impressive. Chef Saadat felt that the ratio of salt was wrong in a lot of components & the purée was a lot creamy. Chef Mehboob felt that the purée had no taste whatsoever & lacked seasoning too.

Maryam benefited herself from the advantage that she got & received great remarks. Chef Saadat liked her dish on the whole but felt that the purée had a lot of white pepper in it. Chef Mehboob liked the chicken roulade because of its colour & juiciness. He liked the flan too.

Khurram recreated a great dish & shined in this round. Chef Saadat liked the presentation as well as felt that the mash was good & he commended him for making a falsa sauce better than him. He appreciated Khurram & admitted that even he feels he couldn’t make such a tasty sauce which was good to see. Chef Khurram liked the chicken & felt that the inner portion was succulent. However, he told him to improve the presentation. Chef Zakir liked the dish a lot & told him to keep up the good work.

Gulnaz couldn’t do too well in this challenge & stuffed up a few components of her dish. Chef Saadat felt that the flan was good & creamy but the potato mash had a lot of garlic in it as well as the pumpkin purée was bland. Chef Khurram liked the presentation a lot. Chef Zakir felt that the chicken was good & the stuffing was perfect but it lacked seasoning. He liked the mash potato for its flavour but found the pumpkin purée quite flat.

Sidrah didn’t perform well in this challenge as well. Chef Saadat felt that it looked more like a dessert plate & the chicken was under-cooked. Chef Khurram felt that the flan had a strong & dominant flavour of the blue cheese, falsa sauce was too sour, chicken was under-cooked & the purée was bland. Chef Mehboob found the chicken raw & the purée tasteless.

Iqra presented a great dish. Chef Saadat liked the presentation a lot but felt that the purée had a totally different flavour. Chef Zakir also appreciated her effort with the chicken & found it tender & soft.

Madiha came up with a weak dish this time. Chef Saadat felt it had no balance. Chef Khurram thought that the presentation could’ve been better. Chef Zakir thought she has lost her charm.

Zain managed to impress the judges as well. Chef Saadat thought that he cooked the best chicken so far & it was spot on. Chef Mehboob liked the chicken but wasn’t too impressed by the purée. Chef Khurram liked the presentation a lot.

Ammarah came up with a great dish too. Chef Saadat felt that the plating was good. Mash had a strong flavour of garlic but other than that the chicken was cooked to perfection & it was the best so far. Chef Mehboob felt that the mashed potato was more like a garlic purée but other than that her dish was good on the whole.

Saad was weak this time around as well. Chef Saadat found his flan flat & overcooked. Chef Mehboob thought that falsa sauce had a very strong flavour of ginger. Chef Zakir thought that just because the chicken was overcooked it was dry & the purée wasn’t smooth.

It was now time to announce the top & the bottom 3 contestants. Zain, Khurram & Ammarah came up with the best dishes therefore they were selected as the top 3. The judges justified their dishes with their honest remarks & made Zain the winner of the round. It was good to see Zain & Khurram redeeming themselves after a long long time. Saad, Gulnaz & Sidrah presented the weakest dishes however were in the bottom 3. Gulnaz was safe because she at least managed to do one thing or the other right in her whole dish but going by the judges’ remarks, Sidrah‘s dish was the weakest as nothing worked on the plate, leaving her eliminated.

I feel the judges this time around did justice with their remarks & gave us convincing reasons as to why Sidrah was eliminated. However she did put up a good dish once but didn’t stand out like other contestants. Saad got told off by Chef Zakir for the relieved gesture that he did which I found way too funny. Not the gesture but the way he was told off as if he was in a school.

It was a good episode over all & special thanks to Chef Saadat because he kept the things lighthearted. However, I do feel that they didn’t focus on showing the techniques of creating the roulade & once again the cooking was shown haphazardly. I was excited to see that the contestants had to make chicken roulade because this is something that I myself have learnt only by watching MasterChef Australia, so I was actually quite eager to see how they create it in MasterChef Pakistan but sadly nothing was shown in detail so that people could understand how’s it made. I feel that they have managed to ignore the techniques & have not at all helped the viewers in learning a thing or two about different cooking techniques. By watching other shows, I found out about the temperatures at which the contestants prepare the steaks & how they set the limits like medium-rare, rare, well-done etc, I understood how the pasta dough is kneaded & similarly a lot of other details which we may or may not use in our cooking but that’s what cooking shows are for that they also stir some sort of learning process by showing how the contestants are working in order to achieve the desired dish. I hope next time they do focus a lot on showing the techniques so that those who are interested can learn & get hold of new ideas to incorporate in their cooking. Share what you felt about this episode.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

ps: I request all the readers that if you happen to grab some spoiler alerts about the show from Facebook pages or the contestants’ official pages then please keep them to yourself. I’d much appreciate if the show is not spoiled for those who are watching with great interest. Lately people are finding it hard to keep the details to themselves & are spoiling the suspense for others. Please, be a bit more considerate. Thanks!

One brilliant episode it was. I am glad at the pace with which the story is progressing & it looks like everyone here gets an equal screen time that they deserve. Everyone is entitled to the attention & no one has been ignored which makes all the episodes interesting. Even if it involves Gaitiara & her repeated taunts to Nayab, Nayab & her awkwardness when she is with Daood, Daood & his past that he is reminded of when he sees Momenah, each & everyone gets a chance to make an appearance to show what they are going through & makes every episode complete.

Abdullah is now persistent on getting married to Deeba. Deeba also being a patient of self-pity had all the cards with which she could convince her mother to agree to hers & Abdullah’s marriage & she used them brilliantly. Deeba is actually really very lucky & as much as I don’t want her to get the love of her life after what she did to Daood & Momenah & after how she is treating Nayab, I still feel in order to make things realistic, Deeba & Abdullah’s marriage is just the right twist in the story. Deeba is someone who makes everyone realize how lucky; conniving people are in this world. Deeba is someone who is responsible for Daood, Momenah & Nayab’s miseries & to some extent Zaid’s death as well but still she is easily getting away with everything just because Daood & Momenah have no other option as they chose to move on in their lives. Momenah felt that she should act reasonably as there’s no reason to cling on to the past mistakes of Deeba because one way or the other she holds herself & even Daood responsible for their breakup. Daood’s agony & frustration was totally justified but just because he had Momenah in front him, he had to surrender.

I still feel a lot for Nayab as she had to go through so much because Deeba transpired Daood’s marriage & Gaitiara laid eyes on Nayab as a suitable doormat-like wife for Daood. Even though she has Daood’s support & he has made sure that she isn’t bothered by anyone, she still has to face a thing or two because of Gaitiara. I thought they would actually show that Daood & Nayab grew closer to each other but sadly, they still are nothing, but just responsibility of each other & that’s all there’s to their relation. I think very comfortably but convincingly they’ve kept a window for Daood & Momenah’s reconciliation open which still seems very acceptable.

I loved the unsaid conversation Momenah & Daood had where they laid their feelings of forgiving each other openly yet secretively. That was a beautiful scene because realistically each & every couple has a signature & secret language that only they understand & the white/blue shirt was a mere example of the beautiful relationship that Momenah & Daood shared with each other which was once again rekindled perfectly.

As much as Daood is still emotionally detached to Nayab, Momenah’s marital life is far from perfect too. Just a little conversation of hers with Fahad was enough to show that she isn’t as happy as she claims to be. Her reluctance while speaking to her mother in law & the hesitation with which she confessed love to Fahad showed how awkwardly unhappy she is.

Once again a brilliant episode with top-notch acting & direction. I am glad they have kept things so simple & real. Can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Keep supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

ps: I request all the readers that if you happen to grab some spoiler alerts, please keep them to yourself & do not spoil the show for those who are watching out of sheer curiosity. That would be much appreciated. Lately people are finding it hard to keep the details to themselves & are spoiling the suspense for others. Please, be a bit more considerate. Thanks!

I know Adnan Siddique might think that I am jealous of him because I am going to be honest about him in this review, but trust me Adnan buddy that’s not the case. I actually can’t thank him enough for giving us a lot of reasons to dislike his character of Zawaar. If you want to see wuss-ness at its best, Adnan Siddique has done the honours in this show for you.

The drama makers might’ve thought that they were successful in conveying the misery of a two-timer but sorry they themselves failed miserably as well. All we could see in this episode was how Zawaar was juggling & struggling to maintain a balance in his two marital lives & to reach the level of annoyance, his love & kaseedas related to Bee Jaan. Zawaar is someone who can’t utter a single word where he is supposed to but would give a hard time to those who are younger probably way too younger to him.

While looking at Haya’s utawla-pan, I couldn’t help but imagine that an 18-5 year old had no plans for future, no dreams, nothing of her own at all? I mean all she wanted was to get married to her uncle-numa cousin & then live the American dream doing the dishes for him all her life? Not that it’s something unusual but she was too young to be so bothered about giving marriage a shot that too where she could’ve taken a stand like she did on the previous rishta saying she couldn’t imagine living away from Bee Jaan, so how come she agreed to go to the USA leaving Bee Jaan a continent apart?

I must say Sarwat Gillani is looking fresh as ever, she looked beautiful & she’s probably the only reason why I watch this show but her character needs to get some sort of a sunshine if not life as well. All these ‘tum mile mujhe zindagi mili’, ‘hamain tumse pyaar kitna, ye hum nahi jaante’ , ‘saans mai teri saans mili to mujhe saans ai’ sound too filmy to be true. I mean every couple says these words to each other but it comes naturally which they have failed to portray through this couple & still I can’t sense any chemistry between them whatsoever. I think they have told us plenty of times that Sofia can’t live without her husband & loves him to bits but the constant reminder deserves to be put on a snooze for some time now.

The epic moment of the whole episode for me was when Shireen Apa was told to snap out of her fixation to Zawaar. It was actually Haya’s business as to what she spoke to Zawaar about but Shireen Apa thought she could act all friendly & ask Haya about the details she discussed with her husband acting like those annoying relatives once again. I don’t know why but I think every character in this play needs a life, I really feel that actually.

Zawaar’s life got complete when his baby wife (Haya) came to America. Very stealthily he arranged a place for her & still couldn’t muster up courage to tell his young wife (Sofia) about her baby sautan. I think the next episode will have some action where young wife will face the baby wife & uncle husband will sneak out too terrified & too coward to face the consequences. Let’s see what happens.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

ps: I request all the readers that if you happen to grab some spoiler alerts, please keep them to yourself & do not spoil the show for those who are watching out of sheer curiosity. That would be much appreciated. Lately people are finding it hard to keep the details to themselves & are spoiling the suspense for others. Please, be a bit more considerate. Thanks!

Ohkay so, it was a pretty good episode but I must say the judges are getting a lot of talk time in each & every episode. It’s ohkay, it’s their job to do the briefing but the literal spoon feeding tends to get a bit tiresome to listen to. I think like the professionals, they should treat the contestants as grown ups & after giving out the details related to the challenge, they can let them carry on with the cooking but literally every 60 minute episode to say the least involves 20 minutes of the judges instructions (remarks excluded) which makes the episode seem a bit boring.

Anyways, this was an immunity challenge & the contestants got Quail as a core ingredient that they had to work with. It was once again a 60 minute challenge with an access to the pantry twice. I really didn’t get the ‘tuk’ of pantry pass? They could’ve easily told the contestants that after first 5 minutes in the pantry they can access it once for the last time but to see the contestants scurrying to the judges to hand them the pass seemed unreasonable & kind of unprofessional.

Amna came up with ‘Moroccan Quail w/ Couscous, Rocket Salad’ & as appetizers she presented ‘Zatir & Haloumi Fatayer’. Chef Mehboob liked the dish because it had balanced flavors, he appreciated the flavors of quail, salad & tahini. Chef Zakir felt that her dish had a perfect balance & the quail was tender, succulent & flavorsome. Chef Khurram liked the fatayer as well as the quail & also commended Amna for the presentation.

Maryam came up with ‘Crispy Fried Quail w/ Mashed Potatoes & Asparagus’. Chef Mehboob liked the quail as according to him she pulled it off really well. Chef Khurram felt that the sauce could’ve had a little more spiciness to make it complimenting to the dish.

Rayyan presented ‘Pan Seared Quail w/ Herbs’. Chef Mehboob felt that the core ingredients of the dish was weak & the side components weren’t helping the taste of the quail much. Chef Khurram liked the presentation. Chef Zakir (as usual) wasn’t satisfied with the flavors.

Gulnaz made ‘Smoked Quail w/ Zeera Rice’. Chef Zakir liked the quail but felt that when tasted with the rice & sauce, nothing was working together. Chef Mehboob found that the quail was the best he had tasted so far as it had a local flavor. Chef Khurram commented that the presentation should be improved but he also liked the flavors of the quail.

Khurram presented ‘Quail Tempura w/ Wasabi Sauce’. Chef Zakir bluntly told that he shouldn’t have worried about his choice & rather should’ve worked on what the judges would like. According to him the sauce was so overpowering that it dominated the flavor of the quail.

Sidrah presented ‘Shahi Quail Curry w/ Garlic Naan’. Chef Mehboob felt that the usage of cardamom changed the whole dish & the gravy wasn’t rich enough to be labeled as mughlai/shahi. Chef Zakir got a bit too carried away because Sidrah chose to change the name of the dish!?!?!?!. He was like ‘serious kab honge app log’? *sigh*

Zain presented ‘Smoked Quail w/ Stuffed Rolls’. Chef Mehboob felt that the rolls were too thick but the quail had some very nice flavors but it was a little overcooked. Chef Zakir felt that the quail was overcooked & lost its flavors.

Iqra presented ‘Stuffed Quail w/ Hummus & Quail Jus’. Chef Khurram found the hummus flat & Chef Mehboob felt that this wasn’t a good performance by her.

Madiha came up with ‘Fried Quail w/ Creamy Salsa’. Chef Mehboob felt that the selection of ingredients was limited & the quail was overcooked. Chef Khurram found her performance quite average.

Ammarah created ‘Quail Ravioli & Grilled Quail’. Chef Khurram didn’t appreciate the presentation much. Chef Mehboob felt that she presented 2 dishes within a dish & needed to concentrate more. Chef Zakir felt that the quail was flavorsome but the ravioli was thick.

Saad presented ‘Oven Braised Quail w/ Veggies’. Chef Mehboob felt that the quail lost it’s flavors because of the cooking technique. Chef Khurram didn’t like the presentation & also felt that only the meat had it’s own flavors & Saad failed to induce some self-created flavors in the quail.

So, the top two dishes that the judges selected were of Amna & Maryam. Amna won the immunity for the weak & was appreciated for her dish a lot. Maryam won herself an untold advantage. The next round would be an elimination round but I don’t really get why don’t the contestants wear black apron in every elimination because supposedly every elimination round is a black apron round.

I was told by one of the readers that she felt these reviews were being followed by the team of MasterChef as she felt that the changes were being made in the episodes every time something regarding it was mentioned in the review & this time I felt the same thing & if so, I would commend the team for being considerate & open to audience’s feedback. I did mention that the cameramen should speak to the contestants while they are cooking & this time around we got to see the contestants talking about their dishes. I hope that the contestants do not only speak about how good their dish is & how confident they are about the dish but also mention which techniques they were using & some more stuff like that.

Chef Zakir was as always a bit too stern but then I feel the little disclaimer that he gave was again in order to clarify the image that he is being stern in order to bring out the best of the contestants. I think there’re a lot of ways of bringing out the best in people & that certainly doesn’t happen by belittling them. It was pretty evident that the judges didn’t appreciate the contestants & their approach with the quails because by the end of the round they were speaking about the Pakistani dishes that they would’ve liked to see in this round. I think it should be highly appreciated that the contestants are not being one-dimensional & are being too brave to try different dishes & are opting for different techniques, I am glad the contestants are definitely not sticking to the ‘kormas’ & ‘karahis’. Share your views about this episode.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.

Hmmm, this drama is now getting stretched & I feel the drama makers should start wrapping it up because I think 15 episodes would be more than enough for this story. It’s still watchable & I hope with this much happening in every episode, they wind it up nicely where we can follow it till the end with some interest on our hands.

Zara is obviously suffering but she is making sure to make Dua suffer with her too. Jazib as usual has no role to play because he’s too busy making money for his 2 wives that’s why it comes down to Zara & Dua now where Dua tries to keep things smooth, Zara finds one way or the other to insult her.

Zara; being a mother can’t see her kids mingling with Dua & getting candid with her therefore she is trying to over-take the affection they might have started to feel for their step-mother. These kids have not seen a mother figure of such sort who’d take care of the house as Zara was always busy with her job & no doubt she paid utmost attention to them but as she had a shared responsibility of her work, that resulted in the kids getting comfortable with Dua in no time as she is always there for them & the kids do not have to wait for someone to listen to them, they can share whatever & whenever they want to with Dua which is now making Zara uncomfortable.

The way Dua styled Sofia was because of the performance she was chosen for in the school but I saw no weight in Zara’s concern for how Dua was spoiling her daughter as that was just for a character she had to play in the school & it’s a norm that too at Sofia’s age. But to do more for her daughter so that she can lessen the charm of Dua, Zara tried to fulfil Sofia’s demands which had nothing to do with the school play at all. Zara easily blamed Dua for all the changes she felt in Sofia thinking she has been idealizing Dua which according to Zara was a bad influence on her & I think Zara needs to understand that if she had given her kids enough time to idealize their mother, then Sofia wouldn’t have deviated away so easily.

As much as I was concerned for the girl playing the character of Sofia, I think they have kind of crossed the limits by showing a girl of her age involving herself into some questionable activities & easily portraying the trend of dating. I know this is what’s prevalent in the society these days & dating has become a much accepted norm but to show it on the TV screen & that too by involving KIDS (who don’t even know how to speak) into it for the sake of a drama is ridiculous. I think enough attention has been given to Sofia & her problems, so the story could’ve moved forward without this bit too.

As much as Dua is being considerate & how she has invited Zara to stay at the place Dua owns now, she is being put up with a lot of blaming for no good reason. Once again Zara found an easy way out & held Dua responsible for Sofia’s dating because it made no sense whatsoever. Even though Zara knows that she has a very little time left to spend with her family, she is still not focusing on her kids & is hell-bent in giving Dua a tough time. If Zara snaps out of the sheer fixation of belittling Dua then I feel she’ll be able to give her kids some good memories of her to cling onto before she parts with them. Share your say on this.

Keep Supporting,
Cheers,
Zahra Mirza.