Hygiene on Masterchef

You have to be so careful of splashes!

A friend's daughter waitressed in the Dorchester in her student holidays, and told how in hot weather the chefs discarded the trousers and tops and cooked commando style in just their white aprons. The view from the back was interesting. (She married one of them . . .)

When we were first married, we lived in a small rented cottage, owned by a local alderman, who also owned a rather posh hotel nearby. We had to go there to pay the rent, at the back door, of course, which was also the kitchen door, and we regularly saw the chefs preparing the fancy meals with cigarettes hanging from their mouths.

This thread reminds me of when we were kids and our next door neighbour would bring cakes or scones or something else she'd baked and my mother would gracefully accept it and as soon as the neighbour had left it would all go in the bin we children would protest "Aw...!" and my mother would reply "She has long fingernails and doesn't keep them clean".

I dislike a lack of hygiene as much as the next person, and I've often thought when a plate of food is brought to me in a restaurant all beautifully presented "I wonder how many fingers have been at it?" - but to be honest I don't know how it is possible to control that all the time.

You need only read Kitchen Confidential to find out what it gets like in a hot, busy kitchen. And when we travel I've had to learn to turn a blind eye. The worst for me is when you see a cook or chef outside the kitchen door of a restaurant having a fag! Happens all the time on the continent.

What about the way they all arrange the food on the plates? There's not a bit they haven't mauled by the time they've finished. I'd rather have my food looking a bit less fancy but not be touched so much.

I agree number, and I dislike the way his tongue comes out to meet the food when tasting.

I`ve always thought, right from when he used to appear on This Morning, that John Torode himself never looked very hygienic.

I notice these things all the time. I remember a series of cake making by Fiona Cairns who I think made Kate and Will's wedding cake. She wore a wedding and huge engagement rings when rubbing pastry ingredients together, clogging up the mount and diamonds. Chefs and contestants scratch their heads, wipe noses whilst handling food, and sometimes double dip their tasting spoons.

But their (Hairy Bikers) food is REAL food and looks delicious!

What about the Hairy Bikers with all those rings and bracelets on, they must be full of germs! Yuk!