Super Chef 2015: Painting the town Green

The tenth episode of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef 2015 kicked off with some unexpected news. Farzina's wounds had festered and no one could tell for sure if she was going to perform to the best of her ability or whether her ability had been compromised. The judges entered the kitchen, dressed all in traditional Bangladeshi outfits. That was the first hint of what was about to come. Backstage, an infectious panic began to spread even before the first stove had been lit. Marufa, another favourite for the Super Chef crown, had to leave the show for health reasons. That would mean that one team would be a short a player. That could be the turning point for the team who would be a man or woman down. 

As the panic subsided, the judges decided to go forth with the show. Team leaders Jebunessa and Latifa were called a asked to pick their team. One by one, the teams were selected. Latifa, Nadim, Farzina, Shahanar and Mahfuza made up the red team. Jebunessa, Umme Kulsum, Shimu and Shakib made up the green team. Nadim was quick to point that despite Farzina leading her team to victory last round was now being overlooked by basically the very members of her last team. “Now that she is injured, they don't want her anymore,” he said. Would Latifa's decision to take Farzina backfire? That was the intrigue of the show. 

Once the teams were selected, the judges then explained the challenge. The teams would have a stipulated time to cook up a traditional Bangladeshi meal. The meal would include a full course and would have to reflect the cuisine that Bangladesh is famous for.

This challenge required a lot of thought. Bangladeshi cuisine, by its very nature, is quite tricky to define. It is a mix of mughal, Indian, Pakistani and regional cuisines, all differing widely from one another. Thus, the participants would really have to focus on choosing the right blend and the right dishes.

The results were quite remarkable. Telapia and Illish, kinds of very popular fish, both made an appearance in the programme. This was followed by numerous kinds of “bhorstas” a staple deshi item, rounded up with of course a portion of plain rice. The green team, it should be noted here, made over five different kind of bhortas in a meal consisting of ten unique dishes. Perhaps that, along with the expertise of the entire team, the green team managed to cross the hurdle well and they won with flying colours. The losing team though had no time to rest. Now they were thrown into the 'tike thakar lorai', which they had to win to remain in the competition.

However, before that could be started, another upsetting news surfaced. Farzina had to back out of the competition too, owing to a recurrence of a past medical problem. This meant that on the same day two participants had withdrawn, making the survivors challenge all the more redundant. It was now time to pack up and prepare for the challenges of the next day to come. And what a challenge it would be. If you wish to not wait for what is about to come then wait no longer. Go to https://3rdbell.com/ to view all aired episodes of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef 2015 and find the answers to your questions!