Irish chef Colin Fassnidge and his French counterpart Manu Feildel have made no secret of their rivalry, which, in the past, has spilled over into public spats.
asserted
which → make → spats
But after more than a decade together as judges on Seven’s enduring home cooking competition My Kitchen Rules, they are tighter than ever.
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they → endure → competition
For the second year in a row, they’re also travelling the length and breadth of Aotearoa New Zealand in the retro caravan they call Betty, sourcing fresh ingredients and cooking for one another on the campfire, for their companion series Off the Grid with Colin and Manu.
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they → travel → Colin
“Colin and I, we had our time when we had a lot of ego, and we were those types of guys that had to be strong in the kitchen,” says Feildel.
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Feildel → have → kitchen
“But things have changed now, and we’ve learned …
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we → change → ?
I think men worldwide are changing.
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men → think → ?
I think they are a little bit more open, a little bit more sharing with the problems.
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they → think → problems
“We used to be taught to be hard and to be strong, but we’re just human beings …
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we → use → ?
Colin and I had our grief in the past, but we’ve spent a lot of time together.
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we → have → time
We’ve got a lot in common.
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We → get → lot
We love cooking and hunting.”
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We → love → ?
Fassnidge jumps in: “It’s also called getting old!
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It → jump → ?
We’ve got less friends, and the one we have, they’re real, strong friendships.”
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they → get → friends
In Off the Grid, the pair meet food producers and restaurateurs, eat famed pies, dive for paua (abalone), cook southern blue cod in a ship’s galley, and hunt wild boar.
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pair → meet → boar
“We had a bit of backlash last year when we were hunting deer,” says Fassnidge.
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Fassnidge → have → deer
“It’s not a sport.
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It → ’ → ?
We hunted it for food.
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We → hunt → food
It’s also education.
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It → ’ → ?
Lots of kids don’t even know where food comes from …
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food → know → where
Because we hunted a boar in this season, we were very aware that this could come back to bite us.
uncertain
this → hunt → us
So we made sure that the whole story was told – that these animals are pests and they have to be eradicated.
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they → make → ?
And we actually cooked what we killed, so it wasn’t just done willy-nilly.
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it → cook → what
It’s all done very respectfully.”
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It → do → ?
They’re about to embark on another road trip across New Zealand for season three of Off the Grid, with a fourth planned around Australia.
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fourth → ’re → Australia
This 16th season is shaping up to be as dramatic as ever, with a cast of familiar tropes set to battle it out in each other’s dining rooms.
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cast → shape → rooms
Feildel hints of “shocks and bombshells” and is excited about the inclusion of Filipino cuisine, for the first time.
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Feildel → hint → time
“We have had Malaysian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian, Chinese, and a lot in between, but we’ve never had Filipino cuisine,” says Feildel.
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Feildel → have → cuisine
“Australia’s discovering something new again.
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Australia → discover → something
It’s brilliant.”
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It → ’ → ?
In another first, there is one contestant who is already known to Fassnidge.
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who → be → Fassnidge
,” Fassnidge says. “Because it can be misconstrued that you might go easier on them.
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you → say → them
I think they pretty much learned that I wouldn’t, and they got the same as everybody else.”
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they → think → everybody
This season marks a noticeable return to simpler styles of cooking.
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season → mark → cooking
“It’s come back to being more basic,” says Feildel.
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Feildel → come → ?
“We’ve had a surge of people trying to do fine dining for a while, and fine dining works when it works, but when it doesn’t, it’s terrible.
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it → have → while
When you go classic and simple, food is nicer to eat, because there are less mistakes that you can make.
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you → go → that
And if you do it well, it’s delicious.”
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it → do → it
Real-world dinner parties, says Fassnidge, shouldn’t be a pressure test.
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Fassnidge → say → ?
“It’s called socialising.
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It → call → ?
It’s just eating around the table with friends, or having a barbecue.
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It → eat → barbecue
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
