Talk:John Torode

Recently married?

Recent in comparison to what? The birth of his four children? TIA HAND —Phil | Talk 20:51, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Paper reviews (BBC News)

On tonight's round-up of the Sunday newspapers, guest John Torode was introduced as a writer and broadcaster, but it's somebody else, AFAICT. Non entity (talk) 22:55, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

The John Torode who is a guest newspaper reviewer on BBC News 24 is a seasoned journalist who has worked for several British publications,eg the Guardian and Spectator.That line in the details of John Torode, chef, should be deleted 78.145.186.227 (talk) 23:05, 20 November 2011 (UTC)Graham Oakley78.145.186.227 (talk) 23:05, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Done. Thnx. Leaky Caldron 23:08, 20 November 2011 (UTC)

Rendang Chicken Issue

John Torode has recently received large press coverage for the 'Crispy' Rendang Chicken comment that he had made in Masterchef recently. Should this be covered in his Career section? It is quite notable, and plenty of context can be taken from the many reliable websites on the net. aNode (discuss) 16:30, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

Agreed but a Controversy section would be more appropriate, given the outrage his comment had caused. KingAndGod 16:42, 3 April 2018 (UTC)

As with a lot of sensationalised internet outrage, a lot of it seems to be based on inaccurate or incomplete reporting. So a lot of reports seem to criticise Torode and his co-host Gregg Wallace jointly, as if they both said the same thing:

• "Judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace said Bristol-based Zaleha Kadir Olpin's chicken rendang needed "crispy" skin." BBC News
• "Gregg Wallace and John Torode sparked a storm this week by criticising Malaysian-born contestant Zaleha Kadir Olpin's dish because the "chicken skin isn't crispy, it can’t be eaten"." The Guardian
• "John Torode and Gregg Wallace, judges on the BBC reality show, told Malaysian-born Zaleha Kadir Olpin her chicken rendang needed a crispier skin." The Evening Standard

But this Radio Times report states that it was Wallace who made the remark in question ("But she was booted off the cooking contest on 25th March, with Wallace commenting: "I like your rendang flavour, that's like a coconut sweetness. However, the chicken skin isn't crispy. It can’t be eaten but all the sauce is on the skin I can’t eat.""). It attributes a completely different comment to Torode, which actually seems to match a lot of what is being shouted at him on the internet ("Torode had told Olpin, "I think the chicken rendang on the side is a mistake. It hasn’t had enough time to cook down and become lovely and soft and fall apart. Instead the chicken itself is just tough and it’s not really flavoursome.""). The BBC News report, for example, quotes "Malaysian journalist and food writer Jahabar Sadiq" as saying "They clearly weren't familiar with food from other parts of the world because if they were, they would have had the knowledge to know what real nasi lemak is ... Crispy chicken? No. The meat has to be soft and that's a result of hours of cooking ...", which sounds pretty much exactly like what the "ignorant" Torode actually said. If that's right, then if anything, the article should say that Torode was criticised for saying something he never actually said... Proteus (Talk) 17:06, 3 April 2018 (UTC)