Episode 7: The team challenge

This week, we would like to just focus on what happened in the seventh episode of Rupchanda-The Daily Star Super Chef 2015. This was the first time in the competiton that a team challenge was thrown up. It was the Red team versus the Green team. As the teams were being selected, each participant waited with baited breath. Which team was better? Could we even make that decision? Well, in the sets people already had. They all thought the Green team were good to go. The Green  team made up of Jebunessa, Umme Kulsum, Latifa Akhter, Sakib, Mahfuza, Farjina, Shahanar were considered a great combination, with each adept at their own work and together they were considered favourites. 

The Red team wasn't given much of a chance from the get go. Marufa, Navid, Shimu, Asma, Sabrina, Nadim and Nusrat Lubna made up the Red team. All good chefs in their own right, however, there was some concern whether this team would actually manage to gel together or not. When the judges announced that the challenge would be to prepare an Italian 3-course meal, the scales weighed even more in favour of the green team as Navid was considered to be one of the best when it came to Italian cuisine. However, his wife, Farjina, was also well-trained in making Italian cuisine and that too by Navid himself. But could the student become the master? This element added further intrigue to the episode. 

As time progressed, some other factors came to surface. Both teams began to face serious leadership crisis. While Jebunessa tried to hold her team together, tempers began fraying, especially with herself and Sakib. Sakib wanted to follow his own instructions and did not want to follow orders. However, this would backfire as his salad would be considered the weakest effort from his team.  

Team Red rested their hopes on Navid as he had the most experience in making Italian dishes. His team decided to follow her lead but they also had a lot of their own ideas which they wanted to incorporate as well. Marufa though proved to be a good team leader with good ideas. However, it was the execution that was lacking. At this stage, the teams had hardly built a rapport and it showed in the numerous instances of miscommunication. All of this wasted ample time and eventually led to a loss of points. The judges then decided to taste the dishes from each team. As expected, the Red team came through and were declared the winner, with Sakib reprimanded for making a mess of his dish. Jebunessa too was asked to be a stricter leader if she actually wanted to make in the kitchens of the real world. 

The losing team though had to face a cook off. Their place in the competition was in jeopardy. By then, each team member knew who would make the cut and who wouldn't. But nothing was ever that black or white in this competition and it wasn't going to be over till the fat lady sang. With the pressure of guaranteed elimination and no way back, the participants were determined to produce their best possible result. But it is only when we try our hardest when we fall our hardest and that would be the case for the participant. So, who would fall? Well, if you haven't seen the episode, then perhaps its time that you do. 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!