Throng

8:35pm Monday, August 30 on Prime

Reality Series

Sharpen your knives and fire up your stoves! Famed chef Gordon Ramsay's newest culinary competition series, Masterchef, based on the smash international hit, is set to start tonight on PRIME! After a nationwide search for the best home cooks in America, the series will turn one of 50 hopefuls into a culinary star and America's first-ever Masterchef.

In tonight's action-packed premiere episode, the hopefuls will have one hour to prepare their signature dishes and present them to the distinguished judging panel: Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay; restaurateur and wine maker Joe Bastianich; and the youngest four-star chef in America, Graham Elliot (pictured far right).

FOOD TELEVISION - Weeknights from Monday 8 February, 9.30pm

Britain's premier amateur cooking competition returns to Food TV with presenters and judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace back at the helm. This time the competition is hotter than ever - as the contestants are put through a variety of challenges such as the mystery box test - where they have to invent a dish from scratch using only the ingredients they've been given, the pressure test - working a busy lunch service at a top London restaurant, and the final test - creating an exquisite two-course meal to wow the judges. Who has the skills and character to make it as a professional chef? Over one hundred amateurs start the competition believing they've got what it takes - but only one will be crowned the new Masterchef.

Ray McVinnie, Ross Burden and Simon Gault will be the judges for the local series of MasterChef, coming soon to TV ONE.

Cuisine food editor and columnist Ray McVinnie has always had a passion for food. A professional chef for many years at some of Auckland's best restaurants, McVinnie has judged local and international food awards, as well as written numerous cook books. He is also a lecturer at the Auckland University of Technology, and is an experienced food stylist, consultant and guest chef for various restaurants and cook schools.

The first New Zealand version of the globally popular cooking show MasterChef is coming soon to TV ONE.

TVNZ is calling for contestants from around the country to be on the show.

5:20pm Monday, August 24 on TV One

Tune in to the final of Britain's MasterChef 2009 this week on TV ONE, to see if Kiwi Mat Follas can take out the title and beat his co-finalists Andy Oliver and Chris Gates.

MasterChef sees Top chef John Torode and ingredients expert Gregg Wallace on the hunt to find raw culinary talent in Britain's biggest and toughest amateur cooking competition. In the beginning there were 132 would-be chefs, who were whittled down to three, through a series of gruelling challenges that tested their originality, ingenuity and ability to cook under pressure.