The new season of reality amateur cooking show My Kitchen Rules has premiered and the first round of instant restaurants seem destined to be dominated by a growing feud between Victoria's culinary connoisseur Christian and Queensland's fiery Italian Claudean.
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"Food maestro" teammates Christian Grant and Nick Kato said they're not intimidated by Claudean or her frustration with their use of technical cooking terms including "confit".
"Christian is the encyclopedia of food knowledge," Mr Kato told ACM.
"We know what we're talking about."
"We've both done this since we were 15 or 16-years-old," Mr Grant added.
It's this robust discussion about food that makes My Kitchen Rules a compelling show to watch, they said.
"If you sit ten or twelve people around a table who are passionate about food, of course there are going to be differing opinions about the best ways to cook," Mr Grant said.
"Will that discourse get uncomfortable sometimes? Of course it will," he said.
"It's real people around a table talking about real food and real flavour."
"And they have real opinions," Mr Kato added.
The Melbourne hospitality duo gathered their friends and family to watch the premiere episode in a pub on Chapel Street on September 4.
"It was incredibly humbling to see how many people turned up to watch tonight," Mr Kato said.
Among the crowd was Mr Kato's mother Christina, who said she's happy with the way her son's storyline was edited.
"What was really moving to see was all the people Nick counts as part of his community coming along to cheer for him," she said.
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But fans agreed the highlight of the season so far has been Judge Colin Fassnidge's velvet suit and his salty comment about former judge and disgraced cookbook author Pete Evans.
The "food maestros" feud against the "married battlers" continues on Seven from 7.30pm on Mondays, Tuesday and Wednesdays.