MasterChef Junior S8: Ep. 2 – There’s no I in Pizza
By D. Goodman
The first pint-sized chef of MasterChef Junior Season 8 has been sent home with a broken heart. Fifteen chefs remain to see who can impress Gordon Ramsay, Aarón Sánchez and Daphne Oz and walk away with the $100,000 prize and the title of MasterChef.
Last week Ramsay made a point of stressing that this season was going to be the most difficult the series had ever seen. And from every indication, it wasn’t just Ramsay hype. The standards of the judges are incredibly high for a group of kid chefs and the challenges are not to be taken lightly.
This week got started with the first Team Challenge of the young season and it was all about pizza. The 15 junior chefs were divided into teams of five and after a pizza making demonstration by Daphne Oz, told they had to make as many pizzas as they could.
The term “organized chaos” is one that is thrown around a lot, but watching these kids not only get organized and figure out who would do what and then make pizzas that would satisfy the judges’ expectations was just crazy.
Who went home this week on MasterChef Junior Season 8?
The Red Team seemed to start strong and stayed that way, quickly amassing a huge stack of pizza boxes. The Green Team wasn’t far behind thanks to Grayson, who took a leadership role and tried to keep things organized. The White Team on the other hand was a disaster with Freddy and A’Dan not seeing eye to eye.
By the time the 20 minutes was up and the pizzas were given the once over by the judges, the Red Team won with 12 perfect pizzas while the Green Team followed with 11. The White Team had only 10 pizzas that passed muster and so they would face the Elimination Challenge.
The Elimination Challenge turned out to be the first Mystery Box of Season 8 and underneath was… a blindfold? It turned out the young chefs would have to eat a dish prepared by Gordon Ramsay himself while blindfolded and then replicate that dish as best they could.
The dish was Pan-Seared Salmon with Apple and Raisin Cauliflower Couscous, Zucchini, Squash and Brown Butter Caper Sauce. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t know many adult chefs who could replicate that dish even if they tried. Talk about hard.
After 45 minutes of furious cooking, it was time to send someone home. To their credit, all the junior chefs figured out that it was pan-seared salmon and most figured out the couscous. However, some had more success then others.
Ivy came the closest to a home run with Pan-Seared Salmon with Apple Couscous, Carrots, Zucchini and Brown Butter Sauce. Just behind her was Liya who did well despite for some reason putting mayonnaise in her couscous.
Once those two headed to the balcony, it left Tegan, A’Dan and Freddy to see who would be going home. Each made major missteps not only in their attempt to mimic the dish but in the preparation. But once it was all said and done, it was Tegan who was told to head home. Her salmon was massively overcooked and the rest of her dish wasn’t much better.
That leaves fourteen chefs to try and take the title of MasterChef Junior. Who will be told they’re not good enough next week? We’ll have to wait and see.
Next. Tournament of Champions III: Battle Recap – Week 4. dark
What did you think of this week’s episode of MasterChef Junior? Did you think Tegan deserved to go home? Leave a comment below and let us know or join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages.