We are in the home stretch for MasterChef Junior. And that means it is getting down to some really difficult challenges. And for their latest challenge, the top five MasterChef Junior chefs got a chance to meet Alexander the very first winner of the series. And he brought them the ultimate challenge.
For their immunity challenge, the junior chefs had to filet a whole salmon. But before that, both Alexander and Gordon Ramsay showed them what to do and walked them through the proper techniques to cut their salmon into usable pieces.
With just 15 minutes to work, each chef had to filet their fish and create perfect portions (and this is important because the salmon would be needed for the elimination challenge). After picking out their fish and carrying it back to their station, each of the MasterChef Junior cheftestants got down to work.
Watching the chefs work, it is clear that Grayson is struggling, sawing at the fish in a way that means the cuts will not be smooth. But he is not alone in struggling, even if it does seem like the girls have a better handle on the actual cutting and fileting.
MasterChef Junior has the top 5 battling with salmon for a chance to make the top 4
After fileting their salmon, the judges walked to each station to look at the young chef’s cuts. While they pointed out the struggles of each chef, ultimately, the MasterChef Junior chef who won immunity was Liya.
Now it was time for the elimination challenge. With 45 minutes on the clock, the four chefs on the floor needed to channel their own “inner Alexander” to create a winning salmon dish. As each chef works towards their top four worthy dishes, it is clear that they each have their own ideas and that is reflected in just how different each dish really is.
Grayson opted to make an olive poached salmon, whereas Ivy decided to try her hand at a bouillabaisse (a rich stew that typically takes 3 hours to develop all those amazing flavors). Over on Eva’s station, she decided to create a salmon en croute dish. And finally Molly went with a pan seared crispy salmon and street corn, aiming for a more Mexican-inspired dish.
There were plenty of ways each of these dishes could go wrong, but in the end, it was up to the judges to determine who did enough to be a part of the top 4. With Ivy and Molly getting really great reviews, and Eva and Grayson struggling, it was down to who made the biggest mistakes.
In the end, it was Eva who went home after serving raw pastry and a lackluster salmon.