MasterChef Season 16 Episode 1

Hello everybody!

I said that I was going to create a blog dedicated to MasterChef, and now the time has come to start talking about it!

Before I get into the episode, I am going to explain how this season will work. The theme of this season is “Global Gauntlet,” and will have 20 home cooks competing from all over the country, but there’s a twist. They will all be representing one of four territories: Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and The Americas, with five home cooks representing one each. The reason why this was done is because of The World Cup coming to America this year and being broadcast on Fox.

The episode opened the same way every other season opens: with a montage of several scenes that will be happening at several different points this season. Much like always, it showed scenes with absolutely no context, some of the low points of the season, and some of the high points of the season, and it also showed that past contestant Nick DiGiovanni would be making a guest appearance as a guest judge on one episode. Yeah, for those of you who know Nick DiGiovanni from social media, this is where he got his start. 

When the episode actually started, it started off the same way as all the other recent seasons: with all the hopeful contestants walking into the kitchen. It was also at this time that we met some… interesting characters, including one young lady who said that Italy was going to win MasterChef, as Europe is known for its flavors, and its not even about competition at this point. 

There was also the most bizarre conversation I have ever seen between two people, as two contestants introduced themselves to each other. The first one introduced himself as Daniel, and I will talk more about the other one later, and the conversation started off fairly normal, with Daniel asking the other contestant where he was from, but then things got strange when the other contestant responded by saying “Where do you think, bro? Feel this hair, bro. Where do you think?” Daniel then responded by saying Italy, or somewhere in Europe, to which the other contestant told him he was right. 

What just happened here? What kind of person asks another person to feel their hair in response to being asked where they are from? Why did Daniel willingly do it? How did Daniel just automatically know that this contestant was from Italy? My dad answered the last question, saying that a lot of Italians put grease in their hair, but then I have to ask does anybody really do that anymore? Was this guy just so prepared for someone to ask where he was from that he had the response of getting them to feel his hair at the ready? Seriously, what even is going on?! And that’s not the last we’ll see of this contestant in the writeup.

After the contestants had talked among themselves for a certain amount of time, the judges finally came out to meet them. For those of you that don’t know, the judges are Gordon Ramsay, chef and restaurateur Tiffany Derry, and restaurateur Joe Bastianich. 

After the judges introduced how the season would work, it was time for the auditions to begin, and they would be starting off with the home cooks representing Europe. The rules were that the contestants had to make their signature dish, and they had to get a “Yes” from all three judges, otherwise they would not get an apron. 

The first contestant auditioning for an apron was Dan, who was representing the Soviet Union. I already had a feeling that he would not win an apron, as in all the recent seasons, contestants who are the first to audition typically don’t get aprons. He chose to make Cheese Blintzes with Blackberry Compote. For those of you who don’t know what Blintzes are, they are basically Stuffed Crepes. If you want to see what the dish looked like, here’s a picture of it.

Yeah, it doesn’t look like there’s much on the plate at all. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it looks good, but I don’t think it looks like it would win an apron, which is also the same feeling that the judges shared, as Gordon Ramsay said the filling was dense and needed more sweetness, while Tiffany said that the filling felt chalky, which ended his MasterChef dreams, and also disappointed Joe, who admitted that he liked it.

The next contestant auditioning for an apron was Julia, who was representing Italy and had an interesting prior connection to MasterChef, which is that her grandmother Veronica competed on Season 6, and she was also there cheering her on as she was cooking. The dish that she made was called The Holy Cannoli Trinity, one of which was a Tiramisu Filling, another of which was a Pistachio Filling, and the last of which was a Classic Filling. She also admitted that she has her own Cannoli business back at home that is currently very small scale, as in it’s literally out of her mother’s kitchen. She also admitted that she did a research trip to Sicily to find out new flavors of Cannoli. And if you are curious, here is what that dish looked like. 

I don’t know about you guys, but I would definitely eat this dish. The judges admitted that the plating did not look the best, but were hoping that it tasted better than it looked. Gordon Ramsay said that the Shell was nice and crispy and blistering on the outside, and gave her dish a “Yes.” Tiffany then said that when she bit into her Cannoli, it broke on her in the best possible way, as she was so happy that it was crisp, and she was also a “Yes.” This meant that it was all down to Joe, who is easily the toughest judge there, and as Julia pointed out, is also Italian, but he also said “Yes,” which meant that Julia got the first apron of the season. 

After that, we saw three more contestants that were cooking their dishes at the same time.

Up first in this group was Nico, who was the contestant I told you about earlier that told the other contestant to feel his hair, who was representing Italy and Romania. He made a Red Wine Risotto with Caramelized Pears, Sage, and Gorgonzola, which is a dish that I would be willing to try, even if it doesn’t look the most appetizing to me. Here it is below so you can see for yourself.

Fun fact, he was struggling a lot with the making of this dish, to the point that I was convinced that he was not going to get an apron. Even from looking at this dish, it doesn’t seem like the most impressive thing in the world. 

From there, he gave a backstory that I can best describe as guilt tripping the judges into giving him an apron, as he said that the dish came from waking up in the mountains of Northern Italy and watching his granddad eat Gorgonzola from the knife, and sadly he passed away, and they had to sell the house he grew up in, and winning MasterChef would allow him to buy back the house and make it into the restaurant he wanted it to be. 

From there the judges went to try the dish, commenting that Risotto is a tricky dish. Joe then said that when he saw Nico cooking the dish, he said it looked like he was in jeopardy, as he perceived it as being too liquid, but it really came together as it cooled down, before acknowledging that he didn’t know if Nico was lucky, smart, or just good, but he was able to execute a dish that is very difficult to make, but then he added that the Sage was bad news, and invited him up towards the dish, and then removed the Sage from the dish and gave it to him, saying that he now had a perfect Risotto, before telling him that he was a “Yes,” which led to both him and Nico having a conversation in Italian, during which Nico told Joe that he was going to cry, to which Joe responded that it was okay, as “Italian men should cry.” Tiffany then said that she was also a “Yes,” which meant that it was now all up to Gordon, who acknowledged that the dish did not need the Sage, and also knew that Nico was young and would be competing against several other home cooks that were older than him, before admitting that he was also a “Yes,” which meant that Nico had won the second apron of the season.

The next home cook who auditioned was Jocelyn, who was a romance author that was representing Scotland. My uncle was immediately confident that she was not going to win an apron due to the fact that she was representing Scotland, and there are not that many iconic dishes from Scotland. And I actually agreed with him, because the only dish from Scotland that I am familiar with is Haggis. For those of you who don’t know what Haggis is, which I hope is every one of you, it’s a Savory Pudding containing Sheep Heart, Liver, and Lungs minced with Chopped Onion, Oatmeal, Suet, which is the Raw, Hard Fat of Beef, Lamb, or Mutton, finished with Seasonings and Salt, mixed with Stock, and cooked while encased in the animal’s stomach. No, I am not making a word of this up. This is all from the Wikipedia page for Haggis. And if you don’t believe me, here’s a picture of what it looks like. 

What happened next was another weird moment, as Jocelyn then proceeded to recite a hypothetical romance novel about Gordon Ramsay, which started off as relating to that exact moment in time of her presenting her dish, before turning into what sounded like a romantic fantasy about Gordon Ramsay.

She then presented her dish, which was a Crispy Skin Salmon with a Cauliflower Veloute. I’m just going to say this right now, I am not a big fan of fish, so any time a contestant presents a fish dish, I won’t say too many positive things about it. Also, this was one of the most basic looking dishes I have ever seen. Here’s an image of the dish to show you what I mean. 

As soon as Gordon Ramsay cut into the Salmon, he asked her if the cook on the salmon was what she wanted, and the show went to commercial after that. Just from that alone, me, my dad, and my uncle knew that meant that it wasn’t cooked properly, and me and my dad correctly guessed that the Salmon was raw, which meant that Jocelyn did not get an apron.

The next home cook that auditioned was Aghata, who was born in and was representing Spain, and the dish she made was Arroz Meloso with Seafood and Snapper. For those of you who don’t know what it means in English, Arroz Meloso means Creamy Rice. I know that I just talked about how I hate fish, but I do like other Seafood like Scallops, Calamari, Lobster, Crab, and Shrimp. This is just my way of saying that if it wasn’t for the Snapper on top of the dish, I would be willing to give it a try. Here’s the dish in case you want to see what it looks like. 

Chef Ramsay immediately said that he loved the fragrance in the dish, as he could smell the Saffron from there, and Tiffany said that visually the dish looked beautiful and was jumping off the plate, and Chef Ramsay also said that the Snapper was cooked beautifully. 

From there, the judges could not have praised the dish any more, and they all gave the dish a “Yes,” which meant that Aghata had won the third apron of the season. 

After that, the last three contestants in this group had begun cooking their dishes.

Up first was Ted, who was representing Greece. And in case you were wondering, yes, he, his wife, and Gordon Ramsay did the traditional smashing of plates. His dish was a Shrimp Souvlaki with Whipped Feta and Homemade Pita, which is certainly a dish that I would be willing to try. Have a look at it for yourselves.

The judges, particularly Tiffany, immediately commented that the dish looked good, and Joe asked Ted if he made the Pita himself, to which he responded that he did. Tiffany and Joe both immediately said “Yes,” which meant that it was up to Chef Ramsay, who said that the dish was simple, but still also said “Yes,” which meant that Ted won the next apron.

The last two auditions were shown at the same time, so I’m just going to go in the order of who didn’t get an apron and who did. 

The next contestant auditioning was Jeff, who was representing Poland, who made a Pork Cotolette with Herbed Spatzle, which is absolutely a dish that I would be willing to try. The judges liked the dish, but they felt that it was dry, so Jeff did not get an apron. 

The last contestant auditioning on this episode was Basia, who was also representing Poland, and much like Julia, had an interesting prior connection to MasterChef, which is that her husband Michael was a contestant on Season 11, and was also there to support her during the audition. 

For her dish, she made Polish Truffle Golumpkis with Dill Oil. For those of you who don’t know what Golumpki is, it is Boiled Cabbage Leaves wrapped around a Filling of Minced Pork or Beef, Chopped Onions, and Rice. Here’s an image of what it looks like.

I don’t know about you guys, but it would definitely take me quite a while before I decided to eat it. 

Tiffany asked Basia what the black shavings on top of the dish were, to which she responded that they were Grated Truffles, because she wanted to “bring out the umani taste to it.” No, I did not misspell that. She actually said “Umani” instead of “Umami.” Even more bizarre was that Joe’s first comment on the dish was that it was “kind of like putting lipstick on a pig.” Even with this first impression from Joe and some criticism from Chef Ramsay about using Truffles, she got the final apron of the contestants representing Europe.

Overall, this was a great start to the season, and I feel a great start to my writing. I hope you all enjoyed what I had to say, and I’ll see you all next week for the next round of auditions with contestants representing Asia-Pacific!