Eggs Benedict

After a great start to the competition last week, it was time for the second episode, where the contestants had to make their own take on Eggs Benedict, while also infusing their own cultures into the dish. I’m just going to say this right now, I’ve never had Eggs Benedict before, and I’m not entirely sure if I ever will. That concludes your unimportant bit of information for the day.

Before I get into the episode, let me just pose a hypothetical question for you all. Have you ever watched something that starts off incredibly slow, only for it to really pick up as it gets towards the middle, and just become absolutely amazing once it gets towards the ending? That’s exactly what happened with this episode. The truth is, when you’re watching people all trying to make the same dish that has essentially only two major components, it’s not going to be too interesting to see what everyone is making, even with all the ways that the contestants try make theirs unique from all the other ones. But once we were more than halfway through the cooking, and again when everyone started plating, things got interesting, as it seemed that the judges had problems with a majority of the dishes before they were even finished, and so many contestants messed up the basic concept of plating their dishes.

The episode started off in a very normal way: with a bunch of product placement for Eggland’s Best, with the judges talking about all the health benefits that they definitely knew about off the top of their heads, and were not paid to say whatsoever, or were reading from a script. Yeah, not exactly off to the best start here. Look, I know that product placement in shows is nothing new, even for this show, and it’s not even the worst example of it happening on this show or any other cooking show, but it doesn’t make it any less cringeworthy when it happens. 

The episode itself was a Mystery Box Challenge, and for those of you who don’t know how that works, it typically means that the contestants have to make a dish with all or some of the ingredients underneath it. In this case, they had to make a dish with Eggs, and as I have already said, that dish turned out to be Eggs Benedict. 

In order to get inspiration for how to incorporate their own cultures into their dishes, Chef Ramsay gave a demonstration on how he would incorporate his Scottish roots into Eggs Benedict, by also including Lobster and Spinach. I will admit that I know absolutely nothing about Scottish Cuisine, but are Lobster and Spinach really staple ingredients in Scottish Cuisine? He also put Chives and Caviar in his Hollandaise Sauce, and all the ingredients were placed on a Croissant. 

Since Aishu had won the last challenge, she now had the ability to put an entire team at a disadvantage. This disadvantage was that one team now had to use a tiny whisk, which in Chef Ramsay’s words, would take you three times longer. She chose to give the home cooks representing Europe the tiny whisks, saying that she knew there was some tough competition there.

From there, it was time to start cooking, and just like last week, I will be sharing the dishes that are made, even if they are not highlighted by the judges. 

Daniel chose to make an Eggs Benedict inspired by Cantonese Ginger Scallion Lobster, which might be something that I would consider trying. 

Julia chose to make Shrimp Scampi Eggs Benedict on an Anchovy Butter Crostini, which is another dish that I might consider trying. 

Ted chose to make an Eggs Benedict that was inspired by Spanakopita, which is a Phyllo Dough filled with Spinach and Feta, and it was also going to have a Hollandaise that had Fish Roe in it, and this is another dish I would consider trying. Minus the Fish Roe, of course.

Tkaiya then said that she was making an Ackee & Saltfish With Callaloo Eggs Benedict. For those of you who don’t know what some of these are, Ackee is a Fruit that is native to West Africa and has a nutty flavor and the texture of Scrambled Eggs when cooked, Saltfish is a Preserved White Fish, and Callaloo is a Caribbean Leaf Vegetable. This is another dish that I might consider trying.

From this point, the judges started talking about the dishes that were being made, and they sounded skeptical of every dish that was being made, which was such huge foreshadowing for what was to come.

After they asked a few more contestants what they were making, it was time for everyone to start plating, and I have never seen anyone on any of the other cooking shows I have watched struggle with plating more than a majority of these contestants did with the simple act of plating Eggs Benedict, as some of them broke their Eggs, their Eggs slid off, and some of them even had problems with their Hollandaise. Things did not get much better as the judges walked around giving one final look to all the dishes, as one of the Eggs on Julia’s plate slid off, and Rita was unable to plate her Hollandaise Sauce, which as Joe remarked, made it an incomplete dish. 

Despite everything that happened, the judges were somehow able to pick four top dishes from all four teams. 

The best dish from the home cooks representing Asia-Pacific belonged to Shompa, who made Shrimp Malai Curry Eggs Benedict with Curry Hollandaise Sauce and Poori Bread, which is a dish that I would consider giving a try. If you’re curious, here’s what the dish looks like.

The judges loved that she took the risk of incorporating the Malai Curry and making the Bread, and the taste was also great, particularly the Hollandaise and the Bread.

The best dish from the home cooks representing Europe belonged to Basia, who made Kapusta Eggs Benedict with Dill Hollandaise Sauce and Pork Sausage. For those of you who don’t know what that is, Kapusta is a Polish Cabbage dish. This is another dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s a picture of it, for those of you who are curious.

The judges thought the Eggs and the Hollandaise looked great, and the Eggs were also cooked beautifully, and they were also impressed by the idea of putting Pork and Sauerkraut in a Benedict.

The best dish from the home cooks representing Africa belonged to Heidi. Also, I know that none of you really need to know this, but her name is not pronounced like how you think. It’s pronounced more like the country Haiti.

So now that I have gotten that absolutely crucial piece of information out of the way, the dish that she made was Crawfish Eggs Benedict with Peri Peri Hollandaise Sauce. And if you’re curious what Peri Peri is, it’s an African Pepper. This is another dish that I would consider trying. Here’s a picture of it for those of you who are curious. 

The judges loved the inclusion of Peri Peri in the Hollandaise, said that the Eggs were cooked beautifully, and they loved what she did with the Crawfish. 

The best dish from the home cooks representing The Americas belonged to Maria, who made Eggs Benedict with Creamy Leeks, which is another dish that I would consider trying. If you’re curious as to what it looked like, here’s a picture of it. 

The judges really admired that she took a very minimalistic strategy compared to everyone else, admitting that it paid off using just Leeks and Cream. 

From there, the judges picked a winner, who was revealed to be Heidi, which meant that she would be safe from elimination in the next episode, and everyone else representing Africa would be safe for the night. This proved to be good news for Rita, who was told by Chef Ramsay that if Heidi hadn’t won, she would have been in the Bottom Four. I don’t know about you guys, but I feel that if Rita did end up in the bottom, she would have gone home, as the judges have a history of sending home contestants who either serve incomplete dishes or don’t fulfill the requirements of the challenge.

This meant that it was time for the judges to pick the Bottom Three. 

The home cook representing Asia-Pacific that landed in the Bottom Three was Foo, which was not surprising, as the judges had pointed out all the bizarre choices he had made when it came to making a dish he had only made once before. The dish he made was Shaking Beef Eggs Benedict with Crispy Pancetta, Sautéed Asparagus, and Thai Basil Hollandaise Sauce. I would consider trying this dish if it was made correctly. Here’s a picture of what the dish looked like.

The judges criticized him for overcomplicating his dish, and not focusing on the main components of the Poached Egg and Hollandaise.

The home cook representing Europe that landed in the Bottom Three was Nico, who made a Bomboloni Inspired Eggs Benedict with Tomato Jam, Braised Artichokes, and Basil Hollandaise Sauce. I feel like if this dish was made correctly, I might consider trying it. Here’s a picture of what it looked like.

The judges immediately had a problem with this dish, as Chef Ramsay initially said that it looked like the Hollandaise needed more Butter, to which Chef Tiffany said that she said that to him during the cook time, and all three judges disagreed with how he said that his dish was inspired by a Bomboloni, as Bomboloni is a Donut, while his dish used Croissant Dough. The judges also said that the Eggs and the Tomato Jam were good, and the Hollandaise was actually good, but it looked a mess.

The home cook representing The Americas that landed in the Bottom Three was Camilo, who made Eggs Benedict Torta with Chorizo Beans and Spicy Hollandaise Sauce, which is another dish that I might want to try if it was made correctly. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

The judges immediately commented on how unappetizing it looked, and the fact that it also tasted bad, in addition to not looking like a proper Eggs Benedict. 

From there, the judges made their decision about who would be eliminated after this challenge, and the contestant they eliminated was Camilo, which did not surprise me.

Overall, this was an interesting episode of MasterChef that started off really slow and picked up a lot as it went on! I will see you all next week when we have our first Team Challenge of the season, plus an appearance from a special guest judge! By the way, I am 99.9% positive I know who the guest judge is going to be, but I am not going to say anything right now. We are just going to have to wait until next week to see if I am right.