MasterChef Season 16, Episode 13

After another great episode last week, it was time for the next episode of Season 16 of MasterChef!

But this wasn’t just any regular episode of MasterChef, this was the infamous Tag Team Challenge! For those of you wondering what that entails, it’s where all the contestants are working in teams of two to recreate a certain number of dishes, but only one can cook at a time, and they switch out every ten minutes. It gets as crazy as you think it does. 

With that explanation out of the way, let’s get into the actual episode!

The kitchen was decorated like some sort of tropical jungle or forest for some reason this episode, and when you find out the reason, you are going to cringe as hard as I did. 

You see, the show has frequently done product placement for a number of challenges, but for the most part, they have all been cooking related, minus the one from earlier in the season where the challenge was sponsored by The Home Depot, and gave us the first time in history that someone actually got emotional about it. 

But this one is somehow even more bizarre than that, as the product placement for this challenge, and the reason why the kitchen was decorated the way it was, was inspired by the upcoming DreamWorks animated movie Forgotten Island. Yes, they actually featured product placement for a movie that has nothing to do with cooking. And not only that, it’s a movie that has nothing to do with the network that the show was broadcast on. I’m not even joking when I say that I would have expected this product placement to be on Top Chef rather than MasterChef, as Top Chef has already had several challenges that served as product placement for Universal movies, and as I am writing this right now, I am dreading the absolute likelihood that the next season of Top Chef will feature a challenge that will tie in to the fifth Shrek movie. 

For those of you who are wondering what this movie could possibly have to do with cooking, allow me to explain. The judges did some serious mental gymnastics to reverse engineer its connection to the Tag Team Challenge, saying that much like the best friends from Forgotten Island and their adventure, the home cooks would be going on their own journey with a friend. That is such a massive stretch that Chef Ramsay probably pulled a muscle on that one. 

Chef Tiffany then said that just like their friends in Forgotten Island, they know that memories are important, so the home cooks would be cooking dishes based on the judges fondest food memories. Wow, I had no idea that when I started writing about MasterChef, I would learn so much about stretching. 

The judges then explained that they had chosen three dishes that the home cooks had to replicate exactly. 

The dish that Chef Ramsay chose was Shepherd’s Pie, which consists of Ground Lamb and Mashed Potatoes, and this is a dish that I would be willing to try. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

The dish that Chef Tiffany chose was Striped Bass & Dirty Rice in a Chermoula Sauce, which I am not too sure that I would want to have, especially considering the Dirty Rice contained ingredients like Livers and Gizzards. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

The dish that Joe chose was Veal Milanese with Sautéed Rapini and Oven Roasted Tomatoes, which is a dish that I would absolutely be willing to try. Here’s an image of what the dish looked like.

Okay, so now you know how the challenge worked, and what everyone had to make, so now let’s get into teams.

The teams were Peter & Tkaiya, Julia & Heidi, Aishu & Jaime, Dave & Jake, and Foo & Basia. 

Chef Ramsay then said that the team that did the best job replicating the dishes would win tickets to the red carpet premiere of Forgotten Island. I was going to say that none of the home cooks would want that, but considering there are some pretty notable celebrities voicing characters in the movie, the home cooks would definitely want the chance to meet them. 

I’m not going to get too much into what happened during the cook time, but I will point out some highlights that stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Chef Ramsay immediately noticed Basia starting the Potatoes well after the other ingredients had gone on, and Chef Tiffany noticed that Jaime had added the Rice straight to the Gizzards raw, which are both problems because two famous chefs said they were problems. 

Then, Foo started making the Chermoula, which was a problem according to Chef Ramsay, because there were elements on each dish that needed to be cooked and took a long time, and he was prioritizing a Sauce that didn’t need to be cooked and didn’t take long at all. Then, it got to be a point where Chef Tiffany said it would be the best idea to start ricing the Potatoes, and then piping them so they can go in the oven, and Foo and Basia’s Potatoes were still boiling.

Then, Chef Ramsay went up to them, and found out that the Potatoes were still lumpy, and he asked them why they were making the Chermoula before they were making the Mashed Potatoes, to which Foo responded that the approach he and Basia were taking was making one dish at a time, to which Chef Ramsay told him that they needed to get all the prep for all three dishes done first.

Julia and Heidi found out too late that they did not put Egg Yolks in the Mash, so that put them behind schedule.

By the way, I have just told you who screwed up this challenge. All three teams I just talked about did the worst at this challenge, and you won’t believe how it ends. 

So, now I’m just going to fast forward to the tasting of every team’s dishes.

Up first was Tkaiya & Peter.

I would take screenshots here of the comparisons for all the dishes, but I have already taken a total of 23 just for this week’s blog posts combined, and I don’t feel like making this even harder for myself, so just enjoy what I am writing. 

Chef Ramsay said that their Shepherd’s Pie looked a little bit too caramelized, as if it was cooked too long, but upon tasting it, he said that it had a really nice flavor and the vegetables were cooked beautifully, and even though they looked burnt, the Potatoes were delicious, and these sentiments were shared by the other two judges.

Chef Tiffany said that the Dirty Rice on their dish was a little more white than on her dish, but it was still a beautiful representation. She then said that she could hear the crunch as she cut into the Striped Bass, and it was also cooked nicely. She then said that the Striped Bass was delicious, and the Rice had good flavor, but it just wasn’t dirty enough, but it was still delicious. And I’m pretty sure that criticism has never been said by anyone else in history. 

Joe then said that their Veal Milanese was a little bit too thick, but it looked like it was cooked through, it was tender, and it was seasoned well. 

Up next was Julia & Heidi.

Chef Ramsay immediately had a problem with the Shepherd’s Pie, as the Mash looked all over the place. Upon actually tasting it, he said that the Lamb was delicious and seasoned beautifully, but they had too much Mash, and Chef Tiffany said that she wished the Potatoes were a little more brown. 

Chef Tiffany then said that the Striped Bass dish was missing the Chermoula Sauce, there were no Herbs, there was no Garnish, and the Lemon belonged on the Veal Milanese, so she could tell that the dish was rushed. She then said that it looked like the bottom of the Fish was undercooked, but there were some pieces that were cooked nicely, and the Rice had a different flavor.

Joe then said that the Veal Milanese was the best of the three dishes in terms of appearance, and it was also golden brown and cooked perfectly, and as Chef Tiffany said, it was also the saving grace for the two of them not getting eliminated.

Up next was Jaime & Aishu.

Chef Ramsay immediately said that their Shepherd’s Pie looked so unappetizing, and also said that it looked like a giant zit. He then explained that when you fry off the Lamb, you then have to drain it, and they didn’t drain the fat before they piped the Mash, so as a result, it was like eating a mouthful of fat, and even though the Lamb was seasoned decently, it was so greasy. 

Chef Tiffany then said that her dish had no Herbs, the Rice was clumped together, and the Chermoula looked bad. The Striped Bass was also raw in the center, and there were Coriander Seeds and Fennel everywhere.

Joe then said that the coloring on the Breadcrumbs on the Veal Milanese was not terrible, and even though it was thick, the Meat inside was pink, and it was also fried properly, but the Tomatoes were not charred, and there was not much sautéing going on there. 

Up next was Dave & Jake. 

Chef Ramsay told them that their Shepherd’s Pie looked fantastic, the Lamb was delicious, fragrant, and cooked beautifully, and even though the Mashed Potatoes needed a touch of Salt, he still considered it a great job.

Chef Tiffany then said that the Dirty Rice looked beautiful and the Fish Skin looked crispy, but the Chermoula didn’t look as vibrant as hers. She then cut into the Fish and saw that it was cooked beautifully, and to say that she enjoyed the rest of the dish would be an understatement, as she still enjoyed the Chermoula despite her concerns about it. 

Joe then said that for the Veal Milanese, they had a dead ringer for his dish, and it was also cooked, seasoned, and tasted beautifully.

Last up was Foo & Basia. 

Chef Ramsay immediately had a problem with the Shepherd’s Pie, as they had taken off Potatoes that were undercooked, and then tried to put them through the ricer, and they ended up looking like a pile of something. Chef Ramsay did say what it was a pile of, but I want you to guess what he said. Upon cutting into it and tasting it, Chef Tiffany pulled something out and Joe said “What’s that?” As we already had a moment this season where someone dropped a band-aid in their food, I was absolutely expecting something disgusting, and with the way Joe was holding it, it looked like he was holding a hair that had fallen into the food. When the show came back from commercial, it turned out that it was actually a Thyme Stalk, and it wasn’t the only one in the Shepherd’s Pie. 

Chef Ramsay then said that the Mash was tasty, but the Lamb was obliterated with Fresh Thyme and Rosemary. He then asked them if they had ever made Shepherd’s Pie before, to which Foo said that he hadn’t before, and Basia said that she had made a Vegan version before, which Tiffany said meant “No.” 

Chef Tiffany then said that their Chermoula was nice and bright green, and the Fish Skin looked crispy, but the Rice did not look like her Rice at all. The Fish was properly cooked and moist and nice on the inside, but the Rice was undercooked, and the flavor of the Dirty Rice didn’t taste like her dish. 

Joe then said that the crust on the Veal Milanese was burnt, the Veal itself was thick, the proportion of Meat to Breadcrumb was wrong, and in his words, there was no respect for the process or the spirit of the dish.

From there, it was time for the judges to pick a winning team, and they chose Dave & Jake, who were now going to have some sort of advantage in the next challenge, and also go to the red carpet premiere of Forgotten Island.

From there, the judges now had to decide which team to eliminate, and it was between Jaime & Aishu and Foo & Basia, and they chose to eliminate Jaime & Aishu, which simultaneously does and does not surprise me. On one hand, they arguably made the worst dishes of the night, but on the other hand, they have been way more consistent than Foo and Basia, who have both made terrible dishes so many times.

Overall, this was another enjoyable episode of MasterChef, and I’ll see you all next week when the home cooks have to take on The Wall!