Tonight’s episode was all about being a team or staying true to your goal of winning the MasterChef Canada prize.
The Top 11 took it to the construction site where they fought for their right to stay in competition in the first Team Challenge of the season. The home cooks had to prepare and cook fresh chicken for 101 builders who then voted on which team made their favourite dish.
The stars of the last Elimination Challenge, Michael V. and Jonathan, were chosen to be the team captains for the blue and red teams. What a great chance to show your ability to manage people, especially when they all have different ideas! But that was just one of the benefits for the captains. Each also had an option of choosing people or protein first. Michael V. had the right to choose the kind of meat he wanted to cook with: dark or white chicken. Jonathan had the power to choose a teammate first. Which would you choose, meat or chefs?
The countdown began. With two hours to go, teams got together to discuss their menu. The blue team had a lot of inspiration from Middle-East and Mediterranean cuisine while the red team went more Southern by using Beccy’s idea of stuffing the chicken breast with duxelles (finely chopped mushrooms), she was almost a team captain for the red team. The red team cooked stuffed chicken breast with white and sweet potato mash and garlic swiss chard, and the blue team made Moroccan-spiced chicken with Egyptian red rice and spiced roasted cauliflower.
Both teams made some fantastic dishes but the winning team was the red team! Was it because the blue team made raw chicken, or there is another reason? Let me know what you think in the comments section below!
Losing the Team challenge meant a Pressure Test for the blue squad, but Michael V. got the chance to save one of his team members or himself. He saved himself, leaving Michael G., Kaegan, Nadia and Reem to prepare a replication of black forest cake in just 80 minutes. The pressure was on!
Nadia and Michael G. made it through the pressure test, leaving Reem and Kaegan in the bottom two. Though Kaegan’s cake was the most flavourful, it wasn’t enough for chefs Michael, Alvin and Claudio to let him stay on MasterChef Canada. Kaegan went home and Reem headed to the balcony.
MasterChef Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on CTV.