MasterChef (US TV series)

This article is about the Fox television show. For the PBS television show, see MasterChef USA. For other uses, see MasterChef.

MasterChef
Series logo and wordmark
Genre	Cookery
Format	Game show
Presented by	Gordon Ramsay Joe Bastianich Graham Elliot
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	24
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	One Potato Two Potato Reveille Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV)
Audio format	Dolby Digital 5.1
First shown in	United Kingdom
Original run	July 27, 2010 (2010-07-27) – present
External links
Website

MasterChef is a 2010 American competitive cooking reality show, open to amateur and home chefs. It is co-hosted and co-produced by Gordon Ramsay.^[1] Produced by Reveille Productions, it first debuted on July 27, 2010 at 9 pm ET/PT on the Fox Television Network, following one of Ramsay's other series, Hell's Kitchen.^[2] The first series was initially seen Tuesday nights at 9 pm ET/PT; it moved to Wednesday nights at 8 pm ET/PT on August 18.

On September 7, 2010, MasterChef was renewed for a second season.^[3] The second season started with a two night premiere on June 6 & 7, 2011.

During the August 1st & 2nd, 2011 episodes a casting call was issued for season 3.

The winner of season 1 was Whitney Miller. The second season, aired in 2011, was won by Jennifer Behm.

Format

MasterChef is based on the first season of the Australian format, produced by FremantleMedia Australia, which in turn was based on the BBC series MasterChef. Chef, television personality and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay together with restaurateur and vineyard owner Joe Bastianich and chef Graham Elliot are the judges in this new version of MasterChef. The US version, however, has some deviations from the Australian version. The challenges also vary from season to season.

Preliminaries

Of all the amateur chefs who audition nationwide, one hundred are chosen to cook their signature dish for the three judges. Each judge takes a taste of the dish and gives his opinion before voting a "yes" or a "no". At least two "yes" votes are required to earn a white MasterChef apron, allowing the competitor to advance.

Challenge night

The contestants who advanced out of the preliminary round next compete in two challenges. In the first, contestants complete a certain task, to the specification of the chefs, such as cutting and dicing onions or slicing apples. The chefs who are not eliminated while performing the task immediately proceed to an "invention test". A theme is given to the remaining contestants, who have thirty minutes to create and cook a dish relevant to this theme. The contestants can cook with any ingredient they want, as long as the theme is prevalent in the dish. Once the dishes are cooked, they are all presented to the judges for tasting —presentation, taste and the prevalence of the theme ingredient is considered.

Mystery Box challenge

In the Mystery Box challenge, contestants receive a number of ingredients of which they are to make a dish of their choice. The contestants are allowed to use any number of the ingredients they wish, and are free to leave any ingredients out. Once the dishes are finished, the judges choose three of the dishes to taste. The winner receives an advantage in the following elimination challenge.

Off-site team challenge

The off-site team challenge involves the contestants being split into two teams, blue and red which consist of equal numbers and are given a task, for example, running a restaurant or catering for a party or wedding. After the task has been completed, the teams are given the results, which can be determined by third party votes. Members of the losing team compete in an elimination challenge.

Pressure test

A "pressure test" challenge involves competitors who failed in a previous challenge (i.e. the three worst performers in an individual challenge or the losing team in a group challenge). The competitors are given a dish that they then must create in a particular time frame. Once the contestants have finished cooking, the dishes are taken to the judges to be tasted, who then criticize, vote and eliminate one or more contestants.

Celebrity chef

A celebrity chef challenge involves a contestant who won a particular challenge. The contestant competes against a celebrity chef in a cook off. The celebrity chef gives the contestant the recipe to reproduce, and the contestant receives a head start to cook the dish before the celebrity chef starts cooking and after a certain time the dishes are presented to the judges who taste and score out of ten. The dishes are tasted by the judges in a blind-tasting fashion, meaning that they are never aware which dish was made by whom. If the contestant scores higher than the celebrity chef, they receive an immunity pin which they can use during an elimination to pass the elimination challenge.

Season 1: 2010

Contestants

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown	Episode of Elimination	Place Finished
Whitney Miller	22	College Student	Poplarville, Mississippi	Winner	1st
David Miller	29	Software Engineer	Boston, Massachusetts	Episode 13	2nd
Lee Knaz	27	Bartender	Venice, California	Episode 12	3rd/4th
Sheetal Bhagat	37	Teacher	Chicago, Illinois
Sharone Hakman	28	Financial Advisor	Los Angeles, California	Episode 11	5th
Mike Kim	34	Server	Redondo Beach, California	Episode 10	6th
Jake Gandolfo	38	Construction Worker	Santa Cruz, California	Episode 9	7th
Tracy Nailor	42	Doctor	Atlanta, Georgia		8th
Slim Huynh	22	College Student	Harvey, Louisiana	Episode 8	9th
Tony Carbone	31	Server	Boston, Massachusetts	Episode 7	10th
Faruq Jenkins	30	Bartender	Glendale, California	Episode 6	11th
Jenna Hamiter	23	Homemaker	Euless, Texas	Episode 5	12th
Sheena Zadeh	26	Marketing Executive	Anaheim, California	Episode 4	13th
Avis White	47	Elderly Caregiver	Vacherie, Louisiana		14th

Elimination table

Place	Contestant	Episode
		3	4		5	6		7	8		9	10		11	12	13
1	Whitney	Top 14	WIN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	PT	IN	LOW	WIN	HIGH	WIN	PT	WIN	WINNER
2	David	Top 14	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	HIGH	WIN	WIN	RUNNER-UP
3/4	Lee	Top 14	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	WIN	WIN	PT	IN	LOW	HIGH	ELIM
	Sheetal	Top 14	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	LOW	WIN	WIN	LOW	IN	ELIM
5	Sharone	Top 14	IN	IN	PT	WIN	CC	WIN	HIGH	IN	WIN	HIGH	HIGH	ELIM
6	Mike	Top 14	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	ELIM
7	Jake	Top 14	HIGH	IN	WIN	HIGH	WIN	PT	IN	IN	ELIM
8	Tracy	Top 14	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	LOW	ELIM
9	Slim	Top 14	IN	IN	PT	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	ELIM
10	Tony	Top 14	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	ELIM
11	Faruq	Top 14	IN	LOW	PT	IN	ELIM
12	Jenna	Top 14	IN	IN	ELIM
13	Sheena	Top 14	HIGH	ELIM
14	Avis	Top 14	IN	ELIM

     (WINNER) This chef won the competition.

     (RUNNER-UP) This chef received second place.

     (Top 14) The chef won a place in the Top 14.

     (WIN) The chef won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.

     (WIN) The chef was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was safe from the Pressure Test.

     (CC) The chef received the advantage of competing against a celebrity chef in this challenge. If they won, they advanced farther on in the competition, skipping a number of challenges. The chef could not be eliminated after this challenge.

     (HIGH) The chef was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.

     (IN) The chef was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.

     (PT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge (except episode 11 — an Individual Challenge) , competed in the pressure test, and advanced.

     (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.

     (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.

     (ELIM) The chef was eliminated from MasterChef.

Follow up

First season winner Whitney Miller has published the Masterchef cookbook "Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm" due for sale in July, 2011.^[4][5]

Season 2: 2011

Season 2 of MasterChef had a two-night premiere on Fox on June 6 and 7, 2011.^[6] At the end of the third episode, which aired on June 13, 2011, the judges had tasted all 100 dishes and given white MasterChef aprons to 38 contestants. In the fourth episode that aired on June 14, 2011, the judges cut that number down to 18 contestants.^[7]

Contestants

Source:^[8]

Contestant	Age	Occupation	Hometown	Episode of Elimination	Place Finished
Jennifer Behm[9][10]	34	Realtor	Wilmington, Delaware	Winner	1st
Adrien Nieto	28	Server	Ventura, California	Episode 20	2nd
Christian Collins	31	Stay at Home Father	Gloucester, Massachusetts	Episode 19	3rd
Suzy Singh[11]	27	Neural Engineer	Chicago, Illinois	Episode 18	4th
Ben Starr[12]	33	Travel Writer	Dallas, Texas	Episode 17	5th
Tracy Kontos[13]	32	Sales Consultant	Coral Springs, Florida	Episode 16	6th
Derrick Prince[14]	33	Web Designer/Blogger	West Babylon, New York	Episode 15	7th
Christine Corley	27	Single Mom	Sopchoppy, Florida		8th
Alejandra Schrader[15][16]	37	Architect/Urban Planner	Playa del Rey, California	Episode 13	9th
Giuseppe Morisco	38	Granite Salesman	Chicago, Illinois	Episode 12	10th
Erryn Cobb[17]	26	Public Relations	Chicago, Illinois	Episode 11	11th
Esther Kang	28	Lawyer	Los Angeles, California	Episode 10	12th
Jennie Kelley	37	Musician	Dallas, Texas	Episode 9	13th
Max Kramer	18	Student	New York City, New York	Episode 8	14th
Alvin Schultz	28	Retail Manager	Houston, Texas	Episode 7	15th
Tony Scruggs	52	Truck Driver	Grant Park, Illinois	Episode 6	16th
Mark Raffaeli[18]	35	Realtor	Chicago, Illinois	Episode 5	17th
Angel Moore-Soukkay	37	Property Manager	Columbus, Ohio		18th

Elimination table

Place	Contestant	Episode
		4	5		6	7		8	9		10	11		12	13		14	15		16	17		18	19		20
1	Jennifer	Top 18	IN	IN	LOW	LOW	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	PT	WIN	LOW	WIN	IN	LOW	PT	WIN	IN	PT	HIGH	LOW	WIN	LOW	IN	WINNER
2	Adrien	Top 18	IN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	NPT	HIGH	LOW	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	WIN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	LOW	HIGH	LOW	WIN	WIN	IN	RUNNER-UP
3	Christian	Top 18	WIN	IMM	PT	IN	IN	WIN	LOW	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	WIN	LOW	IN	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	PT	IN	ELIM
4	Suzy	Top 18	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	LOW	IN	IN	PT	IN	LOW	WIN	HIGH	WIN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
5	Ben	Top 18	LOW	IN	WIN	IN	IN	NPT	IN	WIN	PT	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	WIN	WIN	ELIM
6	Tracy	Top 18	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
7	Derrick	Top 18	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	IN	NPT	IN	IN	WIN	HIGH	IN	LOW	IN	IN	PT	IN	ELIM
8	Christine	Top 18	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	WIN	IN	ELIM
9	Alejandra	Top 18	IN	IN	PT	HIGH	IN	WIN	HIGH	LOW	WIN	HIGH	IN	PT	IN	ELIM
10	Giuseppe	Top 18	IN	IN	PT	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	WIN	ELIM
11	Erryn	Top 18	IN	LOW	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	IN	IN	WIN	LOW	ELIM
12	Esther	Top 18	IN	IN	PT	IN	WIN	NPT	IN	IN	ELIM
13	Jennie	Top 18	HIGH	IN	WIN	IN	LOW	NPT	IN	ELIM
14	Max	Top 18	IN	WIN	PT	IN	LOW	ELIM
15	Alvin	Top 18	IN	IN	WIN	IN	ELIM
16	Tony	Top 18	IN	IN	ELIM
17	Mark	Top 18	IN	ELIM
18	Angel	Top 18	IN	ELIM

     (WINNER) This chef won the competition.

     (RUNNER-UP) This chef received second place.

     (Top 18) The chef won a place in the Top 18.

     (WIN) The chef won the individual challenge (Mystery Box Challenge or Invention Test) and received an advantage in the next challenge.

     (WIN) The chef was on the winning team in the Team Challenge and was safe from the Pressure Test.

     (CC) The chef received the advantage of competing against a celebrity chef in this challenge. If they won, they advanced farther on in the competition, skipping a number of challenges. The chef could not be eliminated after this challenge.

     (HIGH) The chef was one of the top entries in the individual challenge, but did not win.

     (IN) The chef was not selected as a top entry or bottom entry in the challenge.

     (IMM) The chef won the Mystery Box Challenge and did not have to compete in the Invention Test.

     (PT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, competed in the pressure test, and advanced.

     (NPT) The chef was on the losing team in the Team Challenge, but did not compete in the pressure test, and advanced.

     (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, but was not the last person to advance.

     (LOW) The chef was one of the bottom entries in an individual elimination challenge, and was the last person to advance.

     (ELIM) The chef was eliminated from MasterChef.

Episodes

Ep #	Original airdate	Episode Title / Event
1	Monday June 6, 2011	Audition 1
2	Tuesday June 7, 2011	Audition 2
3	Monday June 13, 2011	Audition 3
4	Tuesday June 14, 2011	Top 38 Basic Skills Challenge - The thirty eight contestants had to demonstrate their knife work by creating perfectly even slices of green apple. They had to continue slicing until stopped by one of the judges, when they would find out if they were going through or going home. Twenty four contestants remained after this round. For the second round the contestants had to cook a chicken dish. Six more were eliminated, leaving the top eighteen.
5	Monday June 20, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 1 - The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients. Ben's strawberry balsamic and undercooked salmon was deemed as "hideous" earning him last place. The top three were Suzy, Christian and Jennie. Christian won the challenge with his Pistachio-crusted salmon. His prize was to choose the style of food that everyone would cook for the elimination challenge. Elimination Challenge 1 - The theme for this challenge was the cuisine of Europe. Christian chose French cuisine and also received safety from elimination, while the others had one hour to make their French dish. Derrick's French Cheese Puff Stuffed with Poached Egg and Max's Poached Cod in Cream Sauce earned them the top two spots and the job of team captain in the next challenge. The bottom three were Angel, Erryn and Mark. Angel was the first to be eliminated after a "horrendously executed" fruit tart, and Mark was eliminated for putting uncooked flour in his potatoes.
6	Tuesday June 21, 2011	Team Challenge 1 - The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Derrick and Max. The teams had to create a five-course meal for 350 busy office workers in the building. The service had to consist of soup, a salad, pizza, a special entree and dessert. At the end of service, each diner would vote for their favorite dish. The Blue Team ran out of meat and had to switch to chicken sandwiches, securing enough points for the Red Team to win and sending the Blue Team into the Pressure Test. Pressure Test Elimination 1 - The Blue Team members had to an hour to cook a simple ravioli with spinach and ricotta filling from scratch, finished with a simple butter sauce preventing them from disguising a bad pasta. The bottom three were Esther (whose filling had an aftertaste that she could not identify the source of), Jennifer (who ruined the flavor of her pasta by adding nutmeg), and Tony (whose ravioli was very poor on all counts). In the end, Tony was eliminated.
7	Monday June 27, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 2 - The contestants had to prepare a dish using only the Mystery Box ingredients, including New Zealand lamb. Jennifer's dish stood out as the worst as her lamb was completely raw. Alejandra, Adrien and Tracy landed in the top 3. Adrien won with his Farmer's Market Lamb with Cauliflower Puree. He won the opportunity to choose the theme for himself, and then everyone else in the elimination challenge. Elimination Challenge 2 - The theme for the challenge was dessert. Adrien was given the option of coffee, pineapple, and nuts. He chose nuts for himself and coffee for everyone else to use. The contestants had 90 minutes to prepare a dessert. Tracy's Espresso Chocolate Flourless Cake and Esther's Coffee Cheesecake were chosen as the two best and they became the captains for the next team challenge. Jennie, Max and Alvin landed in the bottom. While Max's Torte de Crepes was called horrible by Chef Ramsay, Alvin was eliminated for his Coffee-filled Beignets w/ Coffee Chicory Pudding which Chef Elliot simply referred to as "offensive". Chefs Ramsay and Bastianich also felt that Alvin's molecular gastronomy approach simply did not work for the competition, and advised him to "go back to basics" in the future.
8	Tuesday June 28, 2011	Team Challenge 2 - The contestants were split into two teams chosen by Tracy and Esther and were given 90 minutes to prepare sausage sandwiches for 100 bikers who would vote on which one was the best. Tracy's team made a Spicy Italian Pork Sausage w/ Caramelized Onions and Molasses while Esther's team made a Beer Soaked Sausage Patty w/ Drunken Onion and Pepper Relish. Despite an early setback when Christine and Max couldn't case the sausages, which was salvaged when Ben suggested turning them into patties, Esther's team had an early lead. Tracy's team decided to add banana peppers to their sandwich to give it a spicier flavor, which led to the blue team receiving 51 votes first for the win. Pressure Test Elimination 2 - Chef Ramsay announced that only two chefs would compete in the pressure test. He asked Esther to choose the two chefs most responsible for the loss and she chose Max and Christine due to their failure to case the sausages properly. Chef Ramsay offered Esther the opportunity to swap places with one of them, but she chose to join the rest of her team in safety. In the Pressure Test, Max and Christine were given three filets of steak to cook rare, medium, and well done. Despite Christine's well done steak being severely undercooked, her rare and medium steaks were perfect while all three of Max's steaks were slightly out, resulting in Max's elimination.
9	Tuesday July 5, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 3 - The Mystery Box contained several vegetables and spices which the chefs used to create a vegetarian entree. Before tasting, the judges deemed Christian's dish as the worst, which Christian openly disagreed with to the judges. Jennifer, Adrien and Alejandra landed in the top 3, and Jennifer won the challenge with her Vegetable Terrine w/ Eggplant Wrap and Tomato Sauce. Elimination Challenge 3 - Jennifer was given three dishes cooked by last year's Masterchef winner, Whitney Miller, to choose from for everybody to cook. She chose her Crispy Catfish w/ Homemade Slaw and Sweet Potato Fries. The contestants had to recreate the dish with no recipe while Jennifer was given a basket of all the ingredients needed to cook the dish. Christian redeemed himself from the previous challenge, as did Ben who both became captains in the next team challenge. Alejandra (who inexplicably decided to flavor her tartar sauce with raw garlic), Adrien (for his sloppy plating), and Jennie were in the bottom 3, and Jennie was eliminated.
10	Monday July 11, 2011	Team Challenge 3 - The contestants arrived at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at the London West Hollywood hotel in downtown L.A., where they were split up into teams by captains Christian and Ben, winners of the previous challenge. They catered for a Hollywood party and prepared hors d'oeuvres for all the guests, with a brief of vegetable, beef and a dessert. The winners would be decided per course, by guests' votes. The Red Team took the starter with 64% of the votes for Adrien's Duo of Gazpacho, which beat out Suzy's more tradition Gazpacho. The Blue Team had a crushing comeback on the entrée with a clean sweep of 100% of the votes for Christine's Mini Beef Wellington, after not a single guest had anything positive to say about Derrick's Steak Tartare. The dessert course proved problematic for both teams, as they both wanted to make a profiterole dish, but failed to put it up in time. Giuseppe (Red Team) decided to switch over to a Puff Pastry Fruit Tart after botching his first batch of profiteroles, whereas Esther (Blue Team) made 3 batches of dough and managed to finish her profiteroles, but a split chocolate mousse filling caused them to have to change their dessert to a simple Fruit Cup with Whipped Cream. Giuseppe's quick thinking paid off as the Red Team took the dessert course and the challenge with a close 53% of the vote, with the Blue Team up for elimination. Pressure Test Elimination 3 - Everyone on the Blue Team was given 2 hours to make a cake with a minimum of 6 layers of sponge. Judges raved over Ben and Jennifer's cakes and Tracy's was also good enough to be deemed safe from elimination. Next deemed safe was Christine, despite her "one-dimensional" cake with blackberries and double cream. It came down to Suzy's overcomplicated Chocolate Ganache Cake with Pecans and Esther's unbalanced and overly sweet and acidic Lemon Raspberry Cake. Esther's was deemed the weakest because of Suzy's delicious ganache, and she was eliminated.
11	Monday July 18, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 4 - With a lobster in their Mystery Box, the contestants fired up their creativity. Derrick, Alejandra and Jennifer were the top 3. Christian, considered a seafood expert, showed disrespect towards the other contestants by eating his own dish during the tasting of Jennifer's dish, for which he got told off by Joe. Jennifer won the Mystery Box with her dish of Baked Lobster. Elimination Challenge 4 - In this challenge with an aphrodisiac theme, Jennifer got to pick from core ingredients of oysters, artichokes and truffles for everyone to cook with. She picked the very expensive truffle and was given the option to watch everyone cook from the balcony with a glass of champagne, but decided to stay and cook with everyone else. Tracy and Guiseppe were the top two and named captains for the next team challenge. Erryn, Adrien and Jennifer landed in the bottom 3. Jennifer, despite her advantage, failed to impress with her undercooked Cottled Eggs, Adrien's "categorical disaster" dish suffered from horrible plating and overpowering chilli and Erryn's dish was let down by burnt steak and crunchy vegetables. With Jennifer just barely deemed safe, Adrien and Erryn were left with two bad dishes, one of them deemed "the worst we've ever seen" by the judges. Chef Ramsay offered its implied creator the chance to step back from the competition, which Erryn graciously accepted as he resigned to let Adrien continue because "[at least] he cooked his steak perfectly".
12	Tuesday July 19, 2011	Team Challenge 4 - The red and blue teams each cooked a three-course menu under the scrutiny of the judges' moms, including Joe's mother, world famous chef Lydia Bastianich. The Blue Team won the challenge, despite a risky decision to cook a fish entrée, knowing Gordon's mother doesn't like fish. Pressure Test Elimination 4 - Giuseppe nearly got kicked out before the pressure test even started, after he enraged the judges by indirectly questioning the palates of the three mothers. The Red Team were given 30 minutes to create the perfect Eggs Benedict. Ben and Suzy were the only two to cook competent dishes, with only minor flaws. After they were declared safe, Giuseppe, Derrick and Alejandra were left. Alejandra failed to impress with her overcooked eggs "like golfballs" and botched hollandaise sauce, but was the third to be declared safe. The decision was between Giuseppe's messy dish with undercooked eggs and Derrick's with a lack of sauce. Ultimately, the judges decided that serving them raw eggs was the biggest mistake and Giuseppe was eliminated.
13	Tuesday July 26, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 5 - The contestants, among other ingredients, found some hand-dived scallops in their Mystery Boxes. The top three consisted of Christian, Adrien and Ben. Adrien's Trio of Scallops won over Ben's risky combination of scallops and bananas. Elimination Challenge 5 - Adrien, as winner of the Mystery Box, got to choose between nine different cuts of pork, ranging from easy to hard. He got to pick his own cut (pork chops) and assign the other cuts to the other contestants, including the difficult pork cheeks (Christian) and pork belly (Suzy). The contestants only got 1 hour to cook their pork dish with pantry ingredients, making the tougher cuts very challenging to cook in time. Christian, who cooked the most difficult cut of pork cheek to perfection, and Christine, whose humble dish of baby-back ribs delighted the judges, were named team captains for the next challenge. Derrick and Ben (who narrowly averted disaster by removing over a dozen undercooked beans from his chilli) were also praised for doing wonders with difficult cuts of pork. Suzy and Jennifer each cooked a dish that was bad enough to make the judges spit it out, and the judges even told Suzy that her dish was the worst-tasting thing that they had ever seen on the show. Ultimately though, it was Alejandra that made the biggest mistake by serving up raw pork loin, considered the easiest cut. Alejandra was eliminated, but the judges told Suzy that she would have been the one who was sent home, were it not for Alejandra's error.
14	Monday August 1, 2011	Team Challenge 5 - With Christine and Christian as captains, the blue and red teams headed into a catering service for a children's party. Their menus had to contain a slider and a side dish. Despite their unorthodox menu choice according to the judges, the Red Team received the most votes in the end, avoiding what Chef Ramsay called "the toughest Pressure Test so far". Pressure Test Elimination 5 - Christian, Jennifer, Derrick and Adrien faced a soufflé challenge, in which they were given 90 minutes to cook their best savory soufflé. Due to the difficult timing and extremely delicate nature of the dish, they could put up their most successful soufflé at any time during the challenge and make as many for back-up as they wanted. Despite some minor technical errors or unbalanced flavors, the judges thought every contestant's soufflé was delicious, therefore no one was eliminated.
15	Tuesday August 2, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 6 - In a Mystery Box with a surf and turf theme, contestants were to cook a dish with core ingredients of beef and seafood. Adrien, Jennifer and Suzy landed in the top 3 and it was Jennifer's well-conceived risotto that sealed the win and the advantage of getting to pick the dish for the next challenge. Elimination Challenge 6 - Winner Jennifer got to pick from the three judges' childhood favorite dishes, being Joe's Pizza, Graham's Mac 'n' Cheese and Gordon's Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese. She picked Gordon's dish and the contestants were to turn it into a gourmet dish. Christine's acidic soup and oily cheese toast and Derrick's cheese-laden unbalanced dish were enough to eliminate both contestants, as no one was eliminated in the previous episode. Just before Derrick left, Chef Bastianich implied that he would be willing to employ Derrick at his restaurant.
16	Monday August 8, 2011	Team Challenge 6 - The top 6 were taken to Michelin-starred Patina restaurant in Los Angeles, where they had to run a dinner service. Tracy selected Adrien and Jennifer as part of her Blue Team, whereas Christian and Ben cooked with Suzy in the Red Team. There was chaos in the kitchen, but both teams managed to correct themselves in the end. The Red Team was declared the winner based on kitchen performance and feedback from the customers and the chefs at Patina. Pressure Test Elimination 6 - Tracy, Jennifer and Adrien faced off in a Pressure Test with a salmon theme. They were to correctly fillet a whole salmon and cut it into at least 10 portions. They then had to cook one portion and serve it to the judges. Jennifer performed best overall despite undercooking her salmon and it came down to poor performances from Adrien and Tracy. In the end, leaving the tail on her fish, uneven portioning and her undercooked salmon sealed Tracy's elimination. As a parting gift, the judges gave her a year of culinary lessons, and offered to let her work in any of their restaurants.
17	Tuesday August 9. 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 7 - The contestants were given three kinds of ground meat as a core ingredient for a dish of their choosing with other ingredients from the box, which they had to cook within 60 minutes. The top 3 consisted of Jennifer, Adrien and Ben, with the latter's Shepherd's Pie (made with ground veal instead of the traditional ground mutton) emerging triumphant. Elimination Challenge 7 - Ben, having won his first Mystery Box, got to pick one of Gordon Ramsay's signature dishes for everyone to cook with a spot in the top 4 at stake. He also got to ask Gordon three questions about the recipe, with no recipe given to the other contestants. Suzy's dish was deemed the overall best and almost a perfect copy of the original, except for being slightly too rich with butter. All the other contestants produced dishes that were "below par". Ultimately, it was Ben who was eliminated for overcooking his venison and overreducing his red wine sauce, despite his advantages.
18	Monday August 15, 2011	Team Challenge 7 - The top 4 were divided in two teams and cooked a dish for the judges, who were joined by 3 judges from international versions of MasterChef: Kunal Kapoor (India), Sébastien Demorand (France) and Michal Ansky (Israel). As the winner of the last elimination challenge, Suzy was allowed to pick which of the other three chefs she wanted to work with, and chose Christian. Suzy and Christian received some criticism on their Thanksgiving Dinner with Raspberry Coulis. Ansky thought the sauce was floury and although everyone agreed the elements were well-executed overall, Joe thought of the dish as "disrespectful" towards the international guests and exuding "a lot of animosity" between Christian and Suzy. Jennifer and Adrien's dish of Prawns with Lobster, Corn and Avocado was panned by critics for having uncleaned prawns, "watery" sauce, lack of seasoning, texture and presentation. Their team work was, however, a lot better, which ended up earning them the win for this challenge. Pressure Test Elimination 7 - With the Blue Team of Adrien and Jennifer safely in the top 3 of the competition, Suzy and Christian went head-to-head in a Pressure Test. They were given 90 minutes to recreate a Lemon Meringue Pie. Suzy's pie didn't look very attractive, had raw meringue and was too weak in texture, but the judges liked her lemon curd. Christian's dish looked better overall and had good flavor and structure, but suffered from a bad meringue as the sugar wasn't incorporated properly. Overall, the judges described the situation as "Christian's looks better than it tastes and Suzy's tastes better than it looks". Despite her reputation as this series' dessert queen, Suzy's pie fell short of the mark as her performance in the kitchen led to a teary elimination.
19	Tuesday August 16, 2011	Mystery Box Challenge 8 - The final 3 chefs were asked to cook a dish using chicken once again in 1 hour with an open pantry. Jennifer received some criticism on her dish, which suffered from both overcooked and undercooked elements. All three judges were very impressed with Adrien's dish, but only had minor compliments for Christian's. Jennifer was announced as being the least favorite dish, coming in third place. Adrien won the challenge. Elimination Challenge 8 - Adrien, Jennifer and Christian were lead once again to be shown what their challenge would consist of. In this case, it would be ingredients that were three of Joe's favorite. Due to winning the Mystery Box, Adrien got to choose his ingredient, from octopus, veal, or mushrooms. He strategically chose the octopus. Christian then got the chance to choose both his, and Jennifer's ingredient for their entrees. Christian chose veal to try and give Jennifer the worst, but Jennifer then explained she was thrilled to work with mushrooms. Adrien was commended for nearly every element on his dish, especially his core ingredient of octopus, with only his rice not proving very successful. Christian's dish again suffered in presentation, and despite a perfectly cooked veal chop and good mash, other elements such as the vegetables were lacking as Ramsay called it "not his best dish". Jennifer's risky dish of Egg Yolk Ravioli was raved over by the judges, except lacking in terms of seasoning and slightly undercooked pasta. Adrien was the first person to take a place in the final, leaving it down to old competition rivals Christian and Jennifer. Jennifer was declared the second finalist, as Christian was eliminated.
20	Tuesday August 16, 2011	Series Final - Adrien and Jennifer faced off in a single challenge to determine who wins the title of MasterChef and $250,000. They were given 2 hours to create a three-course menu of their choosing. Starter: Jennifer's starter of Pan Seared Scallops with Quail Egg, Creamed Corn and Pea Puree divided the judges in terms of presentation, but they all agreed that - despite perfectly seared scallops - it needed acidity to cut through its inherent richness and she should have checked her scallops for the chewy abductor muscle. Adrien's Spot Prawn Taquitos with Avocado Sauce, Masago and Micro Greens received big kudos in terms of presentation, but was deemed "too fresh" as the hero element of prawn was lost in the dish's overpowering acidity. Joe quoted that "Adrien's dish could have used a bit of Jennifer's richness [...] and Jennifer's dish could have used [...] Adrien's [...] acidity". Entree: Jennifer's entree of Stuffed Quail with Creamy Potatoes and Spinach was raved over by the judges, both in terms of flavor and execution, with a perfectly roast quail showing a lot of technique. Adrien's Beer Braised Short Ribs with Cauliflower-Parsnip Puree and Rainbow Chard also met with raptures from all judges, hailing his presentation, balance of flavor and the use of humble ingredients to create a dish that "nearly brought tears" to Chef Ramsay's eyes. Dessert: Jennifer's Braised Pear with Poached Apples and Mascarpone was deemed "a big anticlimax" by Gordon and "a pre-dessert" by Joe. Receiving similarly bad criticism, Adrien's Flourless Chocolate Cake Infused with Blood Orange, Passion Fruit and Chipotle according to all judges was dry and the complete opposite of his successful entree. Winner Revealed - Jennifer was pronounced the winner of the competition, taking away $250,000 and the MasterChef title. The reveal was followed by a final casting call for the third season by Gordon Ramsay.

Season 3: 2012

No official announcement has been made regarding season three. However, during episodes throughout season two, a casting call was issued for another season.

Reception

Critical

The premiere episode received mixed reviews from major newspapers and online review websites, with reviews commenting that it was entertaining, but criticized the emotional aspect. The Los Angeles Times claimed^[19] the contestants' back stories were "blown up," referring to their dramatization.^[19] A Reuters reviewer explained the show "manages to be hugely entertaining and involving thanks mainly to the judges’ personalities and the ability of the producers to spot emotionally charged stories."^[19] The Globe and Mail said "scenes of blubbering and tears as his family gets involved. The contrived sentimentality of it is, frankly, vomitous" referring to the emotion in contestants reactions.^[19]

The program also attracted negative attention in the second season when Agence France-Presse journalist Alex Ogle discovered that the producers doctored a crowd scene said to be of "thousands upon thousands lined up" to audition for the program.^[20][21] In post-production, portions of the scene were replicated so as to make the crowd look larger than it actually was, as evidenced by multiple appearances by particularly noticeable individuals in the scene.^[20][21]

Television ratings

Although the series' premiere episode was the highest-rated debut for Summer 2010, with 5.75 million and the highest shares in that time-slot, the episode did not surpass its time-slot competitors' figures with the exception of The CW's repeat of Life Unexpected.^[22] The second episode held up from the previous installment with 5.90 million and continued to have the highest time-slot share, also placing third against the major commercial networks.^[23]

The third episode on August 10, 2010 earned the highest viewing figures of the series to date with 6.12 million, which was third amongst the five major networks; that night's episode followed the season finale of Ramsay's Hell's Kitchen.^[24]

Earlier American adaptation

Main article: MasterChef USA

An earlier American adaptation, MasterChef USA, was produced from 2000 to 2001 by West 175 Productions^[25] and was broadcast on PBS. That version, which lasted only fourteen episodes, was hosted by British chef Gary Rhodes and was based directly from the BBC series.

References

1. ^ "Fox orders 'Idol'-style cooking competition starring Gordon Ramsay". Thr-Feed.com. 2010. http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/11/fox-masterchef-gordon-ramsay-.html. Retrieved July 29, 2010. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Masterchef USA Teaser". TV Tonight.com. June 21, 2010. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/06/masterchef-usa-teaser.html. Retrieved June 21, 2010. 
3. ^ "Renewed: MasterChef USA". TV Tonight.com. September 8, 2010. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/09/renewed-masterchef-usa.html. Retrieved September 8, 2010. 
4. ^ Miller, Whitney (2011). Modern Hospitality: Simple Recipes with Southern Charm. Rodale Books. pp. 192. ISBN 978-1609613525. http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Hospitality-Simple-Recipes-Southern/dp/160961352X#. 
5. ^ Miller, Whitney. "Facebook Page". http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whitney-Miller-Masterchef/134845143218290. Retrieved June 11, 2011. 
6. ^ "Fox-TV Master Chef home page". http://www.fox.com/masterchef/. Retrieved June 11, 2011. 
7. ^ "Gordon Ramsay, Joe Bastianch and Graham Elliot announced the MASTERCHEF TOP 18". www.Fox50.com. http://www.fox50.com/home/top-stories/Gordon-Ramsay-Joe-Bastianch-and-Graham-Elliot-announced-the-MASTERCHEF-TOP-18-124015184.html. Retrieved June 20, 2011. 
8. ^ Contestants Bios (season 2), Fox.com
9. ^ Behm, Jennifer. "LinkedIn Profile". http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jenny-behm/a/249/7. Retrieved July 16, 2011. 
10. ^ Behm, Jennifer. "ReMax Realty Profile". http://jbehm.remax.com/. Retrieved July 16, 2011. 
11. ^ "Chef Suzy Singh Web Site". http://www.suzysingh.com/. Retrieved June 20, 2011. 
12. ^ "Ben Starr's Web Site". http://benstarr.com/. Retrieved August 8, 2011. 
13. ^ "Tracy Kontos's Web Site". http://www.tracykontos.com/. Retrieved June 20, 2011. 
14. ^ http://www.borntobraisehell.com
15. ^ "Alejandra Schrader's Web Site". http://www.alejandraschrader.com/. 
16. ^ "Alejandra Schrader's Blog". http://www.cookglobaleatathome.com/. 
17. ^ Cobb, Erryn. "LinkedIn Profile". http://www.linkedin.com/in/erryncobb. Retrieved June 20, 2011. 
18. ^ Raffaelli, Mark. "LinkedIn Profile". http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mark-raffaelli/26/529/324. Retrieved June 20, 2011. 
19. ^ ^{a b c d} "Masterchef USA: reviews". TV Tonight.com.au. http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2010/07/masterchef-usa-reviews.html. Retrieved July 29, 2010. 
20. ^ ^{a b} "Fox’s MasterChef faked crowd shot". realityblurred.com. June 22, 2011. http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/masterchef/2011_Jun_22_fake_crowd. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 
21. ^ ^{a b} "Busted! Fox's 'MasterChef' faked crowd scene". Inside TV. June 22, 2011. http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/22/masterchef-fake-crowd-shot-photo. Retrieved June 23, 2011. 
22. ^ "TV Ratings: MasterChef Premieres Well; Breakthrough with Tony Robbins Doesn’t". TV-By-The-Numbers.com. July 29, 2010. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/28/tv-ratings-masterchef-premieres-well-breakthrough-with-tony-robbins-doesnt/58403. Retrieved July 29, 2010. 
23. ^ "TV Ratings: 'Hell's Kitchen,' & 'MasterChef' Best 'Wipeout' & 'Shaq Vs.'". TV-By-The-Numbers.com. August 4, 2010. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/08/04/tv-ratings-hells-kitchen-masterchef-best-wipeout-shaq-vs/59050. Retrieved August 5, 2010. 
24. ^ "TV Ratings: ‘Hell’s Kitchen Finale ‘ & ‘America’s Got Talent‘ Top Tuesday Viewing". TV-By-The-Numbers.com. August 11, 2010. http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/08/11/tv-ratings-hells-kitchen-finale-americas-got-talent-top-viewing/59683. Retrieved August 13, 2010. 
25. ^ "West 175 Productions, producers of the original MasterChef USA". http://www.west175productions.com. 

External links

• Official website
• MasterChef (US TV series) at the Internet Movie Database