Real Kids Review 'MasterChef Junior'
By Jeff O’Heir
Credit: Fox
They didn’t like the bald guy, they thought Riley was too cute and creative to be sent home, and they predicted Andrew would probably win it all. But the biggest takeaway for the three 11-year-olds who critiqued the fifth episode of MasterChef Junior’s current season was the inspiration to try cooking something more complex than a frozen waffle.
“Watching little Riley, who is so talented, makes me really wish I could make something as good as his food—not just scrambled eggs,” said Gemma, who, like our other two junior critics, is a sixth-grader.
“Seeing kids my age cook like that makes me feel I can do it, too,” added Lily. “But I don’t like how the kids had to cook these really challenging dishes and then the judges would send them home if they didn’t think they were good enough. It doesn’t seem fair.”
Welcome to the world of competitive cooking, kids.
Credit: Fox
Our junior critics hated to see Riley, 8, cut from the competition.
Unfortunately, contestants Riley, age 8, and Ryan Kate, 11, were cut from the competition, undone by the Herculean challenge of having to make a salmon en croute (salmon cooked in puff pastry, with Hollandaise sauce and peas) identical to the one made by the show’s host, Gordon Ramsay.
The trio was impressed with the skill and knowledge of the junior chefs, who consistently turn out dishes (even the “bad” ones) that could rival those of most professional chefs. “Andrew is so well prepared,” said Jackson Dunn, as he watched the contestants scramble to complete the Mystery Box Challenge and create a restaurant-quality dish using bananas as the main ingredient. “He knows exactly what he’s going to cook. He knows exactly what to do and exactly what’s needed.”
Credit: Fox
Andrew, 11, is the front-runner in the competition, according to our critics.
The displays of precision, technique, and creativity from all the chefs opened the eyes of the young viewers, who previously thought of a banana as a piece of fruit or something you put on top of corn flakes. Instead, the chefs showed them a world of possibilities. They created coconut shrimp with a banana-coconut sauce, banana chicken roulade, banana scallops (“Where did you get this dish from?” Ramsay asked chef Riley. “My brain,” he answered), and macarons with banana-caramel filling, the episode’s winning dish from Nathan, 12.
“I knew he’d win this round,” Jackson said. “Who doesn’t like dessert? It looks like something you’d pay $100 for in a French restaurant.”
As for the Master Chef judges, our critics weren’t too fond of “the bald guy,” restaurateur Joe Bastianich. “He’s such a jerk,” said Gemma after Bastianich sternly criticized Riley for a “seized” Hollandaise sauce that accompanied his salmon en croute.
“He’s so harsh on the children,” Lily agreed.
Credit: Fox
Our critics did like judge Graham Elliot (“funny,” “passionate”) and Ramsay (“he has so much confidence in the kids”), who tones down his usual language and tirades a bit when working with the youngsters.
And they were especially tickled when special guest Matilda, Ramsay’s 12-year-old daughter who introduced the salmon challenge, mentioned that her dad liked to run around their house naked.
“It’s a little inappropriate,” Lily said.
“Yeah, but dads do those kinds of things,” said Gemma, rolling her eyes.
Who do you think will win this season of MasterChef Junior? Nathan? Andrew? Jimmy?
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Are you watching MasterChef Junior? Who do you want to win?