Masterchef (2010) s02e06 Episode Script
Top 16 Compete
Previously on MasterChef The final 18 home cooks entered the kitchen for the first time.
The kind of dessert that give you for a month.
For two contestants, it was also their last time.
Tonight, the competition heats up as the remaining 16 face their first team challenge.
There's no pizza.
They'll struggle with the massive scale Look out, Max.
And each other.
Been cooking meat for twice as long as he's been alive.
Tonight, another home cook's MasterChef's dreams will come to an end.
The remaining 16 amateur cooks have arrived at the L.
A.
Times building in downtown Los Angeles and they're about to face their first MasterChef team challenge.
We walk into the L.
A.
Times cafeteria.
There's equipment that I've never seen.
This is gonna be chaos.
Good morning.
Welcome to one of the busiest cafeterias in downtown Los Angeles.
This dining hall is attached to a building where over 1,500 employees work.
Wow.
Come 12:00, this place becomes a madhouse.
The office workers in this building don't have time to waste.
All they want is their meal.
I never liked cafeteria food.
It's very low quality, so I'm not really thrilled.
So here's your challenge: Create and serve an amazing soup, a salad, a pizza, and today's special entree, followed by dessert.
You've got 2 1/2 hours to prep and 2 hours to serve 350 guests.
I've fed 50 people myself once out of my kitchen with two days of preparation.
This is going to be a disaster.
You'll split into two teams.
Those teams will be chosen by the cooks with the best dishes in last night's elimination test.
That's Max and Derrick.
I am nervous, because part of being a chef is controlling people, it's delegating, and I'm very non-confrontational.
So this is gonna be hard for me.
Okay, time to pick your teams.
I am freaking out, first off, because I'm not the team lead, but also I really don't want to be on Max's team, because his arrogance is through the roof.
This first pick, for me, sort of sets the tone in terms of who you think is the most talented cook.
First pick is who? I'm going for speed and experience in the kitchen.
Christian.
Christian.
Derrick.
I pick Suzy.
I chose Suzy because I know Suzy can cook.
Max, choice number two.
Alejandra.
Alejandra.
Adrien.
What are you thinking of now, Max? Giuseppe.
Giuseppe.
He can make a pizza pie.
Alvin, come on.
Max, what's going through your mind now? I need somebody who can do some prep work and prepare simple cuisine.
Tony.
As a 52-year-old guy, I'm definitely gonna have some problems with an 18-year-old barking orders at me.
Let's go.
Derrick.
Ben.
I'm gonna give this to Tracy.
Tracy.
Gonna take Aaron.
I'm gonna choose Esther.
Esther.
I trust Jenny.
Right.
So here we go.
Max, think carefully.
Christine's very emotional and a little bit off the rack and I want stable personalities.
Jennifer.
I think that it's hilarious that I'm the last person picked.
Christine.
They just don't know what they're up against.
Each team will have and just 2 hours to serve.
If you run out of something, you've only got yourselves to blame.
The losing team will face a pressure test.
On the back of that pressure test, somebody will be leaving MasterChef.
Are you ready? Yes, chef.
Your time starts Now.
The teams have 2 1/2 hours to prep 5 courses for 350 lunch patrons.
Huddle, huddle, huddle.
But first, they have to plan their menus.
Wait.
Horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe.
I really think we should do the lasagna.
We should do lasagna 'cause everyone's coming in at once.
Yeah, lasagna for sure.
I'm hesitant about lasagna, but Suzy's confident she can get it done.
Guys, I think we're good.
I've never made lasagna before.
Let's talk about pizza, guys.
Everyone's kind of all talking at once and throwing out ideas.
But luckily, all of us just agreed and we went for it.
Christine and Ben, you're gonna start on the pizza.
Suzy and I are doing lasagna.
Alvin and Aaron, you guys are gonna start on the soup.
Good luck, everybody.
Good luck.
Over on the blue team, is rising to the challenge of being a team leader.
Tracy, you will be doing a salad.
We're gonna be doing sliders, I'm gonna leave that up to Christian.
So what do we think about, like, maybe some mini bleu cheese bacon burgers for our entree? No! No, no, no.
None of my input was taken into consideration at all.
Giuseppe, pizza's on you.
I'm not gonna question your taste on that.
You're doing chicken chili.
Dessert, we're gonna do cookies.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Suzy, how is this pasta? Yeah, it's done.
On the red team, you know, we're keeping our heads pretty tight together.
I've got Aaron and Alvin.
They're working on the soup.
Suzy and I are doing lasagna.
Ben is gonna be working on the pizza, but at the same time, he's also gonna be putting together a strawberry dessert.
And Adrien and Jenny, they're putting together a salad.
I'm just worried about getting all those people all at once, 'cause that's how it's gonna be.
I work as a waiter, so I know what lunch rush is like.
Two hours at lunch is gonna seem like an eight-hour day.
That's half an hour gone.
Two hours left of prep.
Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! I'm on that next! Max, all right, talk to me about your menu.
All right, we're gonna keep it very fresh and simple.
We're gonna do a salad, heavy on the vegetables.
Nuts and the cheese on the side.
Okay? Soup? We're doing a chicken vegetable chili.
The pizza, we're doing arugula and prosciutto on top.
Okay.
Gonna be doing little burgers.
Okay, so it's like a slider? Yeah.
Dessert, we're doing cookies.
Okay.
Make sure that you're over absolutely every little detail, okay? Absolutely, chef.
Thank you.
Let's go.
Now that the teams have their menus in place, the focus is on the special of the day.
We're gonna do a mom-style lasagna.
Okay.
Yeah.
Where is the eggplant going? In the lasagna? It's gonna go in the lasagna.
How you gonna cook it? You gonna grill it? Thinking about grilling it or sauteing it.
Mushy.
Ideally, fry it and get it crispy and then it'll give you some texture in the lasagna.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, all right.
Joe looks at me and he's like, "You should, like, fry those eggplants.
" But we don't have a deep fryer.
And I'm like, "I'll just figure something out.
" I'm ready to own this challenge.
Although the blue team settled on mini slider burgers, they didn't check on the size of their buns.
Did you see the size of the buns? No, what are they? 5 inchers.
We can work around that.
We had agreed that we were gonna do sliders.
Tony doesn't want to do sliders because we have full-size buns.
Max says cut 'em in a cookie cutter, but that's gonna take up a lot of time.
Tony doesn't want to listen to me.
He doesn't want to sit there and freaking punch out smaller buns, because he's lazy.
Yeah, it's not about Max.
It's not about me.
This is all about time.
I keep an eye on my time and I get things done, period.
Max! Has that been tasted? Have you tested that? Uh, no.
If you haven't tested it, why are you making them? Okay.
So you make your mix, you cook one off, and you adjust.
Yes, sir.
More salt, more seasoning.
But don't make 300 without tasting one.
Stop.
I really should have been on top of that and approved whatever the he was putting in there.
See? That's bland.
That is bland.
I can fix that right now.
I just assumed that a guy like Tony would know how to season meat.
Guess looks can be deceiving.
"Meat's" my middle name.
I got no problem with meat.
Been cooking meat for ice as long as he's been alive.
For the first MasterChef team challenge, the teams are going head-to-head to prep and cook five lunch courses for over 350 cafeteria customers.
See? That's bland.
The blue team has been put on the spot because they were not testing the seasoning for the burger meat.
Sex it up a little bit.
Tabasco, mustard, egg.
I personally don't season burgers before I cook 'em.
I season 'em as they're being cooked, but this is a team effort.
How is it now? I think it's much better.
That's 100% better than last time.
Yes, it is.
Yo, blue team, we got an hour left! Let's keep it up! For me, the big player today will be the pizzas.
Red team were doing the white pizza.
This is my test pizza.
This is the moment of truth.
To go with no tomato sauce at all is a little bit risky.
Yeah.
A little bit too opinionated.
It's delicious.
Then you got Giuseppe with arugula and prosciutto-- it's like the hit list of the greatest Italian ingredients.
Those are flavors that stand out that you're gonna remember.
That's the one I like better.
If I don't make this happen, my friends are gonna make fun of me for the rest of my life.
While both teams' pizzas seem under control, the red team is having issues with today's special entree.
Is that cooked, the lasagna? The noodles are overcooked is honestly my opinion.
Suzy was the one who came up with the lasagna straight on, and it looks like And it tastes like .
It's a grease pit.
The lasagna needs a lot of work.
It falls apart on the plate.
Just has no structural integrity whatsoever.
My lasagna's not coming out right.
It's crap.
I'm freaking out.
We're gonna try to improve on it and see if we can make it delicious.
It's my job to save everything, with the lasagna at least.
I'm concerned about what Suzy is doing.
She's not cooking the lasagna right.
I tried to help her, but she wouldn't listen to anybody.
Wow.
This is really good.
I feel like we can save it, but we're definitely-- we're definitely the underdog in this one at this point.
Two minutes to go, guys! Move it down.
Derrick, I can't hold those customers back.
I understand, chef.
Go, go, go.
Tell him to cut down on the cheese.
There's so much cheese on there.
It's like a heart attack waiting under a hot lamp.
Yes, chef.
Let's go.
Behind.
With 350 customers waiting outside, time has run out for corrections.
They must serve their dishes now.
Here we go.
The doors are open! For this challenge, when a customer orders a course, they will receive a plate from each team.
Can I interest you in some chicken chili soup? For soup, it's the blue team's chicken chili Very healthy with a little kick.
Versus the red team's chicken orzo.
Here you are.
I have one for you too as well.
Hi, guys, do you want to step up and get your salads? The blue team's seasonal salad Care for bleu cheese on your salad? Is up against the red team's watermelon salad.
We've got some fresh watermelon, cucumber, and feta.
Want some good pizza from an Italian guy? The blue team's prosciutto and arugula pizza Not everyone born in Italy can cook pizza, my friend.
Is challenging the red team's white pizza.
I have a pizza oven in my backyard.
I can make pizza.
And the red team's lasagna entree A lot of love went into this dish.
Is going head-to-head against the blue team's burger.
Can I get a well-done, Tony? For the dessert, red team's fresh fruit faces off against blue team's chocolate chip cookies.
Fresh chocolate chip cookies! Each diner will cast their vote for the team's dish they like best.
The team that wins the most courses wins the challenge.
Tony, give me your best-looking burger! My entree is definitely better than the lasagna I'm going up against.
Here we go.
Enjoy.
A burger's just a way better fit in a cafeteria situation.
So you had the burger and the lasagna.
What are we thinking? I actually don't even like burgers, and I liked the burger better than the lasagna.
I love burgers.
Here you go.
What would you like? I am so worried about my team right now.
The other team flipping out burgers and kicking our butt, and I'm just standing there defeated.
We should have switched dishes.
We shouldn't have done lasagna.
Over at the pizza station, Italian Giuseppe is struggling.
What's going on? There's no pizza.
There is no pizza.
Giuseppe, I'm gonna send 'em away if I don't get a pizza here in a minute.
You got to give me some pizza.
Have you ever cooked for 300 people? Me either.
It is so much pressure.
Whew! No pizza.
Move on.
Aww! They're losing votes.
Giuseppe, you see this? This is all lost votes for you.
Every empty dish handed out by the blue team means an automatic point for the red team.
The blue team is not only making customers wait for pizza, they're also falling behind with their burger entree.
Tony, I need a medium-well.
Okay.
It's about-- I'm two minutes out.
Stop.
Look at the line.
Making people wait for burgers is not gonna win the competition, it's not gonna get you votes.
The grill can only handle so many burgers.
So I am trying to do them in staggered shifts.
These people are hungry, they've been waiting a long time, and it's on you to make sure that you deliver a consistent product.
I know I need to take charge with the burgers.
Tony's being subpar right now.
The best way to help is to precook a bunch of Tony's burgers so we can keep up the demand.
This is the last time Tony makes patties.
They suck.
They're falling apart.
I'm precooking all these burgers, trying to make up for what Tony can't do, and I can't find a clean tray to bring them out on.
The best I could find is a tray that has some nuts on it.
I'm in a hurry and this is cafeteria food, not fine dining.
I really don't care.
There's nuts on the burger? When I get the burgers brought out to me, it's on a dirty cookie sheet with roasted walnuts on it.
It doesn't even look like a burger anymore.
in the trash.
Get rid of them, Tony.
You don't serve off of a dirty anything to the public.
Max, these are all just turning to crap.
Let's just stop it now.
We have contaminated burger meat.
We're running out of food, and Max is not helping.
We only have eight left, dude.
Eight burgers? We're in trouble.
In their first challenge outside the MasterChef kitchen, Max's blue team and Derrick's red team are facing off, serving a five-course lunch for 350 workers at the Los Angeles times cafeteria.
There's nuts on the burger? When I get the burgers brought out to me, it's on a dirty cookie sheet with roasted walnuts on it.
They don't even look like a burger anymore.
We have contaminated burger meat.
Get rid of them, Tony.
in the trash.
We're sorry.
Blue team has run out of their item for now, so everybody's gonna be grabbing the lasagna and take an empty blue plate, please.
I apologize.
Unfortunately for the blue team, every empty plate means an automatic point for red.
We now have no more burger meat.
We went to the walk-ins.
They have frozen shrimp and a a little bit of chicken.
We ran out of burgers.
We made them too big.
I don't know why we didn't end up doing sliders.
We could have cut the buns in half or down with a cup.
Look out, Max.
Blue team is now serving chicken burgers.
I'm hoping there's time to catch up.
I'm assuming you have an amazing recipe for this.
Yeah, we're just gonna dry rub these.
We got to get something else to eat on that grill and we need to do it right now.
We don't want to lose this line.
No burger.
I'm sorry.
We're cooking chicken, though.
It's gonna be a little bit though.
As the blue team continues their last-ditch effort to save their entree, the votes are trickling in, and the customers keep coming.
Would you care for nuts on your salad today? This was like The Neverending Story.
Every time I looked up, there was another face.
Vote for blue.
The lasagna was really good.
It had really good flavors.
It was--it was a win.
The red team's lasagna may be scoring votes, but they're running out.
If it's not ready, they can't wait for it.
They just--you don't get the point.
Things start breaking down a little bit.
We had this huge line.
Do we have any lasagna ready? I'm crusting it on the top right now.
We're all just convinced that we're the team going to the pressure test.
What do you got? Special.
Special of the day for the red.
As lunch service ends, the office workers drop off their votes and head back to work.
For every course they ate, each of the 350 customers have a vote for either blue team or red team.
Red team, blue team! The last customer has just gone through! Whoever wins the most courses wins the challenge.
We are exhausted.
Our morale is completely down.
I think we lost this challenge.
First of all, you just served over 300 office workers.
One team is gonna lose this challenge.
That team faces a huge pressure test.
Suzy, what's the matter? I really hope that we don't lose because of the lasagna.
I know that we've lost this challenge, and I know that we've lost this challenge because of me.
Suzy's crying.
I mean, we all know that lasagna sucked, so shut up.
Right.
Time for the scores.
Each team prepared five courses.
The first team to win three courses wins the challenge.
Starting off with the soup.
It was Aaron's chicken orzo against Alejandra's chicken chili.
Red team, blue team were Congratulations, blue team.
Nice job.
Okay.
Next scores.
They're in for the salads.
Will it be the seasonal salad from blue or red team's watermelon salad? Wow, wow, wow.
Red team 91 to 52.
Next up, pizza.
We had a true Italian against an American in a ridiculous hat.
What were the scores? Red team! Giuseppe, you let us down on the pizza.
We had full confidence in you.
Next, the big sort of excitement when you come into a restaurant.
The special of the day.
Suzy's lasagna for the red team or Tony's burgers for team blue.
If the red team wins this course, they will win the challenge.
The scores are Congratulations, blue team.
Christian, Tony, we had issues with the burger to begin with, but you pulled it back.
Really good.
Well done.
Good job.
Thank you, chef.
Okay, finally, desserts.
It's red team' berries and cream versus blue team's cookie.
It all comes down to dessert.
Whoever wins this course wins the challenge.
What were the scores? Yeah! We did it! You guys are awesome! I am so excited and relieved that we've won.
It was a perfect team.
I could not have picked a better team myself.
And I feel so good.
Blue team, you will be facing An extraordinary pressure test.
Get a great night's sleep, 'cause each and every one of you are gonna need it because on the back of that pressure test, one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
As a captain, I think Max fell a little bit short.
He's never ran a kitchen crew before, and that us up.
Good night.
Red team, well done.
I'm absolutely furious right now.
I'm pissed.
pissed.
Max is supposed to be a captain of our team.
He did nothing.
He was too busy running around the kitchen acting like he wanted to be a boss.
I'm frustrated, but I'm also angry at Tony and Giuseppe.
Giuseppe must be really, really ashamed of himself.
And I'm ashamed of him.
In the end, I wish I never picked him.
Tomorrow, my team has to face a pressure test, and somebody's gonna go home.
Let's go.
I'm nervous about a pressure test 'cause I got no idea what to even expect.
How do you prepare? I'm nervous for a few people on my team, but I could really care less if Tony got his ass thrown off.
Yesterday, you competed in your first team challenge.
Red team, congratulations.
You won the challenge.
You'll be watching this incredible pressure test from the safety of the gallery.
Off you go.
Congratulations.
Well done.
Max, what happened to your team? Why'd you lose? Um, the issue was just getting stuff out.
I would have liked for people to do things a little differently, looking back, but I just didn't have the balls to say anything.
Tony, what'd you think of Max's leadership? I really didn't need any leadership.
I was assigned a job, and I could handle any job that's given to me.
It was all just a boy being a boy and not being able to handle the criticism from a man.
It's time for you guys to compete in your very first pressure test.
When it's over, at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
All right, blue team.
Your pressure test today Is all about Ravioli.
I don't like ravioli.
I don't eat ravioli.
I don't.
It's the truth.
Creating homemade pasta is both an art and a science, from the pasta itself-- not overworked, a silken texture-- to the filling-- not too dry, not too wet-- to the binding, the technique of construction.
And we will be examining technique, precision, and culinary vision as we watch you cook us the perfect ravioli.
You're each gonna be preparing a simple spinach and ricotta filling.
And here's the trick.
It's got to be with a simple butter sauce.
That way there's no disguising a bad piece of pasta.
You've all got to produce a stunning ravioli.
Are you ready? Yes, chef.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Off you go.
For their first pressure test, each contestant will prepare a spinach ricotta ravioli with access to the exact same ingredients.
The judges will be looking for consistency of the dough and filling, construction of the ravioli, technique, and overall flavor.
I'm feeling confident.
I think I'm one of the strongest competitors here.
I've only made ravioli by hand once before, and it's all on the line right now.
All right, Christian, which one of your fellow contestants is gonna boil in the water with these raviolis? I'm a little nervous with Tony.
I don't think he has a lot of experience doing it, so I'm just nervous for him.
There's a lot of technicality in ravioli.
I'm just worried that I remember all the components of homemade pasta.
We're really seeing technique, a step away from kind of impulse cooking and passion and really asking them to do something that requires know-how.
The thickness of the pasta should almost be transparent, so you can just start to see the touch of the spinach through the pasta.
Right, and are they going to just have a gorgeous filling with a little bit of pasta around it? Or are they going to be doing a big piece-- Well, it's all about ratio, right? Half a ravioli's a mouthful.
It's a lot of science.
Now they're each on their own.
They have nobody that they can blame except for themselves.
Okay, halfway house! All right, Giuseppe, if there's one thing you should be doing with your eyes closed, it's fresh pasta.
I made my fillings right now with spinach, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
And the mixture, it looks a bit wet that.
Is that purposely done? I'm trying to work on this one right now.
Okay, who's going home in this pressure test? Uh, could be me.
Anything can happen.
Jennifer, who do you think's gonna struggle here today with the pasta challenge? Tony might have a little issue just 'cause he cooks on the grill andYou know.
Right.
What are you doing differently? I actually put a little bit of nutmeg.
You put the nutmeg in the pasta dough? In the pasta dough.
Be careful with the nutmeg, right? It's very strong.
Tone Loc, how we doing, buddy? Good, Graham.
A lot of people that we've been asking here, "Who do we think's the weakest? Who's gonna go home?" And a lot of people are saying, "Tony," that he's gonna struggle with it.
Do you feel that? I took a pretty good ass-kicking yesterday.
But I don't think I'm the underdog.
I think I'm just one guy that voiced their opinion yesterday and some people can't handle the truth.
That's where I'm at.
All right, well, keep working.
I want to see it.
I want to try it.
Okay, thanks.
All right, good luck, buddy.
So you see different techniques.
I mean, obviously, I think Giuseppe-- you can see that he's made pasta before.
I watched Giuseppe's filling.
It's actually quite liquid.
Now, the danger of that It can go flat.
One guy that everybody was saying that they thought was the weakest link is actually the one that made it by hand, using this little fork.
Tony? His spinach looks great.
Tony.
Absolutely.
Yeah, incredible.
We did see someone put nutmeg in their pasta, no? Jennifer? Yeah.
That is a technical mistake.
Yeah, raw nutmeg inside a pasta, it's very powerful.
Just on 15 minutes to go.
Got to get it through Perfect.
Just need this to work out for me.
I am needing to make the pasta thinner, which is taking more time, and the clock is ticking down.
You got ten minutes left.
Ten minutes.
that was a pain in the ass.
I can't do it.
I have about ten minutes left at this point, and my previous batch of raviolis suck.
There we go.
Back in the game.
I'm not sure that I have enough time left to do another batch, but I got to try.
Taste! Taste! Taste! Taste! It's very good.
Taste is right on.
We should be plating now.
30 seconds to go.
My pasta turned out a little tough.
I might be in trouble.
Here we go.
Last ten seconds.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! I'm a little worried.
Seven contestants from the losing team are competing in their first pressure test.
We should be plating now! The theme: Ravioli.
Here we go.
Last ten seconds.
In the end, at least one of them will be leaving the MasterChef kitchen.
Five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! I'm a little worried.
I'm a little nervous.
I'm not gonna lie.
At least one of the eight of us is gonna go home and I want to stay.
What a tough pressure test.
Well done.
Okay, Giuseppe, come on up here.
All three judges will taste each home cook's ravioli.
When the tasting is complete, at least one person will be sent home.
This could be the last thing I'm cooking and to get out on an Italian dish, that would be embarrassing.
So you did a larger shape.
Three pieces.
A ravioloni.
A ravioloni.
So let's see what we got here.
Do you think that the ratio from filling to pasta looks right to you? Um, no.
No.
I think that it's about overworking the dough.
Mm-hmm.
These look a little flat.
Taking a look at 'em, it's not really a pillow as much as it's a sheet.
The pasta's too thick.
Somebody's going home today, and I didn't expect you to be in that bracket.
Okay.
Tony, let's go.
I really did not nail this one at all.
I did a chiffonade of spinach.
I put just a little bit of parmesan in the filling.
Really? Man, they look like-- like pasta sandwiches.
Hopefully my filling will stand out.
Yeah.
That pasta, it's just so thick and so heavy.
Just look at the density of that.
I'm struggling with the thickness of the pasta.
It's all here.
A dish like this, I don't even know how to eat this.
Because quite frankly, what this dish should be is a ravioli that looks something like this, right? When you're so far off track from the balance that we're looking for, it's hard to even give evaluation.
I mean, bit of a letdown.
Sorry, Tony.
I actually feel real disappointed in myself.
I'm a good cook that had a really bad day today.
Okay, Max, come on up.
What do you got for us? I did a brown butter sauce with a little sage in there.
I noticed you were unhappy with the first set.
You threw them away.
You started again.
Why? The dough was very gluteny.
I had to salvage that.
Took everything I could, ran it through the machine a bunch of times, and I came out with the product I liked.
At least you had the intelligence to stop, taste, readjust, and with barely under ten minutes to go, start again.
That takes a big pair of balls.
Today It paid off.
I'm extremely proud of myself, and that's what a pressure test is all about.
I passed it in every sense of the word.
Tracy, let's go.
All right, so walk me through what you did.
I prepared the filling, which is a spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, little bit of nutmeg.
Wow.
I think the pasta is a little bit underdone, but the brown butter, you just nailed.
Okay.
It's perfect.
Thank you so much, chef.
Okay, Christian, let's go.
I mixed up some ricotta with some spinach, put some salt and pepper and some grated parmesan cheese in there.
I like the shape.
I thought the plating was good.
I thought the butter sauce was effective.
And in fact, the filling's good.
Alejandra.
I knew that I wouldn't be relying on the butter as much for a sauce, so I wanted the texture inside the ravioli to be creamy.
The visual impact, the color Beautiful.
And that, for me, is one of the best raviolis I've tasted anywhere.
Thank you so much, chef.
Esther, please come up.
When I look at my ravioli, I'm extremely happy with the way it looks.
The way it tastes, I wish I could say that I tried one.
There's a funny taste in the filling I can't quite make out.
I've got the perfect thickness of the pasta.
But I am concerned about the filling.
Is there egg yolk in there? I can't remember.
You can't remember? You don't know what's in your ravioli.
The filling is nowhere near as good as the pasta.
It's not good.
Such a shame.
All right, next up, Jennifer.
I'm looking at my plate, and I feel very confident.
Walk me through how you made the filling.
I whipped the ricotta, sauteed up some spinach, dried it out, and just some salt and pepper.
Hmm.
I've never seen or heard of putting nutmeg in the pasta.
Jennifer, one person minimum is leaving this competition today.
What were you thinking putting fresh nutmeg grated into the flour? Just thought it would give it a little bit of a different flavor profile than everybody else's.
You put the freaking nutmeg in the pasta.
I could scream.
The filling is delicious.
It's got that wow factor.
Yet it's destroyed by that nutmeg.
So frustrating, 'cause you think you may have blown it.
Eight home cooks have just faced their first pressure test in the MasterChef kitchen.
At least one person will be sent home, and Jennifer has made a serious error.
You put the freaking nutmeg in the pasta.
I could scream.
The filling is delicious.
It's got that wow factor.
Yet it's destroyed by that nutmeg.
I think you may have blown it.
To know that that one small little mistake is ultimately quite possibly gonna cost me, it's tough to swallow.
That was a tough pressure test.
For at least one of you, that will be Your last time you'll cook inside the MasterChef kitchen.
Okay.
All eight of you, come down to the front, please.
We asked you to construct something that involved a certain amount of intuition, know-how, finesse, along with culinary savvy.
Some of you excelled.
Others did not understand what we really wanted.
All right, will the following five people please stand forward? Giuseppe.
Tracy.
Max.
Alejandra.
And Christian.
The five of you are safe from elimination.
Congratulations.
Please head up to the gallery.
Off you go.
Well done.
I'm hoping that the judges are taking into consideration the times that I did shine.
I'm very worried that I'm gonna go home on a stupid mistake.
I want to throw up.
The damn nutmeg.
I don't want to walk away from here leaving them disappointed.
Jennifer, step forward.
Tony, step forward.
Esther, you sacrificed a lot to enter this competition.
But that wasn't you at your best.
And it was not MasterChef quality.
And for the fact that you didn't even know what was in your ravioli mix, your journey at MasterChef Is gonna continue.
And here's why.
Technically, you nailed the pasta.
But don't ever tell me ever again you've got no idea what's inside that ravioli.
Yes, chef.
Yes.
Upstairs, please.
I'm relieved.
I'm running really fast for those stairs, because I don't want to stand down there ever again.
I could feel the beads of sweat rolling down my back.
Everything is at stake right now.
I mean, I'm really nervous, and the odds are getting pretty low.
Jennifer, Tony This is a very tough decision for us.
You know, you may be in the bottom two, but you both hold a lot of strength in this competition.
But both your dishes were ranked below par by all three of us.
Tony, the pasta was way too thick.
And it was lacking that visual wow factor that we're looking for.
Jennifer You've done something pretty stupid.
You put nutmeg in the flour.
You made some technical mistakes that are beyond reproach, so it's a very difficult position you put us in.
The first person leaving MasterChef in the first ever pressure test is Tony.
Your time's done at MasterChef.
Now let me tell you something really important.
You have a very passionate take on food.
And you can cook, let me tell you that.
And do not go back to becoming a trucker.
Find yourself in a kitchen, dig deep, yeah, and stand strong.
Thank you, chef.
Follow that dream, okay? Thank you.
Please take your apron off and put it on your station.
I came into this as somebody who's getting too old to do what I've done all my life.
I love to cook.
I want to open a little chalkboard restaurant with my wife.
I don't need to be a rich man.
I wanna go through the rest of my life doing what I love.
They gave me respect, which is worth more than any of the money.
I'm truly grateful for that.
Okay.
Take your apron upstairs.
You Are on thin ice.
Really thin ice.
There are several things you cannot play with.
Pasta's one of them.
I really thought we were both going home.
You know, sometimes you stumble, but it's how you pick yourself up on the other end that makes or breaks you.
And this is gonna make me.
Next time on MasterChef Show us you mean business.
The final 15 cooks face another mystery box It's a very big gamble.
Where some grab the judges' attention Absolutely beautiful.
For all the right reasons.
It's like fireworks on your palate.
And others That's like taking a Bentley and crashing it into a wall.
For the wrong ones.
I will send you home now.
In the elimination challenge, the judges test the cooks' sweeter side Leading to some bitter results.
It's like I've just gone to the doctors for a skin graft on my butt.
And a shocking elimination.
This gives what I do a bad name.
And another homecook's MasterChef dream will come to a bitter end.
The kind of dessert that give you for a month.
For two contestants, it was also their last time.
Tonight, the competition heats up as the remaining 16 face their first team challenge.
There's no pizza.
They'll struggle with the massive scale Look out, Max.
And each other.
Been cooking meat for twice as long as he's been alive.
Tonight, another home cook's MasterChef's dreams will come to an end.
The remaining 16 amateur cooks have arrived at the L.
A.
Times building in downtown Los Angeles and they're about to face their first MasterChef team challenge.
We walk into the L.
A.
Times cafeteria.
There's equipment that I've never seen.
This is gonna be chaos.
Good morning.
Welcome to one of the busiest cafeterias in downtown Los Angeles.
This dining hall is attached to a building where over 1,500 employees work.
Wow.
Come 12:00, this place becomes a madhouse.
The office workers in this building don't have time to waste.
All they want is their meal.
I never liked cafeteria food.
It's very low quality, so I'm not really thrilled.
So here's your challenge: Create and serve an amazing soup, a salad, a pizza, and today's special entree, followed by dessert.
You've got 2 1/2 hours to prep and 2 hours to serve 350 guests.
I've fed 50 people myself once out of my kitchen with two days of preparation.
This is going to be a disaster.
You'll split into two teams.
Those teams will be chosen by the cooks with the best dishes in last night's elimination test.
That's Max and Derrick.
I am nervous, because part of being a chef is controlling people, it's delegating, and I'm very non-confrontational.
So this is gonna be hard for me.
Okay, time to pick your teams.
I am freaking out, first off, because I'm not the team lead, but also I really don't want to be on Max's team, because his arrogance is through the roof.
This first pick, for me, sort of sets the tone in terms of who you think is the most talented cook.
First pick is who? I'm going for speed and experience in the kitchen.
Christian.
Christian.
Derrick.
I pick Suzy.
I chose Suzy because I know Suzy can cook.
Max, choice number two.
Alejandra.
Alejandra.
Adrien.
What are you thinking of now, Max? Giuseppe.
Giuseppe.
He can make a pizza pie.
Alvin, come on.
Max, what's going through your mind now? I need somebody who can do some prep work and prepare simple cuisine.
Tony.
As a 52-year-old guy, I'm definitely gonna have some problems with an 18-year-old barking orders at me.
Let's go.
Derrick.
Ben.
I'm gonna give this to Tracy.
Tracy.
Gonna take Aaron.
I'm gonna choose Esther.
Esther.
I trust Jenny.
Right.
So here we go.
Max, think carefully.
Christine's very emotional and a little bit off the rack and I want stable personalities.
Jennifer.
I think that it's hilarious that I'm the last person picked.
Christine.
They just don't know what they're up against.
Each team will have and just 2 hours to serve.
If you run out of something, you've only got yourselves to blame.
The losing team will face a pressure test.
On the back of that pressure test, somebody will be leaving MasterChef.
Are you ready? Yes, chef.
Your time starts Now.
The teams have 2 1/2 hours to prep 5 courses for 350 lunch patrons.
Huddle, huddle, huddle.
But first, they have to plan their menus.
Wait.
Horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe.
I really think we should do the lasagna.
We should do lasagna 'cause everyone's coming in at once.
Yeah, lasagna for sure.
I'm hesitant about lasagna, but Suzy's confident she can get it done.
Guys, I think we're good.
I've never made lasagna before.
Let's talk about pizza, guys.
Everyone's kind of all talking at once and throwing out ideas.
But luckily, all of us just agreed and we went for it.
Christine and Ben, you're gonna start on the pizza.
Suzy and I are doing lasagna.
Alvin and Aaron, you guys are gonna start on the soup.
Good luck, everybody.
Good luck.
Over on the blue team, is rising to the challenge of being a team leader.
Tracy, you will be doing a salad.
We're gonna be doing sliders, I'm gonna leave that up to Christian.
So what do we think about, like, maybe some mini bleu cheese bacon burgers for our entree? No! No, no, no.
None of my input was taken into consideration at all.
Giuseppe, pizza's on you.
I'm not gonna question your taste on that.
You're doing chicken chili.
Dessert, we're gonna do cookies.
Let's go.
Let's go.
Suzy, how is this pasta? Yeah, it's done.
On the red team, you know, we're keeping our heads pretty tight together.
I've got Aaron and Alvin.
They're working on the soup.
Suzy and I are doing lasagna.
Ben is gonna be working on the pizza, but at the same time, he's also gonna be putting together a strawberry dessert.
And Adrien and Jenny, they're putting together a salad.
I'm just worried about getting all those people all at once, 'cause that's how it's gonna be.
I work as a waiter, so I know what lunch rush is like.
Two hours at lunch is gonna seem like an eight-hour day.
That's half an hour gone.
Two hours left of prep.
Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! Garlic! I'm on that next! Max, all right, talk to me about your menu.
All right, we're gonna keep it very fresh and simple.
We're gonna do a salad, heavy on the vegetables.
Nuts and the cheese on the side.
Okay? Soup? We're doing a chicken vegetable chili.
The pizza, we're doing arugula and prosciutto on top.
Okay.
Gonna be doing little burgers.
Okay, so it's like a slider? Yeah.
Dessert, we're doing cookies.
Okay.
Make sure that you're over absolutely every little detail, okay? Absolutely, chef.
Thank you.
Let's go.
Now that the teams have their menus in place, the focus is on the special of the day.
We're gonna do a mom-style lasagna.
Okay.
Yeah.
Where is the eggplant going? In the lasagna? It's gonna go in the lasagna.
How you gonna cook it? You gonna grill it? Thinking about grilling it or sauteing it.
Mushy.
Ideally, fry it and get it crispy and then it'll give you some texture in the lasagna.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, all right.
Joe looks at me and he's like, "You should, like, fry those eggplants.
" But we don't have a deep fryer.
And I'm like, "I'll just figure something out.
" I'm ready to own this challenge.
Although the blue team settled on mini slider burgers, they didn't check on the size of their buns.
Did you see the size of the buns? No, what are they? 5 inchers.
We can work around that.
We had agreed that we were gonna do sliders.
Tony doesn't want to do sliders because we have full-size buns.
Max says cut 'em in a cookie cutter, but that's gonna take up a lot of time.
Tony doesn't want to listen to me.
He doesn't want to sit there and freaking punch out smaller buns, because he's lazy.
Yeah, it's not about Max.
It's not about me.
This is all about time.
I keep an eye on my time and I get things done, period.
Max! Has that been tasted? Have you tested that? Uh, no.
If you haven't tested it, why are you making them? Okay.
So you make your mix, you cook one off, and you adjust.
Yes, sir.
More salt, more seasoning.
But don't make 300 without tasting one.
Stop.
I really should have been on top of that and approved whatever the he was putting in there.
See? That's bland.
That is bland.
I can fix that right now.
I just assumed that a guy like Tony would know how to season meat.
Guess looks can be deceiving.
"Meat's" my middle name.
I got no problem with meat.
Been cooking meat for ice as long as he's been alive.
For the first MasterChef team challenge, the teams are going head-to-head to prep and cook five lunch courses for over 350 cafeteria customers.
See? That's bland.
The blue team has been put on the spot because they were not testing the seasoning for the burger meat.
Sex it up a little bit.
Tabasco, mustard, egg.
I personally don't season burgers before I cook 'em.
I season 'em as they're being cooked, but this is a team effort.
How is it now? I think it's much better.
That's 100% better than last time.
Yes, it is.
Yo, blue team, we got an hour left! Let's keep it up! For me, the big player today will be the pizzas.
Red team were doing the white pizza.
This is my test pizza.
This is the moment of truth.
To go with no tomato sauce at all is a little bit risky.
Yeah.
A little bit too opinionated.
It's delicious.
Then you got Giuseppe with arugula and prosciutto-- it's like the hit list of the greatest Italian ingredients.
Those are flavors that stand out that you're gonna remember.
That's the one I like better.
If I don't make this happen, my friends are gonna make fun of me for the rest of my life.
While both teams' pizzas seem under control, the red team is having issues with today's special entree.
Is that cooked, the lasagna? The noodles are overcooked is honestly my opinion.
Suzy was the one who came up with the lasagna straight on, and it looks like And it tastes like .
It's a grease pit.
The lasagna needs a lot of work.
It falls apart on the plate.
Just has no structural integrity whatsoever.
My lasagna's not coming out right.
It's crap.
I'm freaking out.
We're gonna try to improve on it and see if we can make it delicious.
It's my job to save everything, with the lasagna at least.
I'm concerned about what Suzy is doing.
She's not cooking the lasagna right.
I tried to help her, but she wouldn't listen to anybody.
Wow.
This is really good.
I feel like we can save it, but we're definitely-- we're definitely the underdog in this one at this point.
Two minutes to go, guys! Move it down.
Derrick, I can't hold those customers back.
I understand, chef.
Go, go, go.
Tell him to cut down on the cheese.
There's so much cheese on there.
It's like a heart attack waiting under a hot lamp.
Yes, chef.
Let's go.
Behind.
With 350 customers waiting outside, time has run out for corrections.
They must serve their dishes now.
Here we go.
The doors are open! For this challenge, when a customer orders a course, they will receive a plate from each team.
Can I interest you in some chicken chili soup? For soup, it's the blue team's chicken chili Very healthy with a little kick.
Versus the red team's chicken orzo.
Here you are.
I have one for you too as well.
Hi, guys, do you want to step up and get your salads? The blue team's seasonal salad Care for bleu cheese on your salad? Is up against the red team's watermelon salad.
We've got some fresh watermelon, cucumber, and feta.
Want some good pizza from an Italian guy? The blue team's prosciutto and arugula pizza Not everyone born in Italy can cook pizza, my friend.
Is challenging the red team's white pizza.
I have a pizza oven in my backyard.
I can make pizza.
And the red team's lasagna entree A lot of love went into this dish.
Is going head-to-head against the blue team's burger.
Can I get a well-done, Tony? For the dessert, red team's fresh fruit faces off against blue team's chocolate chip cookies.
Fresh chocolate chip cookies! Each diner will cast their vote for the team's dish they like best.
The team that wins the most courses wins the challenge.
Tony, give me your best-looking burger! My entree is definitely better than the lasagna I'm going up against.
Here we go.
Enjoy.
A burger's just a way better fit in a cafeteria situation.
So you had the burger and the lasagna.
What are we thinking? I actually don't even like burgers, and I liked the burger better than the lasagna.
I love burgers.
Here you go.
What would you like? I am so worried about my team right now.
The other team flipping out burgers and kicking our butt, and I'm just standing there defeated.
We should have switched dishes.
We shouldn't have done lasagna.
Over at the pizza station, Italian Giuseppe is struggling.
What's going on? There's no pizza.
There is no pizza.
Giuseppe, I'm gonna send 'em away if I don't get a pizza here in a minute.
You got to give me some pizza.
Have you ever cooked for 300 people? Me either.
It is so much pressure.
Whew! No pizza.
Move on.
Aww! They're losing votes.
Giuseppe, you see this? This is all lost votes for you.
Every empty dish handed out by the blue team means an automatic point for the red team.
The blue team is not only making customers wait for pizza, they're also falling behind with their burger entree.
Tony, I need a medium-well.
Okay.
It's about-- I'm two minutes out.
Stop.
Look at the line.
Making people wait for burgers is not gonna win the competition, it's not gonna get you votes.
The grill can only handle so many burgers.
So I am trying to do them in staggered shifts.
These people are hungry, they've been waiting a long time, and it's on you to make sure that you deliver a consistent product.
I know I need to take charge with the burgers.
Tony's being subpar right now.
The best way to help is to precook a bunch of Tony's burgers so we can keep up the demand.
This is the last time Tony makes patties.
They suck.
They're falling apart.
I'm precooking all these burgers, trying to make up for what Tony can't do, and I can't find a clean tray to bring them out on.
The best I could find is a tray that has some nuts on it.
I'm in a hurry and this is cafeteria food, not fine dining.
I really don't care.
There's nuts on the burger? When I get the burgers brought out to me, it's on a dirty cookie sheet with roasted walnuts on it.
It doesn't even look like a burger anymore.
in the trash.
Get rid of them, Tony.
You don't serve off of a dirty anything to the public.
Max, these are all just turning to crap.
Let's just stop it now.
We have contaminated burger meat.
We're running out of food, and Max is not helping.
We only have eight left, dude.
Eight burgers? We're in trouble.
In their first challenge outside the MasterChef kitchen, Max's blue team and Derrick's red team are facing off, serving a five-course lunch for 350 workers at the Los Angeles times cafeteria.
There's nuts on the burger? When I get the burgers brought out to me, it's on a dirty cookie sheet with roasted walnuts on it.
They don't even look like a burger anymore.
We have contaminated burger meat.
Get rid of them, Tony.
in the trash.
We're sorry.
Blue team has run out of their item for now, so everybody's gonna be grabbing the lasagna and take an empty blue plate, please.
I apologize.
Unfortunately for the blue team, every empty plate means an automatic point for red.
We now have no more burger meat.
We went to the walk-ins.
They have frozen shrimp and a a little bit of chicken.
We ran out of burgers.
We made them too big.
I don't know why we didn't end up doing sliders.
We could have cut the buns in half or down with a cup.
Look out, Max.
Blue team is now serving chicken burgers.
I'm hoping there's time to catch up.
I'm assuming you have an amazing recipe for this.
Yeah, we're just gonna dry rub these.
We got to get something else to eat on that grill and we need to do it right now.
We don't want to lose this line.
No burger.
I'm sorry.
We're cooking chicken, though.
It's gonna be a little bit though.
As the blue team continues their last-ditch effort to save their entree, the votes are trickling in, and the customers keep coming.
Would you care for nuts on your salad today? This was like The Neverending Story.
Every time I looked up, there was another face.
Vote for blue.
The lasagna was really good.
It had really good flavors.
It was--it was a win.
The red team's lasagna may be scoring votes, but they're running out.
If it's not ready, they can't wait for it.
They just--you don't get the point.
Things start breaking down a little bit.
We had this huge line.
Do we have any lasagna ready? I'm crusting it on the top right now.
We're all just convinced that we're the team going to the pressure test.
What do you got? Special.
Special of the day for the red.
As lunch service ends, the office workers drop off their votes and head back to work.
For every course they ate, each of the 350 customers have a vote for either blue team or red team.
Red team, blue team! The last customer has just gone through! Whoever wins the most courses wins the challenge.
We are exhausted.
Our morale is completely down.
I think we lost this challenge.
First of all, you just served over 300 office workers.
One team is gonna lose this challenge.
That team faces a huge pressure test.
Suzy, what's the matter? I really hope that we don't lose because of the lasagna.
I know that we've lost this challenge, and I know that we've lost this challenge because of me.
Suzy's crying.
I mean, we all know that lasagna sucked, so shut up.
Right.
Time for the scores.
Each team prepared five courses.
The first team to win three courses wins the challenge.
Starting off with the soup.
It was Aaron's chicken orzo against Alejandra's chicken chili.
Red team, blue team were Congratulations, blue team.
Nice job.
Okay.
Next scores.
They're in for the salads.
Will it be the seasonal salad from blue or red team's watermelon salad? Wow, wow, wow.
Red team 91 to 52.
Next up, pizza.
We had a true Italian against an American in a ridiculous hat.
What were the scores? Red team! Giuseppe, you let us down on the pizza.
We had full confidence in you.
Next, the big sort of excitement when you come into a restaurant.
The special of the day.
Suzy's lasagna for the red team or Tony's burgers for team blue.
If the red team wins this course, they will win the challenge.
The scores are Congratulations, blue team.
Christian, Tony, we had issues with the burger to begin with, but you pulled it back.
Really good.
Well done.
Good job.
Thank you, chef.
Okay, finally, desserts.
It's red team' berries and cream versus blue team's cookie.
It all comes down to dessert.
Whoever wins this course wins the challenge.
What were the scores? Yeah! We did it! You guys are awesome! I am so excited and relieved that we've won.
It was a perfect team.
I could not have picked a better team myself.
And I feel so good.
Blue team, you will be facing An extraordinary pressure test.
Get a great night's sleep, 'cause each and every one of you are gonna need it because on the back of that pressure test, one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
As a captain, I think Max fell a little bit short.
He's never ran a kitchen crew before, and that us up.
Good night.
Red team, well done.
I'm absolutely furious right now.
I'm pissed.
pissed.
Max is supposed to be a captain of our team.
He did nothing.
He was too busy running around the kitchen acting like he wanted to be a boss.
I'm frustrated, but I'm also angry at Tony and Giuseppe.
Giuseppe must be really, really ashamed of himself.
And I'm ashamed of him.
In the end, I wish I never picked him.
Tomorrow, my team has to face a pressure test, and somebody's gonna go home.
Let's go.
I'm nervous about a pressure test 'cause I got no idea what to even expect.
How do you prepare? I'm nervous for a few people on my team, but I could really care less if Tony got his ass thrown off.
Yesterday, you competed in your first team challenge.
Red team, congratulations.
You won the challenge.
You'll be watching this incredible pressure test from the safety of the gallery.
Off you go.
Congratulations.
Well done.
Max, what happened to your team? Why'd you lose? Um, the issue was just getting stuff out.
I would have liked for people to do things a little differently, looking back, but I just didn't have the balls to say anything.
Tony, what'd you think of Max's leadership? I really didn't need any leadership.
I was assigned a job, and I could handle any job that's given to me.
It was all just a boy being a boy and not being able to handle the criticism from a man.
It's time for you guys to compete in your very first pressure test.
When it's over, at least one of you will be leaving MasterChef.
All right, blue team.
Your pressure test today Is all about Ravioli.
I don't like ravioli.
I don't eat ravioli.
I don't.
It's the truth.
Creating homemade pasta is both an art and a science, from the pasta itself-- not overworked, a silken texture-- to the filling-- not too dry, not too wet-- to the binding, the technique of construction.
And we will be examining technique, precision, and culinary vision as we watch you cook us the perfect ravioli.
You're each gonna be preparing a simple spinach and ricotta filling.
And here's the trick.
It's got to be with a simple butter sauce.
That way there's no disguising a bad piece of pasta.
You've all got to produce a stunning ravioli.
Are you ready? Yes, chef.
Your 60 minutes starts Now.
Off you go.
For their first pressure test, each contestant will prepare a spinach ricotta ravioli with access to the exact same ingredients.
The judges will be looking for consistency of the dough and filling, construction of the ravioli, technique, and overall flavor.
I'm feeling confident.
I think I'm one of the strongest competitors here.
I've only made ravioli by hand once before, and it's all on the line right now.
All right, Christian, which one of your fellow contestants is gonna boil in the water with these raviolis? I'm a little nervous with Tony.
I don't think he has a lot of experience doing it, so I'm just nervous for him.
There's a lot of technicality in ravioli.
I'm just worried that I remember all the components of homemade pasta.
We're really seeing technique, a step away from kind of impulse cooking and passion and really asking them to do something that requires know-how.
The thickness of the pasta should almost be transparent, so you can just start to see the touch of the spinach through the pasta.
Right, and are they going to just have a gorgeous filling with a little bit of pasta around it? Or are they going to be doing a big piece-- Well, it's all about ratio, right? Half a ravioli's a mouthful.
It's a lot of science.
Now they're each on their own.
They have nobody that they can blame except for themselves.
Okay, halfway house! All right, Giuseppe, if there's one thing you should be doing with your eyes closed, it's fresh pasta.
I made my fillings right now with spinach, nutmeg, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.
And the mixture, it looks a bit wet that.
Is that purposely done? I'm trying to work on this one right now.
Okay, who's going home in this pressure test? Uh, could be me.
Anything can happen.
Jennifer, who do you think's gonna struggle here today with the pasta challenge? Tony might have a little issue just 'cause he cooks on the grill andYou know.
Right.
What are you doing differently? I actually put a little bit of nutmeg.
You put the nutmeg in the pasta dough? In the pasta dough.
Be careful with the nutmeg, right? It's very strong.
Tone Loc, how we doing, buddy? Good, Graham.
A lot of people that we've been asking here, "Who do we think's the weakest? Who's gonna go home?" And a lot of people are saying, "Tony," that he's gonna struggle with it.
Do you feel that? I took a pretty good ass-kicking yesterday.
But I don't think I'm the underdog.
I think I'm just one guy that voiced their opinion yesterday and some people can't handle the truth.
That's where I'm at.
All right, well, keep working.
I want to see it.
I want to try it.
Okay, thanks.
All right, good luck, buddy.
So you see different techniques.
I mean, obviously, I think Giuseppe-- you can see that he's made pasta before.
I watched Giuseppe's filling.
It's actually quite liquid.
Now, the danger of that It can go flat.
One guy that everybody was saying that they thought was the weakest link is actually the one that made it by hand, using this little fork.
Tony? His spinach looks great.
Tony.
Absolutely.
Yeah, incredible.
We did see someone put nutmeg in their pasta, no? Jennifer? Yeah.
That is a technical mistake.
Yeah, raw nutmeg inside a pasta, it's very powerful.
Just on 15 minutes to go.
Got to get it through Perfect.
Just need this to work out for me.
I am needing to make the pasta thinner, which is taking more time, and the clock is ticking down.
You got ten minutes left.
Ten minutes.
that was a pain in the ass.
I can't do it.
I have about ten minutes left at this point, and my previous batch of raviolis suck.
There we go.
Back in the game.
I'm not sure that I have enough time left to do another batch, but I got to try.
Taste! Taste! Taste! Taste! It's very good.
Taste is right on.
We should be plating now.
30 seconds to go.
My pasta turned out a little tough.
I might be in trouble.
Here we go.
Last ten seconds.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! I'm a little worried.
Seven contestants from the losing team are competing in their first pressure test.
We should be plating now! The theme: Ravioli.
Here we go.
Last ten seconds.
In the end, at least one of them will be leaving the MasterChef kitchen.
Five, four, three, two, one.
And stop! I'm a little worried.
I'm a little nervous.
I'm not gonna lie.
At least one of the eight of us is gonna go home and I want to stay.
What a tough pressure test.
Well done.
Okay, Giuseppe, come on up here.
All three judges will taste each home cook's ravioli.
When the tasting is complete, at least one person will be sent home.
This could be the last thing I'm cooking and to get out on an Italian dish, that would be embarrassing.
So you did a larger shape.
Three pieces.
A ravioloni.
A ravioloni.
So let's see what we got here.
Do you think that the ratio from filling to pasta looks right to you? Um, no.
No.
I think that it's about overworking the dough.
Mm-hmm.
These look a little flat.
Taking a look at 'em, it's not really a pillow as much as it's a sheet.
The pasta's too thick.
Somebody's going home today, and I didn't expect you to be in that bracket.
Okay.
Tony, let's go.
I really did not nail this one at all.
I did a chiffonade of spinach.
I put just a little bit of parmesan in the filling.
Really? Man, they look like-- like pasta sandwiches.
Hopefully my filling will stand out.
Yeah.
That pasta, it's just so thick and so heavy.
Just look at the density of that.
I'm struggling with the thickness of the pasta.
It's all here.
A dish like this, I don't even know how to eat this.
Because quite frankly, what this dish should be is a ravioli that looks something like this, right? When you're so far off track from the balance that we're looking for, it's hard to even give evaluation.
I mean, bit of a letdown.
Sorry, Tony.
I actually feel real disappointed in myself.
I'm a good cook that had a really bad day today.
Okay, Max, come on up.
What do you got for us? I did a brown butter sauce with a little sage in there.
I noticed you were unhappy with the first set.
You threw them away.
You started again.
Why? The dough was very gluteny.
I had to salvage that.
Took everything I could, ran it through the machine a bunch of times, and I came out with the product I liked.
At least you had the intelligence to stop, taste, readjust, and with barely under ten minutes to go, start again.
That takes a big pair of balls.
Today It paid off.
I'm extremely proud of myself, and that's what a pressure test is all about.
I passed it in every sense of the word.
Tracy, let's go.
All right, so walk me through what you did.
I prepared the filling, which is a spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, little bit of nutmeg.
Wow.
I think the pasta is a little bit underdone, but the brown butter, you just nailed.
Okay.
It's perfect.
Thank you so much, chef.
Okay, Christian, let's go.
I mixed up some ricotta with some spinach, put some salt and pepper and some grated parmesan cheese in there.
I like the shape.
I thought the plating was good.
I thought the butter sauce was effective.
And in fact, the filling's good.
Alejandra.
I knew that I wouldn't be relying on the butter as much for a sauce, so I wanted the texture inside the ravioli to be creamy.
The visual impact, the color Beautiful.
And that, for me, is one of the best raviolis I've tasted anywhere.
Thank you so much, chef.
Esther, please come up.
When I look at my ravioli, I'm extremely happy with the way it looks.
The way it tastes, I wish I could say that I tried one.
There's a funny taste in the filling I can't quite make out.
I've got the perfect thickness of the pasta.
But I am concerned about the filling.
Is there egg yolk in there? I can't remember.
You can't remember? You don't know what's in your ravioli.
The filling is nowhere near as good as the pasta.
It's not good.
Such a shame.
All right, next up, Jennifer.
I'm looking at my plate, and I feel very confident.
Walk me through how you made the filling.
I whipped the ricotta, sauteed up some spinach, dried it out, and just some salt and pepper.
Hmm.
I've never seen or heard of putting nutmeg in the pasta.
Jennifer, one person minimum is leaving this competition today.
What were you thinking putting fresh nutmeg grated into the flour? Just thought it would give it a little bit of a different flavor profile than everybody else's.
You put the freaking nutmeg in the pasta.
I could scream.
The filling is delicious.
It's got that wow factor.
Yet it's destroyed by that nutmeg.
So frustrating, 'cause you think you may have blown it.
Eight home cooks have just faced their first pressure test in the MasterChef kitchen.
At least one person will be sent home, and Jennifer has made a serious error.
You put the freaking nutmeg in the pasta.
I could scream.
The filling is delicious.
It's got that wow factor.
Yet it's destroyed by that nutmeg.
I think you may have blown it.
To know that that one small little mistake is ultimately quite possibly gonna cost me, it's tough to swallow.
That was a tough pressure test.
For at least one of you, that will be Your last time you'll cook inside the MasterChef kitchen.
Okay.
All eight of you, come down to the front, please.
We asked you to construct something that involved a certain amount of intuition, know-how, finesse, along with culinary savvy.
Some of you excelled.
Others did not understand what we really wanted.
All right, will the following five people please stand forward? Giuseppe.
Tracy.
Max.
Alejandra.
And Christian.
The five of you are safe from elimination.
Congratulations.
Please head up to the gallery.
Off you go.
Well done.
I'm hoping that the judges are taking into consideration the times that I did shine.
I'm very worried that I'm gonna go home on a stupid mistake.
I want to throw up.
The damn nutmeg.
I don't want to walk away from here leaving them disappointed.
Jennifer, step forward.
Tony, step forward.
Esther, you sacrificed a lot to enter this competition.
But that wasn't you at your best.
And it was not MasterChef quality.
And for the fact that you didn't even know what was in your ravioli mix, your journey at MasterChef Is gonna continue.
And here's why.
Technically, you nailed the pasta.
But don't ever tell me ever again you've got no idea what's inside that ravioli.
Yes, chef.
Yes.
Upstairs, please.
I'm relieved.
I'm running really fast for those stairs, because I don't want to stand down there ever again.
I could feel the beads of sweat rolling down my back.
Everything is at stake right now.
I mean, I'm really nervous, and the odds are getting pretty low.
Jennifer, Tony This is a very tough decision for us.
You know, you may be in the bottom two, but you both hold a lot of strength in this competition.
But both your dishes were ranked below par by all three of us.
Tony, the pasta was way too thick.
And it was lacking that visual wow factor that we're looking for.
Jennifer You've done something pretty stupid.
You put nutmeg in the flour.
You made some technical mistakes that are beyond reproach, so it's a very difficult position you put us in.
The first person leaving MasterChef in the first ever pressure test is Tony.
Your time's done at MasterChef.
Now let me tell you something really important.
You have a very passionate take on food.
And you can cook, let me tell you that.
And do not go back to becoming a trucker.
Find yourself in a kitchen, dig deep, yeah, and stand strong.
Thank you, chef.
Follow that dream, okay? Thank you.
Please take your apron off and put it on your station.
I came into this as somebody who's getting too old to do what I've done all my life.
I love to cook.
I want to open a little chalkboard restaurant with my wife.
I don't need to be a rich man.
I wanna go through the rest of my life doing what I love.
They gave me respect, which is worth more than any of the money.
I'm truly grateful for that.
Okay.
Take your apron upstairs.
You Are on thin ice.
Really thin ice.
There are several things you cannot play with.
Pasta's one of them.
I really thought we were both going home.
You know, sometimes you stumble, but it's how you pick yourself up on the other end that makes or breaks you.
And this is gonna make me.
Next time on MasterChef Show us you mean business.
The final 15 cooks face another mystery box It's a very big gamble.
Where some grab the judges' attention Absolutely beautiful.
For all the right reasons.
It's like fireworks on your palate.
And others That's like taking a Bentley and crashing it into a wall.
For the wrong ones.
I will send you home now.
In the elimination challenge, the judges test the cooks' sweeter side Leading to some bitter results.
It's like I've just gone to the doctors for a skin graft on my butt.
And a shocking elimination.
This gives what I do a bad name.
And another homecook's MasterChef dream will come to a bitter end.