MasterChef Canada (season 3) facts for kids

Of the top 40 home cooks, six of them (April Lee, Jennifer, Jeremy, Mary, Terry and Vince) cooked dishes that earned three "yes" votes from the judges, immediately earning them a place in the Top 14.

The 18 home cooks who earned at least two yes's from the judges were tasked with creating a Mise en place to earn a spot in the top 14. Sean's was deemed to the best and he earned a spot. Robyn, Ernie, Fanassa, Domingo, Alawn and Kendra were all eliminated, while Jacqueline, Julia and Matthew advanced. For the remaining eight cooks, David, Elizabeth, Les, Michelle, Reno, Shawn, Travis and Veronica, they then had to make a dish with the ingredients from the mise en place to earn the final four spots. Shawn and Michelle advanced into the top 14. David also advanced, while Reno was sent home. Veronica then advanced into the Top 14, sending Les, Elizabeth, and Travis home.

Mystery Box 1: The mystery box contained thirteen iconic Canadian ingredients, one from each province and territory. Shawn, Mary, and Veronica made the three best dishes, and Shawn won.

Elimination Test 1: Shawn received immunity from elimination, and then was shown the judges' heritage cuisines. He picked Claudio's South American ingredients for the others to work with in the elimination challenge. For his third advantage, he was able to save two home cooks from elimination. He picked Terry and Vince. Matthew and Michelle made the two best dishes. The worst three dishes belonged to Jennifer, David and Veronica, and David was eliminated.

Team Challenge 1: The home cooks were tasked with preparing and serving a baby pork rib entree with two sides and a sauce to 121 firefighters. Matthew and Michelle were the captains of the Red and Blue teams respectively. Matthew got to choose all five members of his team before Michelle. He chose Mary, Sean, Jeremy, Vince and Jacqueline to join him, forming the Red Team. This left Michelle with April Lee, Jennifer, Julia, Shawn, Terry and Veronica, forming the Blue Team. With a difference of 20 votes, the Blue Team won the challenge.

Pressure Test 1: In the pressure test, the home cooks on the Red team had to bake a tower of 24 cupcakes with at least three different flavors. Matthew was given the option of to saving himself and one of his teammates, and he saved Jeremy from the pressure test. Jacqueline and Mary were both sent to safety, with Mary's cupcakes being deemed the best, leaving Sean and Vince as the bottom two, and Vince was eliminated.

Mystery Box 2: The mystery box had the home cooks workings in pairs. The pairs were Mary and Matthew, Jeremy and Jacqueline, Terry and Jennifer, Julia and April Lee, Michelle and Veronica, and Sean and Shawn. Julia and April Lee, Jeremy and Jacqueline, and Terry and Jennifer made the three best dishes, and Terry and Jennifer won.

Elimination Test 2: Terry and Jennifer were immune from elimination, and were shown eight different types of fish they then assigned to the other home cooks to cook. They also chose two home cooks to be saved from elimination. Targeting Jeremy, April Lee and Mary, they assigned monkfish to Jeremy, hake to April Lee, steelhead trout to Mary, British Columbia sturgeon to Sean, Spanish mackarel to Jacqueline, sole to Michelle, red mullet to Veronica, and branzino to Matthew, leaving Shawn and Julia to receive immunity. Veronica and Jacqueline made the two best dishes, making them team captains for their next team challenge. Mary and Sean were called out for having the two worst fish dishes, and Sean was eliminated.

Team Challenge 2: For their next team challenge, the home cooks were tasked with cooking a three-course lunch for sixteen fashion elites. Each team had to make one vegetarian, one seafood, and one meat dish. Veronica and Jacqueline were the Red and Blue Team captains respectively. Veronica chose Matthew, Michelle, Julia and April Lee, forming the Red team. Jacqueline chose Mary, Jeremy, Shawn and was left with Jennifer, forming the Blue team. The judges gave Terry the option of choosing which team to join, and he chose to join the Red team. The Blue team won the challenge.

Pressure Test 2: The home cooks on the Red team had 20 minutes to cook a butter-poached lobster dish. Veronica was given the option of saving herself or one of her teammates, and she decided to save Michelle. Matthew, April Lee and Veronica were are all sent to safety, leaving Julia and Terry in the bottom. The judges announced that there would be a second pressure test to determine which of them would be sent home. The second pressure test required Julia and Terry to recreate a dish of steak au poivre in only 15 minutes. Terry was deemed to have performed better and Julia was sent home.

Mystery Box 3: The mystery box contained basic ingredients needed to produce a baked dessert, as well as a heart-shaped tin. Veronica, Terry, and Shawn made the three best dishes, and Veronica won, and her recipe was also featured in a Becel advertising campaign.

Elimination Test 3: Veronica was safe from elimination. She was allowed to choose four home cooks to cook with the canned version of the theme ingredient instead of fresh, and She gave the canned ingredient to Jeremy, Mary, Jacqueline and April Lee. The special ingredient was revealed to be pumpkin. Shawn made the best dish with Mary and Terry placing second and third respectively. Jennifer, April Lee and Michelle were called out for having the worst three dishes, and Michelle was sent home.

Team Challenge 3: For their next team challenge, the home cooks arrived at Mississauga's Hansa Haus and had to cook gourmet sausage dishes with a topping and a side for 250 people in celebration of Oktoberfest, and the team with the most sales was safe from elimination. Shawn, Mary and Terry were the captains of the Red, Blue and Green Teams respectively. Shawn chose pork as his protein, while Mary chose lamb, leaving Terry with beef. Shawn chose Jeremy and Jacqueline, forming the Red team, and Mary chose Veronica and Matthew, forming the Blue team, while Terry chose April Lee and was left with Jennifer, forming the Green team. The Green team won the challenge.

Pressure Test 3: The judges announced that one member each from the Red and Blue teams could be saved from the pressure test, and that all members from both teams decided be deciding who would be saved. The Red team decided to save Jeremy, while the Blue Team decided to send Veronica to safety. The rest had one hour to prepare freshly made ricotta cheese and then make a ravioli dish and a gnudi dish. Mary made the best dish, leaving Jacqueline, Shawn, and Matthew in the bottom, and Jacqueline was eliminated.

Team Challenge 4: The home cooks were split into two teams and had 90 minutes to prepare a four-dish menu each using the heads, shoulders, knees and toes of various animals. In a random draw of selections, the Blue team consisted of April Lee, Jennifer, Jeremy and Mary, while the Red team consisted of Matthew, Shawn, Terry and Veronica, and there were no team captains in this challenge. The Red Team decided on an Asian themed menu, while the Blue Team created elevated versions of old favourite recipes. The Red team was the winner.

Pressure Test 4: April Lee, Jennifer, Jeremy and Mary had 90 minutes to bake four éclairs with four different toppings. Jeremy and April Lee made the best dishes, leaving Jennifer and Mary to face elimination, and Jennifer was eliminated.

Mystery Box 4: Retired astronaut Chris Hadfield was a special guest for the mystery box challenge, in which the home cooks had 45 minutes to make a dish using space food. Matthew, Veronica, and Mary made the three best dishes, and Matthew won.

Elimination Test 4: Matthew decided the teams in the following tag team challenge, in which the home cooks were tasked with replicating an exquisite platter consisting of five different hors d'oeuvres. Targeting Mary, he chose to pair up Mary with Jeremy, and Veronica with April Lee, leaving Shawn and Terry as the final team by default. Mary and Jeremy managed to create the best platter, making them team captains in the following team challenge. Shawn and Terry were in the bottom, in part because Terry had put the wrong filling in the wrong hor d'oeuvres ceviche, but Shawn failed to notice this mistake, and Terry was sent home.

Team Challenge 5: The top six home cooks took part in the annual restaurant takeover in Eric Chong's restaurant located in Toronto's Chinatown: R&D, co-founded with Alvin. The guests consisted of MasterChef Canada alumni, including season two winner David Jorge. Mary led the Red team with Veronica and April Lee, while Jeremy led the Blue team with Matthew and Shawn. The judges decided that the Red team performed better overall.

Pressure Test 5: Jeremy, Matthew, and Shawn had one hour to were to bake their own version of a Charlotte cake. Jeremy had the best cake, leaving Matthew and Shawn in the bottom. While both Matthew and Shawn's cakes had critical issues, the judges decided to save Matthew, and Shawn was sent home.

Mystery Box 5: The home cooks were tasked with to making a dish containing a protein, vegetables and a purée. Veronica, Matthew, and Mary made the three best dishes, and Matthew won.

Elimination Test 5: Matthew received immunity from elimination. The remaining four home cooks had 90 minutes to make two dishes in 90 minutes, one savory and one sweet, using the key ingredients in four classic cocktails. For his second advantage, Matthew assigned one of the cocktails to each home cook. Targeting Mary and Veronica, Matthew assigned Bloody Mary (vodka, chili pepper, and tomato) to Mary, Mint julep (bourbon, mint, and sugar) to Veronica, Piña colada (rum, coconut, and pineapple) to April Lee, and Irish coffee (whiskey, coffee, and cream) to Jeremy. Mary and Jeremy made the two best, dishes leaving April Lee and Veronica in the bottom, and April Lee was sent home.

Individual Challenge: The final four remaining cooks were surprised in the kitchen by their families, who joined them for a trip to Toronto's St. Lawrence Market. The cook with the best dish will automatically be advanced straight to the top three semifinals, leaving the remaining cooks to battle it out in a replication pressure test where one cook will be eliminated. The judges decide that Mary's dish was the best of the challenge.

Pressure Test 6: After bidding goodbyes to their families, Jeremy, Matthew and Veronica donned on their black aprons to face the pressure test. They were tasked with recreating three sea scallop dishes: a trio of scallops served with pea pureé, a Coquilles Saint-Jacques and a raw scallop crudo. They were had to open the sea scallops straight from the shell, and were given only the exact number of sea scallops required to replicate all three dishes. Jeremy made the best dishes, leaving Matthew and Veronica in the bottom, and Veronica was sent home.

Mystery Box 6: In the semifinals, the 3 semifinalists had 90 minutes to prepare sixteen plates of an entrée for the judges and thirteen of Canada's most influential professional chefs/restaurateurs. The ingredients were the exact same Canadian ingredients from the first Mystery Box challenge. The winner of the challenge directly advanced to the finale, and the remaining two semifinalists went head-to-head in the final pressure test of the season. Mary won the challenge, winning her a spot in the finale.

Pressure Test 7: Jeremy and Matthew went head-to-head in the last pressure test of the season. The theme was citrus-infused desserts, and Jeremy and Matthew had 90 minutes to replicate three very technically challenging desserts: white chocolate ganache with grapefruit loaf croutons and mint ice cream, lime mousse-filled choux covered with coconut sablé, and matcha tart filled with yuzu and lemon curd with browned meringue sesame snaps, finger limes and gold leaves. The judges decided that Matthew's performance just fell short of the mark, sending him home and sending Jeremy to the finale.

Mary and Jeremy competed in a three-course challenge in the finale to determine the winner. For appetizer, Mary made a golden beet borscht with horseradish goat cheese mousse, beet-cured trout, and caraway crumb, while Jeremy made bison tataki with uni cream, lotus chips, and tataki sauce. For entrée, Jeremy served a sushi boat consisting of a deconstructed spider roll with soft shell crab, marinated baby octopus with mushrooms, tuna crunch roll with wasabi mayo and crispy salmon skin, and ginger papaya salad, while Mary served a surf and turf with beef tenderloin, fried oysters, and arugula and sea asparagus pesto. For dessert, Jeremy made a milk tea panna cotta with coconut tapioca, fried plantains, and jackfruit ice cream, while Mary made a blueberry financier with brown butter crumb, kettle corn, blueberry sauce, and buttermilk corn ice cream. Mary won, becoming the first female and vegetarian winner of MasterChef Canada.