MasterChef Canada (season 4) facts for kids

The Top 24 received a surprise, special delivery back in their hometowns. They had 20 minutes to gather ingredients to prepare a rice dish for the judges, and the top 12 cooks received aprons. Aaron, Alice, Alisha, Jordan, Kimberly D, Mai, Miranda and Trevor made dishes worthy for a spot in the Top 12. Grace, Connor, Ali, Kimberly C, Jason, May, Raffaele, and Sheila were then sent home, leaving Barrie, Chris, Jay, Jillian, Justine, Matt, Nii and Thea to fight for the last 4 spots. For their next challenge, the 8 cooks were allowed to select which of the judges' specialized pantries to use to make their dishes. Justine and Matt received aprons after the cook. After the tasting, Barrie and Thea earned the final two spots.

Mystery Box 1: The mystery box contained a piece of kitchen equipment used by the home cooks in their own homes. Aaron, Miranda and Trevor made the three best dishes, and Trevor won.

Elimination Test 1: Trevor received immunity from elimination, and then was shown three types of fruits. He picked the stone fruits as the task of the elimination challenge, and was also able to decide which home cooks would make savoury dishes and which would make sweet dishes. For his third advantage, he was able to save either all the men or women from elimination. Targeting Miranda and Thea, he chose to save all the men, and Alice, Kimberly, Mai and Miranda made savoury dishes, while Alisha, Justine and Thea made sweet dishes. Justine and Miranda made the two best dishes. The worst three dishes belonged to Mai, Thea and Alice. The judges sent Thea to safety as Mai and Alice had critical issues in their dishes. The judges then saved Mai, eliminating Alice.

Team Challenge 1: For their first team challenge, the home cooks were tasked with making a buffet lunch for new Canadian citizens. Each team had to make one curry and one noodle dish, one of which had to be vegetarian, with a salad side for the guests. Justine and Miranda were the Red and White Team captains, respectively. Justine chose Trevor, Aaron, Jordan and Alisha for her team, Miranda chose Mai, Matt, Thea, and Kimberly for her team. The judges gave Barrie the option to picking which team to join, and he chose to join the Red team, who were declared the winners.

Pressure Test 1: The home cooks from the White Team had 30 minutes to cook squid ink noodles with a soft boiled egg, including extracting the ink sac from the squids themselves. Miranda was given the option to save herself or one of her teammates, and she decided to save herself. Thea made the best pasta dish and was safe. Of the remaining home cooks, Mai's dish lacked salt, Matt's egg was overcooked, and Kimberly's dish had undercooked pasta and a broken egg. As her dish had the most issues, Kimberly was eliminated.

Team Challenge 2: The Top 10 home cooks were put into pairs and were required to replicate a seven-layer birthday cake, consisting of 4 sponges and 3 types of icing, in honor of Canada's upcoming 150th birthday. The pairs were Justine and Matt, Miranda and Aaron, Barrie and Alisha, Trevor and Thea, and Mai and Jordan. The home cooks tasted the cake blind-folded to identify the ingredients used and then baked it. The judges decided that Justine and Matt produced the best cake.

Elimination Test 2: Season 3 winner Mary Berg made a special return to the MasterChef kitchen. Justine and Matt received immunity from elimination, and were then shown Mary's three favorite comfort foods, one of which the other home cooks had to elevate. They selected her tuna casserole. For their third advantage, Justine and Matt were able to save one cook from elimination after the cook, and they chose to save Thea. The best dish belonged to Aaron, with the second and third best dishes belonging to Alisha and Mai. the judges announced that the three cooks became team captains in their next team challenge. Trevor and Jordan nominated themselves for elimination knowing that their dishes were not good, and Jordan was eliminated.

Team Challenge 3: The Top 9 were divided into three teams and challenged to create gourmet burgers and fries for a group of hungry motorcycle enthusiasts. Aaron chose Trevor and Thea, forming the Red team. Alisha chose Matt and Barrie, forming the Blue team, while Mai chose Justine and was left with Miranda, forming the Green team. The Green team was declared the winner in a close result by beating the Blue team by 8 orders.

Pressure Test 2: The home cooks on the losing teams faced a difficult pressure test featuring a classic French dessert: Mille-feuille. One home cook from each of the Red and Blue teams was saved. After asking the team captains' opinions, the judges declared that the losing home cooks decided together as to who would be saved. While Alisha took responsibility for the loss, Aaron decided to save himself, disappointing Thea. Ultimately, the Red Team decided to save Aaron and the Blue Team decided to save Barrie, leaving Thea, Trevor, Matt and Alisha to cook in the pressure test. Thea and Matt made the best Mille-feuilles. Trevor's lacked taste and was underbaked, while Alisha's pastry was very poorly made, and Alisha was eliminated as a result.

Mystery Box 2: The theme of the Mystery Box was Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. Chef Jamie Oliver made a special appearance in the MasterChef kitchen. He also announced that the winner of the challenge would also have his/her dish featured on the menu of Jamie's Italian Canada. Barrie, Trevor, and Thea made the three best dishes, and Thea won.

Elimination Test 3: The home cooks were tasked with replicating a high-end Japanese bento box in the classic MasterChef tag team challenge. Thea was immune, and she was allowed to save one home cook from elimination, in addition to deciding the teams. She chose Mai, sending both of them to safety. Thea then paired up Justine with Matt, Miranda with Aaron and Trevor with Barrie. Trevor and Barrie produced the best dish. Miranda and Aaron did well enough to be safe, leaving Justine and Matt in the bottom. In the end, because the judges couldn't decide which of the two performed the worst in the challenge, both Justine and Matt were eliminated.

Skills Test, Part 1: The Top 6 home cooks were shocked to learn that a special redemption challenge took place outside the MasterChef kitchen, as Alice returned to the competition after competing against Justine and Matt (See MasterChef Canada: Redemption). Now, the 7 home cooks faced a series of pressure tests that got progressively more challenging, all featuring egg as the main ingredient. The home cooks had to battle for survival to progress to the next stage of the competition. The first pressure test featured Scotch egg. Barrie made the best dish and was sent to safety. Aaron and Thea also did enough to be made safe.

Skills Test, Part 2: Alice, Miranda, Mai and Trevor then faced the next pressure test, in which they had to make an Eggs Benedict. Mai and Trevor made the two best dishes, leaving Alice and Miranda to face the final pressure test.

Skills Test, Part 3: The final pressure test featured the cheese soufflé. Miranda's soufflé was deemed to be better than Alice's, and Alice was sent home once again.

Team Challenge 4: The Top 6 faced the annual restaurant takeover in Michael iconic Auberge du Pommier, an Oliver & Bonacini restaurant. Barrie and Aaron were the captains of the Red and Blue teams respectively. Barrie chose Trevor and Mai, while Aaron chose Thea and was left with Miranda. The teams had to prepare two appetizers ,an artichoke salad and a duck consommé en croute, and two entrees ,a beef tenderloin dish and a ham-wrapped monkfish dish. The judges received feedback from their valued guests during service, and in the end, they decided that the Red team was the winning team.

Pressure Test 3: As the losing team, Aaron, Thea and Miranda were given 45 minutes to create a Moroccan-inspired Vegetable Tajine served with herbed couscous, using an array of vegetables and 28 unmarked spices. Miranda made the best dish and she was sent to safety. Thea's dish lacked spices, while Aaron's dish suffered the opposite from being overpowered with a heavy use of cloves. In a surprise twist, the judges gave Thea the opportunity to hand her spot in the Top 5 to Aaron if she felt she was not ready to move forward in the competition. When Thea affirmed her desire to stay in the competition, Aaron was eliminated.

Mystery Box 3: In this challenge, the Top 5 home cooks were shown the judges' favorite techniques in cooking salmon: glazed, encrusted and poached. Each home cook then used one of these techniques to made a delicious salmon dish. In a random draw, Miranda and Trevor selected "glazed", Barrie picked "encrusted", and Mai and Thea chose "poached". In the end, Miranda, Trevor, and Barrie made the three best salmon dishes, and Miranda won.

Elimination Test 4: The home cooks were tasked with making a dish using only five ingredients from the pantry. After selecting their ingredients in the basket, the judges then announced that Miranda, as the winner of the Mystery Box, had the advantage of swapping the others' baskets. Miranda decided to keep her own basket. She then gave Thea's basket to Barrie, Barrie's basket to Trevor, Trevor's basket to Mai, and finally Mai's basket to Thea. Ultimately, Barrie made the best dish, while Trevor's dish also received high praise. Mai's dish was also deemed to be good enough, leaving Miranda and Thea as the bottom two. In the end, despite her initial advantage, Miranda's raw flank steak resulted in her elimination.

Team Challenge 5: The Top 4 home cooks arrived at a picturesque Ontario orchard to compete in their final team challenge. The home cooks were then surprised by their loved ones, and tasked with making an elegant family dinner that showcased the autumn harvest. Having made the best dish in the last challenge, Barrie was given the option of choosing his partner. He chose Trevor, forming the Red Team, which left Mai and Thea to form the Blue Team. In the end, Barrie and Trevor won the challenge, securing their spots in the Top 3.

Pressure Test 4: As the losing team, Mai and Thea faced the final pressure test of the season to determine which of them would earn the last spot in the Top 3. The two home cooks were given 60 minutes to replicate a complex tropical dessert called the Hawaiian Mountain Cloud. In the end, Thea's dessert inched ahead when it came to flavor and execution, and the judges were also disappointed to find a piece of aluminum in Mai's dessert. As a result, Mai was sent home.

Individual Challenge: Trevor, Barrie and Thea were tasked with making a mélange of pastries in two hours to be served to the judges and 45 guests, including 11 pastry chefs. Some of their dishes had minor flaws but the judges and voted Barrie as the winner o.

Elimination Test 5: Barrie was given the opportunity to choose one of three luxury proteins and which proteins to give Trevor and Thea. They had to showcase their proteins in three different ways. Targeting to eliminate Thea, Barrie chose wagyu beef for himself and while gave Thea the Nagano pork and Trevor the Chanticler chicken. The judges praised Trevor’s dish, apart from his imbalanced sauce, and he advanced to the finale. It came down to Thea’s flat presentation and Barrie’s undercooked meat. Barrie was eliminated despite his initial advantage, sending Thea to the finale.

Trevor and Thea competed for the title. Unlike in previous seasons, they were given three straight hours to prepare a three-course meal for the judges, but had to present their appetizer after 1 the first hour, entree after the second hour, and dessert after the third. For the appetizer, Thea prepared a Mexican street corn panna cotta, with zucchini blossoms and jalapeno-lime puree, while Trevor made an octopus and chips appetizer with a deconstructed lemon tartar sauce. For the entree, Trevor cooked a braised lamb shank and lamb tongue with celeriac puree and seasonal vegetables, while Thea presented a braised pork belly and pork cheek tamale with pineapple mole sauce. For dessert, Thea created a stunning café de olla-inspired offering with orange cake, sponge toffee, and cinnamon ice cream, while Trevor served a fallen ice cream cone with mint chocolate gelato and a crème Fraiche whip. Trevor was declared the winner.