MasterChef Canada (season 7) facts for kids

Mystery Box 1: The first mystery box saw the returning cooks facing their nightmares - one of the worst dishes they cooked during their first appearance on MasterChef (which were Andre’s uni, Andrew’s poached egg, Andy’s lobster, April Lee’s Piña Colada dessert, Barrie’s Wagyu beef, Christopher’s ground pork, Dora’s beef cheeks, Jen’s Salisbury steak, Jeremy’s monkfish, Mai’s poached salmon, Marissa’s Asian street food platter and Thea’s pork belly and pork cheek tamale finale dish). The chefs had to reinvent their previous dishes using the main ingredients or parts of the components in them. To raise the stake, one chef was eliminated. Among the many standout dishes, Andre’s dish was deemed the best and he received an advantage in the following challenge. The worst dishes belonged to April Lee, Marissa and Dora. The judges decided that Dora’s beef cheeks sandwich lacked ambition compared to the other two chefs and she was the first returning chef to be sent home.

Gauntlet Pressure Test 1: Chef Shigeo Kimura visited the MasterChef kitchen to test the chefs' knife skills with a snapper usuzukuri dish, consisting of thinly sliced sashimi. The chefs had 15 minutes to break down a fresh snapper and beautifully present the dish. With the winning dish last week, Andre was immune from all challenges this week, while four chefs were saved after the first challenge. Jeremy presented the best dish and was saved along with Mai, Andrew, and Thea.

Gauntlet Pressure Test 2: The remaining chefs had to create their own personalized maki sushi rolls to be safe from the next challenge. The rolls had to be uramaki (rolled inside out) with a tempura element and thinly sliced toppings. Three further chefs were saved. Christopher’s vegetarian maki and Jen’s soy tuna maki were deemed the best and were saved. Barrie’s maki didn’t meet the brief as he added an extra layer of nori on the outside and April Lee’s maki was criticized for her strange combination which included salami. This left the judges to choose between Marissa’s sloppily presented but flavorful surf-and-turf maki and Andy’s tempura scallop maki, which had too much rice and little filling. Marissa was saved.

Gauntlet Pressure Test 3: Andy, April Lee, and Barrie had to replicate the judges’ okonomiyaki to be safe from elimination. Andy’s dish looked the closest in presentation but was slightly under seasoned. April Lee’s okonomiyaki was delicious, but she broke the pancake when she flipped it haphazardly, while Barrie’s was slightly undercooked as he took it out of the pan too early. Barrie was eliminated in a very close decision.

Team Challenge 1: At the start of this episode, the judges announced that April Lee had been forced to withdraw due to a back injury, and as a result, Barrie was brought back to the competition. For their first team challenge, the chefs were tasked to run their own MasterChef Canada delivery app, coming up with three entrees: a protein-forward, vegetable-forward, and starch-forward dish, and the team with the highest rating out of 5 won the challenge. Before the challenge began, the cooks were asked to name their biggest threat in the competition. Barrie and Christopher named Andre; Andre and Andrew both said Christopher; Marissa named Andrew, Jen named Andy, Jeremy picked Mai, and Mai, Andy and Thea all said Jeremy was their biggest threat. With the most naming Jeremy, he was chosen as the captain of the Red Team. As he named Mai as his biggest rival, she was chosen as the captain of the Blue Team. For their teams, Jeremy selected Andy, Christopher, Thea and Marissa, while Mai selected Andre, Andrew, Jen and was left with Barrie. The Red Team served a chicken karaage poke bowl, Asian charred eggplants and Filipino sweet potato noodles, while the Blue Team served jerk chicken wings, mushroom tacos and a pork tenderloin cold soba noodle salad. Overall, the food was well received with criticism pointed to the Red Team's small portion sizes and the Blue Team's bland mushroom tacos. With a rating of 4.1 versus the Blue team's 3.8, the Red Team won the challenge.

Pressure Test 1, Part 1: As the losing team, Mai, Andre, Andrew, Barrie and Jen faced a two-round Italian pressure test, in which one of them was sent home. In a big surprise twist, the judges announced not everyone on the winning team was exempted from the pressure test. As the captain of the Red Team, Jeremy was given the power to choose which team member to send to the pressure test; in a strategic move, he chose Andy. The first round featured pasta, and Michael's son Oscar Bonacini visited the MasterChef kitchen as a special guest to demonstrate three types of pasta for the chefs: capunti in a tomato sauce; lorighittas in a herb butter sauce; and trofie in a pesto sauce. The judges also announced that this was a head-to-head challenge in which Andy would decide the pairs and pasta dishes. He chose to cook against Barrie in capunti, and paired up Andre and Mai to compete with lorighittas, leaving Andrew to cook against Jen in trofie. Each judge decided the winner of one head-to-head match. Alvin deemed Jen’s trofie to be too hard despite having a better appearance, giving Andrew the win and sending him to safety. Claudio decided to send Mai to safety after Andre’s lorighittas were raw in the middle due to time mismanagement. Lastly, both Barrie’s and Andy’s capunti were near perfect, but Michael preferred Barrie’s more vibrant tomato sauce, thereby giving Barrie the win.

Pressure Test 1, Part 2: Andy, Andre and Jen cooked in the second round of the pressure test in a bid for survival. They had 60 minutes to reinvent three classic Italian dishes. In a random selection after a drink of sgroppino, Andy was given eggplant parmigiana, Andre received chicken cacciatore, and Jen got veal saltimbocca. In another curveball, the judges announced halfway through the cook that they also needed to prepare a second contorno dish to complement their main course. Andy’s crispy eggplant Parmesan and orange & fresh burrata salad were raved, sending him first to safety. Andre’s fried chicken cacciatore was also raved, but the judges found his buttermilk frisée salad a bit underwhelming. Jen’s rabbit saltimbocca and seared zucchini & rapini salad were liked, but her rabbit was a little overcooked, which resulted in her elimination.

Mystery Box 2: The chefs faced a mystery box challenge, in which they had one hour to bring a modern twist to classic comfort dishes using only plant-based ingredients. Andrew’s peaches and cream dessert was absolutely raved and deemed the best dish of the night and he received a big advantage in the following challenge. Jeremy’s "pork" lumpia, Andy’s chocolate and black bean cake, Thea’s stuffed agnolotti, and Christopher’s coconut tofu pudding were all liked. Andre’s Jamaican "chorizo" patties had dry fillings, while Mai’s sweet carrot cake dumplings were unappealing in colours. The worst two dishes were Barrie’s bland and pale Mediterranean pie and Marissa’s gummy kofta. Barrie was sent home once again, this time for good.

Quiz Challenge: The chefs competed in a game show challenge called Kitchenary! The judges quizzed them of their knowledge of culinary ingredients and techniques, with each correct answer giving them 10 points and an incorrect answer costing them 5 points, and the chef that had the highest score at the end won immunity from elimination. Because Andrew won the previous challenge, he received a 20 point head start. At the end of the challenge, Andrew won with 65 points.

Elimination Test 1: The seven remaining home cooks had one hour to cook a dish by selecting two of some of the cooking techniques/ingredients that were mentioned in Kitchenary!, going from second place (Christopher) to last place (Thea), with Andrew breaking any ties. Christopher chose the siphon and pandan, Andy chose the pomelo and the mandoline, Marissa picked the tamarind and en papillote, Mai selected the velouté and galangal, Andre chose the cassava and flambé, Jeremy selected emulsify and the spiralizer, and Thea picked the tortilla press and tomatillo. Christopher's "Into the Ravine" dessert and Mai's seafood banh beo with galangal velouté were raved and both were named winners of this challenge. Andy's pomelo pop dessert, Andre's cassava baked Alaska and Thea's toma-tostada inversion with halibut ceviche were all liked by the judges. Jeremy's pan-seared cod with potato two ways and calamansi beurre blanc was criticized for not having enough sauce (after he split his first batch of sauce) and being underwhelming. After the judges made their choices, they called Marissa alone to the front for having lots of flaws in her Tuna en Papillote with tamarind coconut, which she chose to serve without the paper bag and thereby making it lose all its aroma. Therefore, Marissa became the fifth returning home cook to be sent home.

Mystery Box 3: The Top 7 faced a mystery box challenge, in which they had one hour to make a dish using sustainable ingredients sourced by IKEA Canada, including squab, salmon, cactus, prickly pear, yellow dragon fruit, enoki mushrooms, okra and even crickets. Halfway through the cook, the judges threw another twist by revealing four more ingredients: Kalles Kaviar (Cod roe spread), whole grain mustard, lingonberry jam and dark chocolate, at least one of which the chefs had to include in their dish. Andrew’s cricket-crusted salmon with chickpea purée and beet-cricket tuiles won him his second mystery box. Jeremy’s squab Sotanghon was the second best dish, whilst Christopher’s cricket mushroom medley, Thea’s pan-seared salmon with sweet potato purée and chocolate crickets and Mai’s seared squab with lingonberry-glazed beets all received largely favorable reviews. Andy’s salmon fish cakes with dragon fruit pico de gallo tasted delicious but heavily criticized for its presentation. Andre’s cricket-crusted salmon with grilled cactus and pumpkin curry sauce was just deemed subpar with a salty sauce and slightly overcooked salmon among other minor issues. With the weakest dish, Andre was eliminated.

Elimination Test 2: The Top 6 faced the classic tag team challenge, in which they had to replicate a complex luxurious seafood platter composed of six dishes: steamed mussels in a white wine broth, fritto misto with aioli, grilled sardines, stuffed squids, red snapper ceviche and scallop Coquilles Saint Jacques. With his last mystery box win, Andrew was given the advantage of choosing the teams. Targeting to eliminate Jeremy and Mai, he chose to pair up himself with Andy; Mai with Christopher, and Jeremy with Thea (who had a shellfish allergy). In the end, Andrew and Andy’s platter was mostly praised with notable minor issues, including a rough presentation, a lack of aioli, an overcooked fritto misto and a slightly watery ceviche. Mai and Christopher’s platter was highly praised, though a bone was found in their ceviche and their fritto misto needed more frying. Jeremy and Thea’s platter fared the worst with no fritto misto or aioli, badly overcooked mussels with no garnish, clumsily done scallops and a lacking ceviche. Mai and Christopher were declared winners of the challenge, while Jeremy and Thea faced elimination.

Pressure Test 2: As the losing team, Jeremy and Thea faced a head-to-head pressure test to determine which of them would leave the competition. They had just 15 minutes to make two classic beef dishes: steak au poivre and steak tartare. Both beef tartares were almost flawless, but Thea’s steak au poivre was judged to be slightly better than Jeremy’s due to his split sauce. Therefore, much to everyone’s shock, Jeremy was sent home.

Team Challenge 2: The Top 5 chefs were tasked with working together as one group to prep, cook, plate and execute a 5-course tasting menu, with each member cooking individually for a high-end, fine dining dinner banquet for eight anonymous culinary insiders. The five chefs agreed on an Italian-inspired menu, although Mai and Thea briefly butted heads initially, with both wanting to serve a stuffed pasta dish and decided to go ahead with their dishes, regardless of concerns of repetitiveness. Throughout the 1 hour cookoff, Thea nearly faints from the pressure and required medical attention, but finished the challenge. At the end of the cook, the judges reveal the VIP guests were the chefs themselves and the 3 judges, and all five ranked each other’s dishes.

Andrew presented the first course, which was a take on a Caprese salad, was generally praised with some minor criticism pointed to his smoked tomatoes and the lack of basil punchy flavors. Mai was second, and her seafood cappelletti was greatly enjoyed by all the chefs and judges, with the only minor criticism being the superfluous usage of 2 types of shellfish. Andy was third, and his patatas bravas with octopus was too heavy with a slightly tough octopus, and was considered odd because it was a Spanish dish. Thea had the fourth course, and her ravioli doppi was also complimented, but she was criticized for her choice of skirt steak, and the judges pointed out that two pasta dishes on one tasting menu was not so fitting, which the chefs agreed with. Christopher presented the final course, and his truffle-vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate caramel mini-pastry received polarizing reviews, with some praise for his adventurous ingenuity and boldness, but criticism for the bizarrely confusing, clashing flavors. Mai’s dish was ranked the best, followed by Andrew in second place and Thea in third. Andy's dish placed fourth, meaning Christopher received last place. The judges announced there was no elimination, but Mai would receive an advantage in next week's challenge while Christopher would be at a disadvantage.

Elimination Test 3: For their next challenge, the Top 5 were presented with the desserts each previous MasterChef Canada winner made in the finale and had to create a new dessert using the ingredients in them. Joining the judges was season 3 winner Mary Berg. Because Mai won the last challenge, she had the first pick, while Christopher had the last pick. Mai picked Mary's blueberry financier with buttermilk corn ice cream, Andrew chose Trevor Connie's fallen mint chocolate ice cream cone, Thea selected David Jorge's lemon curd parfait, Andy picked Beccy Stables' fallen apple panna cotta, the dish he lost to, and lastly Christopher chose Eric Chong's Asian-inspired banana split. The chefs had 75 minutes to make their desserts, but 15 minutes into the cook, the judges announced that they wanted a palate-cleansing side dish as well. Christopher's banana split Gateau St. Honore was deemed the best dessert and he won the challenge. Both Thea's chamomile panna cotta with blackberry sorbet and Andrew's hot fudge brownie with tahini ice cream also received praise as well. Andy's spiced panna cotta with a poached glazed apple received mixed reviews as the apple's skin was hard to cut through, while Mai's cornbread cake with blueberry mousse was criticized for having a heavy handed, messy presentation and for missing the lemongrass component. In a great shock, Mai was eliminated.

Skills Test: The Top 4 chefs were told for the first time in MasterChef Canada history, the finale will consist of three chefs and only one chef would be eliminated in the penultimate episode. The chefs were told that the first challenge featured three skill-testing rounds and that the winner would be given an advantage in the elimination challenge. Each of judge demonstrates a skill, such as a mirepoix of aromatics uniformly diced by Claudio, Alvin unveiling how to break down a coconut, and Michael laying out a trussed trio of chicken, roast beef, and trout. The chefs had to replicate all three judges' demo displays to move on to the next part of the challenge. Christopher finished the first skill-testing challenge first, followed by Thea and Andy, who move onto the next round. In the next round, Christopher maintained his lead and finished first, followed by Andy, leaving the two of them in the final skill-testing challenge. In the final round, in addition to trussing all three proteins, the two chefs had to also gut and stuff their trout within ten minutes. Neither chef finished their trout on time, but unlike the previous rounds, technique was key and Andy won the skill-testing challenge.

Elimination Test 4: In the elimination challenge, the chefs had 75 minutes to demonstrate their culinary range by showcasing one of four ordinary ingredients: onions, carrots, cabbages, and beets, in a three-course meal. Andy, the winner of the skill-test challenge, got to decide each of the chefs' feature ingredient. He chose carrots for himself, onions for Thea, and cabbages for Andrew, leaving Christopher with beets. Andy was praised for his presentation skills, receiving good feedback on his dishes, aside from the carrots getting lost in the sauce for his duck dish, leaving Andy successful. Thea also praised for her presentation; while Michael and Alvin complemented her onion dishes, Claudio was unimpressed with her third onion dish for its lack of creativity. Christopher's dishes notably were less well-composed that usual, but Michael and Alvin found his beet dishes delicious, while Claudio found the beet sorbet to be ambitious but the concept confusing. Andrew's cabbage pakoras received strong praise from Claudio, but Michael and Alvin found Andrew's other two dishes to be disappointing, with Alvin taking issue with how Andrew's use of canned luncheon meat overpowered the taste of his cabbage sauerkraut, which was also underseasoned and under cooked, and the presentation was too rustic. Andy, Thea, and Christopher earned the three spots in the finale, and Andrew was sent home.

In the finale, Andy, Thea and Christopher were given three straight hours to prepare a three-course meal for the judges, and had to serve their appetizer after the first hour, entree after the second, and dessert after the third. For the appetizer, Andy served a seafood platter, consisting of a seared scallop, pickled mussels, fried oyster caviar, and green apple vinaigrette, while Thea made a torched red snapper crudo with a buttermilk whey foam, masa tuile, and compressed cucumbers, and Christopher presented a spot prawn ceviche with a tom kha gai ice cream, tomato tuile, and calamansi chili marinade. For the entree, Andy presented a lobster roll with a compressed choux bun, salt and vinegar chips, and a white wine sabayon, while Christopher made a seared duck breast with a smoked egg, taro nest, beet jus, and celeriac puree, and Thea served a sous vide venison loin with a poblano mole, pepita verde, and pan-roasted Tokyo turnips. For dessert, Christopher presented his take on mango pomelo sago, consisting of a mango cheesecake foam, coconut snow, and passion fruit meringue, Andy served a blueberry grunt with a lemon vanilla gelato ring, toasted meringue, and a thyme-toasted vanilla cake, and Thea made her take on a hibiscus margarita, consisting of a hibiscus panna cotta, habanero ice cream, coriander sponge cake, and tequila-infused melon balls. The judges were highly impressed with the finalists' overall menus, and announced that they would all receive the chef's package of Miele appliances. After reviewing all three meals, the judges felt that Christopher left the most lasting impression with his menu and him named the winner of the $100 000 and title of MasterChef champion.