Gordon: Previously on season ten of "MasterChef"...
- Let's go, baby!
Gordon: This is the best auditions in over a decade
- of this competition. - Holy , dude.
- Gordon: That was exceptional. - Thank you, Chef.
Drop the plate, man. Let's go, Blue Team.
Joe: It looks out of, like, a food magazine.
- Beautiful. - Thank you so much.
This dish, Subha, is "Subha-doobah" good.
I'm really sorry to say, but you've cooked
for the last time in the MasterChef kitchen.
- Tonight... - Trust me when I say
it's the toughest night yet.
...the home cooks fight for immunity
in a mystery box challenge...
- Yes! - ...with a big surprise.
Please welcome Victoria's Secret icon
Alessandra Ambrosio.
But that's not the only surprise.
Stop the clock. There's an additional twist!
I feel like I'm going to start crying.
- Make your way down please. - Let's go, guys.
- Yeah!
- Yes. - Here we go.
I walk into the kitchen today, and I'm feeling anxious
because I see the big mystery box.
And I'm just coming off an elimination challenge.
I do not want to be back in another one.
I've been in them all, but I've listened.
So I'm hoping to use some of those little tips
that the chefs have told me
and just apply them to today's cook.
We are down to 17 home cooks,
fighting for the top prize of a quarter-million dollars,
the gorgeous MasterChef trophy,
and the title of America's next MasterChef.
Your path to winning this incredible tenth season
continues with tonight's top secret mystery box.
- Oh! - All right.
Some of you have been flying under the radar.
But you still have an opportunity to show us what you can do
in tonight's immunity challenge.
Only three of you will be saved.
3 out of 17, definitely not great math in your favor,
but I need to show the judges that I'm just not all talk.
I've got knife skills, I've got the technical chops,
and I should be guaranteed immunity.
Aarón: I'm sure all of you are wondering
what secret ingredients are laying
- under those mystery boxes. - Yes, Chef.
To introduce those ingredients,
someone who knows a thing or two about secrets.
She's an actress, a loving mother,
and a former Victoria's Secret runway icon.
Please give a warm welcome to Alessandra Ambrosio.
- Hey, girl!
Whoo!
Hi, guys.
Noah: Seeing a super model, I'm speechless.
You drop an angel literally from above
down in the kitchen. Get out of here.
Forget about it.
I mean, unbelievable.
Was not seeing that coming at all.
- Welcome to the MasterChef family. - Thank you.
It's an absolute pleasure having you here.
She won't be here to taste, because she has to jet off.
But she's here to inspire you as you cook.
Now, you're from Brazil,so they're strong, bold flavors.
Coming from Brazil, we love fresh food, fishing,
grabbing whatever we have, using it that day to cook.
It's all about cooking and eating,
and having fun, listening to music,
spending quality time with your family.
Nice. Right, all of you, it's time to find out
what secret ingredientsyou'll be cooking with tonight.
Head to your stations. Let's go.
Micah: I've been in every single elimination challenge.
Having the chance to get immunity
is going to be everything,
and I'm about to attack this with full force.
I need to have immunity.
Now, tonight, Alessandra has curated
the incredible ingredients under your mystery boxes.
Alessandra, please, do the honors.
On the count of three, please lift those boxes.
- Oh, wow. - Yes!
- Wow. - There you have proteins
that are staples in Latin American cuisine.
You have red snapper, prawns,
octopus, skirt steak, and swordfish.
Wow.
I'm having a panic attack.
Most of these proteins
I've never cooked before.
I'm feeling like I'm going to struggle.
I need to get it together,
so that way I can conceptualize my dish.
You have one hour to make us a dish
featuring at least one ofAlessandra's chosen ingredients.
You will also have access to the amazing MasterChef pantry,
which we've given a little Latino spin to.
Ooh!
We want to see Latin-inspired, elegant dishes
in honor of Alessandrajoining us this evening.
- Understood? - Yes, Chef!
Remember what's at stake,
three amazing places upstairs.
This is my first time actually down in the kitchen cooking a dish.
A few months ago I was just back at school
cooking on this smallinduction burner in this little
illegal kitchen in my Harvard dorm room that I built.
Now here I am in the most amazing kitchen
in the entire country, which is incredible.
Gordon: Right, let's have 60 minutes on the clock.
Focus.
Make it the best Latin-inspireddish you've ever cooked.
Your 60 minutes start...
now. Let's go, guys.
- Excuse me. - Okay.
- Starfish. - Peppercorns.
Did anyone see the annatto?
Corn.
Bri: So far, I've been underestimated.
My competitors think that I'm just a cocktail server from Dallas.
But this Latin-American inspired dish
is right up my alley.
We'll do a pepper, too.
I majored in Spanish and I'm completely fluent,
so this is great chance for me to really show the judges
that I'm truly a front-runner in this competition.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
I have been to Buenos Aires,
eating, drinking, going to asados.
So I've got extensive experience
with these kind of Latin flavors.
60 minutes is decades of time
for me with these proteins, so I'm totally feeling
like I'm going to nail this challenge.
Behind.
Yeah!Show those muscles, Fred!
Showing them off.
Of course. Great.
Right now I'm goingto be making
a seared red snapper
with a Mexicanvegetable confetti,
creamy yucca puree.
I'm completely outof my comfort zone here,
but I'm trying to goand incorporate
fresh Californianflavors into it,
since I am from California.
- It's a warzone. - It is a warzone.
Right now I'm workingon the salsa for the searedswordfish I'm doing.
I saw the cactus,it was something I've neverworked with before,
so I'm just cooking it down now
to try to get allthe sliminess away from it.
Today's a very special day.It's my son's first birthday.
I know we've all sacrificeda lot to be here,
but hopefully this dishis going to makethe sacrifice worth it today.
If I'm one of the threewho gets immunity, that is.
Alessandra, you were so kind by curating this mystery box
with all of those Latino flavors and ingredients
that really speak to your background.
What would you do?Which protein wouldyou go to first?
I'll go for the skirt steak right away.
- Mmm. - A little bit of salt, put it in the grill.
- Easy. - Joe, what would you do?
These red prawns look really interesting.
A quick cook time so I can concentrate on other things.
I mean, for me, I would go to the octopus.
I'd cook that in the pressure cooker
with tons of aromatics.
And then I'd actually sear them
in a hot cast iron skillet, and then a beautiful
- red chili vinaigrette. - Nice.
- That sounds delicious. - What would you do, Gordon?
Gordon:Joe, I'd take that red snapper.
I would get a beautiful light chili rub,
and I would absolutely pan-sear that.
Here you got to be really conscious of using the spice, using the citrus.
I know that's one of your favorite ingredients, Alessandra.
And then just making sure that all those ingredients sing.
♪ Yes
- Unh! - Guys, 10 minutes gone.
15 minutes remaining.Speed up, multitask.
More importantly,get creativewith your ingredients.
- Hello, gentlemen. - Hello, Evan.
- What's the plan? - I got chipotle spiced skirt steak
marinating right here.
I'm going to keepthe head on the prawns
because I'm a huge fanof breaking that open,
sucking the juiceout of that head.
So we're going to havea little surf and turf
with a roasted corn saladand a little salsa verde.
How are you going to cook the skirt steak?
- I'm going to sear it off. - In what?
- Aquí. - Why not a grill plate or a cast iron pan?
You want to make the best dish possible,
you got to use the appropriate equipment.
They retain heat better and they also give you a better char.
- This is a non-stick pan. - The first steak
I cooked you gentlemen,which won me my apron
was cooked in non-stick.
Well, we didn't say it was that good.
- We just-- - If it wasn't that good, I wouldn't be here.
- Okay. You know what, Evan? - Oh, wow.
You don't have to bust our balls, okay?
I'm here to show youwhat I can do.
- I'm comfortable with these ingredients. - Good.
I use these ingredientson a regular basis.
I've cooked well over100 pounds of skirt steakin my day.
Remember something.
As in life, in the MasterChef kitchen,
the that you dole outwill come back at you.
I definitely don't wantto eat .
Evan: I know what I'm doing.
I don't need the cast iron pan.
I'm looking forwardto knocking this out
and impressing the judges.
Nick: It is a little hard to concentrate
cooking in front of Alessandra.
I-- you know, I, uh--
she's obviously this beautiful super model,
and it's hard to focus on a radish
when there's a super model standing there.
But my head is down and I'm justnot looking up, so...
Here we go.
Being that I am a child of a diplomat,
I obviously have traveled extensively.
In total, I've lived in about 16 countries,
eaten all these different cuisines.
I've actually realized that we're a lot more similar than we are different.
- Keturah. - Hi, Chef.
You have an amazing palate. You've traveled the world.
You're very fortunate with diplomat parents.
Where would you say has been one of the most extravagant areas
that you've traveled around the world?
Should I say Brazilbecause you're in front of me?
No, I did enjoy Brazil a lot.
I can say...
So this dish has to be exotic tonight.
I'm making swordfishand plantain croquettes
with a corn and avocado salad
- beneath a caipirinha dressing.- Nice.
- Have you done this before? - I have not.
- Made it up on the fly. - Sounds really good.
That's exotic. Good luck.
Shari: I cook curry almost every day for my family.
Latino food? This is something
that I definitely do not cook often.
I'm feeling really nervous.
I love this. There's a lot going on here.
- Tell us about the dish. - There's a lot going on.
Right now I'm working cactusfor the cactus salad.
I want to get ridof the spines.
And what's the protein? What are you using?
I'm going to use the snapper,
and I'm going to do somecilantro-lime rice.
- No curry. - No curry. No curry.
This is the first time in the competition
Shari hasn't made a curry.
It's so good to see you out of your comfort zone.
- Well done and good luck. - Yeah, good luck.
- Thank you. - That's it, girl.
You've got this.
- Wuta. - What's the dish?
Right now I'm doing a yucca
that I'm going to tosswith some color.
And then I'm going to doa black bean and a swordfish.
You going to fry that? You going to roast the yucca?
What are you going to do with it?
I'm going to boil it.
Here's the deal with yucca, okay?
Once it's cooked and it's parboiled,
it needs a little bit of love.
Whether you fry, whether you roast it,
boiled yucca has a very monotone texture and flavor to it.
My mom and my sister used to make me yucca,
and I hated cassava as a kid.
As a vegetarian, I changed my opinions
of all the flavors that I've tasted,
so this is my ode to what they love,
but adding some Latin flair to it.
- Yucca is "yuck-uh." - Keep with it, all right?
I used to think the same thing.
Wow. What an arrayof dishes out there.
They're definitelytaking up Alessandra'sLatin-inspired dishes.
Keturah, she's doing the swordfish plantain croquettes.
She's going to be grilling the swordfish.
It's been marinated inside tequilas.
- Tough one to pull off. - On the flipside,
over here we have Wuta. He's making more swordfish,
and he's going to make a yucca puree.
- I told him, test it-- - Has he done it before?
- He's never done it. That's the thing, Alessandra.- Oh, no. That's like--
- that's tricky. - And you know cassava farofa
is extremely challenging.
Because it's gummy. It becomes like glue.
Never workedthis thing before.
I am struggling with this.
- Hi, Liz. - Hi, Joe.
- What are you making? - I'm making something
I've never made orI don't think I've ever eaten.
A swordfishthat will be served
with a roastedsalsa roja sauce
with a pineapple mango salsa.
- Great. - I'm going to bake it.
I'm going to haveall my seasonings--
All right, be careful,
because swordfish is pretty lean.
- It cooks really quickly. - Yes.
- All right, Joe. - So in an oven,
very little time. Be careful not to cook it.
When swordfish is overcooked, it's like sawdust.
Okay. The pressure is increasing.
But you know what? I'm a fighter.
I'm going to cook my heart out
and go up to the balcony tonight.
Oh!
Dorian: I can't afford to
get on a plane and travel,
but I study places.
I study flavors.
So I'm familiar with Latin flavors
and I'm feeling really confident
about this challenge.
- Gordon: Dorian? - Yes.
- What are you doing? - I'm doing a charred octopus.
I think I kind ofgot y'all to realize thatI'm not just a baker.
But I still have some stuffto prove to myself,
and I hope this dish keeps mehere until the finale
when you're giving memy check and my trophy.
I've never wona trophy before.
What better trophy to winthan this one, right?
- Sounds amazing, right?- Yeah, you're very determined.
- Good luck, my lady. That sounds amazing. - Thank you so much.
- Thank you. - 35 minutes to go!
Now we're cooking.
I have cooked for this apron three times.
I need a break.
I mean, I love being down here,
I love cooking,
I love impressing the judges every time I show up.
But I'm about tired of this.
I'm tired of that black apron.
I want to be up there, and I want to be comfortable.
Behind you, Nick.
- Mm-hmm. - Stop the clock!
All of you, look at me.
Stop what you're doing.
This is "MasterChef" season ten,
our season of surprises.
So there's an additional twist.
All four of us also
want to see a delicious,
Latin-inspired ceviche.
- Let's go! - What?
I literally want to jump off a bridge right now.
I'm sorry, what?
- Let's go! - Oh, my God.
All of you, look at me.
Stop what you're doing.
All four of us also want to see
a delicious Latin-inspired ceviche.
- Let's go! - What?
I'm such a planner, and I like to really plan out my dishes.
And I thought I had the perfect dish planned,
and now I just have this twist,so I'm freaking out.
Gordon: Let's go, guys! Come on!
Don't hang around that pantry. Hurry up!
Aarón: Let's start making good decisions, guys!
- Gordon: Let's go! - I'm feeling a little bit of pressure,
but in the military,we always have to adapt.
I have a mango salsa componentthat I was planning
on putting on oneof my dishes anyways,
so I'm just going to adapt that
and turn that into my ceviche.
So we added in the twist of a ceviche.
- Yes. - Alessandra, we do this sometimes
because we really want to test these guys out.
Aarón: This is season ten, Alessandra.
We're really looking for the best of the best.
Let's go, guys! Come on!
To see how they can adapt and overcome,
think quick on their feet.
That's what a great chef does on a daily basis.
They want to be the best? They have to think quick.
I was already short on time,
and I'm going to have to sacrifice
an element or two of my dish.
Gordon: 20 minutes remaining.
I'm so stressed.
A little overwhelmedabout the ceviche.
I've never made it before.
However,I used to work in Mexico,
so I'm familiar withthe Latin-American flavors.
I'm here to learn,I'm here to grow,
so let's see what happens.
- Gordon: Let's go, guys. - Oh, my God.
Aarón: Nick, you better start thinking about what you're doing, young man. Okay?
Let's go. Use that Harvard education.
- Come on. - Being out here,
it's not some small deal to me.
It's what I want to do with my life.
I've taken time off from school
and I've kind of put everything behind
and come here to chase my dream.
Nick, what's going on, mijo? How do you feel
about the ceviche wrinkle that we threw at you?
- I actually loved your ceviche wrinkle. - Cool.
I cook ceviche a lotat home in the summer.
- My brothers and I catch a lot of fish. - Yeah?
- And so that's fun for me. - What are you going to make?
Brazilian cheese bread tacoswith a grilled corn salsa
and a prawn aioli.
All right, you got a lot going on, Nick.
- I'm very impressed. - I want to see this batter hit the pan.
Because what's going to stop it from coming out like a crepe?
Maybe he wants it like a crepe, though?
Well, you know,it's a unique taco.
I think it's gotthat nice kind of--
I want to see it. This is the moment.
This is a very bold and big decision he's making.
- I like this, though. - Let's see it.
Whatever you call it, as long as it's a vehicle
for the actual shellfish or fish.
I need a little bit more than that. A little more.
- Spread it out, mijo. - Spread it out.
Spread it out a bunch, yeah.It may not be hot enough yet.
- Good luck. Looks good. - Thank you, Chefs.
I haven't been down in this kitchen in awhile.
I do have a lot to prove to the judges,
but I'm going to prove that tonight with my dishes.
- What's going on, Sam?- I'm a little in the weeds, Joe, to be completely honest.
The grill isn't reallygoing as well as I could.
You want to speed this up. You need to steam this.
I also have to grill my fish.
Aww, man, the grill's just--
- Put some water on here. - Yeah, yeah.
- Okay. - Grill your fish now.
If you're having issues with the heat,
- let it do its thing. - Either you steam and grill it--
Put it on top of the corn. The steam will cook it.
- That's a great idea. - Steam and grill it at the same time.
- Thank you, Joe. I need that. - Aarón: Get with it.
Don't be discouraged at all.
Hi, guys.How are y'all doing today?
- Noah, we good? - Hi, Noah.
I know it looks like a bomb,but we got a lot of thingsgoing on right now.
I'm working right nowon a mesquite.
It's more Mexican.A little homage to Aarón.
We've got an en papillote in the oven right now.
Red snapper en papillote that's about three minutes out.
And I have thisyucca cava puree.
It looks a little gummy,but the flavor's--
I think it's getting there.
You want to try it,you can try it.
A lot of fresh herbs.You got parsley, thyme.
It's very smooth,but it's a little gummy.
I've never cooked with this.
I'm a little outside my comfort zone,
- but I tried it. - It sounds super ambitious,
- but that's what we love about you, Noah. - I'm trying, man.
- I'm giving it all. - Yeah? You got this.
- Alessandra: Go for it. - Let's roll.
- Good luck, Noah. - Thank you so much.
- Good luck, Noah. - All right. I'm an idiot.
Just flexed. What a moron.
Ooh, those tortillas look sad.
There's some sad-looking tortillas.
Oof. Oof!
You might want to give up on this one.
- Michael.- Hey, Michael, are you going to give up on this?
- What are you doing? - No, no. I'm going to be frying them
in little strips,
so I just did them freeform.
- Okay. - Oh, I got you.
It doesn't matter right nowwhat they look like.
- I understand. - What's the dish?
I am doing a beautifulroadside style grilled shrimp.
What are you doing about the little wrinkle of the ceviche?
Ah! I already have thatcooking right here.
I'm doing a beautiful orangeand kumquat ceviche
- with snapper. - Orange and kumquat ceviche with snapper.
- Yeah. I love traveling. - I like that.
Me and my fiancée are inMexico at least once a year.
- I've been all over the place.- Wonderful.
There's a lot morethat I'd like to see.
It's a huge, beautiful country.
Actually, tomorrowI was supposed to leave
for Puerto Vallarta.
But I gave up my tripto be here.
- Awesome.- So I'm going to bring the beach here on this plate.
- There you go, Michael. - Thank you so much, guys.
- Hi, Renee. - What's happening?
- You are absolutely beautiful.- Oh, thank you.
And I'm actually wearingone of your signature items.
- You are? - Ladies, please.
- I mean, come on. - Tell us about the dish. What are you doing?
I am making a tequila citrussnapper and prawn.
Gordon: And the little twist with the ceviche,
where are you going with that?
I am making a pineapple salsa
with serranos, red onions,
shallots, garlic,tons of lime and lemon juice,
and just salt and pepper.Just make it really fresh.
- Alessandra: Wow. Sounds yummy. - Sounds amazing.
- Good luck. Come on, you got this. - I'm good. Thank you.
Whew!
Oh, boy.
Last four minutes.
And Noah's running for the pantry.
Thank you for that, Noah.
Wow, that was fast.
You ever seen a man that big run that fast?
Let's go, guys.
Give these dishes some finesse.
Make sure that that ceviche is separate from your entree.
Put some beauty on that plate.
Three and a half minutes to go, guys. Come on.
- Come on, Nick. - You should be putting food on the plate right away.
Fred: The plating for this dish is very delicate,
and I'm not happy with the consistency of my puree.
- It's very gluey. - Fred, come on!
I know that my confidencein this kitchen has been shaky.
I'm trying to get out of this bad headspace.
But all the doubt and all of the anxiety
just comes back to me right away.
Now I'm just a bundle of nerves again.
Keep it going, guys. 90 seconds remaining.
We'll see if thiscomes together.
Not so confident.
You've got to start plating your entree.
- Ooh! - I got to get these-- something.
- I'm running out of time.- Michael's still frying stuff.
- What is he doing? - He has nothing on his plate.
- He's behind. - One minute to go.
Michael: I literally waited until the last minute.
I have to finish and get it on the plate
because I need to get up on that balcony
and get that immunity.
- 20 seconds! - Let's go, guys. Come on!
Let's go, Michael. Move!
- Aarón: Come on! - Joe: Time to put it on the plate, guys.
- This is it. - Gordon: Come on, hurry up.
- Aarón: Come on, Sam. - Let's go, guys. Come on.
Michael's still frying stuff, guys, in the fryer.
- Let's go, Michael. - Judges: 10, 9, 8,
7, 6, 5, 4,
- 3, 2, 1. - Hands in the air!
- Gordon: Well done. - Aarón: Wow!
Oh, my God.
I hate not getting what I imagined
in my head on the plate.
The ceviche was a big curveball,
and I just only hope, like, 14 other people do worse.
Extraordinary.Give yourselves a roundof applause. Come on.
- Good job, Liz. - Awesome.
Alessandra,you are one busy,busy lady.
Always on the move.Thank you so much for being
part of the MasterChef family.
Your energy elevatedyou all, right?
- Noah: Absolutely. - Yes, Chef.
- Gordon: Amazing. - Thank you, guys.
I really think you guys turned Latin flavor
into something very special in your own way.
We can't wait to see you again in this incredible kitchen.
- Yes! - Keep up the good work.
- Thank you, Gordon. - Lots of love.
Thank you, darling.Good to see you.
- Nice to see you, too. - Likewise.
- Thank you so much. - Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen,all of you,
give it up please for Alessandra.
- Let's go. - Thank you.
Good luck, everyone.
Tonight we want to see incredible craft on a plate
inspired by Latin-American ingredients.
Shall we, gents?
Jamie, wow, you used everything.
You guys threw some greatingredients at us.
I think I gotthe grilled octopus flavor,
especially doing somethingthat normally would take me
about two and a half hours.
All right, Liz, how did you prepare the swordfish?
- I actually baked it. - Is that the way you wanted it to look?
No.
- Wow. - A little taco party, huh?
I was trying to dotacos three ways,
and got thrown a littlecurveball by the ceviche.
- Super clean. - Thank you.
- Dorian. - Hey, how are you?
- Wow, that's a lot of food. - It is a lot of food,
but I'm a big girl.
Are you happy with the amount of citrus you put in your ceviche?
I just wish that hada little bit more juice.
Wuta: This challenge was hard.
I'm looking around, and I think we all struggled with our dishes.
How'd you cook the swordfish?
The swordfish I marinatedin tequila and lime zest,
and then just grilled it offwith about ten minutes left.
That's the way you wanted to do the corn?
The corn didn't come outthe way I wanted.
Have you worked with cactus pear before?
A little bit. I personallylike the crunch of the seeds,
so I thought I couldadd that into that mixture
to add some textureto contrast withthe creamy puree.
Was this bleeding of the saucesan aesthetic intention?
- Subha. - Are you happy with your presentation?
- Uh, not at all, Chef. - Why not?
Because last-minute,I ran out of time.
- Yep. Thank you, Subha. - Thank you.
So, the ceviche, you've left the skin on.
Have you ever had ceviche with skin on it?
Nope, I have not.
I've eaten ceviche a lot.
I can't actually believe I left the skin on the fish.
- Amazing array. - It's unbelievable, huh?
I feel that theyall embraced the ideaof using multiple proteins.
- Gordon: Yep. - I think that the ceviche twist was good,
because I think a lot of them really rose and excelled.
- And some fundamental flaws. - Oh, yeah.
- Happy? - Yeah.
- Happy. - We got this.
There are three dishes tonight that Joe, Aarón, and myself
really want to highlight.
Sam, Liz, and Fred.
You three have...
the worst dishes of the night.
- Oh. - Okay.
You three are lucky
that tonight is not elimination.
Liz, we never, ever, ever, bake swordfish.
- Yes, Chef. - Sam,
that's how a 12-year-old would plate corn.
Really? It's barely grilled.
That's not MasterChef-worthy.
Fred...
you did something tonight with those cactus,
the seeds, the slime-- what were you doing?
I thought that the seeds wouldadd a little bit of crunch.
- No. - They're not edible.
Gordon: We don't serve the seeds.
I should've known better
than to put seeds that are inedible into my dish.
I'm upset with myself,
and I just feel like I'm in a bad headspace.
I know that I have to get that self-belief back in
or else I'm the next one out that door,
and I can't let that happen.
Now, there are several dishes
we want to take a much deeper look at.
Remember, three of you will be heading up
to the safety of the balcony.
- Evan, please bring your dish forward. - Attaboy.
- Good job, Evan. - Thank you, guys.
Evan: I'm comfortable with these proteins.
I love Latin flavors.
This is the type of stuff I love to eat
and cook for my friends and family.
So, I'm feeling super confident.
So I had a chipotlemarinated skirt steak
on top of torched corn saladwith cojita salsa verde,
with a shrimpmarinated in garlic,
and a snapper ceviche.
- Visually, it pops. - It's a plate where the colors and visuals
speak of the flavor, so I feel like I can taste it by looking at it.
Thank you so much.
We've got the acidity. We've got the saltiness from the cheese.
And you got the cook absolutely nailed.
This ceviche is also-- in its balance
and its sweetness is really, really top notch, you know?
- Thank you. - I absolutely love this dish.
There's so much attention to detail,
from the way that you cut the cherry tomatoes
to make them uniform to the corn kernels.
I love the acidity that just permeates this whole dish.
If I had to take you to task on something,
it's that you didn't use a cast iron pan,
which would have gotten you
an even better sear on that steak.
Next time,do me a favor and listen.
But, well done.
Good work, E!
Michael, bring your dish forward.
Michael: I'm really proud of this dish,
because I feel like this is the first time
I've been able to show, you know, myself on a plate.
I'm starting to feel like I can follow my dream
to make a career out of cooking.
And I'm hoping that these flavor combinations
are something the judges get excited about,
because I need this immunity.
Describe the dish, please.
Today I made a grilled prawn
with a passion fruitand prickly pear salsa,
with an avocado mousseand crispy tortilla strips.
- Congratulations. It looks beautiful. - Thank you.
Flavor? Delicious.
It's vibrant. It's citrus-y.
What it needsis a touch more heatin the salsa underneath,
- a touch more seasoning. - Yeah.
- That salt is just missing everywhere. - Sure.
Joe: It's a one-dimensional dish without the salt.
So, it looks perfect, it could have been perfect
- had you seasoned throughout. - You got it. I hear you.
- Thank you. - Aarón: Thank you.
- Good job. - Thank you.
- Great job, Mike! - Good job, Michael.
Shari, please bring your dish forward.
- Yay! - Shari!
Good job, Shari.
Walking up there, I'm feeling amazing.
I showed that I can cook more than Indian cuisine.
I know it's a big risk,
but I'm just hoping my dish
takes me up to the balcony.
Describe the dish, please.
So I did a pan-fried red snapper
with cilantro lime rice,
salsa verde, nopales salad,
and a shrimp ceviche.
Mother-in-law, the curry is off the menu!
- Finally. You can do it! - I can, I can.
It looks super clean and flavorful.
I think you took a big risk,
especially going away from Indian foods,
which are generally saucy.
So I hope that you have the seasoning and the zing behind it,
because there's no sauce to hide behind on this dish.
Gents.
How'd you cook the snapper?
I marinated itin a little lime juice.
I put some diced shallots,some Mexican oregano,
and then I justpan-fried it in some oil.
- Mmm. - Wow. Mmm.
How'd you cook the snapper?
The snapper, I marinated itin a little lime juice.
I put some diced shallotsand then some Mexican oregano,
and then I justpan-fried it in some oil.
- Mmm. - Wow. Mmm.
Shari, it's super well-seasoned.
Great balance of salinity and acidity in all the preparations.
The ceviche might be the best part of the dish.
It's got my whole mouth stimulated and ready to eat more.
- Almost makes the rest of the dish taste better. - Thank you, Joe.
Your nopales, for someone who doesn't use it quite often,
you did a great job with them.
They're still crunchy, they're acidic.
Gordon: If you turned around and told me
that you'd be cooking cactus like this tonight
three weeks ago, I'd never have believed you.
So here's the fascinating thing about you.
You're out of your comfort zone,
but you're actually on top of your game.
Fish are cooked beautifully,
but the pop is the ceviche.
- It's just mind-blowing. - Very good.
You can cook outside India,let me tell you. Great job.
- Thank you.- Thank you so much. Thank you.
- Nick, let's go. - Attaboy, Nick.
- Come on, Nick.
Nick: I feel fantastic.
I've put a lot of thought into the dish.
It's beautiful, it's colorful, it's bold.
I took a lot of risks in making such a complex dish.
Nick, describe the dish, please.
Tonight, I made a Braziliancheese bread taco
with a corn salsaand a skirt steak on top
with prawn aioli.
You didn't play safe.
- A Brazilian cheese tortilla. - Yeah.
How difficult are theyon a scale of one to ten?
Oh, first of all, they're tempestuous.
You got to get in there.
The fact that you did this is so bold, young man.
- Thank you, Chef. - The ceviche presentation is the best of the evening.
It looks like a ceviche that would come from a restaurant.
- What's in there? - I have the snapper,
and then I havesome lime supremes,
a little bit of mango nectar,
shaved radish,and passion fruit.
The ceviche is good.
You went overboard on the Scotch bonnet.
You really need to tone that down, young man.
What did you marinate the steak in?
I wrapped itaround some cinnamonbefore I cooked it,
and then I also just didthe classic salt, pepper,
a little bit of olive oil.
What you've done with that cheese tortilla and marinated steak?
- Delicious. - Nick, this is a cool, smart,
very intellectual take on a surf and turf
with the prawn aioli.
I mean, really high-thinking, great-tasting stuff.
- Thanks, Chef. - Good job. Well done.
Thank you.
I tried to go above and beyond
what the judges were expecting.
And so, seeing them actually love the dish was amazing.
It just sort of validates it more for me
that I deserve to be in the MasterChef kitchen.
- Bri, please come forward. - Yay!
Bri: I'm proud of my dish.
I took the curveball
and I executed that to perfection.
I really do think I'll be in that top three.
Describe the dish, please.
I made a pan seared snapper
with cilantro and coconut foamand roasted potatoes.
- You dress food beautifully. - Thank you.
It's like your hair.There's not a hair out of place.
But it's almost like you're trying to send a message to us all
to put us on a diet.
We can eat whole portions, by the way. Why so small?
Well, Chef, wheneverI've personally traveled
to a superfine dining restaurant,
it's many, many tastingsthat you're doing,
so it is meant to besmaller portions.
Shall we? That ceviche.
- What's the marinade? - I did a mango syrup
and I also didplenty of lime juice,
lots of salt and pepper,
micro cilantro, and mango.
That ceviche is delicious,let's get that right.
- Thank you. - On point, seasoned,
fruity, exotic, everything you want.
- How'd you cook the potatoes? - I roasted them in the oven,
and I tossed them witholive oil, plenty of salt,
plenty of pepper,and smoked paprika.
Yeah, I think you cooked the fish perfectly. I think there's no debating that.
I just feel like this doesn't really represent your aesthetic very well.
I saw them on the Latin table,
and I wanted to incorporateas many of those Latiningredients as I can.
But there's other ingredientsin there that go way better.
A chipotle roasted corn puree under that fish
would've been absolutely spot-on.
Creamy, rich, spicy.
But great finesse.
Joe: Ceviche, one of the best of the night.
- Thank you. - Good job.
- Awesome. Thank you. - Thank you, Chefs.
It was extremely pertinent
to stand out at this stage in the competition.
So it feels great to impress the judges
and show that I can be a frontrunner in this competition.
The final dish.
- Wuta. - Good job.
Wuta: Let's go.
Wuta: For the first time ever,
I feel really good about this dish.
I feel like I nailed the plating,
I feel like I nailed the flavors.
And most importantly,
I feel like I'm finally showing the judges
I'm a strong competitor
and I can rise to the top.
Wuta, describe the dish, please.
I have a swordfish pan-seared
with a mango onionand pepper salsa,
with a spicy cilantroblack beans and yucca.
For ceviche,there's the blood orange,
the lemon orange,tomatoes, basil,
and then I havethe swordfish in there.
There you have meon a plate.
- Fantastic. - Here's the big surprise about you.
You're vegetarian.
So who's guiding you on this, or is it just trial by error?
It's feeling--I know when food's cooked,
and I put the fish in my moutha little bit and spit it out.
It was really good.
Here's the deal, Wuta.
The ceviche...
is bright and super tasty.
Wuta, I just have to say that if you had a restaurant,
I would become your regular customer
because I like your style, and it just makes me
want to come back and reserve at Wuta's place again.
- Good job. - Thank you, Joe. Appreciate it.
That's really good.The yucca, next time,
to get them cooked properly,
smash them and then fry them,
so it's almost like huge chips--crispy outside, crispy in.
But I just love the fact
that you've got unglamorous ingredients
and elevated them to the major league.
Were you nervous cooking in front of Alessandra?
No, for the first time,I wasn't actually nervous.
It was crazy.There was no sweating.I felt very poised.
So to get the best out of you going forward in this competition,
every night, we have to bring in a super model.
That would be great, Chef.
- Well done. Good job. - Thank you, Chef.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you. - Good job.
Okay, thank you very much.
We need a moment to discuss.
- Tough. Six amazing dishes. - Yeah.
They all embraced the idea of the spirit of Latin America and those flavors,
the color, the citrus, the acid.
Who came out of their comfort zone the most, as well?
- Yeah. - No one played it safe out there.
No. Very good. Ceviches were a great add.
Yeah, who conquered thatlittle curveball we threw?
Absolutely. I think a lot of them really rose and excelled.
Gordon: Happy?
- Yeah. I think so. - Okay.
There were several great dishes out here tonight.
But, unfortunately, there are only three spots
available up on that balcony.
And in this case, we each had our own favorite.
For me, this individual came out of their comfort zone
and showed us that they were capable of rising
in amongst that competition.
For me, that person is...
- Shari. Well done. - Thank you. Thank you.
Amazing.
Shari: I'm one of the top three dishes
out of 17 home cooks.
I feel like I'm going to start crying.
This shows I can make anything.
This next home cook did an expert job
of celebrating Latin-American ingredients.
My favorite dish of the night...
- is Nick. Great job, young man. - Thank you, Chef.
Nick: It's an honor to have the judges
single my dish out as the best dish.
Let's go, young'n.
Getting my spot back up on that balcony feels fantastic.
I didn't play it safe, and it paid off.
That leaves me.
This cook was able to put bold flavors on the plate,
really great technique, consistency,
the kind of food that really speaks to me.
That cook is...
- Wuta. - Whoo!
Yeah!
Wuta, you have my vote! Head up to the balcony.
- Let's go, Wu! - Good job, buddy.
Thank you, guys.
For the first time in the MasterChef kitchen,
I feel like I can pat myself on the back.
I've never been in the top three,
so it feels really good to deliver.
Evan: Well, .
I definitely had one of the bestdishes in this room today.
And I should be on the balcony, but I don't care,
because I'm going to continue to move forward
and kick ass and take names in this operation.
All three of you are now safe. Well done.
- Thank you. - Joe: Good job.
- Thank you, Chef. - Gordon: Good job.
Good job, guys.
But for those of you still down here...
you know what comes next.
That's right, an elimination challenge tomorrow.
Trust me when I say it's definitely
the toughest one yet.
All of you,
sweet dreams.