MasterChef Junior (2013) s06e06 Episode Script
No Sugar Sugar
Announcer: Previously This is the biggest team challenge we have ever had.
A wedding? - Announcer: When the top 20 - Six halibut, two lamb.
- Kids: Yes, Chef! - catered the big day, - it was Ariana's Blue team - You're looking good! who found the perfect marriage in the kitchen Beautiful cook, ladies.
and sending Ben and Gracie I wouldn't even serve that to my fricking bulldog.
- Take your aprons off.
- back home.
Tonight ( kids screaming ) - the top 18 - Judges: Sugar! - Oh, my God.
- Here we go.
are in for a sweet surprise.
Tonight, you're stepping into my world.
Oh, no.
And then - Boo.
- ( kids scream ) Child: Joe! Girl: I like your dress.
a trip around the globe - Mexico.
- America.
- Poland.
- Coming through.
delivers out-of-this-world results.
It scares me to think at the age of 12, - you're this good.
- ( kids gasp ) Let's go.
Welcome.
Yeah! I am so stoked to be in the top 18.
I consider myself a fancy gentleman.
Line up, please, thank you.
Pierce: I like to go out to fancy restaurants.
I feel like I have a very sophisticated palate.
I am ready to step it up.
Welcome back once again to the spectacular MasterChef kitchen.
Now, who's ready for the next challenge? All: Me! Christina: The first challenge tonight is the iconic mystery box challenge.
Tonight, you're stepping into my world.
In tonight's mystery box challenge, you're gonna have to make us a delicious MasterChef Junior-worthy dessert, using whatever you find under your mystery box.
But first, we want to give you a little taste of what's in store.
Joe: So many ingredients are vital to creating a masterful dessert.
Flour, milk, eggs, but there is one ingredient associated with the sweet, sweet treats more than any other single ingredient.
- Oh, gosh.
- It is, of course What is it gonna be? - Judges: Sugar! - ( kids screaming ) ( laughter ) - Oh, my gosh! - I got sugar everywhere, no! - I got dandruff.
- There's sugar in my boots.
Christina's dreams finally have come true.
- ( laughter ) - Christina: All right, guys, sugar is one of the most commonly-used ingredients in the world.
It's in just about every pantry on the planet.
But it's time to head to your stations and find out exactly what you'll have to work with tonight.
( all talking at once ) Boy: It's so slippery.
- Ice skating! - Ahh! ( all talking at once ) You guys, this is crazy.
Now, you ready to find out what's under those boxes? On the count of three, I want you to lift your boxes very carefully.
One two three, lift.
- Ooh! - Whoa! Ooh! Whoa! In your mystery boxes, you'll find lots of different natural sweeteners.
You have agave syrup, raw honey, molasses, maple syrup, dates, bananas, and shredded coconut.
But do you guys notice anything missing? There is no sugar! Joe: That's right, everyone.
Tonight, you're making dessert - without processed sugar.
- Aw! Oh, no.
And there's an extra-special prize at stake.
Because the winner tonight will receive a prize that money can't buy, from "Family Circle" magazine.
Oh, my gosh.
"Family Circle" is America's best-selling food and family magazine, reaching more than 15 million readers each month.
The recipe of tonight's winning dessert will be featured in "Family Circle's" May issue.
- Oh, my gosh! - What? Wow, I mean, to get your recipe published in a super-famous magazine that millions of people know about, it's like, how cool is that? Now, is everybody ready to make us and incredible MasterChef-worthy dessert without processed sugar? All: Yes, Chef! Your 60 minutes starts now.
- ( kids yelling ) - Let's go! - Baskets, baskets! - Dates, dates! - I need flour.
- Eggs, eggs.
I need cocoa powder! Okay, here we go.
Whoo! I'm making a vanilla panna cotta with guava and raspberry.
I think this could be a winning dish because I think it's fancy.
I'm dressing it to impress it, just like I do.
( mixer whirring ) I am making cream puff with coconut whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and raspberries.
My mom's a baker.
I really want to make her proud.
This one's for you, Mom! So, desserts, no sugar.
Mission impossible.
How do you do it? Christina: The thing that you have to think about is that desserts, it is a science to get it just right.
You can't just take a recipe that you know and love, remove the refined sugar, and put in a natural sweetener.
It doesn't work that way, and that is going to - require you to adjust the recipe.
- Joe: So, enlighten me.
What would you do? No sugar doesn't mean not sweet.
No.
Look at some of these natural sweeteners now.
You can use that fresh coconut, honey, even ripened bananas.
I mean, just think of the level of sweetness inside those fruits.
They gotta think outside the box.
Let's be honest.
There's no parent in the country tonight that would not love the opportunity to take sugar out of their kids' diets, so it's a great lesson for them to learn how to cook brilliantly without sugar.
Halfway, guys! 30 minutes gone.
30 minutes remaining.
- Gordon: Beni.
- Beni: Yes.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? So I am making German chocolate cupcakes with rum coconut frosting.
So what's the supplement for sugar? I'm using a little maple syrup.
Now tell me about these German cupcakes.
- Why German? - Because I am German.
Sprechen sie Deutsch? - Excuse me, sir? - Right, young lady, - good luck.
- Thank you.
Joe: Mikey, what's up? - What do you got going on? - I'm an Italian guy, so I'm making cannolis.
You know that, like, I'm a cannoli expert, by the way? - You are? - Yeah, I am.
- I've been eating cannolis my whole life.
- Me too! You know what part of Italy they come from? - No, I do not.
- Sicily.
- I've heard of Sicily.
- You've heard of Sicily.
Fabulous.
Well, that's the home of the cannoli.
Now what are you gonna fill these cannoli with? - Mascarpone, ricotta - How you gonna sweeten that? With the dark chocolate.
And then I'm also using bananas.
- I think it's gonna be really good.
- Good luck, Mikey.
- Thank you.
- Make sure that filling is sweet enough somehow.
- Okay.
- Now, Maria, tell me about the dish.
What are you doing? I am making a plum tart with puff pastry, and a little bit of a coconut juice.
So you're gonna use coconut as the alternative sugar.
- Yes.
- See now, who are you missing most at home? I am missing my two bearded dragons.
One is named Gordon, as in Gordon Ramsay.
I can't believe you named a pet after me.
( laughs ) Good luck.
- All right, Miss Remy.
- Hello! - What are you making? - I am making two different types of donuts.
Wow.
Your donuts look stunning.
- Thank you.
- Are they baked donuts? - Um, yes.
- Where'd you come up with this idea? I'm obsessed with donuts and back in New York, we have a thousand different donut shops, and I'm obsessed with matcha, so I wanted to make a matcha glaze and a ganache with toasted coconut.
Now what did you use to sweeten these donuts that you've baked? I used a half cup of agave and honey.
Keep you eye on that clock and make sure those finishing touches are on point, okay? - Yes, Chef.
- Good luck.
Thank you! Ten minutes to go.
And for one of you, a huge advantage.
- Now, let's go! - Joe: Let's go, let's go! Perfect.
Gordon: Taste everything, come on.
Christina: Come on, guys, you gotta move! Four and a half minutes to go.
Start thinking of plating.
60 seconds, here we go.
Oh, my God.
- Gordon: Come on.
- Christina: Come on, guys.
Gordon: Speed up! - Christina: Push, guys, push! - Gordon: Let's go! - Ten - Judges: Nine eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, stop! - Gordon: And stop! Hands in the air! - Christina: Hands in the air! Gordon: Come on, finishing touches.
- Remember, sugar is banned.
- Christina: Come on, guys.
- Gordon: Let's go! - Judges: Five four, three, two, one! - Gordon: And stop! Hands in the air! - Christina: Hands in the air! ( applause ) Well done.
Across the last 60 minutes, we watched everything you do.
We miss nothing.
And now, we want to take a much closer look at three amazing dishes.
Joe: The first dish is a beautiful take on a very high-level Italian dessert.
Please step forward Pierce! - ( cheers, applause ) - Good job, Pierce.
I'm really proud of how my panna cotta turned out.
I think this will impress Joe, like, a lot, because he's a classic Italian, and I think this is perfecto.
What did you make for us here today? A vanilla panna cotta, with a guava and raspberry puree, and bruléed blood oranges.
You know the best panna cotta cooks are generally, like, old Italian ladies.
You aspire to cook like an old Italian lady? Uh, no.
Do you know any old Italian ladies? - No.
- I'll introduce you to my grandmother.
- She's 97.
- Wow.
She's an old Italian lady, and she makes panna cotta still.
So, let's see if Pierce's panna cotta can match Nona Hermina's panna cotta.
All right, how did you substitute processed sugar in the panna cotta? I used honey, and I put in one vanilla bean.
You know, this is very good, because honey has acidity, and it can really be dominant.
and you did a brilliant thing in this because you taste the richness of the cream, and the honey gives it a lot of sweetness, and the thing that you really nailed is just the right amount of gelatin.
- You cook like an old Italian lady.
- ( chuckles ) - And that's a compliment! - ( laughter ) - Good job, Pierce.
- Thank you, Joe.
Now why vanilla, guava, raspberry? I saw guava as, like, a very tropical fruit, and it's nice and sweet, so I thought it would go well with raspberries and it would also go well with the panna cotta.
I think the flavor is there.
I think it's an elegant dessert.
I would've loved maybe some buttermilk in there, something that is a flavor that's even more curious than vanilla.
But the fact that there's no processed sugar in this dessert is incredibly impressive.
It makes me feel like I can expect really high-end, refined dishes out of you, which is super exciting.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Nice job.
( cheering ) Now the second dish that we're dying to take a much closer look at, it's by one of the youngest.
Please step forward Maria.
( cheering ) Maria: I'm only eight years old.
I'm one of the youngest kids in "MasterChef Junior," so it would be a huge honor to have the best dish of the night.
Maria, describe the dessert, please.
I made a puff pastry plum tart, with a coconut drink.
This idea of the rustic board and the coconut, where did you get all these ideas from, eight years of age? Back at home I have cookbooks that I've been reading.
- Gordon: Wow.
- One of them is yours.
- Okay.
- The one that you look like a little kid, where you're like, "Aah" Okay ( laughs ) ( laughter ) And you know, you've managed to put a drink in there as well.
- What's in there? - There is a cinnamon stick at the bottom, - as well as some plums.
- Mmm.
- And then coconut juice.
- That's lovely.
Now, let's get into the tart, shall we? Any seasoning? Well, I put some smoked Maldon.
- Maldon salt.
Oh, wow.
- ( laughs ) And then some pepper, a little bit of spice.
Mmm.
Listen, the dish is delicious.
I love the caramelized plums.
The drink is delicious.
I'd put a touch less salt in there, but eight years of age, you're cooking like a young pastry chef.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
This is a classic, simple, rustic, country-style dessert, where the sweetness just naturally comes from the fruit.
In a way, Maria, you're ahead of the rest of the class, because you've presented something in its simplest form, and that is really an amazing thing from an eight-year-old cook.
- Thank you.
- Give me a bump.
- Maria! - ( cheers, applause ) The third and final dish that we want to taste is from one of the older home cooks in the kitchen.
Please step forward - Remy.
- Yes! - ( cheers, applause ) - Oh, my gosh, yes! Winning the first mystery box, people might have considered that to be a bit of luck, but being in the top three of the second mystery box, there's no such thing as luck with that.
Describe the dish.
Donuts with a green tea matcha glaze, and I added some strawberries on top and a chocolate ganache with toasted coconut.
Just the presentation, the finesse, is just incredible.
What I think's also really interesting and intriguing about this dish is that these donuts aren't fried, right? No, Chef.
I decided to bake these donuts, because I have never really had a really well-plated fried donut.
And I love cake, so I wanted to try making caked almost-donuts.
Well? Well - they're delicious.
- ( laughs ) Yes.
Your green tea matcha is nice.
It's not bitter from the tea, but the green tea is certainly the star of the glaze there.
Let's see what's going on with this dark chocolate coconut.
What's the sweetener in this donut? It is just honey.
I'm impressed.
I'm impressed that you didn't use a single granule of sugar.
I'm impressed that these are delicious donuts, and they haven't even seen a deep fryer.
I think you nailed it.
I think you knocked it out of the park.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Very nice job.
Remy, they look stunning.
Young lady, they are the smartest donuts in the country tonight, and you just proved you can make a healthy donut without sugar, and it's quite groundbreaking.
- Thank you, Chef.
- There's a lot of pastry chefs across this country watching tonight including the lady behind me, that will be pinching your recipe now, and it scares me to think at the age of 12, that you're this good.
Great job.
Thank you, Chef.
( cheers, applause ) They knocked it out of the park.
- Thanks.
- I'm blown away.
Amazing.
Right Pierce, Maria, Remy, all three of you did an amazing job.
But as you know, there can only be one winner, one recipe featured in that incredible magazine, and read by millions.
The young home cook whose recipe will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine, congratulations goes to Right, Pierce, Maria, Remy.
As you know, there can only be one winner.
The young home cook whose recipe will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine, congratulations goes to - Remy! - Oh, my gosh! - ( cheers, applause ) - I'm so happy that I'm the winner.
It feels great to win twice in a row Great job, guys! and my recipe gets to be in "Family Circle" magazine! That's something to be proud of at 12 years old.
- Joe: Congratulations, Remy.
- Thank you.
Maria and Pierce, I have some other news for you two.
For baking so brilliantly tonight, without any processed sugar, all three of you are now safe from the elimination challenge.
- Congratulations.
- ( kids cheering ) Joe: Now, everyone behind these three, come and join them in the front.
Ooh, yay.
Now, you ready for the next challenge? All: Yes, Chef! Please follow us.
( all talking at once ) Sophia: Oh, my goodness, I really don't know what's gonna happen right now.
I mean, you never know what to expect in the MasterChef kitchen.
( music playing ) Child: What? That is so cool! Oh, my gosh.
- Boo.
- ( kids scream ) That is so creepy! Junior home cooks, your next challenge is about to begin.
Flown in from the city that never sleeps, you know who I am? All: The Statue of Liberty! The Statue of Liberty represents a lot of different things.
but my favorite thing about the good old US of A is - the food! - Kids: Yeah! Delicious steaks, crispy fried chicken, and my personal favorite, apple pie.
American food simply cannot be beat.
( bagpipe honks ) ( bagpipes playing ) ( kids shouting ) The bagpipe is pretty much the worst sound in the whole entire world, and now Gordon's playing it, it makes it just even worse.
( bagpipes continue ) ( music continues ) ( laughs ) ( music stops ) ( laughter ) I like your skirt! ( laughs ) Come on.
- What? - Gordon: Right.
Kids, can anyone guess where people come from dressed like this? All: Scotland! That's right, Scotland, my motherland.
Now, Christina, no offense to this great and wonderful country, but Scotland is the greatest country of all, with some of the most incredible food on the planet.
Arbroath smokies.
Fish and chips.
And of course, our crowning glory, haggis.
All: Whoa! A savory pudding made with chopped, braised heart, blended with lungs, encased in an animal's stomach, thickened with the most amazing, delicious, - blood.
- ( kids scream ) Who would like some haggis tonight for supper? All: No! I don't blame you.
Where's Joe? ( glass breaks ) - What is that? - What was that? ( glass falling ) Oh, my God! ( kids talking excitedly ) ( glass breaks ) What is it? What is it? What is that? ( kids laughing, shouting ) - Turn sideways, Joe.
- Child: Go sideways, silly! ( laughter ) Child: Oh, my gosh! Gordon: Joe! ( cheers, laughter ) Joe Bastianich as a real slice of Italian culture.
- ( cheers, laughter ) - Joe: Listen, no matter what anyone else says, the best food in the entire world comes from my home country.
Fresh pasta, like tortellini, ravioli, and of course, pizza! ( cheering ) Nobody does food like the Italians.
- Yeah! - Yeah! Now, before we go any further, Remy, Pierce, and Maria, all three of you, head on up to the balcony.
- ( cheering ) - Good job, guys! Now, for your elimination challenge, we want each of you to tap into your heritage.
America is a huge melting pot of different cultures, and tonight we want you to celebrate that in your dishes.
Now tonight, you'll just have one hour to make us a cultural heritage-inspired dish.
In the MasterChef pantry you'll find flags representing each country from around the world.
Whatever countries are in your heritage, we want you to grab those flags and bring them back to your stations.
- Are you all ready? - All: Yes, Chef! Good.
Your 60 minutes starts now! ( kids talking excitedly ) All right, okay! Okay, here we go.
- American and German.
- Where do we go? Where's the Italian flag? - Poland! - America! Quani: From what I know about my heritage, I'm American all the way through.
- I need mustard! - Quani: So today, I'm making honey-barbecued chicken with a peach barbecue sauce and a coleslaw.
Peach! I'm trying to bring a little bit of Georgia in there with the peaches.
This is definitely a nice, classic, Southern America dish.
American, coming through! Seaweed! Seaweed, I need seaweed.
There's one last thing we need to do.
Get out of these ridiculous outfits.
Oof.
( kids whooping ) - Child: Mine is so heavy.
- Gordon: Come on.
- Child: Come on! - Christina: All right, be careful! There you go! Let's go.
All of you, speed up! I am making jerk chicken quesadillas with cold mango soup, and I'm homemaking my tortillas.
The tortillas represent some more, like Native American part of me, and the cold mango soup represents where I live right now, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
I'm hoping to make Hawaii proud and I'm hoping to make my whole family proud with this amazing dish.
I'm Italian so I'm making sausage and cheese raviolis with pesto.
I'm really proud to be an Italian 'cause I think it's the best country ever.
If you don't like Italian food, then you're crazy.
Today I'm making a blackened shrimp with a buttermilk biscuit.
and I add this really sweet sauce to go with it.
I live in Mississippi, and this gonna be a good old Southern dish.
Gordon: Season everything.
Taste everything! - Right, Mackenzie.
- Hello.
Now, come on.
We have an American flag, a Korean flag, and a Japanese flag.
Which is your favorite cuisine? - Korean.
- Why do you love Korean food so much? Because it tastes really good, and they know how to make really good candy.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? - Well, my mom is Japanese - Right.
so I'm making sushi, which is Japanese.
- Yeah, very much so.
- I'm making a California roll, which is crab, cucumbers and some avocado.
Sounds amazing.
Good luck! Look at this mise en place.
Wow, Beni.
Ooh, I love the looks of this, Beni! - Thank you! - Joe: So, what have you got? You have America, Great Britain, and - Poland! - Polish.
Wow.
My dad's side is all Polish, so I am making a Polish, deconstructed, chicken pot pie.
- Joe: So you have - Carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and those are beets.
And here you have perfectly braised leeks, which - that's like three-star.
- That's so smart, you never see that.
- And what do you have here? - Oh, gravy.
- That sounds amazing.
- I'm really excited to see what you come up with.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Anthony.
- Yes, Chef.
Two of the most incredible influences.
Which side of your family's from Italy? - My mom's side is from Naples.
- Wow, love that.
Love that, love that.
Right, but your hands are all sticky.
Open them up.
Sprinkle your hands.
And then rub there you go.
That cleans your hands without wasting any pasta.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? I'm making homemade pasta with clams.
Love it.
So, that sounds amazing.
How old were you when you made your first ball of pasta? Probably around seven.
Do your mates at school know you're this good a cook? - No.
- You don't tell them? - No.
- Why not? Because I don't want to let away all my secrets and stuff.
Right.
Good luck.
- Ariana.
- Hello! How do you say, "Hi, nice to meet you" in Belarus? - ( speaks foreign language ) - ( speaks foreign language ) - ( speaks foreign language ) - I speak a little Serbo-Croatian.
- Stop! - ( speaks foreign language ) - Okay, I'll take it.
- So what are you making? I'm making a apple-stuffed pork chop, with creamed potatoes and a mushroom jus.
What is celebratory of Belarus in this dish? Well, in Belarus, meat and potatoes are basically all they eat.
Actually, Belarusians have a nickname, called ( speaks foreign language ).
It means "potato heads" in Belarusian.
- Good luck.
- Thank you! Guys, 20 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
Christina: Push, guys, push! Gordon: This is where it counts.
Girl: Mikey, seriously, don't run.
Mikey: I'm really behind right now.
Whoo! Mikey, careful.
( objects clattering ) - Mikey! - Mikey: No! Oh, my gosh, Mikey just dropped his ravioli filling.
All over the floor of the pantry! - I mean, this is serious.
- Mikey: My sausage fell.
Ariana: There's only 20 minutes left.
If he doesn't get his pasta cooked on time, he might not have a finished plate.
20 minutes remaining.
Whoo! Mikey, careful.
( objects clattering ) - Mikey! - Mikey: No! My sausage fell.
I just dropped my sausage on the floor, and now my pasta may not even cook on time.
The pressure is really on right now.
Ooh, guys.
It looks like Mikey's in trouble.
Uh-oh.
Mikey: But being Italian means never give up, and we always have pride in ourselves.
I need to get it together, get one sausage going in the pan, turn on the highest heat it can go, and just pray to the ravioli gods.
Gordon: Guys, 45 minutes gone.
15 minutes remaining.
Here we go.
Incredible dishes.
It's looking good.
Now Mikey, he got a little bit upset 'cause he dropped his sausage.
He's started again, smart move, but it's set by now, and he's still trying to cool it down, - and get it inside the ravioli.
- Joe: Oh, my God.
Is he gonna make it? - Gordon: It's gonna be a tight one.
- Joe: I think Ariana with her Belarus stuffed pork chop, is one of these young cooks who has the real intellectual capacity of speaking Eastern European in a dish.
Gordon: Anthony's going for linguine with clams.
Linguine with clams seems really easy, but it's really hard to get it right.
Christina: Yeah.
It's a balancing act.
Joe: Beni has this deconstructed chicken pot pie.
Her knife skills on her vegetable cut, it looks like a mise en place at a three-star restaurant.
Two minutes remaining.
Christina: Time to start thinking about plating.
- Come on, guys! - Joe: Let's go, guys, come on! Speed up! Sophia, finishing touches, my darling.
Joe: We want to see beautiful dishes, guys.
Focus on that plating.
Gordon: Quick, Ariana.
30 seconds remaining, come on.
- Come on, guys, you gotta move.
- Gordon: All of you, speed up! Let's go.
- Gordon: Ten.
- Christina: Nueve! Joe: Otto! - Gordon: Huh? - Christina: Mu! Joe: Cinq! - Arbo! - Christina: Tre! - Zwie! - Gordon: One! - Stop, hands in the air.
- Hands in the air! - Gordon: Well done.
- ( cheering ) Did you guys understand that? All: No! It was the international countdown.
( laughter ) Okay, guys, in tonight's challenge, we asked you to make a classic dish that represented your family's heritage.
First up, Beni.
( cheers, applause ) I really tried to do something unique with this dish tonight, and did my own Polish spin on it.
Because if you play safe, the judges aren't impressed.
Beni, describe the dish, please.
A deconstructed Polish chicken pot pie, with a biscuit.
What's the Polish twist? Well, in there are beets and leeks.
That's the Polish twist.
Now let me tell you something really important.
You need to master a chicken pot pie before you start deconstructing it.
- Have you ever made a pot pie? - No.
( laughs ) - Why deconstruct? - Well, because I know you can't make a chicken pot pie in an hour, so I kind of wanted to take the things from a chicken pot pie - Smart.
- and put them in the dish.
Mm.
Wow, Beni - it's delicious.
Really delicious.
- Thank you, Chef.
Sauce is delicious.
Seasoning's on point.
Blending those peas and the leeks, you've done that beautifully.
The dish is amazing.
Seriously.
- Good job, my darling.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- ( cheers, applause ) - Gordon: Amazing.
Next up, please, Cade.
( cheers, applause ) Cade: Being an all-American Southern boy, this dish is really representing where I come from.
I've got my okra, which is a very Southern thing, and my praline glaze is sweet, and I really want to show them that those flavors can go really, really well together.
All right, Cade.
What did you make? I've made for you a blackened shrimp, with a buttermilk biscuit, okra and my own praline sauce.
Okay, wait.
Praline sauce? Yes, it's a praline glaze.
A praline sauce is kind of like a sugary, pecan, light brown sugar-type butterscotch sauce.
I put cayenne in it, so it wasn't just sweet, so it could go well with the biscuit and the shrimp.
How'd you cook the shrimp? I put 'em in a cast iron, and I seared them, and then after, I coated them in the praline sauce.
- Praline sauce.
- Yes, ma'am.
( exhales ) I gotta be honest, Cade.
- Praline sauce.
- Yes, ma'am.
I gotta be honest, Cade.
I've seen praline on desserts.
Did you want it to be that sweet? I think that your biscuit is way too big for the three little shrimp that you put on there.
That doesn't quite make sense.
I think the okra's a nice touch.
Definitely screams "the South," but I wish it had a little bit more flavor and seasoning to it.
I like that you stayed true to the South, but I gotta be honest, Cade.
Your place in this competition is in trouble based on this.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I feel like I just got punched in the gut.
I tried to put my whole entire culture on a plate, and I'm kinda upset, because it wasn't my best dish.
And the South is gonna be mad at me.
Okay, next we'd like to try - Anthony.
- ( cheers, applause ) Anthony: It's really important for me to impress Joe, because we're both Italian, and this is my Italian heritage on a plate and I want to show the judges what I got.
All right, Anthony, tell me what you got.
I made linguine and clams.
You have three ingredients in here, right? - Yeah.
- You have pasta, garlic, and clams.
- Yes.
- That's not much to hide behind.
Tony, you got a lot of chutzpah.
Who taught you how to roll pasta? I just saw my parents doing it, so then I started doing it.
Clams are still moist, very tasty.
You're not afraid of the garlic, are you, Tony, huh? - Definitely not.
- Use a lot of garlic in your family? Yes, Chef.
You know, when I was a kid, we used to go to Little Neck Bay, in Queens, and I used to go clamming, and they used to call me Joey Clams.
"Hey, Joey Clams! Give me a dozen!" And I'd sell 'em for a dollar.
I'm gonna call you Tony Clams from now on, - because this dish - ( laughter ) is the perfect balance of technique and flavor.
You have three ingredients.
You put 'em together quite perfectly.
And quite frankly, I don't think that I can really criticize this dish at all.
It's really, very, very good.
Tony, you're all right, kid.
- Thank you, Joey.
- Thanks, buddy.
( cheers, applause ) Girl: Good job, Tony Clams.
Boy: Good job, clam man.
Next up, Mikey.
( cheers, applause ) Tonight has not been easy for me at all.
I had some issues with my ravioli, but I didn't give up, and I'm really proud of that.
Describe the dish.
I've made for you today a sausage and ricotta raviolis with pesto.
Pasta's slightly too thick, but the flavor's amazing.
I'm just impressed that you got that done.
You bounced back and you didn't give up.
That's most important.
- It's a very good dish.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job.
Next up, please, Quani.
( cheers, applause ) All right, Quani, what did you cook tonight? Honey barbecue chicken with a peach barbecue sauce and coleslaw.
In my family we like to have a lot of chicken, and this is one of the kind of chickens that my mom makes a lot.
The star of the dish is that barbeque sauce.
It's very seasonal.
I can taste the peaches.
It's got great depth of flavor.
The chicken tenders are really nothing to write home about.
The coleslaw is also kinda justeh.
I wish you would've pushed yourself a little bit further.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Next up is Ariana.
( cheers, applause ) What did you cook for us today? Caramelized apple-stuffed pork chop, with potato puree and mushroom jus.
Mashed potatoes are rich, perfectly cooked, not lumpy.
The mushrooms are braised, you can taste the beef stock.
That caramelization on the meat is delicious.
For a sixth grader to be able to put together a stuffed pork chop that's so flavorful, so ethnically specific, - is kind of amazing.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Ariana.
- Really good.
- Thank you.
( cheers, applause ) Next up, please, Mackenzie.
( cheers, applause ) Mackenzie: My family is part Japanese, and whenever I went to my grandparents' house, my grandma, she taught me how to make sushi, and so I made sushi today, in honor of my family.
All right, Miss Mackenzie.
What did you make tonight? - I made a California roll.
- First things first, your sushi's a bit big.
And when you roll your sushi, you have to do so very, very tightly, so that you can hold a big round of it.
I'm sort of losing half of my sushi here.
Now I'm gonna try and be a lady eating this, but it's probably not gonna happen.
What's in that dipping sauce? Um, it's soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and some sugar.
Will you take a sip of this for me? You taste that at the end? What does it taste like? It tastes like sour.
I think what's happened there is you've actually burnt the sugar so hard that it leaves a really bitter taste at the end.
I love that you made sushi.
I think that that shows a lot of courage, a lot of technique, and that you were really going to pay homage to that Japanese background, but definitely some mistakes there in terms of technique tonight.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Next up, Sophia, please.
Thank you.
( cheers, applause ) Even though that I live in Hawaii, I like to mix the flavors together, so you can create something people haven't really tasted before.
and I will totally wow the judges.
Right, young lady.
Explain what it is because it looks burnt.
And, if I do this Ooh.
And, if I do this Ooh.
I haven't tasted it yet, but just visually, I'm turned off.
What is it? Jerk chicken quesadillas, with cold mango soup.
And yeah, it does look burnt.
You know, if there's one thing we learn in our business that we can't hide our mistakes, because customers are too smart for that, so if it was burnt, my darling, why didn't you do another one? How many tortillas did you make? Um, I only made one.
Darling, you need to have an insurance policy.
Now, why would you serve a mango soup with a blackened quesadilla? Well, I think that the cold mango soup, that it complements the flavors in it, and that it also brings, sort of, my, like, Hawaiian spin on the dish.
Give me three amazing Hawaiian dishes, off the top of your head.
- Kalua pork.
- Mm-hmm.
- Loco moco.
- Poké.
- Yes, poké.
- Why this quesadilla? Well, I thought that it would be a good contender.
What you've got right is the seasoning, and the way that you've got that spicy, sweet, Caribbean flavor, but the quesadilla is so burnt, I've got nowhere to go, my darling.
Thank you.
All right, Pierce, Maria, Remy, please come on down and take your stations.
The good news is, there were some really terrific dishes tonight.
The bad news is, of course, that this is a competition, and we are gonna have to say good-bye to two of you tonight.
We need a moment to discuss everyone's dishes.
Thank you.
Do you guys feel confident? No, I'm scared.
- Gordon: Some great dishes.
- Joe: Yeah, very good dishes.
I mean, Beni's.
It was humble yet rustic, but very elevated.
Parsnips, beets, carrots and potatoes.
- Gordon: Anthony's - In all the years of "MasterChef" adult, I've never had a linguine and clam sauce as good as that one.
I kind of have a feeling that we're probably gonna make it.
There's the top and the bottom.
We had some disasters.
- Mackenzie.
- Christina: That porous dipping sauce was just acrid.
Awful.
The shock of the night for me was Sophia's.
A quesadilla with jerk chicken? - Joe: It was completely burnt.
- Black.
I told you you did fine.
How was Cade's? Not very good.
Christina: There was nothing special about it and then for me, the other disappointment tonight was Quani.
- Chicken nuggets! - So we are pretty much in agreement? Yeah.
Joe: There were two dishes in particular that really captured the spirit of this challenge.
Sixth grader Ariana.
- ( cheers, applause ) - Beautiful dish.
Another young home cook, this time a fifth grader.
Well done, Tony.
Good job.
( cheers, applause ) But the dish of the night, congratulations.
There is no stopping her.
- Beni.
- ( cheers, applause ) And now, home cooks, the hard part.
If I call your name, please come down to the front.
Quani.
Cade.
Mackenzie, please come down to the front.
And finally, Sophia.
You know, every time we cook in this competition, it needs to be the best you've ever done.
And I think all four of you can be honest, from the bottom of your hearts and understand that tonight, they were your weakest performance.
If I call your name, please step forward.
Quani, step forward.
Cade, step forward.
You two, your dishes weren't up to scratch tonight.
Quani and Cade we still see potential in both of you.
Oh, my God.
Please, say good-bye to Mackenzie and Sophia, and head back to your stations.
( all murmuring good-byes ) Good job, Sophia.
Gordon: Oh, ladies.
Oh, Mackenzie.
It breaks my heart.
When you came into this competition, you were a little firecracker.
- Have you enjoyed yourself? - Mm-hmm.
Sophia, are you gonna continue cooking? ( whispers ) Yeah.
Gordon: Thank you to you both.
Keep hold of those aprons, and keep those heads up high.
Good night to you both.
Thank you.
- Bye, guys.
- Good job, guys! - Good job, guys.
- Good job, guys.
I feel like I definitely brought my aloha spirit.
I didn't win "MasterChef Junior," but I got to meet people from all over the country.
- It's okay, guys.
- It's okay.
- Good job, Sophia.
- You did really good.
Sophia: So I'm super honored to be able to represent Hawaii in the MasterChef kitchen.
Gonna miss you guys a lot.
I'm only nine years old, and I made it to the top 18.
I'm gonna go home and practice more cooking, and maybe I'll come back as a MasterChef.
Next time This is three legit brace.
This is gonna be really hard.
The competetion One, two! One, two! gets much closer and the judges are in for very flusty fake - Then - What the heck? Matylda Ramsay! Gordon's daughter - Tell us how.
- No.
Reveals the secret.
- Basil.
- Basil.
-Basil.
Ramsay's recipe.
- He is really annoying, isn't he? - Yes.
I should be in therapy.
Ouch.
A wedding? - Announcer: When the top 20 - Six halibut, two lamb.
- Kids: Yes, Chef! - catered the big day, - it was Ariana's Blue team - You're looking good! who found the perfect marriage in the kitchen Beautiful cook, ladies.
and sending Ben and Gracie I wouldn't even serve that to my fricking bulldog.
- Take your aprons off.
- back home.
Tonight ( kids screaming ) - the top 18 - Judges: Sugar! - Oh, my God.
- Here we go.
are in for a sweet surprise.
Tonight, you're stepping into my world.
Oh, no.
And then - Boo.
- ( kids scream ) Child: Joe! Girl: I like your dress.
a trip around the globe - Mexico.
- America.
- Poland.
- Coming through.
delivers out-of-this-world results.
It scares me to think at the age of 12, - you're this good.
- ( kids gasp ) Let's go.
Welcome.
Yeah! I am so stoked to be in the top 18.
I consider myself a fancy gentleman.
Line up, please, thank you.
Pierce: I like to go out to fancy restaurants.
I feel like I have a very sophisticated palate.
I am ready to step it up.
Welcome back once again to the spectacular MasterChef kitchen.
Now, who's ready for the next challenge? All: Me! Christina: The first challenge tonight is the iconic mystery box challenge.
Tonight, you're stepping into my world.
In tonight's mystery box challenge, you're gonna have to make us a delicious MasterChef Junior-worthy dessert, using whatever you find under your mystery box.
But first, we want to give you a little taste of what's in store.
Joe: So many ingredients are vital to creating a masterful dessert.
Flour, milk, eggs, but there is one ingredient associated with the sweet, sweet treats more than any other single ingredient.
- Oh, gosh.
- It is, of course What is it gonna be? - Judges: Sugar! - ( kids screaming ) ( laughter ) - Oh, my gosh! - I got sugar everywhere, no! - I got dandruff.
- There's sugar in my boots.
Christina's dreams finally have come true.
- ( laughter ) - Christina: All right, guys, sugar is one of the most commonly-used ingredients in the world.
It's in just about every pantry on the planet.
But it's time to head to your stations and find out exactly what you'll have to work with tonight.
( all talking at once ) Boy: It's so slippery.
- Ice skating! - Ahh! ( all talking at once ) You guys, this is crazy.
Now, you ready to find out what's under those boxes? On the count of three, I want you to lift your boxes very carefully.
One two three, lift.
- Ooh! - Whoa! Ooh! Whoa! In your mystery boxes, you'll find lots of different natural sweeteners.
You have agave syrup, raw honey, molasses, maple syrup, dates, bananas, and shredded coconut.
But do you guys notice anything missing? There is no sugar! Joe: That's right, everyone.
Tonight, you're making dessert - without processed sugar.
- Aw! Oh, no.
And there's an extra-special prize at stake.
Because the winner tonight will receive a prize that money can't buy, from "Family Circle" magazine.
Oh, my gosh.
"Family Circle" is America's best-selling food and family magazine, reaching more than 15 million readers each month.
The recipe of tonight's winning dessert will be featured in "Family Circle's" May issue.
- Oh, my gosh! - What? Wow, I mean, to get your recipe published in a super-famous magazine that millions of people know about, it's like, how cool is that? Now, is everybody ready to make us and incredible MasterChef-worthy dessert without processed sugar? All: Yes, Chef! Your 60 minutes starts now.
- ( kids yelling ) - Let's go! - Baskets, baskets! - Dates, dates! - I need flour.
- Eggs, eggs.
I need cocoa powder! Okay, here we go.
Whoo! I'm making a vanilla panna cotta with guava and raspberry.
I think this could be a winning dish because I think it's fancy.
I'm dressing it to impress it, just like I do.
( mixer whirring ) I am making cream puff with coconut whipped cream, chocolate drizzle, and raspberries.
My mom's a baker.
I really want to make her proud.
This one's for you, Mom! So, desserts, no sugar.
Mission impossible.
How do you do it? Christina: The thing that you have to think about is that desserts, it is a science to get it just right.
You can't just take a recipe that you know and love, remove the refined sugar, and put in a natural sweetener.
It doesn't work that way, and that is going to - require you to adjust the recipe.
- Joe: So, enlighten me.
What would you do? No sugar doesn't mean not sweet.
No.
Look at some of these natural sweeteners now.
You can use that fresh coconut, honey, even ripened bananas.
I mean, just think of the level of sweetness inside those fruits.
They gotta think outside the box.
Let's be honest.
There's no parent in the country tonight that would not love the opportunity to take sugar out of their kids' diets, so it's a great lesson for them to learn how to cook brilliantly without sugar.
Halfway, guys! 30 minutes gone.
30 minutes remaining.
- Gordon: Beni.
- Beni: Yes.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? So I am making German chocolate cupcakes with rum coconut frosting.
So what's the supplement for sugar? I'm using a little maple syrup.
Now tell me about these German cupcakes.
- Why German? - Because I am German.
Sprechen sie Deutsch? - Excuse me, sir? - Right, young lady, - good luck.
- Thank you.
Joe: Mikey, what's up? - What do you got going on? - I'm an Italian guy, so I'm making cannolis.
You know that, like, I'm a cannoli expert, by the way? - You are? - Yeah, I am.
- I've been eating cannolis my whole life.
- Me too! You know what part of Italy they come from? - No, I do not.
- Sicily.
- I've heard of Sicily.
- You've heard of Sicily.
Fabulous.
Well, that's the home of the cannoli.
Now what are you gonna fill these cannoli with? - Mascarpone, ricotta - How you gonna sweeten that? With the dark chocolate.
And then I'm also using bananas.
- I think it's gonna be really good.
- Good luck, Mikey.
- Thank you.
- Make sure that filling is sweet enough somehow.
- Okay.
- Now, Maria, tell me about the dish.
What are you doing? I am making a plum tart with puff pastry, and a little bit of a coconut juice.
So you're gonna use coconut as the alternative sugar.
- Yes.
- See now, who are you missing most at home? I am missing my two bearded dragons.
One is named Gordon, as in Gordon Ramsay.
I can't believe you named a pet after me.
( laughs ) Good luck.
- All right, Miss Remy.
- Hello! - What are you making? - I am making two different types of donuts.
Wow.
Your donuts look stunning.
- Thank you.
- Are they baked donuts? - Um, yes.
- Where'd you come up with this idea? I'm obsessed with donuts and back in New York, we have a thousand different donut shops, and I'm obsessed with matcha, so I wanted to make a matcha glaze and a ganache with toasted coconut.
Now what did you use to sweeten these donuts that you've baked? I used a half cup of agave and honey.
Keep you eye on that clock and make sure those finishing touches are on point, okay? - Yes, Chef.
- Good luck.
Thank you! Ten minutes to go.
And for one of you, a huge advantage.
- Now, let's go! - Joe: Let's go, let's go! Perfect.
Gordon: Taste everything, come on.
Christina: Come on, guys, you gotta move! Four and a half minutes to go.
Start thinking of plating.
60 seconds, here we go.
Oh, my God.
- Gordon: Come on.
- Christina: Come on, guys.
Gordon: Speed up! - Christina: Push, guys, push! - Gordon: Let's go! - Ten - Judges: Nine eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, stop! - Gordon: And stop! Hands in the air! - Christina: Hands in the air! Gordon: Come on, finishing touches.
- Remember, sugar is banned.
- Christina: Come on, guys.
- Gordon: Let's go! - Judges: Five four, three, two, one! - Gordon: And stop! Hands in the air! - Christina: Hands in the air! ( applause ) Well done.
Across the last 60 minutes, we watched everything you do.
We miss nothing.
And now, we want to take a much closer look at three amazing dishes.
Joe: The first dish is a beautiful take on a very high-level Italian dessert.
Please step forward Pierce! - ( cheers, applause ) - Good job, Pierce.
I'm really proud of how my panna cotta turned out.
I think this will impress Joe, like, a lot, because he's a classic Italian, and I think this is perfecto.
What did you make for us here today? A vanilla panna cotta, with a guava and raspberry puree, and bruléed blood oranges.
You know the best panna cotta cooks are generally, like, old Italian ladies.
You aspire to cook like an old Italian lady? Uh, no.
Do you know any old Italian ladies? - No.
- I'll introduce you to my grandmother.
- She's 97.
- Wow.
She's an old Italian lady, and she makes panna cotta still.
So, let's see if Pierce's panna cotta can match Nona Hermina's panna cotta.
All right, how did you substitute processed sugar in the panna cotta? I used honey, and I put in one vanilla bean.
You know, this is very good, because honey has acidity, and it can really be dominant.
and you did a brilliant thing in this because you taste the richness of the cream, and the honey gives it a lot of sweetness, and the thing that you really nailed is just the right amount of gelatin.
- You cook like an old Italian lady.
- ( chuckles ) - And that's a compliment! - ( laughter ) - Good job, Pierce.
- Thank you, Joe.
Now why vanilla, guava, raspberry? I saw guava as, like, a very tropical fruit, and it's nice and sweet, so I thought it would go well with raspberries and it would also go well with the panna cotta.
I think the flavor is there.
I think it's an elegant dessert.
I would've loved maybe some buttermilk in there, something that is a flavor that's even more curious than vanilla.
But the fact that there's no processed sugar in this dessert is incredibly impressive.
It makes me feel like I can expect really high-end, refined dishes out of you, which is super exciting.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Nice job.
( cheering ) Now the second dish that we're dying to take a much closer look at, it's by one of the youngest.
Please step forward Maria.
( cheering ) Maria: I'm only eight years old.
I'm one of the youngest kids in "MasterChef Junior," so it would be a huge honor to have the best dish of the night.
Maria, describe the dessert, please.
I made a puff pastry plum tart, with a coconut drink.
This idea of the rustic board and the coconut, where did you get all these ideas from, eight years of age? Back at home I have cookbooks that I've been reading.
- Gordon: Wow.
- One of them is yours.
- Okay.
- The one that you look like a little kid, where you're like, "Aah" Okay ( laughs ) ( laughter ) And you know, you've managed to put a drink in there as well.
- What's in there? - There is a cinnamon stick at the bottom, - as well as some plums.
- Mmm.
- And then coconut juice.
- That's lovely.
Now, let's get into the tart, shall we? Any seasoning? Well, I put some smoked Maldon.
- Maldon salt.
Oh, wow.
- ( laughs ) And then some pepper, a little bit of spice.
Mmm.
Listen, the dish is delicious.
I love the caramelized plums.
The drink is delicious.
I'd put a touch less salt in there, but eight years of age, you're cooking like a young pastry chef.
- Great job.
Well done.
- Thank you.
This is a classic, simple, rustic, country-style dessert, where the sweetness just naturally comes from the fruit.
In a way, Maria, you're ahead of the rest of the class, because you've presented something in its simplest form, and that is really an amazing thing from an eight-year-old cook.
- Thank you.
- Give me a bump.
- Maria! - ( cheers, applause ) The third and final dish that we want to taste is from one of the older home cooks in the kitchen.
Please step forward - Remy.
- Yes! - ( cheers, applause ) - Oh, my gosh, yes! Winning the first mystery box, people might have considered that to be a bit of luck, but being in the top three of the second mystery box, there's no such thing as luck with that.
Describe the dish.
Donuts with a green tea matcha glaze, and I added some strawberries on top and a chocolate ganache with toasted coconut.
Just the presentation, the finesse, is just incredible.
What I think's also really interesting and intriguing about this dish is that these donuts aren't fried, right? No, Chef.
I decided to bake these donuts, because I have never really had a really well-plated fried donut.
And I love cake, so I wanted to try making caked almost-donuts.
Well? Well - they're delicious.
- ( laughs ) Yes.
Your green tea matcha is nice.
It's not bitter from the tea, but the green tea is certainly the star of the glaze there.
Let's see what's going on with this dark chocolate coconut.
What's the sweetener in this donut? It is just honey.
I'm impressed.
I'm impressed that you didn't use a single granule of sugar.
I'm impressed that these are delicious donuts, and they haven't even seen a deep fryer.
I think you nailed it.
I think you knocked it out of the park.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Very nice job.
Remy, they look stunning.
Young lady, they are the smartest donuts in the country tonight, and you just proved you can make a healthy donut without sugar, and it's quite groundbreaking.
- Thank you, Chef.
- There's a lot of pastry chefs across this country watching tonight including the lady behind me, that will be pinching your recipe now, and it scares me to think at the age of 12, that you're this good.
Great job.
Thank you, Chef.
( cheers, applause ) They knocked it out of the park.
- Thanks.
- I'm blown away.
Amazing.
Right Pierce, Maria, Remy, all three of you did an amazing job.
But as you know, there can only be one winner, one recipe featured in that incredible magazine, and read by millions.
The young home cook whose recipe will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine, congratulations goes to Right, Pierce, Maria, Remy.
As you know, there can only be one winner.
The young home cook whose recipe will be featured in "Family Circle" magazine, congratulations goes to - Remy! - Oh, my gosh! - ( cheers, applause ) - I'm so happy that I'm the winner.
It feels great to win twice in a row Great job, guys! and my recipe gets to be in "Family Circle" magazine! That's something to be proud of at 12 years old.
- Joe: Congratulations, Remy.
- Thank you.
Maria and Pierce, I have some other news for you two.
For baking so brilliantly tonight, without any processed sugar, all three of you are now safe from the elimination challenge.
- Congratulations.
- ( kids cheering ) Joe: Now, everyone behind these three, come and join them in the front.
Ooh, yay.
Now, you ready for the next challenge? All: Yes, Chef! Please follow us.
( all talking at once ) Sophia: Oh, my goodness, I really don't know what's gonna happen right now.
I mean, you never know what to expect in the MasterChef kitchen.
( music playing ) Child: What? That is so cool! Oh, my gosh.
- Boo.
- ( kids scream ) That is so creepy! Junior home cooks, your next challenge is about to begin.
Flown in from the city that never sleeps, you know who I am? All: The Statue of Liberty! The Statue of Liberty represents a lot of different things.
but my favorite thing about the good old US of A is - the food! - Kids: Yeah! Delicious steaks, crispy fried chicken, and my personal favorite, apple pie.
American food simply cannot be beat.
( bagpipe honks ) ( bagpipes playing ) ( kids shouting ) The bagpipe is pretty much the worst sound in the whole entire world, and now Gordon's playing it, it makes it just even worse.
( bagpipes continue ) ( music continues ) ( laughs ) ( music stops ) ( laughter ) I like your skirt! ( laughs ) Come on.
- What? - Gordon: Right.
Kids, can anyone guess where people come from dressed like this? All: Scotland! That's right, Scotland, my motherland.
Now, Christina, no offense to this great and wonderful country, but Scotland is the greatest country of all, with some of the most incredible food on the planet.
Arbroath smokies.
Fish and chips.
And of course, our crowning glory, haggis.
All: Whoa! A savory pudding made with chopped, braised heart, blended with lungs, encased in an animal's stomach, thickened with the most amazing, delicious, - blood.
- ( kids scream ) Who would like some haggis tonight for supper? All: No! I don't blame you.
Where's Joe? ( glass breaks ) - What is that? - What was that? ( glass falling ) Oh, my God! ( kids talking excitedly ) ( glass breaks ) What is it? What is it? What is that? ( kids laughing, shouting ) - Turn sideways, Joe.
- Child: Go sideways, silly! ( laughter ) Child: Oh, my gosh! Gordon: Joe! ( cheers, laughter ) Joe Bastianich as a real slice of Italian culture.
- ( cheers, laughter ) - Joe: Listen, no matter what anyone else says, the best food in the entire world comes from my home country.
Fresh pasta, like tortellini, ravioli, and of course, pizza! ( cheering ) Nobody does food like the Italians.
- Yeah! - Yeah! Now, before we go any further, Remy, Pierce, and Maria, all three of you, head on up to the balcony.
- ( cheering ) - Good job, guys! Now, for your elimination challenge, we want each of you to tap into your heritage.
America is a huge melting pot of different cultures, and tonight we want you to celebrate that in your dishes.
Now tonight, you'll just have one hour to make us a cultural heritage-inspired dish.
In the MasterChef pantry you'll find flags representing each country from around the world.
Whatever countries are in your heritage, we want you to grab those flags and bring them back to your stations.
- Are you all ready? - All: Yes, Chef! Good.
Your 60 minutes starts now! ( kids talking excitedly ) All right, okay! Okay, here we go.
- American and German.
- Where do we go? Where's the Italian flag? - Poland! - America! Quani: From what I know about my heritage, I'm American all the way through.
- I need mustard! - Quani: So today, I'm making honey-barbecued chicken with a peach barbecue sauce and a coleslaw.
Peach! I'm trying to bring a little bit of Georgia in there with the peaches.
This is definitely a nice, classic, Southern America dish.
American, coming through! Seaweed! Seaweed, I need seaweed.
There's one last thing we need to do.
Get out of these ridiculous outfits.
Oof.
( kids whooping ) - Child: Mine is so heavy.
- Gordon: Come on.
- Child: Come on! - Christina: All right, be careful! There you go! Let's go.
All of you, speed up! I am making jerk chicken quesadillas with cold mango soup, and I'm homemaking my tortillas.
The tortillas represent some more, like Native American part of me, and the cold mango soup represents where I live right now, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
I'm hoping to make Hawaii proud and I'm hoping to make my whole family proud with this amazing dish.
I'm Italian so I'm making sausage and cheese raviolis with pesto.
I'm really proud to be an Italian 'cause I think it's the best country ever.
If you don't like Italian food, then you're crazy.
Today I'm making a blackened shrimp with a buttermilk biscuit.
and I add this really sweet sauce to go with it.
I live in Mississippi, and this gonna be a good old Southern dish.
Gordon: Season everything.
Taste everything! - Right, Mackenzie.
- Hello.
Now, come on.
We have an American flag, a Korean flag, and a Japanese flag.
Which is your favorite cuisine? - Korean.
- Why do you love Korean food so much? Because it tastes really good, and they know how to make really good candy.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? - Well, my mom is Japanese - Right.
so I'm making sushi, which is Japanese.
- Yeah, very much so.
- I'm making a California roll, which is crab, cucumbers and some avocado.
Sounds amazing.
Good luck! Look at this mise en place.
Wow, Beni.
Ooh, I love the looks of this, Beni! - Thank you! - Joe: So, what have you got? You have America, Great Britain, and - Poland! - Polish.
Wow.
My dad's side is all Polish, so I am making a Polish, deconstructed, chicken pot pie.
- Joe: So you have - Carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and those are beets.
And here you have perfectly braised leeks, which - that's like three-star.
- That's so smart, you never see that.
- And what do you have here? - Oh, gravy.
- That sounds amazing.
- I'm really excited to see what you come up with.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
- Good luck.
- Anthony.
- Yes, Chef.
Two of the most incredible influences.
Which side of your family's from Italy? - My mom's side is from Naples.
- Wow, love that.
Love that, love that.
Right, but your hands are all sticky.
Open them up.
Sprinkle your hands.
And then rub there you go.
That cleans your hands without wasting any pasta.
Tell me about the dish.
What are you making? I'm making homemade pasta with clams.
Love it.
So, that sounds amazing.
How old were you when you made your first ball of pasta? Probably around seven.
Do your mates at school know you're this good a cook? - No.
- You don't tell them? - No.
- Why not? Because I don't want to let away all my secrets and stuff.
Right.
Good luck.
- Ariana.
- Hello! How do you say, "Hi, nice to meet you" in Belarus? - ( speaks foreign language ) - ( speaks foreign language ) - ( speaks foreign language ) - I speak a little Serbo-Croatian.
- Stop! - ( speaks foreign language ) - Okay, I'll take it.
- So what are you making? I'm making a apple-stuffed pork chop, with creamed potatoes and a mushroom jus.
What is celebratory of Belarus in this dish? Well, in Belarus, meat and potatoes are basically all they eat.
Actually, Belarusians have a nickname, called ( speaks foreign language ).
It means "potato heads" in Belarusian.
- Good luck.
- Thank you! Guys, 20 minutes remaining.
Let's go.
Christina: Push, guys, push! Gordon: This is where it counts.
Girl: Mikey, seriously, don't run.
Mikey: I'm really behind right now.
Whoo! Mikey, careful.
( objects clattering ) - Mikey! - Mikey: No! Oh, my gosh, Mikey just dropped his ravioli filling.
All over the floor of the pantry! - I mean, this is serious.
- Mikey: My sausage fell.
Ariana: There's only 20 minutes left.
If he doesn't get his pasta cooked on time, he might not have a finished plate.
20 minutes remaining.
Whoo! Mikey, careful.
( objects clattering ) - Mikey! - Mikey: No! My sausage fell.
I just dropped my sausage on the floor, and now my pasta may not even cook on time.
The pressure is really on right now.
Ooh, guys.
It looks like Mikey's in trouble.
Uh-oh.
Mikey: But being Italian means never give up, and we always have pride in ourselves.
I need to get it together, get one sausage going in the pan, turn on the highest heat it can go, and just pray to the ravioli gods.
Gordon: Guys, 45 minutes gone.
15 minutes remaining.
Here we go.
Incredible dishes.
It's looking good.
Now Mikey, he got a little bit upset 'cause he dropped his sausage.
He's started again, smart move, but it's set by now, and he's still trying to cool it down, - and get it inside the ravioli.
- Joe: Oh, my God.
Is he gonna make it? - Gordon: It's gonna be a tight one.
- Joe: I think Ariana with her Belarus stuffed pork chop, is one of these young cooks who has the real intellectual capacity of speaking Eastern European in a dish.
Gordon: Anthony's going for linguine with clams.
Linguine with clams seems really easy, but it's really hard to get it right.
Christina: Yeah.
It's a balancing act.
Joe: Beni has this deconstructed chicken pot pie.
Her knife skills on her vegetable cut, it looks like a mise en place at a three-star restaurant.
Two minutes remaining.
Christina: Time to start thinking about plating.
- Come on, guys! - Joe: Let's go, guys, come on! Speed up! Sophia, finishing touches, my darling.
Joe: We want to see beautiful dishes, guys.
Focus on that plating.
Gordon: Quick, Ariana.
30 seconds remaining, come on.
- Come on, guys, you gotta move.
- Gordon: All of you, speed up! Let's go.
- Gordon: Ten.
- Christina: Nueve! Joe: Otto! - Gordon: Huh? - Christina: Mu! Joe: Cinq! - Arbo! - Christina: Tre! - Zwie! - Gordon: One! - Stop, hands in the air.
- Hands in the air! - Gordon: Well done.
- ( cheering ) Did you guys understand that? All: No! It was the international countdown.
( laughter ) Okay, guys, in tonight's challenge, we asked you to make a classic dish that represented your family's heritage.
First up, Beni.
( cheers, applause ) I really tried to do something unique with this dish tonight, and did my own Polish spin on it.
Because if you play safe, the judges aren't impressed.
Beni, describe the dish, please.
A deconstructed Polish chicken pot pie, with a biscuit.
What's the Polish twist? Well, in there are beets and leeks.
That's the Polish twist.
Now let me tell you something really important.
You need to master a chicken pot pie before you start deconstructing it.
- Have you ever made a pot pie? - No.
( laughs ) - Why deconstruct? - Well, because I know you can't make a chicken pot pie in an hour, so I kind of wanted to take the things from a chicken pot pie - Smart.
- and put them in the dish.
Mm.
Wow, Beni - it's delicious.
Really delicious.
- Thank you, Chef.
Sauce is delicious.
Seasoning's on point.
Blending those peas and the leeks, you've done that beautifully.
The dish is amazing.
Seriously.
- Good job, my darling.
Well done.
- Thank you.
- ( cheers, applause ) - Gordon: Amazing.
Next up, please, Cade.
( cheers, applause ) Cade: Being an all-American Southern boy, this dish is really representing where I come from.
I've got my okra, which is a very Southern thing, and my praline glaze is sweet, and I really want to show them that those flavors can go really, really well together.
All right, Cade.
What did you make? I've made for you a blackened shrimp, with a buttermilk biscuit, okra and my own praline sauce.
Okay, wait.
Praline sauce? Yes, it's a praline glaze.
A praline sauce is kind of like a sugary, pecan, light brown sugar-type butterscotch sauce.
I put cayenne in it, so it wasn't just sweet, so it could go well with the biscuit and the shrimp.
How'd you cook the shrimp? I put 'em in a cast iron, and I seared them, and then after, I coated them in the praline sauce.
- Praline sauce.
- Yes, ma'am.
( exhales ) I gotta be honest, Cade.
- Praline sauce.
- Yes, ma'am.
I gotta be honest, Cade.
I've seen praline on desserts.
Did you want it to be that sweet? I think that your biscuit is way too big for the three little shrimp that you put on there.
That doesn't quite make sense.
I think the okra's a nice touch.
Definitely screams "the South," but I wish it had a little bit more flavor and seasoning to it.
I like that you stayed true to the South, but I gotta be honest, Cade.
Your place in this competition is in trouble based on this.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
I feel like I just got punched in the gut.
I tried to put my whole entire culture on a plate, and I'm kinda upset, because it wasn't my best dish.
And the South is gonna be mad at me.
Okay, next we'd like to try - Anthony.
- ( cheers, applause ) Anthony: It's really important for me to impress Joe, because we're both Italian, and this is my Italian heritage on a plate and I want to show the judges what I got.
All right, Anthony, tell me what you got.
I made linguine and clams.
You have three ingredients in here, right? - Yeah.
- You have pasta, garlic, and clams.
- Yes.
- That's not much to hide behind.
Tony, you got a lot of chutzpah.
Who taught you how to roll pasta? I just saw my parents doing it, so then I started doing it.
Clams are still moist, very tasty.
You're not afraid of the garlic, are you, Tony, huh? - Definitely not.
- Use a lot of garlic in your family? Yes, Chef.
You know, when I was a kid, we used to go to Little Neck Bay, in Queens, and I used to go clamming, and they used to call me Joey Clams.
"Hey, Joey Clams! Give me a dozen!" And I'd sell 'em for a dollar.
I'm gonna call you Tony Clams from now on, - because this dish - ( laughter ) is the perfect balance of technique and flavor.
You have three ingredients.
You put 'em together quite perfectly.
And quite frankly, I don't think that I can really criticize this dish at all.
It's really, very, very good.
Tony, you're all right, kid.
- Thank you, Joey.
- Thanks, buddy.
( cheers, applause ) Girl: Good job, Tony Clams.
Boy: Good job, clam man.
Next up, Mikey.
( cheers, applause ) Tonight has not been easy for me at all.
I had some issues with my ravioli, but I didn't give up, and I'm really proud of that.
Describe the dish.
I've made for you today a sausage and ricotta raviolis with pesto.
Pasta's slightly too thick, but the flavor's amazing.
I'm just impressed that you got that done.
You bounced back and you didn't give up.
That's most important.
- It's a very good dish.
- Thank you, Chef.
Good job.
Next up, please, Quani.
( cheers, applause ) All right, Quani, what did you cook tonight? Honey barbecue chicken with a peach barbecue sauce and coleslaw.
In my family we like to have a lot of chicken, and this is one of the kind of chickens that my mom makes a lot.
The star of the dish is that barbeque sauce.
It's very seasonal.
I can taste the peaches.
It's got great depth of flavor.
The chicken tenders are really nothing to write home about.
The coleslaw is also kinda justeh.
I wish you would've pushed yourself a little bit further.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Next up is Ariana.
( cheers, applause ) What did you cook for us today? Caramelized apple-stuffed pork chop, with potato puree and mushroom jus.
Mashed potatoes are rich, perfectly cooked, not lumpy.
The mushrooms are braised, you can taste the beef stock.
That caramelization on the meat is delicious.
For a sixth grader to be able to put together a stuffed pork chop that's so flavorful, so ethnically specific, - is kind of amazing.
- Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Ariana.
- Really good.
- Thank you.
( cheers, applause ) Next up, please, Mackenzie.
( cheers, applause ) Mackenzie: My family is part Japanese, and whenever I went to my grandparents' house, my grandma, she taught me how to make sushi, and so I made sushi today, in honor of my family.
All right, Miss Mackenzie.
What did you make tonight? - I made a California roll.
- First things first, your sushi's a bit big.
And when you roll your sushi, you have to do so very, very tightly, so that you can hold a big round of it.
I'm sort of losing half of my sushi here.
Now I'm gonna try and be a lady eating this, but it's probably not gonna happen.
What's in that dipping sauce? Um, it's soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and some sugar.
Will you take a sip of this for me? You taste that at the end? What does it taste like? It tastes like sour.
I think what's happened there is you've actually burnt the sugar so hard that it leaves a really bitter taste at the end.
I love that you made sushi.
I think that that shows a lot of courage, a lot of technique, and that you were really going to pay homage to that Japanese background, but definitely some mistakes there in terms of technique tonight.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
Next up, Sophia, please.
Thank you.
( cheers, applause ) Even though that I live in Hawaii, I like to mix the flavors together, so you can create something people haven't really tasted before.
and I will totally wow the judges.
Right, young lady.
Explain what it is because it looks burnt.
And, if I do this Ooh.
And, if I do this Ooh.
I haven't tasted it yet, but just visually, I'm turned off.
What is it? Jerk chicken quesadillas, with cold mango soup.
And yeah, it does look burnt.
You know, if there's one thing we learn in our business that we can't hide our mistakes, because customers are too smart for that, so if it was burnt, my darling, why didn't you do another one? How many tortillas did you make? Um, I only made one.
Darling, you need to have an insurance policy.
Now, why would you serve a mango soup with a blackened quesadilla? Well, I think that the cold mango soup, that it complements the flavors in it, and that it also brings, sort of, my, like, Hawaiian spin on the dish.
Give me three amazing Hawaiian dishes, off the top of your head.
- Kalua pork.
- Mm-hmm.
- Loco moco.
- Poké.
- Yes, poké.
- Why this quesadilla? Well, I thought that it would be a good contender.
What you've got right is the seasoning, and the way that you've got that spicy, sweet, Caribbean flavor, but the quesadilla is so burnt, I've got nowhere to go, my darling.
Thank you.
All right, Pierce, Maria, Remy, please come on down and take your stations.
The good news is, there were some really terrific dishes tonight.
The bad news is, of course, that this is a competition, and we are gonna have to say good-bye to two of you tonight.
We need a moment to discuss everyone's dishes.
Thank you.
Do you guys feel confident? No, I'm scared.
- Gordon: Some great dishes.
- Joe: Yeah, very good dishes.
I mean, Beni's.
It was humble yet rustic, but very elevated.
Parsnips, beets, carrots and potatoes.
- Gordon: Anthony's - In all the years of "MasterChef" adult, I've never had a linguine and clam sauce as good as that one.
I kind of have a feeling that we're probably gonna make it.
There's the top and the bottom.
We had some disasters.
- Mackenzie.
- Christina: That porous dipping sauce was just acrid.
Awful.
The shock of the night for me was Sophia's.
A quesadilla with jerk chicken? - Joe: It was completely burnt.
- Black.
I told you you did fine.
How was Cade's? Not very good.
Christina: There was nothing special about it and then for me, the other disappointment tonight was Quani.
- Chicken nuggets! - So we are pretty much in agreement? Yeah.
Joe: There were two dishes in particular that really captured the spirit of this challenge.
Sixth grader Ariana.
- ( cheers, applause ) - Beautiful dish.
Another young home cook, this time a fifth grader.
Well done, Tony.
Good job.
( cheers, applause ) But the dish of the night, congratulations.
There is no stopping her.
- Beni.
- ( cheers, applause ) And now, home cooks, the hard part.
If I call your name, please come down to the front.
Quani.
Cade.
Mackenzie, please come down to the front.
And finally, Sophia.
You know, every time we cook in this competition, it needs to be the best you've ever done.
And I think all four of you can be honest, from the bottom of your hearts and understand that tonight, they were your weakest performance.
If I call your name, please step forward.
Quani, step forward.
Cade, step forward.
You two, your dishes weren't up to scratch tonight.
Quani and Cade we still see potential in both of you.
Oh, my God.
Please, say good-bye to Mackenzie and Sophia, and head back to your stations.
( all murmuring good-byes ) Good job, Sophia.
Gordon: Oh, ladies.
Oh, Mackenzie.
It breaks my heart.
When you came into this competition, you were a little firecracker.
- Have you enjoyed yourself? - Mm-hmm.
Sophia, are you gonna continue cooking? ( whispers ) Yeah.
Gordon: Thank you to you both.
Keep hold of those aprons, and keep those heads up high.
Good night to you both.
Thank you.
- Bye, guys.
- Good job, guys! - Good job, guys.
- Good job, guys.
I feel like I definitely brought my aloha spirit.
I didn't win "MasterChef Junior," but I got to meet people from all over the country.
- It's okay, guys.
- It's okay.
- Good job, Sophia.
- You did really good.
Sophia: So I'm super honored to be able to represent Hawaii in the MasterChef kitchen.
Gonna miss you guys a lot.
I'm only nine years old, and I made it to the top 18.
I'm gonna go home and practice more cooking, and maybe I'll come back as a MasterChef.
Next time This is three legit brace.
This is gonna be really hard.
The competetion One, two! One, two! gets much closer and the judges are in for very flusty fake - Then - What the heck? Matylda Ramsay! Gordon's daughter - Tell us how.
- No.
Reveals the secret.
- Basil.
- Basil.
-Basil.
Ramsay's recipe.
- He is really annoying, isn't he? - Yes.
I should be in therapy.
Ouch.