I've won pretty much everything and people still don't see me as a threat. Yes, I'm bubbly and nice, but bring it on.
I came out of the gate with 100% confidence. I still have that confidence, but I haven't wowed the judges yet. This is going to be my time to shine.
All I see is this ginormous box in the front of the kitchen. That's huge.
Welcome back, everybody. We know all of you hope to turn your passion for food into a full-time career.
You should dream big. Two of Canada's master chefs have gone on to open their own restaurant.
Are you ready to find out what's under your mystery box? Yes, chef. I think you're going to like what you see.
On a count of three, lift that box.
I'm thinking maybe someone's under there.
One, two, three, lift.
Here you have tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, eggplant, and patty pan squash. A mixture of fall fruits and greens. You also have an assortment of cheeses, sausage, and two different types of delicious sweet clams.
Your job is to take these ingredients and make an appetizer for a classic Italian restaurant.
I like this. When I go out to eat, I only order appetizers. And your dishes better be restaurant quality because the winner of this mystery box challenge is going to see their winning appetizer featured on the menu of Jamie Oliver's restaurant, Jamie's Italian.
Oh my god. What? Oh my god. Wow.
Hands up, home cooks. Who has been influenced by Jamie Oliver?
Wow.
I grew up watching Jamie Oliver on TV. It was one of his shows that first got me into cooking.
The most inspiring thing about Jamie Oliver for me is the fact that he wants to actually change the world and change the way we see food.
Are you ready to earn a spot on Jamie Oliver's menu? Yes, sir.
Your time starts... Wait, wait, wait. Come on. Don't start yet.
No idea what's going on at this point. This is weird.
We need to be sure that the winning dish is exactly what Jamie Oliver is looking for. Please help us welcome internationally renowned chef... Oh my god. Jamie Oliver.
Oh my god. Jamie Oliver. He's right here and he's in front of me.
This is so cool. This is so exciting. It's so nice to meet you, Jamie.
With your restaurants opening all across Canada, your new series on Gusto, and everything else you've got going on, you're a very busy man.
I wouldn't have missed this for the world. I can't wait to see what you're going to do for my restaurant.
This is Jamie Oliver. If I'm going to impress anybody in this industry, I want it to be this guy. I have to win this.
You have just 45 minutes to prepare a world-class appetizer using these spectacular ingredients. Home cooks, are you ready to make Jamie proud? Yes, sir.
Jamie, would you like to do the honors?
I would love to. Guys, your time starts now.
Don't take all of it. I'm trying not to.
So, Jamie, tell us your thinking behind these ingredients.
Obviously, we're celebrating the Italian and the Mediterranean kitchen. Stinging nettles. Careful, guys. We got those bitter veggies, you know, the chories, the radicchios. These all have bitter notes that will require some balancing of acidity or sweetness.
I need some pecorino, please.
We've got some nice big spicy smoky flavors with the 'nduja clams and razor clams. I love... Every chef loves those. There's so much opportunity in that box. There's really no excuses.
No, there's a lot of options out there. I love this so bad.
It's so nerve-wracking that Jamie Oliver is here watching me cook.
Cooking for your idol is pretty terrifying.
I'm not going to let this opportunity slip between my fingers.
Jamie, these are your ingredients. So, what would you do?
I'd be feeling a warm salad. Could be really, really nice. But at the same time, I mean, clams and smoky 'nduja is so good. That speaks to me. Tempting. Tempting. Ah, that hurts.
Jamie Oliver's menu is Italian, so I'm going to do a little bit of a play on an eggplant parmesan. I'm going to try and do a nice parmesan crisp sticking out of it to make it look really pretty.
I'm going to, you know, be ballsy and do a pasta. It is incredibly risky to make tortellini in 45 minutes. God. But if you play it safe, you may not get noticed. Always forget it's such a bloody workout. All right, let's do this.
Most of my cooking skills and techniques come from watching celebrity chefs on TV. I would say to date, this is the most important dish of my life. Jamie Oliver is like massive. He's an idol of mine.
Trevor. Mr. Oliver. Very, very excited to see you, brother. What is going through?
So, what I'm going to do for you today is a roasted fall vegetable medley.
Yeah, I like the thinking. Like your thinking.
I mean, to be honest, I base a lot of my cooking after you. I like your approach to very simple but elevated food. I like how you shave your cheese from up here and it falls all over the plate.
They all think I'm doing that for style. It's even distribution.
You crack on. I don't want to stop you.
Hey, it was an honor to meet you.
Beautiful. Well, it's going to be an honor to try your food.
Enough said. I need to win this.
Come on, cook, boys. Barry. Chef. I think me and you are the oldest in the room today.
I think I've got you by a couple years.
Okay. Well, I'm chasing you behind. So, what we got?
I am going to simply braise some clams with this 'nduja sausage. And I'm going to serve all of that together with some herb... right? Heirloom cherry tomatoes, patty pan squash, and I'm going to work in some rapini, some escarole, and the stinging nettle.
Do you think there might be a few too many extra bits here? Feel the conviction in a smaller cluster of flavors. Okay, that's all I'll say. I'm very excited. And equally worried. Good luck.
Big time pressure. It's not every day that you get to cook for Jamie Oliver. For a guy that's wanted to be a restaurateur since he was 15 years old, it's a pretty big deal.
Come on in, Aaron. Chef, what's going on? How's it going, chef? Yeah, very, very good. I can see a few things and that kind of makes me happy.
Going to do a little bit of a play on surf and turf with razor clams, some 'nduja, and play the sweet and bitter route by going with some of the puntarelle. I'm trying to keep it simple. I think that that's the spirit of Italy and Italian cooking. Really honoring the produce.
Go for it, brother. Feeling the love.
These clams are freaking gorgeous.
20 minutes. You have 20 minutes left.
Little short on time, which seems to be my downfall. I am very much under the gun. I'm alive. Why did I do this to myself?
How do you do this every week? This is a lot of stress.
I haven't even stuffed my tortellini yet. I don't think I'm going to finish.
Young Ta. Wait, what's going on?
I'm making tortellini. So, I've got like a ricotta sausage. And then I'm going to do a peach sauce, but I'm running out of time right now.
You're all right. Remember, those ravioli only take a couple of minutes to cook. Only tip I would say is remember when you're doubling this pasta up, it swells in the water, right? So just maybe question the thickness of the pasta, right? But don't freak out, okay? Don't freak out. Be confident.
I'm going to try to do a couple thinner ones. Take what he said and hopefully I don't hyperventilate.
Saved it. Jamie Oliver is like my culinary superhero. I was bullied a lot when I was younger, so I can sometimes be a pretty anxious person, but when I'm in the kitchen cooking, it all just kind of fades away.
Matt, how you doing, brother? I'm fangirling out so hard right now. That's okay. You take your time. So, what's going on?
So, I'm just trying to do my take on a little bit of a lemon tarragon pan here. I'm going to do some cauliflower tourne. I'm going to do some razor clams and lay those nicely over that.
Very, very nice. I always feel wrong. It's like going through someone's underwear drawer. You know what I mean? It's like I should behave myself. Good luck, brother.
Thank you so much. Great to talk to you.
Five minutes. You only got five minutes left to impress our VIP guest. You know who?
Doing this show is like new for me. Like I'm properly scared for them.
So Jamie, you think they're overthinking it and maybe biting off more than they can chew?
I think some of them are definitely making their life more complicated. Young Barry over there had really good principles but then never stopped talking and it went on and on and on and on and you're like wow, he's just making it more difficult for himself than he needs to.
We've got Ta making tortellini in 45 minutes, which is kind of brave. She could absolutely pull that off. Although she's quite nervous.
I need to hustle a little.
What about Aaron? What do you think of his dish?
He's gone for real simplicity. Technically, it tells me that he's very clear about what he wants. He's sexy. There's so much at stake here. They want to impress... schmutz on my plate. Actually, no. I'm not going to do that.
One minute. You have one minute left. One minute. I want to see beautiful plates.
I need it to be perfect. Why am I shaking?
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Hands up.
All four judges have been observing throughout the challenge. They now take one final look before selecting the three most promising contenders for a spot on the menu at Jamie's Italian.
The first dish we're calling up was made by a home cook who grabbed a lot of ingredients and found an enticing way of bringing them all together. Please bring up your dish, Barry. Wow, nice job, Barry.
Jamie Oliver wants to taste my dish. It sounds trite to say that it's awesome, but it's awesome.
I've got Manila clams braised with 'nduja sausage and pan-crisped greens.
Here we go. Bro, you looked surprised when we called you out there.
It's my first time being called up.
Oh, really? Yes. Yeah.
Delicious. Good flavors, good seasoning. I like the char on the green tip. The clams are not overcooked. I think you've done a great job. But what I would do here is I would try and amplify that natural broth that comes out of the clam. I'd probably go in a bowl and keep it hot and steamy.
But I think all around it's celebrating loads of elements there that are delicious. Well done, Barry. Well done.
You cook the clam with respect. It's still tender and moist and deliciously sweet. The 'nduja sausage starts to come through, so you get that wonderful smokiness to it. It's a dish that is definitely restaurant-worthy.
I have finally shown the judges the level to which I can cook.
The next home cook we'd like to call up delivered a beautiful concept. Not too simple, not too complicated, but just right. Please bring up your dish, Trevor.
Yes. Win or lose, this is an achievement on its own. This is a dream come true.
What you have in front of you today is a warm fall vegetable salad with a roasted garlic lemon aioli and then some toasted squash seeds and some pecorino cheese.
Let's get in there. Plating's very nice. So, what do you do for a living?
I'm a plumber gas fitter, chef.
Your pipework must be beautiful.
I wouldn't disagree with you.
You know, here's the thing. Vegetables are always secondary in a lot of restaurants and what you've done here is you've made them numero uno. Seasoning very nice and helped along with that pecorino. Very good dish.
Thank you. Means a lot, chef.
Trevor. Chef Alvin. This is beautiful.
This is good food. The techniques you have here, you got grilling, you got some sauté, and you did the right things for the right vegetable. That's very intelligent. I would say the seeds, it's a bit hard. Maybe toast them. Other than that, this dish is perfect for any restaurant, including mine.
This is wicked. It validates exactly what I came here to prove, and I couldn't be happier.
The last dish we'd like to taste was made by a home cook who took a big risk and it looks like it paid off big time.
One more person is getting called and it needs to be me.
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. It feels like I just won the lottery. It better be good.
I did an 'nduja ricotta stuffed tortellini with white wine peach sauce and warm peach salsa. Oh man, I can't believe you're going to eat my food right now.
Let's do it.
I mean, for me, it looks cute. It looks pretty, but then you eat it and it's like pow, flavor. You've got the big smoky flavor of the 'nduja and the lightness that kind of comes with the ricotta and then the sauce. I've never had anything like that. I like the introduction of peach and actually across Italy they use peaches in many interesting savory ways. So, good job, girl. Very impressive.
The filling is good. The sausage has that heat component and the peach just cools it right down. But I think the sauce is a little bit heavy, but the dish is very ambitious and you're showing that you're here to push yourself.
Thank you.
I had no idea if these flavors would work and they did. And Jamie Oliver likes it.
Oh man, that was so good. They were all really good and they're actually very different dishes, which is great to see.
I 100% feel like I've got this. This dish would be a great addition to the menu at Jamie's Italian.
I think all three of these could easily become fantastic appetizers on the menu.
I definitely don't see myself as the strongest here, but I'm learning that I might actually be stronger than I think.
There was one of those three that I felt was just a little stronger than the others.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All I want to do right now is win this challenge and get my dish on Jamie Oliver's menu.
So, I think we've made a decision.
All four of us loved what you served, but one appetizer stood out above all others. Jamie, will you tell them which dish will be appearing on your menu?
I had to choose one that I think people will keep coming back for. And the home cook that made that dish was... Ta.
Oh my god. Oh my god. This is crazy. I'm going to faint. Sorry. I'm a home cook from Vancouver. And now my dish is going to be on Jamie Oliver's menu.
Jamie, thank you so much for being here. It's been a privilege to have you here.
My pleasure. You're amazing, guys. Thank you so much. Big love. Take care.
I'm so excited. Thank you so much.
Ta. Normally, we'd invite you into the pantry to decide what everyone else will be cooking with. This time, we've already made that decision for you. Can you all please join us at the front?
Oh my gosh. I have no idea what's coming up.
Now, this challenge is a replication, and we must warn you, the dish that you're about to prepare has several tricky components. You'll all be making a Japanese bento box.
I know bento boxes in and out. This is a challenge for me.
Simple, right? Not really. Way too simple.
Oh, no. You are going to have to think outside the common bento box and make one of these. An ultra-modern bento box.
I've never had a bento box in my life.
Every component has been revolutionized and reinvented.
Here we have perfectly round salmon domes, wonton noodle-wrapped shrimp, and a variety of exotic tempura, enoki mushrooms, purple cauliflower, and lotus root. Red miso soba noodles with encrusted Wagyu beef and one perfectly marinated cube of tofu.
The common vibe in the room is, 'Holy crap.' Now come on up. Have a closer look and a little taste.
I'm comfortable with Asian flavors, but if we're going to have to replicate exactly what we're seeing, it's going to be tough.
So, pay close attention to the seasoning. That is critical.
Very overwhelmed. I'm trying to memorize everything that I see on there. I just don't know how I'm going to do this today.
You will have only one hour to replicate this high-end bento box. But don't worry, you won't have to do it alone.
That's because this is a classic MasterChef tag team challenge.
Tag team? No, I hate it. It's not going to work out.
Only one of you will be cooking at any given time while your partner watches from the sidelines.
My ass is on the line and I want it to be me that sinks his ship, not somebody else.
Ta, your advantage is that you get to make the teams, starting with your own.
Wow. This is a no-brainer for me. I choose me. Yes. She's Asian. She knows Asian food.
