This season is called MasterChef: Legends because Ramsay, Sánchez and Bastianich will be joined by legendary chefs Emeril Lagasse, Curtis Stone, Paula Deen, Roy Choi, Nancy Silverton, Wolfgang Puck and Morimoto, who will help train the “cheftestants.” “I think that bringing that level of help into this amateur world will help lift that standard,” Ramsay says of the Season 11 competition. “We’re focusing on 15 strong individuals. So, we’re getting straight to the heartbeat, the real meat on the bones, trimming the fat. And then, as always, with a contest like this, I’m hoping they’ve all practiced and baked and filleted and put themselves under pressure before coming in because it’s going to be like no other year, high octane, some incredible challenges, and as always, great mentorship from Aarón, Joe and myself, alongside the legends.” Here’s more of the conversation with Ramsay about how he selects the home chefs who are awarded an apron, MasterChef Junior and the one food he won’t eat!
Initially, it looks as if four people will be competing against each other for one of the coveted 15 aprons.
They’re staggered. They’ll go off within five minutes of each other, so we don’t get those four dishes landing at the same time. And also, we can spend a bit more quality time with them at the beginning. I’ve always said that the first 10 minutes is crucial to get out of the gate strong and get everything organized. Put that energy into the first 15 minutes and allow the dish to progress across the 30 minutes.
When the food is presented to you, do you always decide based on what tastes best? Or do you sometimes think, “Wow, they really have inspiration in their cooking and maybe it didn’t quite come off, but I’m going to give them an apron"?
I think the visual impact is important, to see something aesthetically beautiful, but it’s the flavor profile that really helps. I had a situation earlier with a redfish that was cooked in a non-stick pan. I was trying to explain the difference between working on a cast iron and a non-stick. And I wished he’d cooked it in the cast iron because the flavor profile from there is incredible. So, I look for the technical flare. Even if the dish is somewhat flawed and not the most attractive, and two or three letdowns around that protein, I’ll always sacrifice those if I see that technical flare. I can teach them how to dress a plate. The brush and the stroke, that’s the easy part, but it’s very hard to teach them the technical ability. That takes a lot of time. So, when I see that level of intricacy approaching in their cooking–a Burmese young lady by the name of Suu, late into the night, made an incredible curry but started with an authentic paste, the Galangal ginger, the garlic, and literally pestle and mortar for the first 15 minutes. Got all the heads from the prawns, slashed them, roasted them, and added them to the stock and made this incredible curry. That was delicious. It didn’t look good. It looked a bit of a mess, but the flavor was incredible. Curries aren’t the prettiest things. So, I’ll award points for technical flare over presentation any day.
Nick DiGiovanni was an example last season of somebody who really learned to plate as the season went on, became an expert by the end.
Yes. When you’ve got that level of basic knowledge, if he was under a great chef for the next two to three years, sky’s the limit for him. It’s whether or not they’ve got the intelligence to get into a kitchen and settle down for two or three years and not get distracted by social media.
Do you think that because MasterChef has been on now 10 seasons that it’s easier for you to find talented home cooks because you’ve raised the culinary palette of America?
I think what’s becoming evident is the desire to do better. We have pressure on our shoulders now to live healthily, but good food doesn’t have to be bland food in terms of all going down that super healthy style. It’s an amazing confidence boost when you can start with a plethora of ingredients and evolve into an amazing dish 90 minutes later. I think some people are burdened with an influence from their parents that they need to follow in their footsteps because of what suits the neighborhood, as opposed to what suits the individual. And so, that’s painful for me to watch. So, when I hear about young guys and girls that were never given the opportunity at 22 after graduation and they were more keen of not upsetting their parents by going into a kitchen, as opposed to going into a lawyer’s office or a doctor’s surgery, I think it’s fascinating, but I think the bar’s been raised. The door’s open in a wider platform now. I look at [Season 10 winner] Dorian Hunter. She got handed a cast iron pan from her great grandmother, and whether it’s a catfish or a peach cobbler, she goes everywhere with this amazing pan. On that insight, I changed the challenge that we later took literally. No flash ingredients, no flash equipment, you’re all cooking with a cast iron pan. Show me what you can do. So, I think it was a combination of both. I think it’s opened the door wider, but it’s also given individuals hope of bringing that rustic charm into greatness.
I was talking to Dorian about her cookbook and she wants to do elevated Southern cooking.
Emeril Lagasse and I spent a week in Louisiana for a new series on NatGeo, Uncharted, where we’re going out into the swamps and understanding that level of sustainability and that undergrowth of ingredients that never hit those main menus. So, it was great seeing that. Emeril put that Cajun/Creole cuisine on the map–a great etouffee, a great gumbo, and the importance of cooking out that roux. I’m talking about cooking these things out for like 45, 50 minutes just before you add stock, so even I’m learning. I think that’s the bit that I’ve never switched. I don’t have blinders on. I’m always like a magpie, anything shiny, I need to know what it is. It’s really important for me.
And what’s incredible is when you do MasterChef Junior–Those young kids can outcook me!
I love those kids. They’re so amazing, and I’ll tell you why. We meet and greet for the first time live, and there are teachers, but there are no moms and dads. It’s a competition and this is going to be a life-changing experience. You’re going to go up, you’re going to go down, you’re going to get upset, you’re going to get happy, you’re going to get confused and every time we have a problem, I want you to think really hard of a solution. That’s life. They look at me confused. But 12 weeks later when they shake my hand and they say goodbye, they get it. So, that’s really important and that’s what I did with my kids from a very early age. I bought them animals, while their friends were getting iPads. I bought them pans, I bought them ingredients, and I taught them not to waste food and understand how it was produced. So, that’s a really important life lesson. I don’t think kids should be judged at 16 with an A or a C or a D. That’s damaging to their confidence when they don’t get those grades because automatically, they feel insecure and inadequate in the classroom. So cooking is different because you’re off-piste and you’re cooking with no fear and so when you see that talent that is super gifted naturally and they have no fear, the sky’s the limit for those kids because they’re good. And it’s so nice to see that grandparents, uncles and aunties are buying them cooking lessons or baking kits or a rolling pin or a Japanese knife, and they’re treasuring this stuff. On the first of December 2019, we went through our 2 billionth view on YouTube, and we’ve got 13 million subscribers now on the channel. And the amount of 8- and 9-year-olds that tell me about watching me on YouTube, it’s like, “What are you watching that for?” Because they’re obsessed with the tutelage of cooking a steak, making a burger, dressing a Caesar’s salad or filleting a fish. That’s as important as math, English, history and French. That’s super important for these kids. I explain to their parents, “Don’t get involved. Don’t wrap them in a cotton ball. Take the leash off, let them go.” And they do just that.
They’re fearless when they get in the MasterChef kitchen and they have all these ingredients that they’ve never been able to use before.
Yeah, but some of them panic and lie. I said, “Now I’m going to tell you about the importance of not lying, not just in this kitchen, but in life in general. I’m here to help. We’ve still got 15 minutes left on the clock, let me show you what we can do, but tell me the truth. Did you put sugar in place of salt?” “Yes, I did.” “Right. Let’s scrap it, let’s start again. It may not be the dish you want, but I’ll give you a dish in 15 minutes that we can do.” So, yeah, they’re amazing kids.
You have said that you will occasionally eat at In-N-Out Burgers, so we know your fast-food choice. Is there something that you will never eat? Is there any food that you just abhor?
That’s a tough one. The thing I don’t like to eat is okra. When you cook it, there’s an enzyme that turns it slimy. And so, you put your fingers there, it’s slippery. MasterChef: Legends premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX Next, meet the Crime Scene Kitchen contestants.
