Being on a reality competition show is tough enough when you’re an adult. Imagine if you’re a kid!
“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” scouted more than 1,000 contestants, but only one young chef from South Florida had the talent to make the cut.
Chef Gordon Ramsay: “That soggy, disgusting nugget sat on a bed of unwanted slaw over a gummy [expletive] purée that I’d give my granddad to paste his [expletive] new wallpaper, not to eat.”
Chef Gordon Ramsay sure can get fired up on “MasterChef,” but when it comes to MasterChef Junior”…
Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Ho! Ho! Ho!”
“MasterChef Junior” contestant: “I didn’t know Santa has a British accent.”
He’s kind of a big ol’ softie … and he and his daughter Tilly are feeling festive about the show’s new seasonal special, “MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays.”
Chef Gordon Ramsay: “Tilly’s been to the ‘MasterChef’ kitchen many times, but to have her here as a judge makes me feel old, and I can’t be any prouder from a dad’s point of view.”
Speaking of being proud, that’s how Deco’s feeling about SoFlo’s own Chef Lorenzo.
Lorenzo Ramos: “Since a young age, I’ve loved to cook. I mean, at first I was playing soccer, ’cause my dad thought I was gonna be Messi. But you know, I didn’t really like to run.”
What he did like was food…
Lorenzo Ramos: “My first words, you would expect ‘Mommy,’ ‘Mamá,’ ‘Papá.’ My first words were ‘carne, carne,’ which is ‘meat, meat’ in Spanish.”
…and learning to get crafty in the kitchen, even if he didn’t always get it right.
Lorenzo Ramos: “Being a chef is hard, but it’s like, you learn from your mistakes, so I like that.”
It’s that drive that landed 12-year-old Lorenzo on “MasterChef Junior’s” holiday special.
Lorenzo Ramos: “Out of 1,150 kids, only nine of us. Like, that’s not even 1% so, you know, for me to get there, I feel like anything is possible.”
His parents totally agree.
Frederik Ramos: “We really feel so proud of him that he made the cut.”
Marta Ramirez: “I think it was an incredible journey for his life, because the competition and the casting was very hard.”
“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” is all about celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa-themed dishes.
While Lorenzo couldn’t give us specifics about what he cooks on the show, he did give us a demo of one of his signature dishes.
Lorenzo Ramos: “Today I’ll be making you a special tuna tartare. Make sure to use sushi grade tuna. This is ahi tuna.”
Lorenzo stacks three layers — tuna, avocado, then more tuna — then tops it with chives, some truffle, lemon zest and sea salt.
Then he adds some edible flower garnishes, and voilà!
Lorenzo Ramos: “This is a very good appetizer. You can obviously decorate it in a variety of different ways, but this is the final product.”
Now all that’s left is a taste test with his toughest critic: his big sister. Mmm, looks like this recipe is a winner!
By the way, Lorenzo’s parents did confirm his first word really was “carne.”
“MasterChef Junior: Home for the Holidays” will spice up the season during its two-night special premiere event. You can watch it Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m., right here on 7.
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