When MasterChef returns to its kitchen tonight for its 15th season, it’s mixing things up to make the show even more tasty.
One new twist is obvious from the name: MasterChef: Dynamic Duos, meaning for the first time, the cooking competition will feature pairs of home cooks participating together in hopes of becoming America’s next MasterChefs. The duos can be siblings, best friends, work buddies, husbands and wives, you name it.
Then there will be a switch-up in the judging panel. Gordon Ramsay will return as a host and judge alongside renowned restaurateur Joe Bastianich, and stepping in for the departing Aarón Sánchez is new judge, James Beard Award-nominee Tiffany Derry.
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Parade had the opportunity to speak with Tiffany before the launch of the season to get her take on working with Gordon and Joe, the new twist with have having teams in the kitchen, what challenges the home cooks will be facing and more.
Did you know Gordon prior to joining MasterChef as a coach? Did you have any kind of relationship with him?
Well, I’ve been a guest judge on MasterChef for previous seasons. So, I’ve always kind of done auditions or something where it’s sort of the south or southern aspects. So, I’ve had some opportunities to work with him.
What is it like to work with him and Joe? The two of them come at food from a different direction. Gordon’s a chef and Joe owns restaurants.
Walking into the MasterChef kitchen is an incredible moment to be able to work with both of them. Again, very different, but still, it fits in some kind of way. Both are very open to just letting me be who I am, and so I love that. I am a mix of strong and a mentor and I also have this way of coaching in a different way. And so, I think that the dynamic between us three fit very well.
It’s nice to have a female judge. How is your contribution different than what the guys bring?
I think it’s just different altogether. Most of them know that I have spent a lot of time competing, and so I come from that. But I’ve also spent the last few years judging quite a bit as well. So, I have both sides of it. I have been on that other side of the table where the criticism wasn’t very nice, and how do you pick yourself up and come back the next time you cook and be stronger? Or how do you adjust when in the moment, it’s not going your way. And so, I try to speak to people from that experience as well. And sometimes they do things that at the end of the day, it doesn’t make flavor any different. So, what are you doing? Don’t do that! It’s impactful. It’s fun.
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I don’t like anybody else in the kitchen when I’m cooking. What’s it like having teams?
It’s funny you say this. My mother is a person who doesn’t like others in the kitchen as well. I think this is very different to have a duo where you can think of it from that way, but you could also think of it from where you have support. And so, each of the duos have different things that they’re good at. Some can knock out the prep. The other is the taster, knows the dishes, know how to keep it on track. One may be better at pastries and the other is more of a savory cook. One can get out hundreds of dishes and the other takes too much time and does a little bit of something else.
And so, if you learn to use that to your advantage, I think that it works for you. If you struggle along the way and you’re trying to do the same things and you haven’t really figured out each other’s role, then it can be a problem.
Is there a difference in how different types of couples perform? For example, do siblings bicker more than husbands and wives? Do best friends get along better in the kitchen? Did you notice different dynamics among the different types of teams?
Absolutely. You can tell the ones that have cooked with each other a lot. And you can tell the ones that maybe haven’t spent as much time together in the kitchen. Take a brother and sister, who might have grown up in the same house, but they’re older now. They have different places. They may not cook as much.
Some of the married couples cooked very well together. You can see that they cook at home. They have just a way of maneuvering in the kitchen.
Best friends is always an interesting angle because sometimes they cook very differently. They’re just two cooks who cook and now they have to cook together. So, there’s always some crazy dynamics. But you can see the moment where it starts to change along the way.
I wonder sometimes if one of the teams that gets rejected, if they were paired with someone else, they would be the better team because they’re actually the better cook. Do you talk about that when you’re judging and deciding who you’re going to award the apron to?
No, not so much. I mean, honestly, the selection is random when they’re going against each other. And the one thing we’re constantly told is pick the best food on the plate. It’s about that food and whoever does a better dish deserves that apron. I love that straightforwardness of it.
You competed on Top Chef, but those are professional chefs. Then I watched you judge on TheGreat America Recipe, and those contestants, like these, are home cooks. How impressed are you by America’s home cooks after being on both of these shows and judging these people?
At first, I was like, “Okay, home cooks, have to remember that they are home cooks.” And then they start cooking and you go into your judging of like, “This is right, this is technically right, this is not.” And then you’re like, “Oh, my God, they are home cooks. They are so good.” I was impressed with the level of expertise that some of them had. From making fresh pastas, to making fresh breads, to being able to truly execute a very complex dish. And I think as a home cook, you don’t always think about that. They were not what I thought a home cook would be, I can tell you that. I’m like, “Are you sure?”
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What are some of the challenges that they face? The pressure test is back. What else?
My absolute favorite is the very first, which is the head-to-head. Like in auditions, going head-to-head felt like I was in an arena. It felt like we were cheering and screaming and it was just great energy to see that. And it’s crazy because even though there are two dishes, there were times where both cooked excellent dishes, and now you have to figure out which one is the absolute best and why. And there are times where Gordon and Joe and I do not agree. And so, we have to ask, “Why is that better for you.” And again, like you said, the dreaded pressure test is back. No one wants to be in the dreaded pressure test. It’s got its own thing all together.
So, if you don’t come to a consensus, does Gordon win?
It’s two out of three for us, as long as two agree. Unfortunately, if two does, that’s it. And Gordon doesn’t always get it. But the thing is, when you have two dishes that are really good, and at this point, we’re talking about little things so, it’s more preference. There are flavor profiles that each of us care more about or are more fascinating to us. Some people like what they know or what they’re more familiar with. And so, at that moment, it’s just a little subjective.
MasterChef: Dynamic Duos premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FOX. Streams next day on Hulu.
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