by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night, on Master Chef, the audition rounds continued as average home cooks tried to impress the panel of judges and earn an apron and a spot in the competition.

 

The first contestant to face the judges is Tamar, who was originally born in Jamaica, and left her day job to pursue her passion for cooking. Chef Ramsay is disappointed that the food looked more appetizing in the pot than on the plate. Though he supports her to move on, Graham and Joe disagree and she's eliminated. Gordon makes his case for them to change their votes and gets Graham to change his mind and hand Tamar an apron. Man, five seconds on reality tv and the rollercoaster has already begun for this home cook!

 

Whitney, a young 22 year old from a small town, blows the judges away with her dish. Gordon thinks she needs another year to mature but Graham and Joe feel that her dish is better than people there that are twice her age. She receives an apron and moves on! Good call, guys.

 

New York cook Tom and his scary, carved apple heads may not have received an apron but the panel is happy to hand some out to Azmina, Roberto, Sheetal, Sharone, and Joe.

 

After a number of Master Chef hopefuls hear the word "no", Jake, a construction worker from California, faces the panel. He shows a lot of promise, but receives mixed reviews. Gordon says no, Graham says yes, and Joe is on the fence. His passion and his authenticity come into question but Graham throws his support behind him, promising to make him a better chef. Thanks to Joe, and especially to Graham, Jake walks out of the room with an apron on!

 

Stay-at-home mom Jennifer has an inspirational story and a dish that sits well enough with the judges that she moves on. Adeliz is up next and the panel is disappointed in the fact that she focused more on presentation than good home cooking. They send her home... 15 minutes outside of L.A... to cook something real and bring it back. She has two hours to get it done or she's out. Challenge accepted.

 

While Adeliz runs home, Sheena faces the panel and presents her pork medallions. The judges are definitely split but Sheena talks like a chef, walks like a chef, and has a heart like a chef. She earns her apron and advances in the competition.

 

Darryl was born with a birth defect that left him with three fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot. Despite that, though, he doesn't feel limited and wants to show people that you can do anything you can put your mind to. I like him already! He made a big mistake in choosing ribs, something that can't really be done in an hour but his sauce wins the judges over and he gets an apron.

Two hours later, Adeliz returns with a more authentic, home cooked dish. Seems she learned her lesson because they judges unanimously vote to send her through.

 

The top 30 contenders have been selected. One of them will leave with $250,000 and a deal to publish their own cookbook. This competition is JUST getting started...

 

Master Chef airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Fox.

 

(Image courtesy of Fox)

 

Follow Gina at twitter.com/ginascarpa

 

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