It is ever so rare to find a vegetarian challenge in a culinary competition. And yet, that's what we will witness in season 6 episode 14 of MasterChef US. This week's challenge is posed to two teams of four with Hetal and Tommy leading them as team captains.
After Shelly's heartbreaking departure from the MasterChef kitchen, Chefs Gordon Ramsay, Christina Tosi and Graham Elliot anointed Hetal and Tommy as winners of the chicken and waffles challenge.
We definitely see a pattern with Hetal here. The talented Indian home cook has managed to win during elimination tests. In episode 14, she will lead a team for the second time. If lessons could be learnt from history, then Hetal should learn to pick the strongest of contenders and delegate work. And this time, a vegetarian challenge might make her feel strong and confident enough to take on the role of a captain.
As seen in the promo, Hetal's team will consist of Derrick, Olivia and Claudia. Whereas Tommy's team will include Stephen, Katrina and Nick.
Since we're going to watch a vegetarian challenge, it might be safe to assume that Hetal might just bag the victory. After all, Claudia has plenty of experience in cooking vegetarian dishes and as Shelly once said, Olivia most likely lives on salads.
Throughout the challenge, we've seen Hetal, Claudia and Olivia make excellent flavor profiles with vegetables. And Derrick, well, he's wonderfully skilled to bring balance to a dish.
In the face of a vegetarian challenge, will hardcore meat eaters Tommy, Nick, Stephen and Katrina emerge as winners? In the promo, Tommy's team seems to be at odds with one another.
Nevertheless, a few clips later, we see Hetal in a black apron. Could that possibly mean she has to prepare a dish with a pig's head?
MasterChef US season 6 episode 14, "Getting A Head In The Competition" will air on Wednesday, 12 August at 8pm on Fox. You can live stream it on their website.
