Gordon Ramsay Masterclass is the sixth episode of Season 7 of MasterChef. It was aired on July 6, 2016, on FOX. In that episode, lobster was the main ingredient, one person took a step further when cleaning the protein, five home cooks had to recreate a Gordon Ramsay classic, and one of them lost their cool.
Skills Test[]
As the Top 16 return to the MasterChef kitchen, Diana never thought she would have made it far for being a waitress, while Alejandro knew the challenges would get harder from now on. After Aarón Sanchez was reintroduced to the Top 16, the judges reveal that their next challenge was a Skills Test, a challenge where they must prepare a protein to their standards. The judges uncover the case in front of them, revealing that the protein they were working with was lobster which disheartens Diamond as she was a vegetarian and did not want to kill a lobster. For the Lobster Cleaning Skills Test, the Top 16 must extract all the meat from a lobster, and to show them how to do it, Ramsay does a demonstration.
As Ramsay begins his demonstration, Eric comments how expensive lobster was and thought only culinary students had the privilege of learning how to clean one. Ramsay shows the Top 16 how to humanely kill a lobster, poaching it, and extracting all the meat for a nice presentation. As he does this, Brandi took mental notes as she wanted to do it to Ramsay's standards. After the demonstration, the Top 16 each pulled a lobster from the tank, though Andrea said she had a lot to prove with that challenge as she was doing well so far but felt confident with a protein she never cooked before. After making it back to their stations, Christina reveals that the home cooks that matched their standards of prep would be safe, while those that did not would face an elimination challenge.
The Top 16 had twenty minutes to properly kill, poach, and extract the meat from their lobster, and immediately, all of them were killing their lobsters and putting them into the boiling pot. The judges explain that this test was a way to see who had the best attention to detail for extracting meat from an animal that they could get already prepped at the grocery store. However, they add that speed is necessary to get the meat out properly while the lobster was still warm. Brandi admits that she never cleaned a lobster before in Kentucky and revealed that her family considered seafood a yearly treat. Alejandro admits that while they did have lobsters back in Venezuela, they did not have claws, making him go out of his comfort zone. Lisa-Ann felt confident as she cooked lobster with her family, while Diana tried to keep her finesse of cleaning her lobster. Five minutes left, the judges discuss who they felt would have it as Ramsay was confident in Shaun as the latter won his apron with a surf n' turf dish and with Brandi as she showed that she paid attention to his lesson. However, Christina was concerned about Diamond due to her slow movements and lack of confidence. At the same time, Aarón expressed concern over Andrea using scissors to cut open her tail and accused Nathan of being in no man's land out of frazzleness. Eventually, everyone had their lobsters cleaned and on their board for judging.
The judges go to Shaun's station first, and Ramsay deemed his attempt spot-on, deeming him safe. As Shaun left for the balcony, he felt he was on cloud nine as he strived to be the best in both music and cooking. Andrea did not feel great as she got too focused on her tail and did not extract all the meat from her lobster. Even though Ramsay told Andrea that she had blown them away before, it was clear her nerves got the better of her, and she would be staying for the elimination challenge. Andrea admitted to being disappointed and wanted to retain the respect she earned. Ramsay asked Brandi if she ever prepared a lobster before, but the latter said she did not, adding that the only live animals in her town were farm animals. When Ramsay noticed the smaller legs, Brandi explained that they came out small when she extracted the meat. Despite that, Ramsay was impressed that Brandi perfectly cleaned a lobster on her first attempt and deemed her safe. That made Brandi feel she was proving her worth to the judges and proved that she deserved to stay.
When the judges went to Nathan, he admitted his attempt was not good as he freaked out on the right claw, evident by the missing pincer, and he had no time to prep the head for presentation. So, Nathan was forced to stay downstairs. As for Diamond, she felt confident that she nailed the cleaning despite her earlier fears of the lobster. While Ramsay told Diamond that he and the other judges saw her struggle in the cleaning, he was proud that she adapted to her limitations as he recalled several other vegetarian contestants make it far in the past. Diamond was deemed safe, and she was happy to overcome her fear of killing a lobster. When it came time for Diana's turn, she felt that she extracted a lot of meat from her lobster despite a horrid presentation. However, Ramsay disagreed as he found a piece of shell on the meat and saw that part of the claw was missing, telling her that she would stay downstairs. As the judges went around the kitchen, some home cooks such as Katie, Tanorria, and D'Andre did enough to make their way up to the balcony. But for Eric, his attempt was incomplete with no lower claws, no head, and he was missing a few of the legs. As such, Eric had to stay downstairs. More home cooks such as Dan, Terry, and David were sent to safety, but when it came time for Lisa-Ann's judging, Ramsay saw that her lobster came out of a car crash. Lisa-Ann admitted that she struggled to get the meat out of the claws and was told to stay downstairs. The final person to be judged was Alejandro, who felt confident about his chances. Ramsay noticed some extra meat off to the side of his board and asked Alejandro where it came from as he never extracted that during his demonstration. Alejandro admitted that he did not know where it came from but claimed that it was edible meat. Fortunately, Ramsay told Alejandro that he went one step above from his demonstration and felt he perfected the lobster cleaning, deeming it one of the best examples of that day. So, Alejandro was deemed safe, making him feel proud that he stuck to his instincts. Ramsay congratulated the eleven home cooks safe on the balcony and Christina named Alejandro the winner of the challenge for his perfect cleaning, telling him he had an advantage in the next Team Challenge.
Elimination Challenge[]
For the five home cooks still downstairs, Christina warned them that they were at risk of elimination. As Nathan wondered how many lives he had left. Ramsay revealed that they would be taking the lobster they extracted and recreating his signature lobster tortellini in a seafood broth, making Andrea feel that Lisa-Ann would have the advantage thanks to her Sicilian background. Ramsay gave the five a demonstration on how to cook his dish, which included making the pasta and the broth, the latter of which had anise liqueur. As all the home cooks watched Ramsay, Nathan was not comfortable touching the liquor as he never did so before, while Tanorria was shocked how Ramsay turned a ball of dough into gold within minutes. Once the demonstration was over, the five went back to their station where everything needed to recreate the dish was waiting for them, and Ramsay said they had forty-five minutes to cook.
As the five home cooks began prepping, Ramsay admitted that he expected half of the Top 16 to be downstairs cooking, but Christina reminded him that the five cooking for their lives deserved to be cooking as they failed to show the finesse of prepping their lobsters. Ramsay admitted that the challenge was tougher than the extraction, explaining that the pasta must be prepared correctly to contain the flavor of the lobster. Thirty-five minutes left, Eric admits to Christina that he never made fresh pasta before but claimed that he thrived under pressure and wanted to show his passion to the judges. Twenty-five minutes left, Eric started to flambé his shells, and the flash of flames made a few people on the balcony make quips of him starting a fire despite being a firefighter. Nathan was squeamish when burning off his anise, while Alejandro noticed that Lisa-Ann did not make the pasta dough yet but was preparing the broth first. Ramsay came to Lisa-Ann and asked why she was moving backwards as making the dough first was a top priority, but the conversation ended when Lisa-Ann nearly singed off Ramsay's eyebrows from her flames, much to Katie's disbelief. Fortunately, Ramsay was okay and told Lisa-Ann to focus and prioritize. Aarón asked Diana what her concerns were, and she said the pasta as she only made freshly made pasta once before. For Andrea, she was nervous as this was the first time she made fresh pasta, and Ramsay wondered if the competition was getting to her. However, Andrea knew she had to step up as her college dorm days were over, while Nathan tried to keep his composure as he struggled to use the pasta machine. Ten minutes left, Ramsay saw that panic was setting in as he was worried that Lisa-Ann, despite being Italian, was out of her depth. Aarón was unsure that Nathan would succeed due to his lack of confidence, while Christina noted how Eric seemed calm under pressure. Eventually, everyone had their dishes cooked and plated on time.
Eric was the first person to have his dish judged and felt he worked well against the pressure of the challenge. Ramsay noticed that the tortellini looked smaller than the ones he made, and Eric admitted to using the wrong-sized cutter. Even though Ramsay felt that the shape of the tortellini was all over the place, he did praise the flavor for being good as he could identify the lobster flavor with his eyes closed. Aarón agreed as he felt the broth tasted good with the liqueur not overpowering the taste of the lobster. When Diana went up, she felt elated with her presentation and wanted to show the judges what she could do. However, Ramsay deemed the presentation a mess as the tortellini were bursting all over the place, with one having excess water inside. The dish itself tasted rubbery, with the only saving grace being the broth itself. However, Ramsay was disappointed with Diana as he would have preferred if she gave him three perfect tortellini instead of a mess of broken tortellini as MasterChef was quality over quantity. After her negative review, Diana felt deflated as she did not want to give Ramsay a subpar version of his own dish.
The third person up was Andrea, who hoped that her dish redeemed her earlier mistake of the lobster meat extraction. Thankfully, Christina was impressed that Andrea pulled off a near replication of Ramsay's tortellini presentation, deemed the broth good, and called the filling delicious as the flavors melded together. Ramsay agreed, even though he felt the broth needed to be thickened a bit, but otherwise, he told Andrea that she did a great job, making her feel she proved to the judges that she deserved to stay. When Nathan went up, he was mentally panicking as his dish looked like crap due to the tortellini being on their sides and the broth looking greasy. Despite having clunky pasta, Aarón deemed the broth dynamite, which he felt was enough to redeem the dish. While Christina commented on the off presentation, she deemed the filling delicious despite it being small before agreeing with Aarón's comment about the broth. The final person up was Lisa-Ann, who was panicking due to her tortellini looking terrible and even hearing her family's disapproval. The only thing she hoped for was that the judges recognized her passion. Ramsay saw four tortellini burst with one having no top and had Lisa-Ann sip the broth. Lisa-Ann admitted that it tasted salty, but Ramsay compared it to eating a mouthful of anchovies. Even though the pasta was overcooked, Ramsay deemed the flavor beautiful, but he reminds Lisa-Ann how she did the entire dish backwards by starting the broth before the pasta. Ramsay was confused about what happened to Lisa-Ann as he did not think she was taking the competition seriously, but that angered Lisa-Ann as she argued she gave up a lot to compete and was doing the best she could, knowing that her dish was not good. Lisa-Ann refused to give up, but Ramsay believed she was done as he could only judge her based on the dish she presented him. After things calmed down, Ramsay explained to Lisa-Ann that while the filling was seasoned beautifully, she messed up on all the simple aspects of the dish. Lisa-Ann was left embarrassed about her dish as it did not represent her background and hoped the judges saw the passion she had.
Elimination[]
After the judging, Ramsay called up the five home cooks down to the front, and Aarón named Andrea, Nathan, and Eric as the three who did enough to be safe, leaving Diana and Lisa-Ann as the bottom two. Ramsay acknowledged Lisa-Ann's passion but deemed her dish a disappointment that made it seem she was out of her depth while telling Diana that her dish was underwhelming despite her confidence. In the end, Lisa-Ann was eliminated as she failed to replicate Ramsay's dish despite being Sicilian, but Ramsay urged her to keep her head up high. During her exit interview, Lisa-Ann was heartbroken about leaving the kitchen but knew she was leaving with more experience to share with her family.
Trivia[]
- Title Reference: The title refers to Ramsay giving the home cooks a lesson on cleaning a lobster and later, cooking one of his signature dishes.