Hetal Vasavada was a contestant on Season 6 of MasterChef. She ranked in 6th place.
Personality[]
Coming from a Gujarati Indian descent, Hetal came into the competition as a determined vegetarian. She was shown as a kind, big-hearted, consistent cook who would often please the judges with what she could do with a vegetarian background. She often had to get out of her comfort zone with cooking meat, but still gave consistent results (her replication of Gordon's beef wellington). But later on in the competition, she had trouble cracking under pressure, which got the best of her in the pasta pressure test. She got along with Katrina and Christopher.
Season 6[]
Episode 2[]
Hetal was in the first battle of the episode, and went against Jill, a stay-at-home mom from Sacramento. Hetal revealed that her parents came to New Jersey after being farmers in India, and that's where her love of food came from. Her biochemistry degree was what started her love of baking. She told her family she was ready to put her plate against Jill's and win the battle of the fruit desserts.
Hetal told the judges she was making an apple puff pastry cup, with toasted pecans and a cardamom whipped cream. She deemed the dish was her on a plate, being an American classic with an Indian twist. Graham was excited about the cardamom and apples together. During judging, Christina enjoyed the crisp sound of the puff pastry, and liked the use of spice in her whipped cream. Gordon said the dish was good, but she was playing it safe and it wasn't her on a plate. Graham liked the spice and the perfume from the vanilla and cardamom.
After both dishes were tasted, Gordon believed Jill had more potential, while Graham believed Hetal had the presentation and skillset. It all came down to Christina, and she said Hetal's dessert was worthy of the apron, but she made sure to tell Jill her dish was impressive and her family was lucky to have her. Hetal and Jill hugged, before walking out and hugging her family. She said she strayed out of the 3 options that Indian parents give their children, and she wanted to follow her passion for cooking.
Episode 3[]
Gordon visited Hetal during the Ingredients from Home Mystery Box. She told him she was making a coconut curry soup, and he was shocked she had no protein. She told Gordon she was Gujarati Indian, and she was vegetarian. When he asked how she would fare down the line when it came to exotic proteins, she revealed she was nervous as she was never really around it, but wanted to surprise people.
Hetal was the third contestant to be named a part of the Top 3, following Katrina and Dan. She presented her green coconut curry soup with red chili chutney and a cilantro mint basil oil. When Graham tried the soup, he went, "Holy shit, that's so good", making everyone laugh. He said she had a great flavor balance, and was batting 1.000 when it comes to flavor control. He wished for something like lentils to beef the soup up, but commended her strong effort. Gordon said he was surprised she mad something so flavorful with such little ingredients, and called her husband a lucky man, saying he'd come home early 7 days a week for her soup. He wanted a bit more heat, but told her she did a good job. Although she had a great dish, she lost the challenge to Dan.
She was one of the 12 contestants that received an apple from Dan, meaning she did not have to compete in the Apple Pie Elimination Challenge.
Episode 4[]
Hetal was a part of the blue team during the Amusement Park team challenge. Due to bad leadership and a generally unorganized team, the blue team lost with 41% of the votes and had to face the season's first Pressure Test.
As Darah was able to save half her team from competing, she chose Ailsa, Claudia, Sara, and Dan, before selecting Hetal as her last pick. However, she immediately refused the offer to be safe, believing she deserved to be down there and Derrick deserved to be safe. Chef Ramsay agreed with her decision, and sent Derrick to the balcony. During the Pressure Test, Hetal said you never take the easy way out, as that's not how you get through life. She decided to make a chai latte cinnamon bun, her husband's favorite dessert.
Hetal as the second contestant to have her cinnamon rolls judged, and they included ginger, allspice, cardamom, and an espresso dressing. Ramsay called them dreary-looking, but enjoyed their fragrance. Her rolls were well-received, and Ramsay told her she was ballsy and had the potential to become a unique baker. After everyone's cinnamon rolls were tasted, hers were deemed the best of the night and she was the first person sent up to the balcony.
Episode 5[]
Episode 6[]
Episode 7[]
Episode 8[]
Episode 9[]
Episode 10[]
Episode 11[]
Episode 12[]
Episode 13[]
Episode 14[]
Episode 15[]
Episode 16[]
Episode 19[]
Episode 20[]
Competition History[]
| Week 3 | High/Immune |
|---|---|
| Week 4 | Pressure Test |
| Week 5 | In/In |
| Week 6 | No Pressure Test |
| Week 7 | In/Low |
| Week 8 | Win |
| Week 9 | In/Immune |
| Week 10 | High/Win |
| Week 11 | Pressure Test |
| Week 12 | Win |
| Week 13 | In/Win |
| Week 14 | Low |
| Week 15 | High/In |
| Week 16 | Lose/Eliminated |
Post MasterChef[]
- After her appearance, Hetal worked as a freelance Digital Marketing Manager for several years. She is also a freelance recipe developer, writer, digital marketer, food photographer and a food blogger at Milk and Cardamom. Her Instagram account has grown to over 100K followers.
- In 2019, she released her cook book Milk & Cardamom and did a book tour promoting the release. Her book was named one of the best cookbooks of 2019 by The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle.
- In 2020, she opened an online bakery called Milk and Cardamom Sweets.
- Hetal was feature in a 10-page spread in Food and Wine Magazine in November 2020 and has contributed recipes to sites such as Bon Appetit, The Washington Post, Food and Wine, The Kitchn, Delish, Buzzfeed and more.
- Her daughter Elara was born on April 24, 2016.
Trivia[]
- She is the fourth vegetarian contestant to ever compete on the show, following Sheetal (Season 1), and Adriana and Bri (both Season 4).
- She is the third contestant to reject immunity from competing in the Pressure Test, following Felix and Scott (both from Season 3.
- She is the first contestant from the state of New Jersey.
Quotes[]
- (After Darah tried to save her from the cinnamon roll pressure test) "I'm not gonna take it. I deserve to be down here. If anything, I think Derrick should take it."
- (Before the Steak Pressure Test) "Godfather of Steak, Gordon Ramsay, is going to be judging us. I have never cooked steak in my life - I'm a vegetarian. So, if Shelly doesn't save me, I know I'm going home today."
- "Am I used to people yelling at me? Yes, I grew up in Jersey. Am I used to people like Ramsay yelling at me? No, not really."
- (After being eliminated) "Leaving MasterChef, I'm leaving humbled, grateful, confident, but I'm just so thoroughly proud of myself that I made it this far. As a vegetarian, I beat out thousands of meat-eaters and got to the Top 6; that's insane. You know, I cooked with meat like it was nothing, I didn't....ok maybe I did freak out a few times, but, you know, I held my own. It's been a once in a lifetime experience for sure, so extreme, but so worth it, so so worth it."
Gallery[]
Season 6[]
External links[]
Hetal Vasavada on Instagram
References[]
| MasterChef U.S. Season 6 |
|---|
| Judges |
| Gordon Ramsay • Graham Elliot • Christina Tosi |
| Contestants |
| Justin Banister • Darah Carattini • Charlie Chapman • Veronica Cili • Dan Collado • Olivia Crouppen • Ailsa Von Dobeneck • Shelly Flash • Katrina Kozar • Stephen Lee • Christopher Lu • Mateo McConnell • Nick Nappi • Derrick Peltz • Kerry Prince • Jesse Romero • Amanda Saab • Claudia Sandoval • Hetal Vasavada • Tommy Walton • Brianna Watson • Sara Zacek |