MasterChef United Tastes of America: The South Rises Again With Flavor, Fun & Feels
The South was in the house, y’all, and they didn’t disappoint!
The regional auditions concluded on MasterChef Season 13 Episode 4; to close things out, they may have saved the best for last.
From Alabama to Mississippi, Texas to Louisiana, the home cooks showed up to represent and show that the South would consistently deliver in the culinary game.
And we got one of the best installments of the season thus far.
There were so many great chef moments between James Beard nominee, guest starring judge Tiffany Derry, Joe and Gordon, and Aarón.
Southern Hospitality
Listen, Northeast is where it’s at, but a girl will have to concede that the South delivered with this audition process giving us some of the strongest, most confident cooks yet.
Tiffany Derry expressed that she thinks the winner may emerge from the South, and she may not be wrong.
At the very least, the Southerners will give it everything they have and make this competition worthwhile. To say they were impressive would be an understatement.
The South may be the regional frontrunners of this competition, delivering the strongest batch of skilled cooks with a technical mindset and great flavor profiles, save one.
Judges’ Fun, Shenanigans, and Feels
The South brought a distinct vibrancy to the competition and shone through with the judges and contestants.
Aarón was in his element with New Orleans folk and Texas love, which showed through with many contestants.
We got to see him let his hair down a few times, whether it was putting up with the fun ribbing from Reagan or kicking it in Spanish with flamenco dancer Jessica from Miami, WHO HE ACTUALLY DANCED WITH ON THE MASTERCHEF STAGE.
Aarón was a whole vibe for the entire hour, and while he put in a nice word for the Midwest, you know he was deeply digging all things South by the hour’s end.
Gordon’s shenanigans with Kendal’s barbecue champion ring were pure hilarity and fun, laugh-out-loud funny. We don’t often see that side of him on things like this and Hell’s Kitchen, but we do see it on Masterchef Junior and other aspects.
And Joe was often humbled by culinary cuisine and not afraid to say as much, doling out some of his most meaningful comments yet.
Tiffany Derry was just a blast. She’s such a riot and a good time, and her criticism is always on point.
Southern Elites
The second they mentioned the South, one truly hoped we’d get somebody from New Orleans. And Reagan did not disappoint, honey.
She was so feisty, fiery, and fun, the type of person you’d genuinely love to hang out with, and it was easy to gravitate to her personality instantly.
She’s going to be a blast. And anyone who can hold their own against Aarón in such an adorable way is a keeper.
Her plating skills were as divine as the dish itself, with those jumbo-sized jerk shrimp over roasted corn. The sound and look of it had my mouth watering.
It was genuinely shocking to hear Tiffany say that she felt the jerk seasoning lacked some spice, not that it was bland, as it was incredibly flavorful, but she expected far more heat and spice for a jerk dish.
It almost felt like Tiffany needed to give her some criticism and compliments in one, as she still loved the dish overall and gave her approval.
But the guys were utterly in love with it. Ramsay said it transported him to New Orleans was the ultimate compliment. Joe seemed to love it.
And Aarón praised her, especially with the corn, and gave her a hug along with the apron.
But you know, as a New Orleans boy, he was thrilled to have her repping so well, and he was beaming with pride that she made it through.
Same, Aarón.
Now Kendal was another highlight here. The man was incredibly confident, bordering on arrogance even, but you can’t complain too much when you can back it up.
He’s clearly confident and a perfectionist, and he owned up to both. Still, he also acknowledged that he does make mistakes which proves promising because it seems like he would own up to errors and learn during this competition.
Interestingly, Kendal was reminding me of Wayne from Masterchef Season 13 Episode 2.
A Mississippi Barbecue King, I’m genuinely excited to see how well Kendal does in this competition because he seems tailor-made for it.
He’s been competing in BBQ comps for most of his life, and he didn’t earn himself that championship ring for nothing.
Even Gordon was excited about the ring. The entire sequence of Murphy’s Law-level shenanigans with Gordon trying on the ring, dropping it in the fire, fishing it out, then dropping it in Kendal’s cream sauce while nearly knocking over a bottle of oil had me clutching my stomach laughing.
But Kendal was cool and calm under pressure for the entire deal, so you know he’ll be able to handle anything that comes his way.
Again, like Wayne, he’ll be one of the dark horses of the competition and one to watch, and honestly, I’d love to see those two go head to head. Kendal is a man after a girl’s heart, making a filet mignon. And he absolutely nailed the cook so well that he humbled JOE.
It was the perfect cook. It seared beautifully, and the dish was incredibly well balanced despite seeming like it wouldn’t with the crawfish cream sauce and creamy mashed potato combination.
I don’t even like mashed potatoes and wanted in on that plate.
Kendal is fantastic, so it was no surprise that he got four yeses, but he does need to work on his plating. Again, his technical skills are on point, and you can tell he’s passionate about food overall, not just barbecue, but he lacks the visual finesse and flair required in shows like this.
The brown-on-brown, white-on-white plate was very messy looking. But that’s child’s play. He can work on that with no problem in this competition.
The Mississippi boy came to win, and he very well could. Until now, the front runners were incredibly impressive, and I could fully understand why they got those aprons.
Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for Jennifer, the mom of six from Arkansas.
Lowkey, I’d love to see her and Californian mom, Amanda, from Masterchef Season 13 Episode 3 interact a bit. They have a similar Real Housewives of Masterchef vibe, and I can see them being the best of friends or mortal enemies with no in-between.
Desserts are risky to make in 45 minutes and do them well enough to impress judges.
Visually, the technique of Jennifer’s Apple Blossom tart, as far as the flower shaping and was visually stellar. And the concept sounded great: an apple blossom tart with maple creme anglaise and spicy cranberry compote. It’s definitely something to keep in mind for the holiday season.
But otherwise, Jennifer’s technique was off; it was odd that she only made one of them, and the dish looked messy and wasn’t the best presentation. Gordon noted that her plating needed some serious work, and it was hard to come back from Joe using words like “sloppy” or “dense.”
The only thing going for the dish was her skill level with her pastry work. And they said the flavor was okay, but it didn’t sound too convincing compared to everything else.
But somehow, with a lackluster apple dessert dish, she pulled an apron out.
I’m happy that Jennifer made it through because I’m glad this woman is getting to follow her dreams. But I definitely need to see more of her work in the future because, at this point, she’s at the bottom of the pack and is screaming “expendable.”
My absolute heart regarding skills and quirk was Alabama farmer and Harvard grad Sav.
If you didn’t love her from the second she introduced herself, I don’t know what to say.
From her accent to her energy, she was an absolute joy to watch onscreen, and she had me rooting for her instantly.
One can only imagine the judgment she faces as someone who went to Harvard on a full scholarship, graduated, and opted to run her own farm instead of literally anything else you’d expect from someone who attends Harvard.
But her dream of starting a farm-to-table pay-what-you-can restaurant is so inspiring and beautiful that you want that for her. It speaks volumes about her character.
Her jokes about wishing she could bring her own chicken to the competition to make her dish were hilarious, and she’s a down-to-earth but quirky individual who puts a fun face on what it means to be a farmer in this day and age.
My heart belongs to Savannah, you guys! And is it just me, or does she look like Grey’s Anatomy’s Caterina Scorsone?
She grows and cooks her own food, which literally brings a whole new element to what she brings to the table.
Her fried chicken looked delicious, and it was actually nice to see someone deliver a Southern staple and do it well. The purple sweet potato added that pop of color to elevate the dish, and the stacked coleslaw seemed like something that wouldn’t work, but someone did.
Joe was ready to hate on that deconstructed coleslaw and loved it the best!
She more than earned that apron, and she’s emerged as a personal favorite and one I cannot wait to see her tackle this competition.
Also, she and Madame Donut in the same room are all good vibes.
But then, just when it didn’t seem like one could have any more feels, Kolby came with his heartrending life story about his grandfather teaching him everything he knew and cooking with him being his most treasured memories.
I’m not saying I shed a few tears, but I’m also not arguing that I didn’t.
We couldn’t leave this audition process with at least SOMEBODY from Texas securing a white apron, and I’m glad that person was Kolby.
I will dream about his Crawfish Etoufee. It looked gorgeous. The cylindrical pile of rice with everything pooling around it was visually perfect. And who doesn’t appreciate a one-pot meal, if you will?
Kolby’s plating game was immaculate, and you knew it would have a heartwarming conclusion when they didn’t even tell him anything to his face, but Gordon went to get his 93-year-old grandfather into the room to taste the dish and dole out a well-deserved apron.
Kolby’s Pop Pop was so freaking adorable that I wasn’t responsible for the delightful squeals I made at all that family feels goodness.
Football wasn’t his destiny as it was for his father, the former Dallas Cowboy, but he’s found his calling in culinary. And he certainly made his grandfather proud.
No, Hold On, Let Them Cook!
It speaks to how strong the South was that even the people who didn’t win an apron still left a solid impression.
My heart broke a little to see some of them walk away.
Austin from San Antonio, yes, the irony of that was amusing as hell, said she couldn’t go back to Texas if she cooked her boneless ribeye wrong, but she should go back with her head held high.
She and her husband both seemed like such a fun couple. Steve’s impression of Gordon was funny.
Her ribeye with creamy salsa and Mexican street corn sounded promising, but her execution could have been better and cost her everything.
But I did not doubt that she could’ve gotten an apron with that dish if she wasn’t having such an off day. It sucked to see her go.
And Jessica, the Miama-based Flamenco dancer, was so much freaking fun.
She had such a vibrant personality, and she gave off Justina Machado energy, which had me both wanting to rewatch One Day at A Time.
Jessica was so proud and happy and eager to share a dish from her culture. When she described her Masitas de puerco fritas with tostones on a bed of rice, I genuinely wanted this to be a star dish that worked in her favor.
And you could tell Aarón was hoping for the same thing. But the pork was too dried out because it needed more fat, and at this stage of the game, with them being more critical than ever, more was needed to win them over.
It wasn’t a horrible dish; it even looked amazing. It just wasn’t the best dish, and sadly, being good wasn’t good enough.
I hope Jessica comes back!
Michele was another person who seemed like a genuine sweetheart.
And when she pulled out her little bucket list and said that being on Masterchef was at the top of it, I wanted her dreams to come true.
But honestly, she was doomed to go downhill when Tiffany nearly cracked a tooth on a pecan shell in Michele’s crew with smoked apples and pecans.
Desserts have mostly been the death of everyone, so maybe folks need to study how to execute a perfect dessert before bringing it to the Masterchef kitchen.
That’s a Wrap for Auditions
The audition process has wrapped up, and we may have five contestants from each region.
Now the real competition begins, and things are bound to be intense from this point forward.
They have some strong contestants and many likable ones too. It’s a nice blend of people with loads of potential, great personalities, and more.
But who is going to come out on top?
If I’m hedging my bets, they may be right about the South Rising on this one.
But what do you think, Masterchef Fanatics? Sound off below!
And if you’re looking for recipes and other food-related news and interest, please check out our sister site, Food Fanatic!
Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You’ll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on Twitter.
