I'm pretty sure the best thing on the internet Wednesday evening was Twitter's #MasterChef hashtag. Producers of the FOX series obviously know what they're doing; the way they set up these moments toward the end of each episode is too good. Remember when Mark got sassy with a comment about the judges, or when the "safe" home cooks up in the balcony unanimously agreed that Jennifer should stay in the competition over Paige? Outrage! Unpopular opinions! And GIFs standing in for 140-character reactions ensued.
The cooking show is, at the end of the day, reality TV, so I totally get if it's not your thing. However, those of us who hang out in the hashtag every week will continue to geek out — and, yeah, feed into the dramatics a bit — regardless. That's why Twitter was the place to be last night if you tuned into MasterChef.
These episodes move so fast (and I have to take sips of wine once and a while, obviously) that I missed who added a tablespoon of black pepper to their scrambled eggs in the Elimination Test.
(Sidebar: The judges had the contestants ((everyone but Massachusetts music teacher Jason, who won the Mystery Box Challenge)) prepare the egg dish, one of the first judge Gordon Ramsay learned to perfect, after a quick "MasterClass" tutorial. The plates were critiqued and some people were saved, and then the judges challenged the bottom cooks — Jeff Philbin of Tampa included — to a scrambled eggs redo.)
But Aarón Sánchez, also one of the cheffy judges, helped me out with the pepper mishap I didn't catch. While judging someone's attempt at egg redemption (I forget whose), he says: "A lot of people underestimate how powerful black pepper is," which is fine. Until judge Christina Tosi approaches Miami nurse Heather's dish for tasting. Turns out, there's waaay too much black pepper — enough for Tosi to cough and cough on screen. The drama!
Most exaggerated cough ever #MasterChef pic.twitter.com/L3sel0yEr0
— Christopher (@thegreatganooch) June 29, 2017
Too much. I'm laughing out of the ridiculousness, but too much 😂 #MasterChef
— Meaghan Habuda (@meghabuda) June 29, 2017
Did she have to cough like that? #MasterChef pic.twitter.com/0DiCRDYBB1
— Miss Boxy Frown MBA (@missboxyfrown) June 29, 2017
She went a little heavy on the pepper.#MasterChef pic.twitter.com/IOisF5n2jx
— Kelly 🍁🐧 (@RageGrl) June 29, 2017
@heatherD305 someone please get Christina Tosi a cough drop? Love you Heather!!! Pull through!! #MasterChef
— Jason J. Wang (@JasonJangyWang) June 29, 2017
Heather peppering her eggs like #MasterChef pic.twitter.com/EeEL9Tg1iu
— Chris Fasick (@cfasick) June 29, 2017
For the Bay area, this latest MasterChef episode was a close call. Local marketing director Philbin, who got a little emotional while talking about his family and gave Tampa an on-screen shout-out more than a few times, and his Spanish-inspired shellfish dish landed in the Mystery Box battle's top three. He dubbed the creation — sautéed mussels with chorizo, prawns and garlic — "a tribute to Tampa" and his son Holden.
Jeff is motivated by his wife and newborn. Will it be enough inspiration to win this #MasterChef challenge? pic.twitter.com/8xs173Zb2J
— MasterChef (@MASTERCHEFonFOX) June 29, 2017
Philbin didn't beat out Jason's Mystery Box plate, which meant he had to replicate Ramsay's scrambled eggs in the aforementioned Elimination Test. I was worried for a minute, since Philbin was among the six competitors who had to do an egg redo (it was our guy's last chance to cook his way into the safe zone, after all), but he pulled it off.
Following the episode, Sánchez summed up what audiences saw in a short-but-sweet tweet.
Becoming a great cook comes down to consistency through repetition. That's what tonight's episode was all about. #masterchef
— Aarón Sánchez (@AaronSanchez) June 29, 2017
