MasterChef Canada’s Cranbrook connection

When CTV's MasterChef announced that it was coming to Canada, young Rian Cardozo insisted that her mom should be on it

1 of 2Danielle Cardozo of Cranbrook is a contender in the first-ever MasterChef Canada competition. — Marie Milner photo

2 of 2Danielle Cardozo of Cranbrook is a contender in the first-ever MasterChef Canada competition. — Marie Milner photo

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On January 20, 2014, the first-ever episode of MasterChef Canada will air on CTV. Danielle Cardozo of Cranbrook, B.C., is beyond thrilled to have earned a spot in the 50-contestant line up for this amateur home cook competition, vying for a prize of $100,000 and the honour of being the first MasterChef Canada.

“My daughter, Rian, and I were watching MasterChef when Joe Bastianich announced the first MasterChef Canada competition,” Cardozo said. “Rian immediately told me I had to be on it.“

Nothing stands in her way

Along with about 3,000 other hopefuls, Cardozo sent in her application, and waited. MasterChef Canada called her early one Sunday evening, and during the 90-minute screening call, Cardozo coached eight-year-old Rian through making dinner for her two brothers, Cash (5) and Cruz (2).

The interview went well, and Cardozo was selected for a preliminary audition in Calgary—one of six cities where these auditions were taking place. As it happened, Cardozo opted to cancel her scheduled vacation in Mexico rather than miss the audition. The competing cooks had to take with them a pre-cooked, ready-to-assemble meal to present to the judges; Cardozo made a sophisticated version of elk carnitas—a nod to both her Kootenay lifestyle and her abandoned Mexican vacation.

“I got pretty high marks,” Cardozo said, “and moved on to an on-camera interview. I felt pretty good about that, but waited almost a month to find out if I was going to advance. They called me about two weeks before the show started production, and said they wanted to fly me to Toronto. The date they gave me conflicted with my plans to be a bridesmaid and MC at my best friend’s wedding.”

Cardozo scrambled to make arrangements for her children to stay with their father and his wife, to bow out of her friend’s wedding party and to arrange for an indefinite leave from her job with the Ktunaxa Nation Council.

“They have maternity leave and compassionate leave, but I wasn’t sure they would approve a reality-TV-competition leave,” Cardozo said, laughing.

Her supervisor, incidentally, is a great fan of MasterChef, and was very supportive. After a hectic two weeks of wrapping up projects and a painful leave-taking from her children, Cardozo headed for Toronto.

Going to the show

At the Toronto auditions, each of the 50 competitors had one hour to cook their signature dish and present it to a panel of chefs: Claudio Aprile of Toronto’s Origin restaurants; Michael Bonacini of Oliver & Bonacini restaurants, also in Toronto; and Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation in Hong Kong. Cardozo admits to being quite intimidated.

“My signature dish is a miso-glazed trout with ponzu mushrooms, served in a miso-citrus broth,” she said. “I chose trout because you can’t get any more Kootenay than trout, and my goal was to showcase our local area as much as possible. I figured that even if I didn’t get any farther, I wanted Cranbrook to profit from this exposure—it’s more than an experience for just me.”

In order to be awarded a white apron and move on in the competition, the competitors had to get at least two judges to approve of their signature dish.

To be continued

“You must watch the first episode on January 20 to see if I got the white apron,” Cardozo said. “I’m working part time at The Heid Out here in Cranbrook, and we plan to present a weekly special and encourage people to come there to watch the show on Monday nights.”

Cardozo is grateful for this opportunity and for the support she has received.

“I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming support they have shown me,” she said. “My mother, Darlene Cardozo, has been my greatest supporter and fan. She taught me not to limit my dreams, no matter how far-fetched they might seem. She and my children are my inspiration and the reason I dream such big dreams.”