MasterChef Canada at CFB Trenton

The MasterChef Canada competitors cooked a steak dinner for 151 Canadian military troops

1 of 2Danielle Cardozo visited with her friend, Mark, during the airing of episode eight of MasterChef Canada. — Marie Milner photo

2 of 2This is Danielle Cardozo's salmon wellington, which was served at The Heid Out Restaurant and Brewhouse on Monday, March 10, 2014. — Marie Milner photo

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For episode eight, MasterChef Canada approached 8 Wing Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton, and had no trouble getting 151 troops to volunteer as food tasters and judges for the home cooks’ next team challenge. The episode was filmed at the National Air Force Museum of Canada (NAFMC) in Trenton, Ontario.

“The people from Proper Television were wonderful to work with and the contestants seemed to really enjoy their time at the museum,” said Barb Neri, public relations for NAFMC. “They seemed to be genuinely happy and proud to have the opportunity to serve our troops.”

Unexpectedly cold, wet weather created issues with equipment and difficulties for the production staff.

“It took two days to get everything ready for filming, and on the first day we had an all-day power outage,” Neri said. “We worked in the dark for hours, and in the end we went way beyond Plan B—we were at about Plan Y! The experience was a lot of work, but a lot of fun, too.”

Team challenge

“Cooking for our troops was simply an honor,” said Danielle Cardozo. “It was amazing to have the opportunity to thank those men and women for all they do for our country. And I’m not sure if they pre-screened these people or if it was the uniforms, but we have some pretty good looking troops in Canada!”

The home cooks were challenged with cooking steak dinners for 151 military personnel, and they had to do it outdoors, using genuine military field kitchens.

It was apparent that Kaila Klassen was out of her depth as the leader of the red team, and Cardozo’s feelings about the decisions that were made during the team challenge were clear. To her credit, she didn’t bicker and whine—she simply did her job. In the end, though, the red team came in a dismal second in the competition, and faced a pressure test the next day.

Pressure test

After some drama in determining which one member of the red team would be exempt from the pressure test, four red team members were assigned to cook a salmon wellington—a salmon fillet topped with a layer of leeks and swiss chard, all encased in a light puff pastry and baked—and a light dill sauce.

Four minutes into the pressure test, Cardozo sliced the tip of her left thumb and had to leave the kitchen to get stitches, losing 12 minutes of cooking time. Incredibly, though, when she returned she was able to catch up to the rest and produce a salmon wellington that was judged best in the class.

The Heid Out Restaurant & Brewhouse in Cranbrook, where Cardozo works part time, was full on Monday evening during the 6:00 p.m. airing of MasterChef Canada. Patrons—many of whom were enjoying the salmon wellington while they watched this episode—gave enthusiastic applause to the judges’ decision.

“If anything,” Cardozo said, “cutting myself gave me that much more drive to get it done and do it well. For anyone who saw the results, you know I was happy! As for Kaila's comment that it was fluke that my wellington made top dish that day alongside Julie's, I think anyone watching knows it was hard work and determination.”

We're pretty sure there was some skill involved, too.

Klassen and competitor Dale Kuda produced unsatisfactory dishes, and Kuda was eliminated from the competition.