Vernon MasterChef Canada contestant Jennifer Innis hopes she never has to inhale the smell of live conch ever again.
Despite a close call in Sunday’s episode of MasterChef Canada, Innis is still in the game.
The dental hygienist and mother of three girls is now in the top seven of the televised cooking competition after she and fellow competitor, Tammy Wood of Agassiz, found themselves in the bottom two after being tasked to prepare a dish from live conch and sea snails.
In an unusual circumstance, Innis says she was left speechless when the judges made the announcement that Wood would be the one leaving the show.
“I didn’t think I had a chance. She’s a strong competitor. I was more than ready to go home for Tammy. I hadn’t had a chance to prove myself yet,” said the normally chatty Innis about the episode, which was actually taped last summer in Toronto.
“It was a hard episode to watch. Coming so close to being sent home was intense and it was hard to relive that experience… I felt bad for Tammy. We became close on the show. She always gave me a hug after a challenge.”
The episode began more favourably during the mystery box challenge, when the contestants were surprised by Graham Elliott, a Michelin star chef and judge on MasterChef U.S., who selected the ingredients (quail, sardines and baby vegetables) they would cook with.
“Graham Elliott was even better in real life than what you see on TV,” said Innis. “As you would expect, he was charming and a gentleman. He came and spoke to me at my station and spent time educating the contestants on what ingredients can do. There was no condescension, just confidence building.”
Innis was also impressed with what her fellow chefs created.
“David (Jorge) was phenomenal and seeing Christopher (Siu) shine was great,” said Innis, who has also been impressed with former B.C. Lion football player Jon Hameister-Ries.
“He did not have a dainty dish, but you would not expect anything more.”
Jorge ended up winning the mystery box challenge with his quail dish, and was granted immunity from the elimination challenge. Given the power to choose the live underwater creatures his fellow home cooks had to prepare – clams, crab, or a combination of conches and sea snails – he chose the latter.
However, after selecting all their ingredients, the chefs were then told they had to change stations with the contestant beside them and use their ingredients to cook with.
“I was excited about the dish I was going to make,” said Innis, who was moved to her nemesis, Sabrina Poirier’s station. “I had no idea what half the things were in her ingredients.”
In the end, Innis’ cioppini (fish stew) failed to impress the judges, who said it did not feature the seafood prominently enough and had too much tomato. However, Wood was sent home after making a conch ceviche that was deemed too dry and lacking balance by the judges. (Siu ended up winning with his paella.)
“The challenges keep you on your toes. You never know how it could come out. You taste things you wouldn’t normally taste, like tasting things raw like I did with a sea snail by mistake,” laughed Innis.
Innis says the stress factor is only going to rise in the upcoming episode when three eliminated home cooks – Andrew Al-Khouri of Halifax, Cody Karey of Vancouver and Kevin Gregory of Fredericton – return for a single chance to cook their way back into the MasterChef Canada kitchen.
“I like every one of those guys. I liked competing with them, but I was glad when they were sent home,” said Innis.
The episode airs Sunday at 7 p.m. on CTV.
