TV Series
MasterChef New Zealand
Series 1 - 2010 - 13 x 1 hour
Series 2 - 2011 - 13 x 1 hour
Series 3 - coming soon to TV One
The international phenomenon that is MasterChef, has just completed it's second New Zealand season and applications are now open for Series 3. After the huge success of the first New Zealand series, Series 2 hit our TV screens in February 2011.
MasterChef New Zealand is the search to find our country’s best amateur cook. Over a period of 13 weeks, the contestants compete in a series of intense cooking challenges to find New Zealand's next MasterChef. At stake for the winner is the MasterChef New Zealand title, and over $100,000 worth of prizes, including $20,000 in groceries from Countdown, a Skoda Octavia luxury car, state-of-the-art Izona appliances from Fisher and Paykel, a stunning range of kitchenware courtesy of Stevens and an exclusive cookbook deal with Random House.
Watching the contestants' every move is a formidable judging panel of three of New Zealand’s top chefs. Joining last season’s judges Simon Gault and Ray McVinnie is newcomer Josh Emett. Simon Gault is the executive chef to the Nourish group, comprising of five of the country's top restaurants, including the internationally-renowned Euro. Ray McVinnie is a chef, gastronomy lecturer and award-winning food writer for Cuisine magazine and the Sunday Star-Times. And Josh Emett is a Michelin star-winning chef who has forged an international career helming restaurants for celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in London, New York, Los Angeles and now at Maze restaurant in Melbourne.
The series kicked off with over 1000 amateur cooks applying from right around the country, aged from 18 to 65, from students and builders to doctors and lawyers - all dreaming of making it big in the culinary world. At the MasterChef auditions in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the contestants had an hour to cook their signature dish then present it to the judges. They competed to win a coveted MasterChef apron, their ticket to the next round. But with only 25 aprons up for grabs, the competition was fierce and the pressure intense. At the end of the auditions, one lucky contestant won a Golden Apron, taking him directly into the Top 12.
The remaining 24 contestants then faced two challenges – an egg cook-off and a steak barbecue challenge - to find who made it through to the Top 12. With the Top 12 chosen, they moved into their new home - a luxury cliff top mansion overlooking the Hauraki gulf - and their state-of-the-art MasterChef kitchen.
In the MasterChef kitchen and on location, the contestants embark on a series of grueling challenges to test their versatility, skill, ingenuity and ability to cook under pressure. Week by week, one or more contestants are eliminated until just two remain to battle it out for the second MasterChef New Zealand title. This season the standards are twice as high, the competition twice as hard.