Original subtitles

Previously on "MasterChef"...

Let's go!

...America's best home cooks

threw down in the regional auditions.

Hell yeah, the best cook's from the South!

- I'm here to win. - Y'all here for the West.

- We the best. - And just 20 coveted aprons

were handed out.

- It is an absolute yes from me. - Northeast, baby!

- Welcome to "MasterChef." - Thank you so much!

- For me it's an absolute yes. - Yeah!

- You're exactly what we're looking for. - I cannot believe it.

- Ha ha! - That is one of the best crab cakes I've ever tasted.

- This is for you, Ma! - We did it.

- Yeah! Yeah! - This is as perfect as we've seen

- in 13 years on this show. - He is deserving of an apron.

- Yes! -20 aprons. We did it.

Tonight...

Welcome to the top 20, everyone.

- Yeah! - Buckle up.

...the competition kicks off with a big twist.

You'll cook alongside everyone else from your home region.

All right. Let's do it.

The winner will also save their entire region from elimination.

- Whoo! - Let's go!

- We have the Northeast. - Let's go!

- The South. - I'm gonna make sure they right.

- The Midwest. - I'm gonna win this challenge.

- And the West. - Let's go, West. Wild, wild West.

I want people to be a little bit afraid of me.

- Not a lot, but a little bit.

- Here we go! - How cool does this look?

-Yes! - We got our top 20.

The beginning of a phenomenal season.

Four regions, 20 contestants.

I think is gonna be the most competitive season

- in the history of this competition. - Yeah.

-Let's go.

- Let's go, baby. Let's go! - All right!

- Welcome, guys.

Let's go, state fair, baby!

- Whoo! - This is so cool!

- Oh, my gosh! - Wow!

Oh, it's so beautiful!

It's so incredible to be in the top 20.

I've got my white apron.

I've worked really hard to get here,

and I'm so proud to be representing the West.

Line up. Line up, line up, line up.

Being here could potentially change my life,

and that's what I'm ready for.

This is "MasterChef: United Tastes Of America."

Welcome to the top 20, everyone.

- All right! - Yeah!

- Such a dream. Such a dream. - I know, right?

How does it feel to be representing your regions?

- It's an honor. - Amazing.

- It feels great. - An honor, for sure.

- Amazing. - Well, you all planted

your regional flag across those auditions.

And tonight, as you can see

by this amazing MasterChef carnival...

- Yes! - Whoo!

...the fun really begins now.

- Let's go. - Let's go.

For tonight's challenge, you'll need to cook us something

inspired from a very special event--

the state fair.

- Yes. Yeah, we got this.

When I go to state fairs, especially in Iowa,

I gotta get that bigger than the bun

Iowa pork tenderloin.

Have to get a foot-long corndog.

It's gonna be fried.

And I know it's gonna be delicious and terrible for you.

Now, all of you guys hail from different parts

of this great nation.

But no matter where you're from,

your local state fair is probably home

to some deliciously insane food.

Absolutely.

Now, I think it's important to mention,

this is not an excuse to just deep fry something

and call it a day, right?

Because whoever cooks

the worst dish tonight

will be eliminated.

You will have access to all of the ingredients

in the beautiful MasterChef pantry.

Everything that you will need to cook an elevated version

of classic state fair food.

But, all of you, before you take a trip

on this rollercoaster of a challenge,

it's time to talk about this season's massive twist.

- What?

- Oh. - Huh. Okay.

We wanna learn how the place that you call home

has really influenced your food.

So starting from tonight, you'll cook alongside

everyone else from your home region.

- All right, let's do it. - Yes, dude.

This is the team right here, okay?

- We have the Northeast. - All right, all right.

- Here we go. - Yeah, man.

- The South. - Let's go!

- The Midwest.

- Yeah! - Let's go, baby!

- And the West. - Whoo!

- West side's the best side!

The competition is on.

- Let's go. - Let's go.

- Come on, baby. - Now, each night,

whoever cooks the best dish

will earn the MasterChef immunity pin.

This means you'll be safe from elimination

in the next challenge.

- Wow. - Yes.

But here's the kicker.

The winner of this pin will also save

their entire region from elimination that night.

Whoo! Let's go, guys.

- We're taking it. We're taking it. - Come on, baby.

Mark my words.

This will be the most strategic season of "MasterChef" ever.

Oh, we got this, baby! We got this!

Even if I'm not the one getting the immunity pin,

that's okay because I can still benefit from it.

We just have to have one cook from the South win the challenge

and save the whole region from elimination.

- That's a big deal. - Here's the good news.

Tonight you'll have 60 minutes to cook an elevated dish

inspired by state fair food. Understood?

-Yes, Chef. - Good.

Now it's time find out which region's

gonna start out strong and which region

will say good-bye to their first home cook tonight.

- No, no. No, no. - Right. Everybody ready?

-Yes, Chef. - Good.

- Your time starts now!

- Let's go, guys. - Yeah!

- Whoo! - Oh, I see how it's gonna be. Oh, look at this.

- All right, all right. - Let's go. Let's get it. Let's get it.

- Okay, I got a corn. - Parmesan, parmesan.

- Ooh, okay. - A tomato.

I don't really do carnival stuff.

I mean, I love a hotdog, but I'm not trying to serve Gordon Ramsay a hotdog.

Cayenne, cayenne, cayenne.

But I believe that the South will succeed in this challenge

- because we know how to bring out flavors... - I'm good to go.

...and put things together in a very elevated way.

Sugar. I have my vinegar.

Heck, I just don't wanna be in the bottom.

So I gotta myself and my region on a plate.

- Okay. - Let's go. Come on.

- Damn, time is flying. - Let's go, Northeast.

- You already know. - Rich, what do you say? What do you say, Rich?

I say Northeast is the best, my guy.

- You already know. - Ooh, baby.

- Let's go, Midwest. - Go, Midwest.

- Let's go, guys! - Breathe.

I am making an incredible pumpkin risotto.

Where I'm from in Ohio, we have this fair

called the Circleville Pumpkin Festival.

It's been going on since 1903.

And I'm gonna top it with a butter poached lobster to elevate it.

I love this plot twist this year with the immunity pin

because I plan to win it for my team today.

- Whoo! Hell yeah, Wayne! - Yeah, buddy.

I don't know about that, Wayne.

South is talking trash already. All right.

Come on, West!

All right, let's make the marinade.

Today I'm making my rendition of the slopper.

Basically just a cheeseburger that's covered in green chili,

and this is from Pueblo State Fair.

In Colorado, we love green chili in everything,

so hopefully it turns out as great as I think.

A regional rumble. How exciting is this?

What a way to kick off season 13.

State fair food can be interpreted in so many different ways,

so we're gonna really see who they are as cooks

- in the first challenge. - Come on, man.

This is gotta be the toughest challenge

we've ever kicked a season off with.

- Yeah. - You gotta take that food

and kind of use your chef mind to reinterpret it.

Sure. This is gonna be exciting. Shall we, guys?

- Yeah. Let's do it. - Let's go.

Let's go, West!

When I think of county fairs,

I think of food that I typically would not eat.

It's not really my thing.

So today I'm gonna go a different way

because I'm very into eating healthy and a healthy lifestyle.

- Hi, Amanda. - Hello, Miss Amanda.

- Hi. How are you? -What are you making?

Southern Californians love Mexican food.

So I am making fish tacos.

Aarón: You know, the idea of a taco could be something

very simple, very straightforward.

- That's true. - What is your approach to the elevation factor?

-Yeah, good question. - My approach is I'm gonna do it two ways.

Kind of my interpretation of that red and green sauce,

I'm going to roast the fish and keep it nice and moist.

And I'm going to make my own tortillas.

- Okay. -That's impressive.

Aarón: That's very ambitious, and I like the way that sounds.

It makes me a little nervous.

Are you out of your wheelhouse a little bit, Amanda, with this?

Way out of my wheelhouse. Way out.

So you're going the route of big risk, big reward.

Exactly. Hopefully the risk pays off.

-Good luck. - Aarón: Exactly.

Don't make them too thick, please, Amanda.

I'm going to try this Mexican dish because...

- Ah, shoot. - ...I'm not ready to go back and be a stay-at-home mom.

I love my kids so much, but this is everything I've ever wanted,

and I just got my apron.

I don't wanna give it back.

Come on. Come on.

Richie, right, tell me about the dish.

How does it relate to that state fair?

I live in the area right outside of DC.

- There's a lot of different foods from a lot of places. - Sure.

But what always stuck out to me are the fried cheesecake bites.

So I'm gonna be doing a deconstructed cheesecake

with a candied bacon tuile.

- So definitely elevated, right? - Oh, yeah. For sure.

What would it mean tonight getting out the gate strong

and landing that immunity pin

and taking the whole Northeast up to the balcony?

It would show that the Northeast is here to win,

the Northeast is strong, and we have a lot more flavor than people give us credit for.

I think sometimes the Northeast can get overlooked as a region.

- Sure. - But we're gonna rock it today.

- Good luck. - So the challenge today is to make something as simple

as an elevated state fair dish.

In the beginning, you get an idea,

and you think you know where you're going.

But you're taking fair foods and you're trying

to elevate them to a level that they've never been before.

Once you're in that kitchen and the clock is running,

then you realize it is not as easy as you think it's gonna be.

Aww, son of a (bleep).

Being a music producer,

I have so much to prove as a home cook.

This food dream can't happen without "MasterChef,"

so I gotta make sure I get everything right.

Because if anything goes wrong, that could be your apron.

Guys, 20 minutes gone. 40 minutes remaining.

Aah! How's my team doing? You guys good?

- Yeah, we doing good. - I'm great.

- All right, let me know. -The West,

the Midwest, the South, and the Northeast,

how do you think they'll manage region by region?

You have other four people that are counting on everything that you're doing.

- That's a lot of pressure. - Let's do this, Northeast.

- That's what I like to hear. - Let's go!

Behind every dish you've got that chance

of actually taking you and your region

up to safety of the balcony.

But it's still an individual competition.

You gotta save yourself first.

Whoo! Let's go, West!

Hey, that looking like butter.

I want this aioli to be the bomb.

This cook is gonna show the other regions

why we the Westside and why we the best side.

Whoo! Oh, Kennedy, that looks so good.

Thank you. We barbecuing today.

Kennedy is a very heavy hitter on game meat.

- Yes. - Lizzie is good with seafood.

- Ha! - M. D. is bringing them Hawaiian flavors.

- Let's get it, West. - Amanda is bringing a lot of healthy,

fresh California ingredients.

And me? You know what I'm bringing for you?

Whoo! Fresh mushrooms in here.

I've been to the Mushroom Festival in Portland,

and I'm a mushroom jerky manufacturer,

so I gotta show the judges what I can do.

- James, how are you, my friend? - I'm doing good. How you doing?

- What are you making? - I'm making a mushroom festival burger.

You gonna mix mushrooms into the ground beef?

I got a little bit of this mushroom powder. I just grind it up.

- I'm gonna add that to the beef. - Dried like this,

that's very, very strong umami.

You might wanna just put this in some water,

let it soak, and then it's gonna take a lot of the edge off.

It's a great strategy, it'll elevate, but be careful.

- Got you. Thank you. - Good luck.

How y'all feeling, Northeast?

- Good, good. - Pretty good.

Rhode Island fair food

is all of the clam chowder at every festival.

So today I'm making a New England style clam chowder.

I'm so excited about the twist this season.

Just looking at my group,

there's so many different styles of cooking,

which is a great microcosm of what the Northeast is.

- Nina. How are you feeling? - Hi.

Oh, I'm a little nervous.

I think it'll shake off, and I'll be all right.

Give me an insight into that state fair experience.

- What was it like? - Anywhere you go

to a state fair in the state of Maine,

a fried fish sandwich is gonna be ubiquitous.

We're right on the ocean. We get all the good seafood.

-Sure. - So I'm doing a fried cod sandwich.

I'm gonna do a salt and vinegar potato chip.

Good. How are you gonna cook the cod?

I'm gonna deep fry it, and with some club soda mixture,

it's gets all fluffy and puffy.

What would it mean, immunity tonight?

What would that say about the Northeast?

I think that would set us on the path

of being people to be feared.

I like people to be a little bit afraid of me.

- Not a lot, but a little bit. - Good luck.

- Elevate that plating, yes? - Thank you. Yes.

- How you doing, hon? -We're fine. We're doing just fine.

- Okay, it's perfect. - How we doing? How we doing?

- It's perfect. - You got it, Kolby.

I am making a savory tomato pie.

We have this amazing Pink Tomato Festival in Arkansas.

I'm a mom of six kids,

and so my kids have grown up going to our county fair.

So I'm so excited to see what our Southern region today

is going to pull together for you all.

I gotta start my chicken.

- Reagan. - Hi.

- How are you? - Oh, wonderful. How are you today?

Good indeed, thank you. Right, um, take me back

to the first memory of that state fair.

So, you know, we live in Louisiana.

- So I'm actually doing a take on the Fried Chicken Festival. - Right.

And so I'm doing a panéed chicken

with a crab lemon butter sauce over some mashed potatoes.

You can see the competition is gone up a notch already.

Where do you think the South sit currently?

What we have here is a great group of people that know flavor.

They also know plating. And I'ma bring it all together.

I'm gonna make sure they right.

Watch the cook on that chicken. Good luck, yes?

Thank you so much, Chef.

We still got 33 minutes, South.

- We good. We good. - We're good, we're good.

Come on, let me hear you louder than that.

- How y'all doing, Northeast? - All right, all right!

Let's get it! Yeah!

A lot of the other regions are noisy.

They are showing off, and they're talking a lot.

Let's go, West! Wild, wild West.

But I think the Midwest has an advantage in this challenge.

Hey, Midwest, take a deep breath. We got this.

We know how to cook fair food.

- Hey, man. - We were born for this.

We are the king of state fairs.

We have the pigs and the cows and the milk.

We know how to eat.

I'm so proud to be here representing the Midwest,

and we have a super solid team of chefs

that I think are gonna go really far in this competition.

- Hello, Señor Kyle. - Hey, gentlemen. How are you?

What do we got going on here, buddy?

I am taking you guys to Minnesota.

I am representing Kansas City,

but I work for brewery based in Minneapolis.

I've been to the state fair a bunch.

I think it's really cute that a lot of the competitors

think that their hometowns have the best state fairs.

The state fair in Minnesota is actually the premiere culinary event in the country.

- Said by who? Says who? - Says who? Yeah.

- Says me! I'm gonna prove it. - Okay.

-What's the dish? - My favorite dish up north is walleye fries,

so I'm trying to elevate it.

I'm gonna deep fry some lobster,

and you're gonna get fennel apple celery salad.

- Lobster fries basically? - Yeah.

- In a batter? - We call 'em fries.

It's just strips of stuff that have been deep fried.

Have you ever fried lobster before?

I haven't. We're about to find out, huh?

A lot could go wrong because this lobster can dry out quickly.

- It could get stringy. It could be raw. - Aarón: Yeah.

And if you've never done it before, do you think it's a good idea?

I haven't ever beer battered lobster,

but I've beer battered a lot of fish.

I have some confidence that you're gonna be impressed

with what happens at the end of this cook.

- Aarón: Yeah. -Okay, I hope so.

- Me, too, man. Me, too. - Good luck.

Guys, coming up to halfway!

30 minutes remaining. Let's go!

Wow, this is exciting.

Make mama proud, okay?

I love you very much. Good job.

Ooh, a nice little acidity.

Richie representing the Northeast,

he's done almost like a sort of sweet and savory.

So it's a cheesecake filling with caramelized bacon.

-Ooh, sticky. - There's some great flavor there,

but I'm not too sure at this stage how it's gonna be elevated.

- It sounds a little pedestrian. - It needs to be flushed out with a base.

-Yeah. - Yep. I don't think he has a clear idea.

-No. - It's a little bit mixed-up.

Okay, I'm trying to get this one to puff up.

- Come on. You're doing it. - Amanda being from Los Angeles,

- she's doing a baked fish taco. - Wow.

- And she's making her own tortillas. - And I'm concerned.

It takes years to perfect the art of making tortillas.

- And you're just gonna jump in there? -Come on.

My biggest question is how are you gonna elevate that?

Because it sounds like a sort of taco you can get anywhere.

- It has to be perfect at that point. - Yep.

It is very strong, so I made it almost like a paste. Nice.

With the West, we have James, who's doing a mushroom burger,

so he's get porcini powder in the meat.

- He's the mushroom man. - Perfect.

But porcini powder is very, very strong.

I recommended he dilute it a little bit to take that edge off,

so you can get that umami from the porcini

- without all that funk. - We'll see what happens there.

- Oh, this beer batter's gonna be good. - Oh, yeah.

Hey, they were questioning me. Did you hear that?

- Have they been to Missouri? - "Have they been to Missouri?"

So Kyle from the Midwest, he's gonna make lobster fries.

- Wow. - He's gonna do a beer batter and lobster.

I told him lobster's a big risk.

Comes out raw, stringy, undercooked, overcooked,

I see a lot of risk in that dish.

- Aarón: Yep. - Okay.

Joe's concerned about the texture.

3 1/2 minutes?

I know that there's going to be a very small window

where the beer batter's crispy enough

and the lobster isn't overcooked.

I'm taking a lot of risks here,

but I think you have to in the MasterChef kitchen.

I know I've got the Midwest region relying on me,

and I'm relying on them.

Calm down. Take a deep breath.

All I can do is use my instincts

and cook it the best way I know how.

Um...

45 minutes gone! 15 minutes remaining. Let's go!

- Let's go, baby! - Let's go, Midwest!

- Good? We're good? - Yes.

- All right, you guys! - Come on, South, we got it!

At any state fair in Alabama, you're gonna have barbeque.

So I'm doing a barbeque sandwich

with pork tenderloin over a Johnnycake

with a blackberry barbeque sauce.

So I'm really taking the simple version

of a barbeque sandwich up to another level.

Rocking and a-rolling.

When I go to a state fair, I'm not normally eating. I am competing.

I've done a lot of competition cooking and barbeques.

But I'm used to 24 hours of cooking,

and I gotta condense it down to 60 minutes?

It's a challenge, that's for sure.

I really just wanna make sure

that I have enough elements on this dish

to separate myself from the rest of this competition.

- Right, Kendal, how we doing? - Hello, sir.

- How are you doing? - All good indeed.

- How are you feeling? - I'm pretty confident.

- So back home, we eat chicken on a stick. - Right.

The first barbeque festival I ever went to

that's one of the things that we'd eat.

So how are you gonna elevate that chicken on a stick?

We're gonna do an herby butter chicken on a stick

with a fried potato ball with some bacon wrapped asparagus,

and I think we're gonna take it to the next level.

There's a lot going on there.

The elevation, how are we gonna plate this thing

to sort of restaurant quality?

I've got all different textures, I've got colors,

and I feel like I've got a balanced dish up and down.

- Good luck, yes? - Thank you, sir.

Hey, does anybody in the Midwest have sugar?

- I got you. - Literally just a pinch. Thank you.

Look at that Midwest love.

- Midwest love. - Right.

- You good, Wayne? - I'm good, man.

- Good. -Hey, Wayne.

- Hey, how's it going? - What are you making?

I am making a beautiful roasted pumpkin risotto.

Risotto. Have you ever watched "MasterChef" before?

Maybe once or twice.

It's one of the most difficult dishes

because it's so hard to make and we've very critical.

- Yeah, well, look-- - So why risotto?

- I'm a competitive baseball player. - Mm-hmm.

And I believe if you're gonna step into the box,

- you try to make hard contact. - You're swinging for the fences.

- I'm gonna win this challenge. - Where are you from?

Columbus, Ohio. One the biggest fairs we have is actually

the Circleville Pumpkin Festival.

It's pumpkin everything.

So the risotto is gonna be flavored with pumpkin?

- Pumpkin, yeah. I'm gonna bring it today. - All right.

- I look forward to it, guys. - Good luck, Wayne.

Thank you.

My strategy in this challenge

is to win that immunity pin.

Now we just gotta let the risotto make love to the pan.

In business, I've always taken risks,

and I thrive in high pressure situations.

So I don't wanna lose and embarrass myself or my region.

Whoo-hoo.

Last five, guys. Five minutes to go.

- Let's get it. - Let's do this, guys! Everybody looking good?

- We ready. - Got it.

- How you looking, Rich? - Waiting on this bacon to get crispy, baby.

I'm somewhat concerned about Richie because with only five minutes left,

- that's as far as he's got with that dish. -Come on now.

Time right now is not his friend.

Everybody, taste your food.

Make sure everything's seasoned properly.

Now let's talk about the South.

So Kendal, he's gonna do a herb butter

- roasted chicken skewers. - Aarón: Like chicken on a stick.

- Basically elevated. -Yeah, exactly that.

So it's a smart idea, but there's a lot going on there.

It's chicken on a stick, potato croquettes,

- and bacon wrapped asparagus. - Aarón: He seems like he has

- a lot of elements on his dish. - What's the hero?

- Yeah. - Come on, man.

crunch will not come out of this.

Wayne is from Ohio,

and he went to a pumpkin festival, basically.

So he's taken that, and he's gonna make

an Italian style risotto with pumpkin.

- Wow. - And he's gonna gild it with lobster.

Risotto is a high risk dish.

- It has to be perfect. - Yep.

We're down to the last two minutes!

- Start plating! Let's go! - Start plating, everyone.

- Let's go! - Whoo! Let's go, West!

- Let's go. - Lizzie, let me know if you need anything.

I'm just finishing my plate.

Hey, guys, how you feel? Wayne, you got it.

Let's go, let's go, let's go. It's go-time.

-60 seconds. Let's go! - Aarón: It should look phenomenal, everyone.

Come on, South, y'all got it! Rally, rally, rally!

-Let's go! - Come on, baby. Come on.

- 30 seconds to go. - 30, you heard?

- Aarón: It has to be on the plate, everyone. - Jeez.

- Kolby, let's go, come on! - Come on, Midwest, let's go!

Finesse.

Ten, nine, eight,

- seven, six, five... - All right.

- Let's go, Northeast. - Ay-yi-yi.

- Whew! - ...three, two, one.

- Aarón: Hands in the air. -Well done!

- Hands in the air! - Whoo!

- Man.

- Let's go, West! - South, South, South!

- Northeast, Northeast! - Northeast, baby.

West, West, West, West, West!

- Man, I'm proud of myself. - That was brutal.

I wanted to do chips on it,

but now you're making me second-guess. Ugh.

Isn't quite what I wanted, but--

- No, no. I'm so proud of you. - Okay.

I am nervous right now.

I'm a little concerned that the risotto

- is still a little bit crunchy. - Whew.

I've Joe standing up there.

The standards are super, super high.

If I were eliminated first, it would be soul-crushing.

I'm mortified by that prospect.

- Well, let's hope one of us wins that pin, huh?

- I know. - I hope so.

Right, tonight, we asked you

to make an elevated version of a classic fair food.

Now Joe, Aarón, and myself

need to take one last close look

at all your dishes.

Richie, plating-wise,

happy with the sort of minimalistic part on there?

I wanted it to feel like the fair

where it's shareable foods.

Nina, are you happy with the color on the chips, and they're well-seasoned?

They are well-seasoned. Extra salt for Joe.

The right amount is all I require.

The judges are very intimidating.

So I'm starting to get a little nervous.

Your heart is pounding.

You're sweating.

It's scary.

-You tasted that? - Yes.

- Taste right to you? - It could be better.

- Was the lobster poached beforehand? - It was not.

- So you cooked it from raw? - I did, yeah.

The concern is that the judges might think that your dish,

it's not representative of a state fair...

Reagan, do you feel that you've done justice to your region?

I absolutely do.

...or it's not elevated enough.

James, are you happy with the way

that the mushroom flavor came out?

Uh, this is good.

You have no idea what they're thinking.

Lizzie, so these shrimps, you cooked them in the pan, right?

- Yes, sir. - You're just hoping that they like it.

Do you feel that you've elevated the taco?

I do, and I'm happy with the tortillas.

Mmm.

Some absolutely brilliant dishes out there.

- Aarón: Yeah, yeah. -Yeah.

Really inspired cooking.

Some individuals really understood the challenge,

and others missed by a mile.

Right, well done. We're gonna be tasting the best dish from every region.

The winning home cook

will then win that elusive immunity pin,

which will keep them safe from elimination next week,

and more importantly,

keep their entire region safe from elimination tonight.

But if you're from one of those other three regions,

buckle up, because you may be going home.

Now Joe, Aarón, and myself are gonna highlight the best dish from each region.

The first dish we're really excited to taste more of

is from the Northeast.

They did an incredible elevation of a classic sandwich.

Please step down...

Nina.

- Good job, Nina! - Yeah!

- Good job, girl! -I feel super pumped.

Of course, I haven't seen the other three amazing dishes yet,

but I think I have a really good chance

to win the immunity pin for the Northeast.

Nina, describe the dish, please.

You would be hard-pressed to find a fair anywhere

in the Northeast that did not have a fried fish sandwich.

So I made a bourbon and hot sauce fried fish sandwich

with a garlic lemon aioli,

side of salt and vinegar potato chips,

and a lemon tahini slaw.

Look, it looks spot on.

The balance of everything,

I mean, it's just top notch.

- Thank you. -Shall we, guys?

- Aarón: Yes. -Yeah.

The fish is cooked beautifully.

And even after sitting in between those slices of bun,

it's incredibly crisp.

It is absolutely up there. Great job.

Thank you.

It has super high marks for me.

The star is actually the dressing of the sandwich.

It really doesn't take away from the crispiness

of the actual fish, and that's hard to do.

The fish sandwich has its own level of acidity and creaminess.

It's the kind of dish I would happily pay 24 bucks for,

and that's the biggest compliment I can pay you.

- Very good. - Thank you.

Thank you, guys, so much.

- Well done. - Go, Nina!

- There you go, Nina. - Yeah, Nina.

The second dish that we would like to taste is from the South.

It featured absolute perfect seasoning.

So please come forward, Reagan.

-I think the judges are gonna say

that this dish has plenty of flavor,

the crunch on that chicken is perfect.

I know they're gonna love that.

I would love to get a pin,

and I think this dish can do that.

Reagan, please describe your dish.

We have festivals in New Orleans,

so I chose the Fried Chicken Festival

because it's Black-owned,

and so I wanna make sure I highlight that.

I made a panéed chicken breast with a lemon butter crab sauce

over garlic mashed potatoes and a deconstructed hot sauce.

I appreciate the fact that you were bold and said,

"You know what? I'm gonna do that gilding of the crab meat."

'Cause that's very typical New Orleans.

I'm interested to see how everything mingles.

Chicken is cooked beautifully.

It's moist, it's juicy, it's succulent,

but the real joy here is just the seasoning in that panée.

And the harmony of those flavors is beautiful, so really good job.

- Thank you so much. - The chicken and that sauce and the seasoning and the fry?

- All day long. - Thank you, sir.

Everything about this dish is spot on,

and it's a dish that you wanna eat all of.

- Good job. - Thank you. Thank you so much.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

- Good job, Reagan! - Let's go, Reagan!

Good job, girl!

The next dish we wanna taste is from the Midwest.

It was cooked by a gentleman

who made great use of lobster.

Please come forward, Kyle.

- Let's go, Kyle. - Let's go, Kyle.

It is an amazing feeling.

I'm just taking deep breaths. I'm trying to control myself.

And all I can think about is

I hope they like it as much as I do.

I made beer battered lobster fries

with a fennel slaw

that I made a lemon tarragon beer vinaigrette for.

I have to say, of the dishes tonight from a state fair,

this is the dish that most closely really gets

to a professionally prepared restaurant dish.

Thank you, Joe.

Yeah, it looks beautiful. Shall we?

I'm always nervous when you cook from raw

'cause the lobster tends to become rubbery,

but lobster's delicious.

Batter just crisp and melts in your mouth.

I don't know if you actually understand

how hard it is to accomplish fried lobster,

but you've done it beautifully.

It's "MasterChef," Gordon. I'm here to play.

Here's a subtle thing that you did that I think is really neat.

Tarragon and lobster go beautiful,

so when I got a little bite of that tarragon

and that crispy sort of rich lobster,

it just makes for a beautiful bite.

Awesome. Thank you.

Yeah, you great seasoning everywhere, good acidity,

good creaminess, good contrasts.

It's about as good as it gets.

- Thank you, Joe. - Thanks, Kyle.

- Atta boy, Kyle. - Kyle!

Good job, guys. Good job.

The final dish of course hails from the West.

This dish showed tremendous depth of flavor.

Please step forward...

James.

- Whoo! - James!

I'm feeling excited that I'm in the top four right now,

that I can save my region and get that immunity pin.

But it's nerve-wracking

standing in front of the judges.

Anybody tells you it's a piece of cake, it's not.

Okay, James, what's the dish?

The dish is a mushroom festival burger

and a nice garlic aioli,

some arugula, some wild mushrooms,

and I finished it off with caramelized onions.

It screams, "Dive in and eat me."

- Let's do that. - Shall we?

Joe and Aarón: Ooh.

I don't know what to say. Perfection.

- I have no comment. -Wow.

It's really that good.

For me, I just think the magic in this burger

lies in that everything is in balance.

Mushrooms, especially when you're using powder,

that can totally obliterate the natural essence of the beef,

- and it didn't. - Yes, Chef.

This burger's got attitude. You know?

The blend of the patty with the ratio of fat to beef?

Absolutely spot on. The cook is exceptional, okay?

And trust me, I know a good burger a mile away.

Well done. Step down. Good job.

- Good job, James!

- Good job.

All of you please, give us a moment.

Excuse us.

So, Nina, fish sandwich. How crisp was that batter?

- Very good. - The dressing, it wasn't overpowering.

- It didn't dominate. -No.

The lobster, real restaurant dish.

I was amazed how crispy it was.

Fried chicken, top notch.

Maybe a little bit too homey for me.

-Burger? - Oh, the burger, come on.

-Yeah, exceptional. - This is too much.

- So all in agreement then? - Yeah.

- Shall we? - All right, guys, good luck.

Good luck, guys.

Nina, Reagan,

Kyle, James, well done.

But tonight's best dish was cooked by...

Nina, Reagan, Kyle, James,

tonight's best dish was cooked by

and the immunity pin goes to...

- Kyle.

- Yeah! - Kyle!

- Yeah, Midwest! - Midwest!

Everybody else, please return to your stations.

- Kyle, exceptional. - Good job, guys.

- Come up here and get your immunity pin. - Wow.

First pin of the season. Really well done.

- Thank you. - Which means tonight

you and the whole of the Midwest

- are safe from elimination. - Awesome.

All of you, make your way up to the balcony with your team.

Look at that! I came here to win.

I came here to prove that I'm a great chef.

I think the other people on the Midwest team are pretty happy I got this.

I love the fact that I was able to give them immunity tonight.

Wayne, FYI,

that risotto was not on point tonight.

It was wrong on every aspect,

and you certainly would've been in the bottom.

So you can thank your teammate Kyle for your spot on the balcony.

- You got skills. You're all right. - Won't happen again.

- You're all right. - There was a chance that

I could've been going home if Kyle hadn't saved me,

and so I'm realizing that this immunity pin

is gonna make all the difference this season.

Now there is one dish from each region

that really missed the bar tonight.

First dish from Northeast,

this dish started out as a good idea,

but the final execution was just off balance.

Please come forward...

Richie.

I know the plating might not be the best,

but I know those flavors are there.

That cheesecake cream is delicious.

The candied bacon is amazing,

and I'm hoping that those flavors are what save me today.

So, Richie, describe the dish, please.

I made a deconstructed cheesecake

with mascarpone crema, a graham cracker crust

with a berry compote, and a candied bacon tuile.

This is disappointing. This is "MasterChef."

And I'm looking at this and I just can't see state fair realized.

I just see garnishes. You understand what I'm saying?

- Fair. -Shall we?

The bacon's delicious.

I love that with that cheesecake texture.

- That is absolutely spot on. - Thank you.

But I suppose what I wanna see is it elevated into a dish.

Had you put a little poundcake or something in the middle

with all of this exterior goodness,

we wouldn't be even talking right now.

And at this stage in the competition,

you cannot play it safe.

I think with this dish, you're not even playing the game.

You didn't listen to what we asked for today.

This dish would make an excellent ice cream topping.

It's not a dish.

- Thanks, Richie. - Thank you.

Step back, please. Thank you.

Okay, the second dish we need to taste

is from the South.

It's from a cook who concerned us

with both their seasoning and their plating.

Kendal.

I feel like I just got my apron.

There's no way I wanna be the first one eliminated.

I'm just hoping that I can survive another week

and prove myself.

All right, tell us what this dish is.

In our local county fair,

we walk around eating chicken on a stick.

So I made herb roasted chicken kabob

with a potato croquette and a bacon wrapped asparagus.

Is the proportion of each item intentional

or is it just kinda random?

Just kinda random.

I really and truly kinda threw it together at the end.

- You can definitely see that. - Yes, sir.

Shall we?

The cook on the chicken is delicious.

But, you know, when you get a chance to make a croquette,

put some bacon and cheese in the center so it's an exceptional croquette.

Yes, sir.

I think those croquettes are crispy on the outside,

but zero seasoning, which is very un-Southernly of you.

- Uh, yes, sir. - Yeah? I like the seasoning on the kabobs.

That was the seasoning that you should've applied to the actual croquettes.

But just clunky all the way around.

I think you lost your vision for what it might've been.

It's not terrible.

I would eat it, but it's lacking in opinion.

- Thank you. - Thank you.

All right, so the final dish that we would like to taste is from the West.

It comes from a young lady

who unfortunately did not elevate

beyond the expectations.

Please come forward, Amanda.

I'm not surprised that I'm in the bottom.

I went way out of my comfort zone.

I cooked something I've never cooked before.

Oh, no. She's serving a taco to Aarón.

In my heart, I knew should've just stuck with what I know.

Amanda, can you please give us a description of your dish?

I made roasted cod fish tacos

with homemade tortillas.

One is a very fresh green sauce,

and one is a very spicy red sauce.

I made them because in California

you can't go to a fair without seeing tacos everywhere.

I appreciate the fact that you went for the homemade tortilla and the two different sauces,

but I can nip outside and 300 meters down the road

I can buy one at $3 that will look better than those.

Wow.

They just look sad.

- Amanda, they just look sad. - Wow.

Shall we?

Amanda, just sticking the fish in the oven and baking it

is not the smartest way of cooking fish.

So, sadly, my tortilla was very thick, very dry.

It needs at least some color on there.

It's just sort of floury and doughy.

There's no acidity, there's no slaw, there's no heat.

- Knowing what you stood for-- - I should have just done my--

I'll just quickly finish my sentence, please.

I'm thinking back to the audition and the wow factor.

I think you've gone down a notch.

Aarón: It's just a matter of mis-execution.

I think tacos can be elevated. Sadly, this is not it.

And there's just pico de gallo, which is very rudimentary.

There's crema. The seasoning on the fish is really well done actually.

But just hitting the mark on multiple levels.

It's not a terrible dish. If I came to your house, you gave me that,

and you said you cooked tacos for the first time,

I'd say they were good 'cause I'm polite.

This might be "Amanda does tacos for the first time,"

- and that's great, but that's not what we want. - Mm-hmm.

- I'm sorry to say that's just the truth. - Thank you, Amanda.

Thank you.

Richie, Kendal, Amanda,

we need a very serious moment, please.

Excuse us.

Talking about Kendal, I mean, look, chicken on a stick

- is something iconic in the South. -Not like that.

The chicken should've been the center of the dish.

- Amanda's tacos were tough. - You would never bake a taco. Never.

- No. There you go. - A lot of mistakes there.

Richie's, was that a completed dish

- or was it a-- - No, it was just an idea.

- So we all in agreement? - Yes.

Richie, Kendal, and Amanda,

all of three you really disappointed us tonight,

and more importantly, you let yourself down and your region.

We've come to a decision.

This is never easy.

The home cook that will be leaving

"MasterChef" tonight is...

Amanda.

Oh, my God.

Richie, Kendal, say good-bye to Amanda

and head back to your stations, please.

Thank you.

Amanda, tonight's objective was to innovate and elevate,

and unfortunately that dish really did miss the mark.

Please say good-bye to your region's teammates

and drop your apron on your stove, please.

Thank you, Amanda.

- We love you, Amanda! -I'm very sad to be the first one eliminated.

I really saw myself going a lot farther than this.

Even though my journey ended early,

I still know I can cook.

I still know that I have

a lot to prove the world.

- Thank you, Amanda, - Bye, guys.

And I'm going to do that.

Next time on "MasterChef,"

the first mystery box of the season

- is as American as... - Apples!

And the tactics begin.

Kyle, you get to pick what kind of dish each region cooks.

I'm excited to make them a little less comfortable.

- Let's go!

As the cooks battle for their home region...

- You good? - Definitely not in my wheelhouse.

- Oh, great. - Not gonna let you down again.

Did you put salt instead of sugar on them?

The only thing worse than the dish is lying to us.

I hate being lied to.