The seventh edition of MasterChef Junior has been the edition of children, but of real children, of those who are not adults dressed as children, nor those who are wise and repellent, nor those who do not know what companionship is, nor those who only think of winning, winning and winning again. Last night was the final of MasterChef Junor 7, last night Lu won, but the six weeks of the program have won many things and others have been lost, which have nothing to do with the essence of the program.
MasterChef Junior 7 has been the best edition of children's culinary talent in its history, I would even say that almost the best of all editions of culinary talent. It could not be otherwise that it had the best and most even end of the seven editions and, of course, the best winner for an edition that has surprisingly been mistreated and defenestrated by RTVE.
MasterChef June 7 began at Christmas. Like the Christmas tree, the nativity scene, the nougat or the polvorones, MasterChef June is already part of the tradition of these dates. It started just when all the children were given vacations in order to engage their most faithful audience, the children. Taking into account that even though it is a children's edition, the duration is the same as the Celebrity or the anonymous, which is programmed at Christmas, with holidays, is a detail. Only those of us who are parents know what it is to fight with our children to stay to see MasterChef Junior until the many.
The first program was broadcast on December 23 and achieved a more than reasonable 13.2% audience; The next program arrived on the same Christmas day and up to 14.5% share. Then the silence. Nothing was known about MasterChef Junior for more than a week. Cri cri cri! With hardly any publicity, many viewers wondered 'what happened to MasterChef?' And suddenly, on January 3, he returned to the screen, but the damage was already done. The week off the program and the appearance of new programs in the other networks relegated culinary talent to the final positions of the table. And I only have one question: what was RTVE thinking?
It is incredible that a program that does not cost two pesetas to the public chain and that has given him so many joys is so beaten by its own chain. MasterChef Junior 7 was going to be a Christmas program and see what day it ends on January 24. If they put on it it would be over for Easter. Not only that is that MasterChef Junior is recorded thinking that it will be broadcast on Christmas holidays and some more week. That is, prepare a script with their Magi, their Christmas Eve, their Christmas motifs and surprise! The Magi arrived at MasterChef Junior 7 when the real ones should already be in the East enjoying a well-deserved rest. All this he does is denigrate the talent, leave him touched and sunk, and with so much choice to choose from, taking the flight again is practically impossible.
A pity and a loss of opportunity to have hooked the public, especially children, with an edition that has been wonderful. Many times I have complained about the children participating in MasterChef Junior are children who stopped being children before enjoying being children, but in this edition everything has been different. Each and every child who has participated has shown that you can be a child, that you can compete, that you can fight for a dream and that you can continue to enjoy and do it without stepping on anyone, without taking anyone away, without denigrating to nobody. Each and every one of them has shown not only that they overflowed with talent, much more than in previous editions, but that they have been partners, that they have had fun, that they have enjoyed and that above all they have been children.
Do you know what it is like to be able to watch a television show with your children and enjoy it to the fullest, and to be able to teach you that things can be done like this, and see them cry, and see them laugh ...? Well, this edition of MasterChef Junior has given all that and more. If MasterChef Junior was characterized by something, it was because of the tears, the cries and the tears, in this edition, I think that he has cried twice and if he has cried any more it has been because the children have been moved by the expulsions of their peers . Last night, in its end, it became magic again.
Four were the finalists: Lu, Maria, Leo and Albert. Four fair finalists each with their plus and minus, but more than fair. He was sung that Lu and Maria would arrive at the final duel. Without a doubt they have been the two aspirants of this edition not only that they have evolved more, but the most prepared, the most laborious, the most organized and ... and good companions, above all, good companions.
You only had to see Lu, the winner of MasterChef Junior, in the first test of the night. The four applicants had to reproduce a Pepe Rodríguez dish following the instructions of the chef of El Bohío. Both Maria and Lu were following the instructions perfectly. However, Albert and Leo started badly and although one ended up better than another if it did not become by the hands that Lu gave them, their test would have been a real disaster.
Albert, the star of this edition, began completely lost. They hadn't even washed the spinach when they didn't know where to throw it anymore. For the first time in the entire edition, Albert lost his nerve and lost his smile. He got angry, despaired and even burned overflowing with his disorganization and slowness. But there were Lu and Maria who, as soon as they saw the suffering of their partner, did not hesitate to leave what they were doing, even if it meant losing themselves in the steps, to go to help him. Yes, everyone wanted the first jacket that gave you the pass to the final duel, but before winning was helping a partner.
I know that many thought that Albert did not have to be in this final since he was one of the contestants with the lowest culinary level, but that Albert reached the final is the clear example that in this edition not only talent has been measured , the person has been measured. Albert has been the great revelation of MasterChef Junior 7. He has given fantastic and incredible moments, always with his smile, always with his desire, always with his humor ... If I am going to miss something that MasterChef Junior is over is to Albert. If you saw him and you were happy for the day.
In none of the programs has he lost his temper, nor has he been pissed off, nor has he become deranged - except last night - and, above all, he has shown that a great heart is worth more than a great talent. It was encouraging Pepe Rodríguez and Albert came out of the well and with all the tranquility of the world he versioned in his own way, in his free style ', Pepe Rodríguez's dish. It did not look like a damn to the original, but it was rich and, above all, he knew how to get out of the quagmire and did not give up. That the spherifications did not come out, because nothing happens, they are not done, I go to the next step and that is what God wants. If in the end as much as Albert wanted the jacket what he wanted was to enjoy, and enjoyed it to the fullest, being himself, being a child.
Something similar happened to Leo. He lost himself in one of the steps and no longer knew how to continue, but he also continued, he also gained strength and also had great companions on his right hand. His plate left much to be desired, but he was fully aware of it, accepted the jury's criticism and went to the next step. And what can be said about Maria and Lu? The two worked like two machines, like two Michelin star chefs. They took out the dishes and only a small mistake of Maria in the elaboration of the branded, she decided the balance towards Lu, who replied almost perfectly the set of Pepe Rodríguez. I have to say it because if I don't say it busting: Lu is wonderful.
It is not only that he has a talent, it is that he does not believe it, it is that he gives off an incredible humility, it is that even being the best valued by the judges in almost all the tests of the edition he believed it. He always gave 200% and at no time was believed to be above anyone. Even when he already had the duelist jacket on, he did not hesitate to confess that he preferred to face Leo in the final than his great friend Maria, because Maria was too good and she, being one of the best, was not able to overcome her. No wonder it was the tightest final in the history of culinary talent.
The outdoor test, where the jacket would be delivered to the second duelist of the final, was once again a demonstration that things can be done well and can be enjoyed and put the pressure on you. The two Michelin star chef, Diego Guerrero, opened the doors of his DSTAgE to host the final outdoor test of this final. María, Leo and Lu had to prepare two dishes each for very special diners, the families of Samantha Vallejo Nájera, Jordi Cruz and Pepe Rodríguez. Historical too. Dishes that as they were raised by the judges made your legs shake. As incredible as it may seem, the three applicants worked as honors. Not only did they not get nervous or half a second, but they helped each other and even made a fried egg because they were hungry and had plenty of time. Great, Maria, very big!
And there were their failures, of course! Maria forgot to remove the eel spine, Leo was going too slow, and Alberto, alas, Albert! Albert to his own, but gradually taking out all the elaborations and, of course, going blind to eat. He became so blind that in the dessert he was in charge he left the diners almost without strawberries because he ate them all. You see it? Children. While I was watching, I thought, my daughter, who dreams of going to MasterChef Junior, would have fit perfectly in this edition. I saw Maria eat the egg or Albert eat the strawberries, the barnacles and the meringue and I saw my daughter 'stealing' ingredients every time she cooks. You see it? Children.
All the dishes came out and all the dishes made some diners enjoy, how could it be otherwise, they gave themselves to the cause. How not to surrender with these chefs! Jordi Cruz's girlfriend went into kitchens to surprise the Catalan chef and there was Albert declaring him eternal love; Pepe Rodríguez's wife, Mariví entered, and there was Albert surrendering at his feet. The children of Samantha Vallejo Nájera entered, and there was Albert making pineapple with Roscón. Thus, who cannot surrender to them.
The three worked as a spectacle, but it is true that of the three Maria was the one who embroidered him. Surprisingly, Albert took the test and with a note and Leo stayed at the doors, but the slowness in his cooking left him without a jacket. The final duel arrived, the duel we knew could not be another, María and Lu, "a duel of titans", in the words of Jordi Cruz, "the best finalists" MasterChef Junior has had.
The two prepared two menus that could be menus of any Michelin star restaurant. They worked concentrated, nervous - could not be less - and excited. For Lu, the winner, MasterChef Junior at 11 was her dream, for María, idem. Maria had been five years since the age of 7, asking her parents to take her to MasterChef and MasterChef arrived, and was a duelist, and surpassed herself.
The judges and chef Martín Berasategui, our "club", had it more than difficult because the two menus were spectacular. Maria dedicated her cooking to all the people she wants, the first one to her, and it seemed like a wonderful lesson. Hopefully, every day we all look in the mirror and say 'I love you'; Hopefully, all the children will tell themselves; hopefully...
Maria cooked a menu consisting of carabineros gazpacho, a bull's tail and frozen strawberries, while Lu decided to cook a carabineros cream, low-temperature cod with black garlic aioli and a vanilla cream with licorice cake and vanilla ice cream that It was what decanted the final duel. Both were spectacular and as the judges told them both demonstrated their evolution and their desire to work with an incredible maturity for their 11 and 12, respectively. But there was only one left and that was Lu.
I insist, either could have been just winner, but Lu took it, fulfilled his dream, and he did it being a girl, in each test, in each program, in each dish. She never saw her angry, never lost her smile, but above all she never stopped being a child. Hopefully your Peter Pan always follow in each of us.
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