Gain was Worth the Pain for Rozin on MASTERCHEF CANADA

By BILL HARRIS

Special to The Lede

If you believe the old expression that “parting is such sweet sorrow,” then it probably doesn’t get any easier if you have to do it twice.

After having been eliminated, home cook Rozin Abbas, a digital marketer from Toronto, was given a rare second chance on MASTERCHEF CANADA. But in a new episode that aired Monday on CTV, Rozin’s return came to an abrupt end, when he again had difficulty in a tricky replication challenge put forth by judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile.

We spoke with Rozin about his back-and-forth journey on MASTERCHEF CANADA:

Q: If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like “goodbyes” then this was particularly harsh, having to say goodbye twice. All things considered, was it worth it for you to come back, or might it have been easier in some ways to be eliminated only once?

Rozin: “I think the hardest part would be dreaming about a second chance, so when I actually got one, it was definitely worth it. The ‘Restaurant Takeover’ was one of my MASTERCHEF CANADA milestones, and I feel really honoured to cook at Leña, and make it to the ‘top six’ alongside some of Canada’s best home cooks.”

Q: Once your blood sausage exploded in the pressure test, you did your best to keep going and focus on the other elements. But deep in your heart, as soon as that happened, did you know you were probably doomed?

Rozin: “Deep down, I was really hoping someone else’s blood sausage also exploded, ha ha. After the sausage went down, I knew that would weigh against me a lot more than if it happened to anyone else, because I had struggled during every replication challenge. In the end, I struggled with almost all my components.”

Q: If a good friend of yours were considering applying for MASTERCHEF CANADA in the future, what is the No. 1 piece of advice you would give them?

Rozin: “Fundamentals are everything. From knife skills, to the humble egg, to the basics of baking, you have to know how to do it all, or you’ll lose a replication challenge … or two.”

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