Minutes To Spare? Better Take Care! Timing Is The Issue In Episode Two of MASTERCHEF CANADA: BACK TO WIN

By BILL HARRIS Special to The Lede Having a timeclock cuts both ways. That has never been more apparent than in the second episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA: BACK TO WIN, which is available for catch-up on the all-new CTV.ca and CTV app. Usually the competitors are scrambling as they run out of time. Hardcore fans of MASTERCHEF CANADA are very familiar with that scenario, having seen it on countless occasions throughout the previous six seasons. But on Sunday, in the last of three difficult challenges – all of which honoured the artful cuisine of Japan – it turns out there was a price to pay for having time to spare. SPOILER ALERT: Details about who was eliminated are about to be discussed. This week’s “bottom three” were Andy Hay, a food content creator from Dartmouth, N.S., who finished second in Season 5; April Lee Baker, a private chef and caterer from Calgary, who finished fifth in Season 3; and Barrie McConachie, a private chef and culinary events entrepreneur from Vancouver, who finished third in Season 4. It was April Lee’s second straight week in the at-risk trio, so she’s cutting it close! Faced with a replication challenge, all three cooks had some degree of difficulty in their preparation of okonomiyaki, a savoury Japanese pancake. But Barrie committed the biggest sin: Determined not to run out of time again, and despite warnings from the gallery, he finished early, only to be informed by judge Alvin Leung that “the cook is a little bit under.” It was undercooked enough to get Barrie sent home. With another new episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA: BACK TO WIN on the way on Sunday, March 7, at 9 p.m. ET on CTV, here’s what Barrie had to say about his timing issues, and more: What was the driving force that brought you back to this show? Did you want to prove something to yourself, or prove something to others? BARRIE: “Jennifer (wife) and I had decided that 2020 was a perfect time to relaunch my brand DatePlates, so we worked out a plan for a series of pop-ups in Vancouver and in Okanagan wine country. Right at that time, I got the call from MASTERCHEF CANADA, asking if I would like a second chance. “Hell yeah, I’m interested,” was what I wanted to say, but I played it cool, and told them I would have to think about it. There was nothing to think about. My relaunch plans would pair nicely with this opportunity, so I jumped at it. Unfortunately, our schedule of events had to be set aside, as we were starting to see the effects of the pandemic.” It’s just the luck of the draw, but you admitted on the show that Japanese cooking is not your style. So what went through your mind when you realized this entire episode was going to be Japanese-focused? BARRIE: “Japanese cooking is definitely not my style, but when I saw what the challenges would be, I was pretty comfortable. I am good with fish butchery, as we saw in Season 4, so I thought I could nail that one. But I made one critical error in slicing the sashimi. The sushi roll was not something I had ever done before, but if the burner on the stove hadn’t flamed out, ruining the rice, I might have been OK. That’s when I got into panic mode and couldn’t get it back together in time to plate anything acceptable to anyone. It was bad. With the final cook, the okonomiyaki, I thought I did OK on that. I had never eaten anything like that before, so I wasn’t terribly certain what exactly it should be like – there was some guesswork involved. I thought I would be able to work through it without ending up being the worst.” Looking back, what do you think you could have done differently? Did you perhaps “over-correct” somewhat, in getting your final dish done early, but having it slightly under-cooked? BARRIE: “I wouldn’t do anything differently. Halfway through this challenge I got my focus back and everything was going well. I had never seen, tasted, or eaten a dish like this in my life, but I was 100% comfortable that I had the best replication.” If someone you know wants to try out for MASTERCHEF CANADA in the future, what is the No. 1 piece of advice you would give them? BARRIE: “The most important advice I think anyone could be given is to maintain a laser focus on why they are doing this. What is your food dream? Define it, and stick to it. If you can’t explain it to yourself, then you can’t explain it to anyone else, either, and you will disappoint yourself by not going in a direction you want to go in.” billharristv@gmail.com @billharris_tv