The Final Three Home Cooks are Revealed on CTV’s MASTERCHEF CANADA

A salt water Pressure Test featuring fresh sea scallops on tonight’s MASTERCHEF CANADA led judges Michael Bonacini, Alvin Leung, and Claudio Aprile to send Veronica Cham, a lawyer from Toronto, home from the competition. MASTERCHEF CANADA returns next Sunday, June 12 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and the CTV GO app as the Top 3 cook for 13 of Canada’s most influential chefs. On tonight’s episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA, the Top 4 home cooks got a taste of home when they were surprised in the kitchen by their families, who also joined them for a trip to Toronto’s St. Lawrence Market. With the help of their family members, the home cooks each decided on an entrée they felt showcased their culture and background, and selected the necessary ingredients at the market. With their family members cheering them on, the home cooks had 60 minutes to create a dish the judges and their families would be proud of. With each home cook presenting their dish to the judges, Matthew Astorga was up first with his quail adobo with puffed wild rice and quail egg. This marked the first time Matthew prepared a Filipino dish on MASTERCHEF CANADA, and he drew inspiration from meals his mom has prepared for him. Mary Berg presented her plate next, pan-seared quail and cornmeal sweet potato waffle, which was inspired by her family vacations to South Carolina. Next, Veronica brought up her braised brisket with hand-pulled noodles and pickled cucumber. Knowing her dad wouldn’t want her to lie to the judges, Veronica let them know that her brisket might be underdone. Lastly, Jeremy Senaris served up his kare-kare, oxtail stew with peanut butter and rice cake, which is a favourite of his two nieces. In the end, the judges crowned Mary the winner of the challenge – automatically advancing her to the Top 3. With Mary safe from elimination, the remaining three home cooks faced a difficult Pressure Test involving fresh scallops. With only 60 minutes, they were challenged to replicate three mouth-watering dishes: scallop crudo, thinly sliced raw scallops in a citrus dressing; pan-seared scallops with a pea and mint puree and passionfruit coulis; and coquilles St-Jacques. The home cooks were given the exact number of scallops they needed to replicate each dish, and were further challenged by having to open each sea scallop from its shell. With their 60 minutes up, the home cooks presented their dishes to the judges and in the end, Jeremy was revealed as the winner of the Pressure Test moving him into the Top 3. With Matthew and Veronica left standing, the judges made the difficult decision to send Veronica home from MASTERCHEF CANADA. On an all-new episode of MASTERCHEF CANADA (Sunday, June 12 at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV and the CTV GO app), the season’s penultimate episode finds the home cooks battling it out for a place in the finale by creating beautifully-composed plates for 13 of Canada’s most influential chefs. Their pantry consists of the same 13 ingredients – one from each province and territory – that they received in their first Mystery Box Challenge at the start of the season. The winner advances immediately to the finale, while the two remaining home cooks go head-to-head in a difficult dessert challenge. The remaining Top 3 home cooks vying for the title of MASTERCHEF CANADA and the $100,000 cash prize are:

• Jeremy Senaris, a Building Plan Examiner from Winnipeg, Man.
• Mary Berg, an Insurance Broker from Toronto, Ont.
• Matthew Astorga, Digital Design Consultant from Pitt Meadows, B.C.

For more on MASTERCHEF CANADA, fans can visit CTV.ca/MasterChefCanada for exclusive content, including must-see videos with the home cooks and the judges, bios, full episodes, sneak peeks, and extras. New episodes of MASTERCHEF CANADA are available following their broadcast premiere on demand at CTV.ca and on the CTV GO app, and encore Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on M3, Saturdays at 7 p.m. ET/PT on CTV Two, and Sundays at 5 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. Viewers can watch Veronica Cham live on CTV MORNING LIVE ATLANTIC (Weekdays 7:00 a.m. AT), CP24 BREAKFAST (Weekdays 5:30 a.m. ET), CTV News Channel (8:45 a.m. ET/PT), and THE SOCIAL (Weekdays at 1 p.m. ET/PT) on Monday, June 6 as she discusses her experience on MASTERCHEF CANADA. The MASTERCHEF format and finished programmes are represented internationally by Endemol Shine Group, and is based on a format originally created by Franc Roddam. MASTERCHEF CANADA is produced by Proper Television in association with CTV. President of Proper Television, Guy O’Sullivan is executive producer, along with Proper’s Vice-President and Creative Director, Cathie James. For Bell Media, Tina Apostolopoulos is Production Executive, Factual and Reality, Independent Production; Robin Johnston is Director, Factual and Reality, Independent Production; Corrie Coe is Senior Vice-President, Independent Production; Mike Cosentino is Senior Vice-President, Programming, CTV Networks and CraveTV; Randy Lennox is President, Entertainment Production and Broadcasting.