Pready to heat the stove? Off we go the new season of 14 December at 9.15pm on Sky and streaming on Now MasterChef Italy, the TV program dedicated to cooking in which aspiring chefs from all over Italy will challenge themselves to realize their dream: entering the Masterclass and becoming the new Italian MasterChef. The 13th season is about to begin and there are many new features on the way.
MasterChef, who are the judges
Bruno Barbieri, Antonino Cannavacciuolo and Giorgio Locatelli they are the three starred chefs called to evaluate the dishes and judge the chefs’ creations, listen to their stories, follow them challenge after challenge, give them valuable advice and constructive criticism. An exciting journey that will lead to the proclamation of the best amateur chef in Italy. Up for grabs, for the winner, 100 thousand euros in gold tokensthe possibility of publishing your first recipe book thanks to the publishing house Baldini+Castoldi and access to a prestigious advanced training course at ALMA – The International School of Italian Cuisine.
300 episodes of the Italian version
What is about to begin is a special season: the Sky Original cooking show produced by Endemol Shine Italy will celebrate a historic milestone, that of 300 episodes of the Italian version. A milestone that cannot fail to be celebrated. In fact, it will be celebrated in a special episode that will be broadcast at the end of January, in which the Masterclass challenge will run in parallel with the celebration of this extraordinary birthday.
The tender mechanism changes MasterChef
Among the new features arriving there are also changes in the competition mechanism. As per tradition, we will start with i Live Cooking, during which aspiring chefs will be able to introduce themselves and their cooking ideas to the judges. As? With a dish created by them, completed and plated in total autonomy and in a few minutes in front of the three judges, which is the manifesto of their idea of cuisine and above all capable of conquering the palates of the three. In case of unanimity in favor of the dish, the amateur chef will already officially be in the Masterclass.
A new test: the Stress Test
With two yeses, however, he will have to wear a gray apron with which to face the limbo of one Stress Test, a new time trial without the possibility of appeal in which only the best will win the white apron with your name written on it.
The shadow judge arrives
New this year is that in fact the judges will not be alone to make the evaluations during the Live Cooking and the Stress Test. Somewhere in the studio, hidden from the sight of the contestants, there will be a “shadow judge”. It will be a mysterious person who will have the task, at a later stage, of helping Barbieri, Cannavacciuolo and Locatelli in the selection. A person whose identity will remain secret for a while. During the tests, in fact, he will always remain silent but will be able to closely observe, without being seen, the work of the chefs and probe their shortcomings, and his opinion could be very precious for Bruno, Antonino and Giorgio when they are called to give the own indisputable response.
Once all 20 white aprons have been awarded, the three chefs will officially open the Masterclass challenge. At that moment, an exciting journey will begin which will develop according to the classic and well-tested mechanism, in which however this year some innovations will be inserted which will make everything more electrifying.
The various tests
In particular, it will be necessary to pay close attention to the increasingly enigmatic ones Mystery Box which, depending on the ideas of the judges and the mechanisms created by them, could be very precious or very risky, but also turn out to be sensational bluffs. And again: on several occasions, during the season, it will recur Stress Test, the test during which the competitors will have to carefully and precisely control both their plate and the hands of the clock. They will then return Invention Test which will put their imagination to the test by reserving great surprises for them, i Pressure Test which will increase the pressure on the chefs at risk of elimination, and the Skill Tests with which Barbieri, Cannavacciuolo and Locatelli will be able to evaluate the technical skills of the Masterclass.
External tests
And that’s not all. For the 13th season. Outdoor tests also return to test amateur chefs – divided into brigades – on local ingredients and recipes. but also to see them struggling with the line of real restaurants (and in original and particular situations). Among the locations and contexts that, this year, served as the backdrop to the competitors’ preparations: Messina with its squares and its Strait, the fire station of Capannelle, in the province of Rome, for a tribute to Roman cuisine, an exclusive padel tournament full of famous and non-famous athletes, Val di Chiana to discover grilled cuisine but in a gourmet version, the wonderful Turin Cinema Museum right inside the Mole Antonelliana.
The guests
This year too, there will be several guests including star chefs and national and international food expert guests – who will bring their experiences and teachings to their fellow chefs and amateur cooks, before subjecting the latter to the most insidious tests . Joe Bastianich and Igino Massari will return. And then Alex Atala, Chiara Pavan, Riccardo Gaspari, Assaf Granit, Mory Sacko, Andres Caminada.
MasterChef Magazine
The appointment, therefore, is for every Thursday, from 14 December at 9.15pm, always available on demand and visible on Sky Go. From 22 December, then, every day from Monday to Friday at 7.35 pm, the usual appointment with MasterChef Magazinein which chefs and aspiring chefs talk about food and create recipes with a different theme each time. A daily appointment for cooking lovers: in each episode the amateur chefs competing in this edition of MasterChef Italy they will take turns with great guest chefs and Bruno Barbieri, the doyen of the programme’s judges, to talk about their cooking goddess and create their dishes through a series of themed columns.
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