MasterChef (Spanish TV series)

MasterChef
Genre	Cooking show
Directed by	Eva Sanz Jordi Rossell
Presented by	Eva González
Judges	Jordi Cruz Samantha Vallejo-Nágera Pepe Rodríguez
Country of origin	Spain
Original language(s)	Spanish
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	17 (as of 11 May 2014)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Macarena Rey Ana Rivas
Running time	110 minutes
Production company(s)	Shine Iberia
Broadcast
Original channel	La 1
Picture format	16:9, 480p (SDTV)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	10 April 2013 – ongoing
External links
Website

MasterChef is a Spanish competitive reality television cooking show based on the British television cooking game show of the same title. It premiered on La 1 on 10 April 2013. The show is presented by Eva González. Jordi Cruz, Samantha Vallejo-Nágera and Pepe Rodríguez judge the contestants.^[1] The series was picked up for a second season.^[2]

History

In the first season, only 15 people were chosen from among the 9,000 in the initial casting selection and competed for the title of MasterChef.^[3] The winner was given 100,000 euros, the opportunity to publish his own book of recipes and the chance to attend the esteemed culinary school Le Cordon Bleu.^[4][5]

The initial selections began on February 4, 2013 in five areas of the country. All types of people came, including high-level executives, housewives, and construction workers. All of the candidates came together over their love of cooking. They had to be amateur cooks without culinary experience, but at the same time very talented.^[6]

The contestants competed against each other in individual challenges in the kitchen and also in group challenges outside of the set kitchen.^[7] The judges were Pepe Rodríguez, Jordi Cruz and Samanta Vallejo-Nágera, and were in charge of deciding of which contestant left each week. The first season aired on La 1 of Televisión Española starting on April 10, 2013, and was hosted by Eva González.^[7]

In October 2013, MasterChef received the Ondas Awards for the best entertainment program in Spanish television.^[8]

Production

The Spanish version of MasterChef filmed in the Estudios Buñuel is produced by Televisión Española in collaboration with Shine Iberia.^[9]

Show Format

• Caja misteriosa (Mystery Box Challenge). The contestants receive ingredients with which they have to make a dish according to the specifications of the judges. The contestants have a certain amount of time in order to do this. Once they are finished, the judges deliberate and the two to three best dishes determine who will be the captains in the following challenge.
• Prueba por equipos (Team Challenge). This challenge takes place outside of the kitchens of Masterchef and involves cooking for celebrities or other groups of people. The captains have to decide on the dishes that they are going to prepare and which of the other contestants will be on their team to help them. The losing team then faces off in the elimination round.
• Prueba de eliminación (Elimination Test). The winning team observes the losing team from the gallery from in the final challenge. The losing team has to cook the recipe chosen by the judges. The judges «deliberate» and the contestant that has made the «worst» dish is eliminated from the program.
• Prueba de presión (Pressure Test). This is the most difficult challenge. A celebrity chef visits the set and instructs the contestants on how to make his most famous dish. The contestants have to then recreate it.
• Reto creativo (Creative Test). The judges dictate which dish the contestants have to make.

Adaptations

This reality show has been very well received by the public at a worldwide level with more than 200 million viewers in the 145 countries where it airs.^[10]

First Season (2013)

Fifteen amateur chefs competed in different challenges cooking alone or in teams, both in the set kitchen and elsewhere. The television studio was located in the Buñuel studios in Madrid.

Throughout the first season of MasterChef, the contestants were visited by the best chefs in Spain who gave them exclusive cooking classes. These included Juan Mari Arzak, Pedro Subijana, Joan Roca, Paco Roncero, Dani García, Quique Dacosta, Eneko Atxa, and Andoni Luis Aduriz, among others. The finale featured Spanish chef Ferran Adrià, considered the best chef in the world, as one of the judges.^[11]

Contestants

Second Season (2014)

During the finale of the first season of MasterChef, Eva González told viewers that the program would be renewed for a second season in May 2014, after MasterChef Junior. Starting in late October 2013 Televisión Española and Shine Iberia started casting for the second season.^[12] It premiered on April 9. During the week before, Radiotelevisión Española aired various cooking specials to lead up to the show.^[13][14]

Contestants

Third Season (2015)

Televisión Española and Shine Iberia started casting for the third season in December 2014.^[15] It premiered on April 7, 2015.^[16]

Contestants

Ratings

External links

• Official Website (in Spanish)

References