Junior Chef Showdown (2020 - 2021)

Nine junior chefs enter the kitchen to show off their speed, strength and accuracy in this week’s Skills Test. It’s a back-to-basics race to manually whip meringue, dress Anna Olson’s lemon pie, and finish it off with a blow torch. The first to finish earns an advantage for the Cooking Challenge when the junior chefs randomly select a school lunch box each containing a different variety of bread. The junior chefs must use their bread to create a fresh and inspired meal, to be served to the judges in their lunch box in 40 minutes. Some will rise to the challenge, but at least one lunch box letdown will send a junior chef home.

The eight remaining junior chefs roll in the dough in a pasta-filled week in the kitchen. For the Skills Test they must showcase their ability to make fresh pasta dough from scratch and be the first to mix, knead and roll out their dough to a perfect pasta sheet. After careful inspection from the judges, one junior chef receives a luxurious advantage for the next round. Then, fresh ravioli is on the menu for the Cooking Challenge, with the junior chefs using their freshly made pasta sheets to create a perfect ravioli with the filling and sauce of their choice. The junior chef with the weakest dish is sent home

This week begins with the judges sharing the secret to cooking steak to a perfect medium rare. Then it’s up to the seven junior chefs to replicate the technique in only 10 minutes for this week’s Skills Test. Each steak will be cut into and tasted by the judges, who are looking for the best sear, tastiest seasoning and most accurate temperature. Next, the junior chefs take a culinary trip around the world with an international Cooking Challenge. Each selects a suitcase containing ingredients from a different culinary destination and they have 40 minutes to cook up a spectacular international plate. One junior chef is then sent packing.

The junior chefs pair-up for their first team Skills Test, which is to cook the judges a perfect plate of eggs benedict. They must cook two perfectly runny poached eggs, a toasted English muffin, seared ham and top it all off with freshly made hollandaise sauce. Then in the Cooking Challenge, it’s a different variety of eggs on the menu: chocolate! The junior chefs hunt throughout the kitchen to find hidden chocolate eggs. Then they have 40 minutes to use the secret ingredient from inside their egg to create a delicious chocolatey dessert. For one junior chef it will mean the end of their sweet journey.

The top five junior chefs are faced with another team Skills Test, but this time they’re paired a with special surprise partner: their mom! It’s the Mother of all Skills Tests as they race through four stations to prep and assemble a layered salad in a large jar, with one pair eliminated each round until only one team comes out on top. After saying goodbye to their moms, the junior chefs each find a wok-full of ingredients from different Asian countries. But first, it’s a game of “Musical Stations” to determine which country’s cuisine they will cook. At the end of the game, the junior chefs have 40 minutes for the Cooking Challenge to create an Asian inspired dish with the ingredients found in their woks. The junior chef with the least successful dish will say goodbye.

Just four junior chefs remain in the competition’s semi-final, which begins with judge and baking icon Anna Olson demonstrating two specialty piping techniques for decorating beautiful cupcakes. For this week’s Skills Test, the junior chefs have 15 minutes to colour their frosting, pipe and decorate one dozen cupcakes with their own unique designs. The winner will earn an enviable advantage in the next round, with two minutes of assistance from one of the esteemed chef judges. In the Cooking Challenge the junior chefs have 40 minutes to elevate the classic English pub meal, fish and chips, using one of four nontypical fish varieties. Only three junior chefs can advance to the finale, so one fish dish must sink to the bottom

Surrounded by their families and the 11 previously eliminated junior chefs, the top three finalists make a triumphant entrance to the kitchen. For their final Skills Test they have 15 minutes to create a beautiful cold appetizer without access to their ovens or stovetops. The junior chef with the best dish will win dinner at chef Lynn Crawford’s restaurant for them and their family. Then to earn the finale grand prize, the finalists have 40 minutes to showcase the skills they have learned over eight weeks of competition on a single, beautifully composed plate using a luxury protein of their choice. Only one will be named the first Junior Chef Showdown champion and take home the $25,000 prize and a family vacation courtesy of Air Transat!