I’m applying for Season 4 of MasterChef, and I could use some input on a couple of the questions. Help a Doper out?
What is the toughest obstacle you’ve ever had to overcome? I’m a type 2 diabetic who’s struggled with my weight all my adult life. For too many years I just pretended my health and eating habits were fine and didn’t pay too much attention to what I was doing to myself. A couple of years ago, I was finally forced to face up to the problem and start doing something about it, but trying to change my eating habits and activity level has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. So far I’ve lost 31 pounds; I have a way to go to reach my goal weight, but with my family’s support, I know I’ll get there.
If we came over to your house for dinner, what would you cook for us? My signature dish is Shrimp Creole - plump, sweet Gulf shrimp in a rich-tasting Creole sauce of red ripe tomato, trinity (aka Cajun mirepoix - onion, celery and bell pepper), along with my secret spice blend to jazz it up. The sauce is long-simmered until it turns into a magic potion that’s slammed with flavor, but surprisingly healthy - then the shrimp go in at the last minute to preserve their texture and sweetness. With some rice (not too much) and a little crusty French bread to get every last drop, you’d be hollerin for more!
I don’t like the “you’d be hollerin for more!” language. It seems a little too informal for any sort of application to me. Otherwise, it looks ok to me.
I *do *like it in this context - it helps your reply stand out. They want people with big personalities, who will be entertaining to watch on television.
Be sure you make it clear that you “don’t take no crap from nobody” and that you “have strong opinions and aren’t afraid to make them known”. Reality shows eat that shit up.
Chef Troy, please don’t take what I am about to say the wrong way, because I am being totally sincere, and think it would be great if you were chosen to compete.
It seems to me that MasterChef is looking for contestants with interesting/unusual/fucking bizarre backgrounds and personal stories (hoping to make for interesting television) as much as people with true standout cooking skills. The show relies heavily on clashing personalities and interpersonal drama between the hopefuls and the judges, with the food aspect too often taking a backseat, especially in the early rounds.
Were you taught a passion for cooking as a child by your Grandparents, one of whom was a fundamentalist Mullah from Kabul and the other an Orthodox Rabbi from Tel Aviv?
Does your signature dish feature human breast milk produced by Salma Hayek?
Have you spent time mentoring in the inner city, teaching the Crips and Bloods to put aside their differences to come together over the world’s most perfect artichoke & prosciutto frittata?
Obviously I am exaggerating here, but if it were me, I would play up any endearing, unusual or offbeat aspects to your personality just as much as your considerable culinary skills, which will obviously be the thing that will truly make you stand out once you actually get your (hopefully quirky) foot in the door.
I can choke up and manfully keep from crying by a tiny bit in a way that is pretty believable. Mean glances would be no problem, as would flinches of shock (which I understand are also important for a contestant to be able to produce).
Yeah, if the eyes are the windows of the soul, then my windows have Amsterdam hookers in them that will do whatever you want. I’ll be fine in the confessional booth or whatever.
Kudos to you for bringing your Type 2 Diabetes into the equation, both in your personal style of cooking, and in attempting to use Master Chef as a springboard to educate others in the healthy way of eating.
I’d throw a little Glycemic Index into the mix. Diet gurus abound, diet cookbooks dominate the cooking shelf, and the archaic “American Diabetes Association” exchange diet sets people up for failure. A MAJOR change would be to suggest BROWN rice in your recipe.
Good luck in your reality star endeavor, because thats what it is. That these people are called…and consider themselves chefs is laughable. If you are sick of your job, get yourself a publicist and become a TV food clown, which is what most of these folks are. Not that there is anything wrong with that. There is a market for everything.
I have eaten **Chef Troy’s **cooking, but I’ve never seen him manfully holding back tears. Seriously, he’s a great cook, and I wish him luck, but I think he’s gonna need to up the Drama Queen quotient to be a success on the show.
I haven’t seen enough of the show to tell, and I don’t know anything about the selection process, but your application doesn’t show the kind of crazy passion they seem to want. I like it, if I saw those things on a normal job application I’d think they were indications of a good chef. Even your toughest obstacle relates back to food. But if the show uses those applications to determine potential for standout characters then you might fall short. Make that story about diabetes more heartbreaking, play up the part about how you almost died and you’ve sworn to turn classic dishes into healthy food without giving up quality and flavor. Then rant and rave over the poor quality of what passes for Creole dishes these days and those who are too lazy to take the time to use proper techniques or authentic seasonings.
In exchange for my valuable advice you may prepare me an entire Creole meal.
Maybe you could play up how you want to lose x amt of lbs, and offer to do it throughout the course of the season, so viewers can watch as you slim down.
Yes it is - they’re very clear on that point - and that’s exactly what I am. Never worked as a chef anywhere, unless you count Wendy’s (I certainly don’t). I’m an editor/proofreader by trade.
The pre-registration form is only part of the application process. There’s also a written application that goes into more detail; I then have to take that application, and a plate of my signature dish, to an open casting call where the food will be evaluated and I’ll be interviewed on camera. I’ll pull out the sob story then.
