Two recent episodes of Masterchef occurred while out on vacation. In A Storm’s A Brewing was the infamous tag team challenge where team members must cook a masterful dish but not at the same time. It was also the episode that sent Tommy home. Restaurant Takeover puts the aspiring chefs to run a real kitchen with real pressure to get the dishes out to waiting customers. And it was the episode that ended Hetal’s dream of becoming Masterchef’s first ever vegetarian winner So now the top five are Claudia, Derrick, Katrina, Nick and Stephen. Hard to believe we are getting down to the end but there it is.

It was surprising that both Tommy and Hetal went home. Both showed real talent. Tommy was at his best usually when he went back to his Creole roots. And some of the dishes he produced in that mode really blew the judges away. Sure he had a major problem with those weird cinnamon buns but all is forgiven if you can show that you can produce restaurant quality dishes. His mistake was not listening to advice about how not to do certain things. We saw it when he did potatoes really wrong at an outdoor event that really astonished Gordon. But in the tag team match his dislike for Katrina and his refusal to listen to sensible advice about not over flouring the chicken put him and Katrina in the bottom. Clearly they believe Katrina is more talented of the two. I am not entirely convinced of that but one had to go so it was Tommy.

I am not surprised Hetal was eventually sent home but I figured it would come a little later. She is a talented cook and shown real flair in the dessert dishes. And she excels in dishes that show her Indian roots. Being a vegetarian though on Masterchef is a tough road. Masterchef makes no allowances and puts up meat challenges. It would be especially hard for those who consider the cow sacred to have to prepare a meal out of it. What tripped her up was something seen before: stress. The triple pasta pressure test got the best of her. No one really had top marks on this hideous challenge. It was really a test of character to see how you would measure up. I doubt seriously they expected any of them to put up three perfect pasta dishes.

I think it is all a toss up right now as to who makes top four. Derrick showed some real stress this last time so he might be the next to fall. Nick and Stephen are favored for the top four and possible top two. Three previous winners are stopping by next time adding some pressure to the next challenge.